Small-scale integrated farming systems can abate continental-scale nutrient leakage

Environmental problems associated with the inappropriate use of fertilizers by rural smallholders are a growing concern in many countries. This paper contributes to the literature by examining whether risk preferences, time preferences, and personality traits are related to farmers’ use of synthetic and organic fertilizers. We rely on survey data collected from 815 farm households in three rice-producing provinces in eastern China in the empirical analyses. Results of OLS and rare events logistic regressions indicate that risk-seeking and patience are positively associated with the application of organic fertilizer in rice production but not with the intensity of synthetic fertilizer use. There is also no significant association between personality traits and (synthetic or organic) fertilizer use. In addition, personality traits do not mediate nor moderate the associations between economic preferences and fertilizer use. Robustness analysis using the two-stage probit least squares (2SPLS) model not only supports these findings, but also suggests that organic fertilizers complement the use of synthetic fertilizers and are only sporadically used in Chinese rice production. The insights gained in this study can provide important inputs for designing policies aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural intensification in China and elsewhere.

Excessive use of synthetic fertilizers causes a decrease in soil fertility, which can reduce crop production. Making liquid organic fertilizer (POC) from vegetable and fruit waste can reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and support sustainable agriculture. The Golo Curu Permai farmer group has never implemented sustainable agriculture. This activity aims to reduce synthetic fertilizers' use to support sustainable agriculture and increase the knowledge and skills of farmer groups in producing liquid organic fertilizers independently. This activity was carried out at the Golo Curu Permai farmer group in Karot Village, Langke Rembong District, Manggarai Regency, with a total of 15 participants and through activity methods in the form of coordination and field surveys, extension, training or demonstration and evaluation. Evaluation is carried out by analyzing the initial test results before training (pre-test) and after training (post-test). The results of this activity show that the knowledge and skills of farmer groups after participating in training in making POC from organic waste increased by 30% from 50% to 85%.

● A provincial stage-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting model for the Chinese food system was developed. ● From 1992 to 2017, the net GHG emission from the Chinese food system increased by 38% from 785 to 1080 Tg CO2-eq. ● In 2017, top GHG emission regions were located in the central and southern China, the North China Plain and Northeast China, while GHG sink regions were Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang. ● Total GHG emission from the Chinese food system could be reduced to 355 Tg CO2-eq in a low-carbon scenario, with enhancing mitigation technologies, transforming diet and its related conditions and increasing agricultural activities contributing 60%, 25% and 15% of the GHG reductions, respectively. In China, there has been insufficient study of whole food system greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, which limits the development of mitigation strategies and may preclude the achievement of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. The paper presents the development of a carbon extension of NUFER (NUtrient flows in Food chain, Environment and Resources use model), a food system GHG emission accounting model that covers land use and land-use change, agricultural production, and post-production subsectors. The spatiotemporal characteristics of GHG emissions were investigated for the Chinese food system (CFS) from 1992 to 2017, with a focus on GHG emissions from the entire system. The potential to achieve a low-carbon food system in China was explored. The net GHG emissions from the CFS increased from 785 Tg CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) in 1992 to 1080 Tg CO2-eq in 2017. Agricultural activities accounted for more than half of the total emissions during the study period, while agricultural energy was the largest contributor to the GHG increase. In 2017, highest emitting regions were located in central and southern China (Guangdong and Hunan), the North China Plain (Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu) and Northeast China (Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia) and contributed to over half of the total GHG emissions. Meanwhile, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet are shown as carbon sink areas. It was found that food-system GHG emissions could be reduced to 355 Tg CO2-eq, where enhancing endpoint mitigation technologies, transforming social-economic and diet conditions, and increasing agricultural productivities can contribute to 60%, 25% and 15%, respectively. Synergistic mitigation effects were found to exist in agricultural activities.

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission shows that a combination of dietary changes, productivity increases, and reduction of wasted biomass by 2050 can largely reduce agricultural land use and greenhouse gas emissions. However, questions remain about the ability to reduce pressures on planetary nitrogen and phosphorus boundaries, suggesting the need for additional action. We assessed how enhancing circularity and optimising the food system for environmental benefits could complement an EAT-Lancet-aligned food systems transformation. We applied the global Circular Food Systems model-a biophysically based food systems model-that employs innovative measures such as circularity to optimise the food system for environmental benefits, ensuring that it operates within planetary boundaries. We used scenarios developed by the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission multi-model ensemble, comparing a business-as-usual scenario with scenarios that variously optimise food production, reduce wasted biomass, and shift towards a planetary health diet, as well as integrate circularity into the food system to estimate their potential dietary and environmental impacts by 2050. Comparing 2020 with 2050, we show that on a global average, total nitrogen use to agricultural land could be reduced by 50%, total phosphorus use could be reduced by 73%, total land use for agriculture could be reduced by 76%; and greenhouse gas emissions from food production could be reduced by 75%, thereby creating a safe operating space for 2050. Most environmental gains are derived from dietary shift, food production optimisation, and reducing wasted biomass, but enhanced circularity is key to bringing both nitrogen and phosphorus use within safe planetary boundaries. Circularity enhances and extends the benefits of an EAT-Lancet style food systems transformation via recycling waste for feed and fertiliser use, and complements but does not replace the need for dietary changes. An integration of solutions is needed to transition food systems to the safe operating space within planetary boundaries. The AVINA Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and funding related to the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission.

