Search Results (31)

In light of current global challenges of climate change, the over-exploitation of natural resources, and increasing demand for livestock products, the exploration of excellent forage crop resources holds great potential for development. Therefore, selecting forage crops that are high-yield, high-quality, and have excellent resistance to pests and diseases can greatly promote the development of the livestock industry. Oat (Avena sativa L.), a dual-purpose crop for grain and forage, plays a vital role in the development of animal husbandry. Autumn-sown oats have a significantly longer growth cycle than spring-sown oats, ensuring a year-round forage supply and achieving higher yields. The agropastoral transitional zone in southwest China is a key region for autumn-sown oats, but the systematic evaluation of oat germplasm there is still limited. Therefore, we conducted a two-growing-season (2022–2024) field experiment across four locations to evaluate nine oat genotypes for growth phenotypes, forage productivity, and nutritional quality through 11 agronomic traits and nutritional parameters during the filling stage (Zadok’s 75). The results revealed the following: (1) agronomic performance: dry matter yield (DMY) ranged from 10.72 to 14.58 t/ha, with line ‘WC109’ achieving the highest DMY (14.58 t/ha) and crude protein (CP, 9.66%); (2) nutritional quality: CP exhibited a significant negative correlation with fiber content (NDF: r = −0.72, p < 0.01; ADF: r = −0.68, p < 0.01), highlighting a yield–quality trade-off; ‘WC109’ demonstrated superior forage value, with the highest relative forage quality (RFQ: 115.45) and grading index (GI: 19.30); (3) environmental adaptation: location-specific climatic conditions significantly influenced productivity, with Wenjiang (WJ) showing optimal performance due to favorable temperature and precipitation. These results position ‘WC109’ as a promising candidate for autumn-sown cultivation in southwest China, addressing winter forage shortages while enhancing livestock nutrition. Our findings further elucidate the mechanisms linking yield and feeding value to growth performance indicators, providing references for trait-based measures to enhance forage oat productivity and quality. Full article

This study aims to assess how the supply of straw feed in China has changed over time and how this affects cattle and sheep farming. This paper takes the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) in China as basic units. Based on the grass-to-grain ratios of different crops, the analysis includes estimating the theoretical supply of straw feed, evaluating its livestock carrying capacity, and examining the spatial distribution of supply and demand. From 1978 to 2023, the adaptability of the supply and demand of crop straws has shown a significant upward trend, but the overall adaptability is still low. Differences in the spatial layout of agriculture and animal husbandry have led to the emergence of advantageous areas for the allocation of the supply and demand of straw feeds, which are shifting from the east to the west and from the south to the north and concentrating from the planting areas to the livestock breeding areas. This study finds that climate warming has shifted the centroid of theoretical straw supply northward, resulting in higher straw–livestock compatibility in agriculturally developed regions but lower compatibility in unbalanced agro-pastoral zones, primarily due to high transport costs for straw and roughage, which constrain sustainable agro-pastoral circular development. Therefore, it is recommended that all countries (regions) actively implement the “Straw-to-Meat” policy in agriculturally advanced zones, while proactively adapting to climate warming by optimizing agro-pastoral spatial planning and exploring alternatives to roughage or expanding feed grain cultivation. Full article

Perennial crops are crucial for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks to mitigate climate change, yet the effects of planting duration on SOC stocks remain inconsistent. In the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, where soil degradation is a growing concern, daylily, a perennial crop cultivated for over 600 years, presents both ecological and agricultural potential. This study evaluates the impact of long-term (LD, >10 years) and short-term (SD, ~5 years) daylily cultivation on SOC stocks and identifies key drivers. Paired soil samples (0–100 cm) from eight sites under LD, SD, and long-term maize cultivation (CK) were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis, random forest, and structural equation modeling (SEM). LD significantly increased SOC stocks by 19.63% compared to CK, while SD showed no significant difference. The sampling site had a greater impact on SOC stocks than the treatment across different geographic locations. At the same location, SEM revealed that soil factors influenced SOC differently across treatments: for LD, soil total nitrogen (TN) > pH > soil water content (SWC); for SD, TN > SWC > soil available phosphorus (AP); for CK, TN > soil available potassium (AK) > SWC. This study provides insights for regional soil management and carbon sequestration strategies, highlighting the role of LD in enhancing soil quality and promoting ecological restoration. Full article

