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Sustainability
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Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production
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Special Issue "Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Victor Rolo
E-Mail Website
SciProfiles
Guest Editor
Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10600 Plasencia, Spain
Interests: agroecosystems; silvopastures; plant–-soil components; functional traits; land restoration; adaptive management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our ability to feed the future world population with the current agriculture production practices is being questioned. Intensification has been the usual option of modern agriculture, but it still has a limited potential to meet the increasing food demand. In addition, it is known that the consequences of intensification are a loss of biodiversity, the decline of soil fertility, and the collapse of agroecosystem functions. There is a large consensus that innovative practices and more sustainable approaches of farming production are needed, but to what extent they have the potential to fill the yield gap is still unresolved.

This Special Issue aims to collect original contributions on innovative agroecological practices that seek to maximize productions as well as deliver multiple services to society, including biodiversity conservation. The issue places a special focus on agroforestry because of its known potential to deliver ecological benefits with a wide range of products and services. The themes of the Special Issue include monitoring of innovative systems, adoption of low-input technologies, restoration of soil productivity through enhanced water and nutrient efficiencies, farmers solutions to adopt agroecological changes, approaches to adapting and building resilience to climate change and application of ecological principles to agriculture.

Dr. Victor Rolo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Adaptive management
  • Global change
  • Climate smart agriculture
  • Resilience 
  • Agroforestry
  • Innovation systems
  • Sustainable intensification