In the 21st century, the use of beneficial microorganisms as biological fertilizers has become a notable phenomenon, driven by the ongoing search for sustainable solutions due to environmental issues associated with synthetic fertilizer use. This study aimed to investigate the effect of bio-priming with plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) strains comparing them with synthetic fertilizer and rhizobium inoculation in Siirt ecological conditions. The field experiment was laid out according to a completely randomized design with four replications in the arable land of Siirt University (Siirt, Türkiye) during the 2019 summer season. Three synthetic fertilizer doses as diammonium phosphate (SF1: 100 kg ha-1, SF2: 200 kg ha-1, SF3: 300 kg ha-1) and seven biological fertilizer treatments (B1: TV61C, B2: TV62C, B3: TV126C, B4: TV24C, B5: TV53D, BMIX: TV119E+TV126C, RZB: Bradyrhizobium sp.) were compared with control (no fertilization+hydro-priming) in the study. The research results indicated that 300 kg ha-1 DAP and PGPB consortia showed the best results on agronomic characteristics. However, particularly when applied in the form of a consortium, PGPB strains exhibited performance very close to synthetic fertilization. Moreover, it was determined that 300 kg ha-1 DAP and PGPB consortia increased grain yield over hydro-primed plants by 54.6% and 42.4%, while they provided a net income of $654 and $721.6, respectively. Thus, bio-priming with PGPB increased higher net income compared with synthetic fertilizer due to lower treatment costs. In conclusion, bio-priming with PGPB strains has the potential of useful, sustainable and cost-effective strategy in cowpea production.

We explored the relationships between synthetic fertilizer use, yield, and ecosystem services in a coffee agroecosystem in the Tarrazú region in the central highlands of Costa Rica. Working in nine farms ranging from 0.3 to 2.7 ha in the CoopeTarrazú farmers' cooperative, we focused on two important indicators of ecosystem services: biological control agents and mycorrhizal fungi. Biological control agents (especially parasitoid wasps) are essential for population regulation of herbivorous arthropods that reside in coffee agroecosystems. Mycorrhizal fungi contribute to plant nutrition and disease resistance and produce a highly stable protein, glomalin, which is critical for soil aggregation. Soil aggregates hedge against erosion, particularly in sloping soils, by improving porosity. Slopes in this study ranged from 4% to 66%. We manipulated synthetic fertilizer levels in experimental plots ranging from 6.9% increase to 53.3% decrease in total N relative to control plots that received a standard amount of fertilizer. The effects on coffee yields, soil glomalin production by mycorrhizal fungi, and wasp diversity were examined. Yield and glomalin decreased, but parasitoid diversity increased with greater reductions in fertilizer application six months after application. Reducing fertilizer use may bolster biological control assemblages, while glomalin is more directly dependent on plant production.

Core Ideas Manure addition enhanced N 2 O losses. 0.13 to 0.24% of total N added was lost as N 2 O. Overall, global warming potential was lower in manure treatments than in fertilizer treatments. Information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure application in cropping systems of the irrigated mountain west region is needed. The objectives of this study were to (i) determine the effect of manure application rate and frequency (annual vs. biennial) on GHG losses compared to synthetic fertilizer, (ii) determine the effect of irrigation on GHG losses and (iii) determine the overall global warming potential (GWP) of using manure vs. synthetic fertilizer. Treatments included dry manure rates of 18 or 52 Mg ha −1 applied annually or 36 Mg ha −1 applied biennially as well as synthetic fertilizer and control treatments. Cumulative losses of N 2 O‐N over the rotation ranged from 1.4 to 8.4 kg ha −1 with the 52 Mg ha −1 manure application losing the greatest amount of N 2 O‐N. Emission factors for the growing season indicated that 0.13 to 0.24% of total N applied was lost as N 2 O‐N. Cumulative CO 2 –C losses were greatest in the manure treatments, with approximately 7% of carbon added lost as CO 2 –C. Maximum N 2 O‐N fluxes occurred at soil moisture contents of 0.3 to 0.4 m 3 m −3 and temperature near 25°C, while CO 2 –C emissions occurred over broader soil moisture and temperature conditions. The overall GWP associated with manure application indicated a net negative GWP for manure treatments while the synthetic fertilizer treatment was near neutral. Including manure in cropping system rotations can lead to enhanced GHG emission, however the benefits of enhanced SOC can outweigh these losses leading to lower GWP than use of synthetic fertilizer alone.