The degradation of black soil cropland has occurred to varying degrees in the northern agropastoral ecotone. Crop–forage rotation is an effective way to improve soil quality, with Medicago being the preferred perennial legume. The C, N, and P stoichiometric ratios are key indicators of soil quality and organic matter composition, reflecting the status of the internal C, N, and P cycles in soil. This study aims to investigate the ecological stoichiometric ratios of Medicago grassland soils with different planting durations, explore the regulatory effects of nitrogen fertilizer on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) content, and assess the impacts of these changes on the Medicago grassland ecosystem. This study was conducted on the long-term cultivated grassland core experimental platform of the Hulunber National Field Station. Based on forage yield and soil nutrient measurements, field-based observations and laboratory analyses were carried out. Medicago × varia was the study subject, with different nitrogen fertilizer treatments: CK (0 kg N ha⁻¹), N₇₅ (75 kg N ha⁻¹), and N₁₅₀ (150 kg N ha⁻¹). A randomized block design was adopted. Variance analysis, boxplot statistics, and scatterplot fitting methods were used to examine soil properties and assess the effects of nitrogen application on the C, N, and P stoichiometry of soils in established perennial Medicago grasslands. The results indicate that, based on the growth characteristics of alfalfa, soil nutrient dynamics, and its effectiveness in improving soil quality, the optimal rotation period for alfalfa in the northern agropastoral ecotone is 4–5 years, but it can also be shortened to 3 years. Soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents are significantly influenced by the planting duration. As the planting years increase, soil carbon and nitrogen contents first increase and then decrease, while soil phosphorus content initially decreases followed by a slight increase. Soil pH gradually rises with both planting years and soil depth. Both low and high levels of nitrogen fertilizer application reduce soil organic carbon concentration (by 0.40% and 10.14%, respectively). Low nitrogen fertilizer application increases soil nitrogen concentration (by 1.50%), whereas high nitrogen fertilizer application decreases it (by 7.6%). Both nitrogen levels increase soil phosphorus concentration (by 36.67% and 35.26%, respectively). For soil from an alfalfa grassland planted for 8 years, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio ranges from 9.08 to 9.76, the carbon-to-phosphorus ratio from 13.00 to 151.32, and the nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio from 1.65 to 17.14. In summary, alfalfa yield is primarily influenced by the nitrogen fertilizer application rate, planting duration, stoichiometric ratios, and pH. Nitrogen fertilizer application has a positive regulatory effect on soil stoichiometric ratios. The annual yield can reach 8.94 to 10.07 tons per hectare., but phosphorus remains a limiting factor. These findings provide crucial data for understanding the impact of ecological stoichiometry on crop–forage rotation cycles, as well as optimal land use and quality improvement. Full article