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Article
Soil Nutrient Supply in Cultivated Bush Bean–Potato Intercropping Grown in Subarctic Soil Managed with Agroforestry
by
Jim D. Karagatzides
,
Meaghan J. Wilton
and
Leonard J. S. Tsuji
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8185; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158185 - 22 Jul 2021
Viewed by 387
Abstract
To address food insecurity in northern Canada, some isolated communities started gardening initiatives to reduce dependencies on expensive foods flown in to communities. From 2012–2014, soils in northern Ontario James Bay lowlands were cultivated with bush beans and potatoes, grown in sole and [...] Read more.
To address food insecurity in northern Canada, some isolated communities started gardening initiatives to reduce dependencies on expensive foods flown in to communities. From 2012–2014, soils in northern Ontario James Bay lowlands were cultivated with bush beans and potatoes, grown in sole and intercropping configurations, in an open field and an agroforestry system enclosed by willow trees. The objective of this study was to compare the supply rates of 15 plant-available nutrients in these soils using in situ ion exchange membranes. After three years of cultivation, the agroforestry site had significantly greater supply of PO4, Ca, and Zn and these nutrients had positive correlations with yield. By contrast, the open site had significantly greater supply of Mg, SO4, and B; these nutrients, and Al, had negative correlations with yield. Whilst there were no differences between sole and intercropping configurations, significantly greater supply of NO3, Ca, Cu, Fe, and Zn occurred early in the growing season, compared to significantly greater supply of K, SO4, B, and Al later in the season. Significantly greater yields have been harvested in the agroforestry site and it is suspected that the presence of a willow shelterbelt improves the microclimate and plant-available PO4, Ca, and Zn. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production)
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Article
Effects of Domestic and Wild Ungulate Management on Young Oak Size and Architecture
by
Aida López-Sánchez
,
Sonia Roig
,
Rodolfo Dirzo
and
Ramón Perea
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7930; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147930 - 15 Jul 2021
Viewed by 402
Abstract
Scattered oaks in traditional silvopastoral systems (i.e., “dehesas”) provide important ecological services. However, livestock intensification applied to these systems over the last century has affected the architecture of young oak plants. This unsuitable rangeland management practice jeopardizes the long-term system sustainability. Here we [...] Read more.
Scattered oaks in traditional silvopastoral systems (i.e., “dehesas”) provide important ecological services. However, livestock intensification applied to these systems over the last century has affected the architecture of young oak plants. This unsuitable rangeland management practice jeopardizes the long-term system sustainability. Here we examine the alterations in architecture of regenerating oak plants in Mediterranean dehesas under three representative management regimes: (1) traditional management with extensive sheep grazing; (2) commercially driven management with extensive cattle grazing, and (3) native deer grazing at moderate stocking rates (<0.11 livestock units × ha−1). Plant architecture was considerably altered in cattle-grazed “dehesas”, finding a 50% reduction in plant height–diameter ratios, compared to sheep-grazed dehesas where plants with higher height–diameter ratios predominated. Young oak plants, however, showed less altered architecture and less probability of damage on shoot apex (0.20-fold difference) in areas with deer grazing at moderate stocking rates. In addition, those young oak plants with multi-stemmed individual architecture were more stunted (lower values of crown height–diameter ratio) in areas with livestock grazing than wildlife areas (0.78-fold difference). Shrub presence, under all management schemes, helped to increase in plant height, except when shrubs were located under tree canopies. Conversely, plants without shrub protection showed stunted architecture with well-developed basal diameters but short stature. Appropriate sustainable practices should include cattle stocking rate reduction, traditional sheep grazing promotion, nurse shrub preservation and fencing stunted individuals along with pruning basal sprouts. Our study indicates that management may have important consequences on dehesa regeneration via alterations of plant architecture and therefore on system sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production)
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Article
Sustainable Soil Loss Management in Tropical Uplands: Impact on Maize-Chili Cropping Systems
by
Khalid Hussain
,
Ayesha Ilyas
,
Irshad Bibi
and
Thomas Hilger
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6477; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116477 - 07 Jun 2021
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Abstract
Intensive land use with inappropriate land management is directly degrading South Asian uplands. A field trial was carried out on the uplands of Western Thailand with a 25% slope to examine the effect of land use management on soil loss for sustainable crop [...] Read more.
Intensive land use with inappropriate land management is directly degrading South Asian uplands. A field trial was carried out on the uplands of Western Thailand with a 25% slope to examine the effect of land use management on soil loss for sustainable crop production during two consecutive years (2010–2011). Various cropping systems with soil conservation practices were compared to maize sole cropping (MSC). Results revealed that soil loss was at a minimum in the intercropping system of maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization that was 50% to 61% and 60% to 81% less than MSC and the bare soil plot during both years, respectively. Yield advantage was at its maximum, as indicated by the highest land equivalent ratios of 1.28 and 1.21 during 2010 and 2011, respectively, in maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. The highest economic returns (5925 and 1058 euros ha−1 during 2010 and 2011, respectively) were also obtained from maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. Chili fresh fruit yield was maximum in the chili alone plot during both years due to the greater area under cultivation compared with intercropping. Maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization reduced soil loss and increased land productivity and net returns, indicating its promising features for sustainable crop production on uplands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production)
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Article
Assessment of Potato Farmland Soil Nutrient Based on MDS-SQI Model in the Loess Plateau
by
Yingying Xing
,
Ning Wang
,
Xiaoli Niu
,
Wenting Jiang
and
Xiukang Wang
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3957; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073957 - 02 Apr 2021
Viewed by 395
Abstract
Soil nutrients are essential nutrients provided by soil for plant growth. Most researchers focus on the coupling effect of nutrients with potato yield and quality. There are few studies on the evaluation of soil nutrients in potato fields. The purpose of this study [...] Read more.
Soil nutrients are essential nutrients provided by soil for plant growth. Most researchers focus on the coupling effect of nutrients with potato yield and quality. There are few studies on the evaluation of soil nutrients in potato fields. The purpose of this study is to investigate the soil nutrients of potato farmland and the soil vertical nutrient distributions, and then to provide a theoretical and experimental basis for the fertilizer management practices for potatoes in Loess Plateau. Eight physical and chemical soil indexes were selected in the study area, and 810 farmland soil samples from the potato agriculture product areas were analyzed in Northern Shaanxi. The paper established the minimum data set (MDS) for the quality diagnosis of the cultivated layer for farmland by principal component analysis (PCA), respectively, and furthermore, analyzed the soil nutrient characteristics of the cultivated layer adopted soil quality index (SQI). The results showed that the MDS on soil quality diagnosis of the cultivated layer for farmland soil included such indicators as the soil organic matter content, soil available potassium content, and soil available phosphorus content. The comprehensive index value of the soil quality was between 0.064 and 0.302. The SPSS average clustering process used to classify SQI was divided into three grades: class I (36.2%) was defined as suitable soil fertility (SQI < 0.122), class II (55.6%) was defined as moderate soil fertility (0.122 < SQI < 0.18), and class III (8.2%) was defined as poor soil fertility (SQI > 0.186). The comprehensive quality of the potato farmland soils was generally low. The proportion of soil nutrients in the SQI composition ranged from large to small as the soil available potassium content = soil available phosphorus content > soil organic matter content, which became the limiting factor of the soil organic matter content in this area. This study revolves around the 0 to 60 cm soil layer; the soil fertility decreased gradually with the soil depth, and had significant differences between the respective soil layers. In order to improve the soil nutrient accumulation and potato yield in potato farmland in northern Shaanxi, it is suggested to increase the fertilization depth (20 to 40 cm) and further study the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agroforestry and Sustainable Agricultural Production)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Social Embeddedness OF Alternative Food Systems. A Case Study in Sant Cugat Del Vallès, Spain
Authors: Futoshi Sato, Laura Calvet-Mir, Sergio Villamayor
Affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract: The current agroindustrial food system is the major cause of social, economic and environmental unsustainability of worldwide food system. While the agroindustrial food system reduces the value of food to its simplistic monetary dimension, the social embeddedness of food links food production with its environment, producers with consumers, business with ethics, individuals with community, and as a whole, food with sustainability. In this study, we aim to reveal the capacity of alternative food initiatives (AFIs) to generate social embeddedness of food, describing their challenges and potentials to build a sustainable future of food. Our case study is Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain, where several kinds of AFIs are represented. We conducted fieldwork from April to July 2020 through a combination of qualitative methods, including the collection of background information, semi-structured interviews, field diary, and participant observation. Our results show that AFIs promotes the sustainability of food system as a whole, since they promote the social embeddedness of food via agroecological practices, socioecological justice, and food de-commodification. As well as, we describe the challenges AFIs face. We conclude that AFIs are building important alternative food models to achieve food system’s sustainability but it is necessary to generate public policies that endorse such initiatives.