Typically, agricultural crop production contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially the use of synthetic fertilizers and, less frequently, the application of organic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers not only have positive effects but also have many deleterious effects on the natural ecosystem. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate cassava root yields harvested using two different cultivation methods: synthetic fertilizers and liquid organic biofertilizers. We investigated the amount of raw material fertilizers required for each cultivation method to evaluate the effects of global warming potential (GWP) on cassava cultivation methods in northeastern Thailand. The system boundary was defined from cradle to farm gate, starting with cultivation and progressing until harvest, using life cycle assessment (LCA). The input and output data were analyzed to determine the potential impacts of global warming over 100 years. The experiments found that 1000 kg of cassava root product harvested with synthetic fertilizer released the most GHGs, 51.83 kg CO2eq/1000 kg. This was 10 times that of the experimental plot using a liquid organic biofertilizer at 2.74 kg CO2eq/1000 kg. Therefore, as farmers are challenged with everything from drought to low yields and as agriculture becomes less predictable in the face of a changing climate, it is essential to help farmers transition to practices that increase resilience and dramatically decrease reliance on fossil-fuel-based chemicals. To develop guidelines for reducing GHG emissions in cultivation, the focus should be on farmers’ cultivation activities, especially fertilizer application.

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists' Perceptions of the Relationship between Food and Peace in the United States Food System: A Qualitative Study.

Unefficient use of synthetic fertilizer in upland rice production leads to the low productivity and tends to harm the environtment. An organic approach by using wood vinegar is promising to improve the fertilizer efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine the response of upland rice with the application of different wood vinegar and synthetic fertilizer N-P-K rates on morpho-physiological characters. A split plot design with the main plot of N-P-K fertilizer and a subplot of wood vinegar was applied with three replications. Growth and physiological character were observed. The data were analyzed by the F test, then proceed with the Duncan Multiple Range Test at p≤0.05. The results showed that a half and full recommended synthetic fertilizer rate of N-P-K had a similar result to gaining optimum morpho-physiological character of upland rice. Wood vinegar with a rate of 75 L ha-1 obtained the highest performance on morpho-physiological character of upland rice. An increasing application rate of wood vinegar improved the morpho-physiological character of upland rice at different rates of N-P-K synthetic fertilizers.

The vegetable crop cultivation in Polewali Mandar Regency has a great opportunity due to the high market demand for vegetable products. Environmental issues are a global concern for the competitiveness of agricultural products. The quality of organic agriculture or environmentally friendly product has become a concern for consumers regarding food safety, health, and long-life habituation . The farming community in Galung Lombok village, Tinambung District, Polewali Mandar Regency depends highly on the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. On the other hand, harvest waste, household waste and coconut water as a byproduct of coconut processing have not been utilised effectively. Thus, this community service program aimed to utilise household organic waste as organic fertiliser and utilise coconut water as plant growth hormone; as well as educate farmers in implementing environmentally-friendly agricultural businesses. The method used were counselling, training, discussion and demonstration to 25 farmers. The program was able to increase the motivation and knowledge of farmers to implement the cultivation of environmentally friendly vegetable crops by using organic fertilizer from household waste and ZPT from coconut water. The vegetable crop cultivation in Polewali Mandar Regency has a great opportunity due to the high market demand for vegetable products. Environmental issues are a global concern for the competitiveness of agricultural products. The quality of organic agriculture or environmentally friendly product has become a concern for consumers regarding food safety, health and long-life habituation . The farming community in Galung Lombok village, Tinambung District, Polewali Mandar Regency depends highly on the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. On the other hand, harvest waste, household waste and coconut water as a byproduct of coconut processing have not been utilised effectively. Thus, this community service program aimed to utilise household organic waste as organic fertiliser and utilise coconut water as plant growth hormone; as well as educate farmers in implementing environmentally-friendly agricultural businesses. The method used were counselling, training, discussion and demonstration to 25 farmers. The program was able to increase the motivation and knowledge of farmers to implement the cultivation of environmentally friendly vegetable crops by using organic fertilizer from household waste and ZPT from coconut water.