Agro-pastoral ecotone is an important livestock production area in the north of China, and alfalfa is the main pasture crop in this area. Aiming to address the issues of groundwater overexploitation in the area with water demand, we assessed the consumption pattern, irrigation scheduling, and water usage efficiency of alfalfa under subsurface drip irrigation. Alfalfa was used as the research object in this study. A DSSAT model was used to simulate the soil moisture, yield, and other alfalfa grow characteristics during a two-year in situ observation study and provide information on the best irrigation techniques and the water-use efficiency of alfalfa in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northwestern China. The results showed that the ARE, nRMSE, and R² values of the alfalfa soil water content, leaf area index, and yield varied between 3.82% and 5.57%, 4.81% and 8.06%, and 0.86 and 0.93, respectively, the accuracy of the calibrated and validated parameters were acceptable, and the model could be applied to this study. The water consumption of alfalfa ranged from 395.6 mm to 421.8 mm during the whole year, and the critical water consumption period was the branching stage and the bud stage. During the branching stage and the bud stage, water consumption was 30–31% and 31–33% of the total water consumption, and the water consumption intensity averaged 2.97–3.04 mm/d and 4.23–4.97 mm/d. The variations of WUE and IWUE were 11.74–14.39 kg·m⁻³ and 7.12–9.31 kg·m⁻³. Irrigation increased the water productivity of rain-fed alfalfa by 49.48–64.70% and increased the yield of alfalfa by 17.87–34.72%. With the highest yield as the goal, the recommended irrigation volumes for normal and dry flow years were 200 mm and 240 mm; with the goal of the highest utilization of groundwater resources, the recommended irrigation volumes for normal and dry flow years were 160 mm and 192 mm. The results of this study are expected to provide scientific and technological support for the rational utilization of groundwater and the scientific improvement of alfalfa yields in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northwestern China. Full article

Revealing the level of cultivated land use efficiency and its influencing factors in the northern agro-pastoral ecotone from the perspective of population contraction can provide a decision-making reference for ensuring national food security and promoting the implementation of rural revitalization strategies. In this paper, using the stochastic frontier production function and a Tobit regression model, we reveal the current situation of rural population shrinkage in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China and the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of cultivated land use efficiency, and identify influencing factors based on the perspective of “human–land”. The results show the following: (1) The rural population in all provinces and counties in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China showed a continuous loss trend. The southwest was a hot spot area for rural population reduction, and the northeast was a cold spot area for rural population reduction. (2) During 2000–2020, the cultivated land use efficiency in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China showed a fluctuating upward trend, rising from 0.595 in 2000 to 0.754 in 2020. Spatially, the cultivated land use efficiency in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China showed the characteristic of being higher in the northeast and lower in the southwest, and the cultivated land use efficiency in some counties in the central and southwestern parts showed a downward trend. (3) The cultivated land use efficiency in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China is comprehensively affected by multiple factors. The following factors were determined, presented in descending order of the absolute value of influence degree: proportion of the population over 65 years old > multiple cropping index > proportion of cultivated land area > proportion of rural population > average years of education > population change rate. Based on these results, this paper puts forward measures to improve cultivated land use efficiency in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China from the perspective of population shrinkage, so as to provide references for ensuring national food security and promoting rural revitalization. Full article

Aiming at the problems of serious soil desertification, increased soil and water loss, and reduced soil-available nutrients in the agro-pastoral ecotone in Northeast Inner Mongolia, this study took corn variety A6565 as the planting crop and analyzed seven different tillage measures, deep tillage, deep loosening, shallow tillage, rotary tillage, heavy harrow, no-tillage, and control, combined with straw returning at an experimental field in Arong Banner. The analysis results are as follows: the urease activity and microbial biomass nitrogen content of the tillage method combined with straw-returning treatment were higher than other treatments. Compared with the seedling stage, the alpha diversity index of bacteria increased in the harvest stage, while that of fungi was the opposite. β diversity comparison showed that sampling time was the main factor affecting the bacterial community and composition. It was found that the dominant bacteria were Proteobacteria and Actinomycetes, and the dominant fungus was Ascomycetes. Conservation tillage combined with straw-returning treatment has a positive impact on soil microbial diversity, which is more helpful for improving soil-available nutrients and soil quality. All the findings in this study may contribute to restricting a series of important factors affecting sustainable agricultural development, such as soil degradation. Full article