Title: The Response of Persian Oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) to Biotic and Drought Stress Is Affected by the Health Status of Mother Trees
Authors: Alejandro Solla
Affiliation: Faculty of Forestry, Institute for Dehesa Research (INDEHESA), University of Extremadura, Avenida Virgen del Puerto 2, 10600, Plasencia, Spain.
Abstract: The sustainability of Zagros woodlands in Iran is threatened by the decline of Quercus brantii trees. Tree mortality is mostly affected by drought stress, but bacterial pathogens such as Brenneria goodwinii also contribute to this decline. We investigated if the susceptibility of Q. brantii seedlings to B. goodwinii and drought depends on the health status of mother trees. Plants were grown from seeds collected from healthy and drought-stressed unhealthy trees. Below- to aboveground weight ratios were significantly higher in offspring of unhealthy than in offspring on healthy mother trees, suggesting that drought stress regulated the performance of Q. brantii in the subsequent generation. Brenneria goodwinii followed by drought had synergistic negative effects on the seedlings, and physiological and anatomical responses in offspring were conditioned by the health status of mother trees. Particularly, B. goodwinii induced less injury in offspring of healthy than in offspring of unhealthy trees, in terms of growth, chlorophyl, turgor loss, internal necrosis length and electrolyte leakage. Moreover, reductions in xylem vessels diameters of plants in response B. goodwinii and drought were only observed in offspring of healthy trees. Maternal effects persisted when the drought stress was over. The results suggest that the health status of mother trees can influence the structure of Q. brantii seedlings and affect their response to single and combined stress. This is the first report of increased adaptation to drought in plants germinating from a drought stressed tree. Maternal effects should be further studied and considered when promoting natural regeneration in Q. brantii forests affected by drought.

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