In recent years, premium private labels for fresh produce grown with reduced use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers have been developed by Japanese general merchandise stores. In this paper, the brand equity factors that affect willingness to pay (WTP) for private label vegetables are identified using the contingent valuation method. We consider four key dimensions of brand equity, namely brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations. We find that brand loyalty factors based on the psychology of consumers who seek value‐added vegetables with health and safety characteristics have the largest effect on the WTP premium. Providing shoppers with clear information about the key product attributes of reduced use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers is particularly important to generate brand equity for private label vegetables. [EconLit citations: Q130, M310].

Population density, urbanization and industrialization are the rapidly increasing and it's causes severe damages to freshwater ecosystem. The present study aims to assess the quality of groundwater using integrated methods in the industrial zone of South India. The integrated assessment of groundwater using unsupervised machine learning method associated human health risk assessment are identified as research gap in the study region. We collected 55 samples based on groundwater availability, population density, and industrial activity in summer and winter seasons. The study found that calcium-chloride and mixed calcium-magnesium-chloride types of water are the dominating category in both seasons. The groundwater pollution index (GPI) and piper trilinear and gibbs diagram indicate that evaporation, water-rock interface, and other anthropogenic activities are the dominating factors in groundwater chemistry. Analysis using the entropy water quality index (EWQI) and human health risk estimation confirmed that nitrate is the key parameter affecting groundwater sustainability. Unsupervised machine learning techniques were applied to evaluate groundwater chemistry. The principal component analysis (PCA) results revealed that seasonal variation is influenced by mineral dissolution, rainwater recharge, and anthropogenic activities. The hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) results shows that a tight cluster forms among pH, Na, K, NO3, and F, suggesting that processes such as agricultural inputs from fertilizer use, synthetic pesticides, and natural geochemical interactions control ion exchange. The k-means clustering yielded three clusters: low-salinity fresh water, moderately mineralized water undergoing geochemical alteration, and high-hardness water indicative of specific geogenic and anthropogenic influences in both seasons. Overall, the integrated assessment of groundwater revealed that the water-rock interface, evaporation, and synthetic fertilizer use in agricultural fields are significant factors controlling groundwater quality. The keyfindings of this study provides clear knowledge about the nature of groundwater, influencing factors and help to improve the water resources management strategies in investigation zone.

Sustainable farming systems provide food for humans while balancing nutrient management. Inclusion or exclusion of livestock has nutrient management implications, as livestock produce food from otherwise inedible crops and their manure is a valuable soil conditioner. However, plant‐based diets are becoming more widespread due to perceived environmental benefits. We measure both food production in terms of nourishment to humans (in this study measured by protein, fat, starch and sugar production) and nutrient sustainability in terms of fertiliser use of six rotational farming systems with differences in nutrient management approaches. The arable practices included were the application of synthetic fertilisers, a range of organic amendments, incorporation of crop residues and legume cultivation. Livestock and associated products were included in some systems but excluded in others. The production of protein, fat, starch and sugar was combined with the balance of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) into an overall measure of nutrient use efficiency of human macronutrient production. Across all systems considered, N use efficiency (5–13 kg protein/kg applied N) was lower than P (84–772 kg protein/kg applied P) or K (63–2060 kg protein/kg applied K), and combining synthetic fertiliser use with organic amendment applications raised production significantly while balancing P and K management, regardless of which organic amendment was used. Legume‐supported rotations without livestock produced more protein, starch and sugar per unit area than those with livestock. Nutrient balances and nutrient use efficiencies were more sensitive to management changes than purely food production. Using this approach allowed us to identify areas for improvement in food production based on the specific nutritional value of offtakes as opposed to yield overall.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a vital staple food crop in more than 60 percent of the world, and around 430 million metric tons of rice are consumed worldwide. Moreover, to reduce synthetic fertilizer use while keeping rice production on track, the researchers decided to conduct a study on Kappaphycus drippings (K.D.) foliar fertilizer in rice production at Brgy. Mangayon, Compostela, Davao de Oro from July to December 2019 to determine the effects of different rates of synthetic fertilizer (S.F.) supplemented with Kappaphycus drippings (K.D.) foliar fertilizer on the growth and yield performance of rice and the return of cost production (RPC). Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used in the experiment, with six treatments replicated four times. The six treatments were as follows T1 - 100% SF (Control), T2 - 90% SF + KD, T3 - 80% SF + KD, T4 - 70% SF + KD, T5 - 60% SF + KD and T6 - 50% SF + KD. The experimental plot has a 4 x 4-meter dimension. The study results showed that K.D. foliar fertilizer positively impacted rice plants' growth performance, particularly on the plant height, leaf color index (LCI), and the number of tillers and productive tillers per hill and, at the same time, reduced the rice bug population. Furthermore, rice yield was positively influenced by K.D. foliar fertilizer and increased return on production cost despite the lesser rates of synthetic fertilizer (S.F.).