The arid and semi-arid region of Northwest China plays a significant role in potato production, yet yields are often hampered by drought due to limited precipitation and irrigation water. The ridge–furrow rainwater-harvesting technology is an efficient and widely used technique to relieve drought impact and improve crop yield by changing the micro-topography to harvest rainwater to meet the water demand of crops. An analysis of precipitation, water demand, and runoff data spanning 30 years guided the selection of suitable rainwater-harvesting methods tailored to meteorological conditions. The results showed that potato water demand exceeded precipitation in the region. The mulching approach performed best in the western arid region with the most significant increase in yield and water use efficiency (WUE) and was suitable for the western semi-arid region and the agro-pastoral ecotone. In the potato dryland farming areas, the water deficit increased from southeast to northwest. Specifically, northern Gansu, northern Ningxia, and midwestern Inner Mongolia experienced a water deficit of over 200 mm, and rainwater harvesting combined with irrigation was recommended. Conversely, regarding deficits below 200 mm in southern Gansu, Ningxia, and central Inner Mongolia, a 1:1 or 2:1 pattern of ridges could be applied, and mulching was needed only in the necessary areas. For the southern Qinghai, Shaanxi, and eastern Inner Mongolia regions, ridge–furrow rainwater harvesting could be replaced by flat potato cropping. In summary, rainwater harvesting addresses water deficits, aiding climate adaptation in Northwest China’s arid and semi-arid regions. The implementation of mulching and ridge–furrow technology must be location-specific. Full article

Groundwater resources serve as the primary source of water in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, where scarcity of water resources constrains the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. As a typical rainfed agricultural area, the agro-pastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia is entirely dependent on groundwater for agricultural irrigation. Due to the substantial groundwater consumption of irrigated farmland, groundwater levels have been progressively declining. To obtain a sustainable irrigation pattern that significantly conserves water, this study faces the challenge of unclear water transport relationships among water, soil, and crops, undefined water cycle mechanism in typical irrigation units, and water use efficiency, which was not assessed. Therefore, this paper, based on in situ experimental observations and daily meteorological data in 2022–2023, utilized the DSSAT model to explore the growth processes of potato, oat, alfalfa, and sunflower, the soil water dynamics, the water balance, and water use efficiency, analyzed over a typical irrigation area. The results indicated that the simulation accuracy of the DSSAT model was ARE < 10%, nRMSE/% < 10%, and R² ≥ 0.85. The consumption of the soil moisture during the rapid growth stage for the potatoes, oats, alfalfa, and sunflower was 7–13% more than that during the other periods, and the yield was 67,170, 3345, 6529, and 4020 kg/ha, respectively. The soil evaporation of oat, potato, alfalfa, and sunflower accounted for 18–22%, 78–82%; 57–68%, and 32–43%, and transpiration accounted for 40–44%, 56–60%, 45–47%, and 53–55% of ETa (333.8 mm–369.2 mm, 375.2 mm–414.2 mm, 415.7 mm–453.7 mm, and 355.0 mm–385.6 mm), respectively. It was advised that irrigation water could be appropriately reduced to decrease ineffective water consumption. The water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency for potatoes was at the maximum amount, ranging from 16.22 to 16.62 kg/m³ and 8.61 to 10.81 kg/m³, respectively, followed by alfalfa, sunflowers, and oats. For the perspective of water productivity, it was recommended that potatoes could be extensively cultivated, alfalfa planted appropriately, and oats and sunflowers planted less. The findings of this study provided a theoretical basis for efficient water resource use in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China. Full article

The ecologically fragile agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China is characterized by relatively poor arable land quality. Yunzhou District in Datong City, which is situated within this transitional zone, boasts over 600 years of Hemerocallis citrina Baroni cultivation. Exploring the effects of soil physicochemical properties on daylily yield and related agronomic traits is essential for enhancing the ecological and economic value of dominant crops in ecologically fragile areas. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the daylily, a characteristic cash crop that is grown in the agro-pastoral ecotone in Yunzhou District. Physicochemical property measurement and yield estimation were performed using soil samples collected from 37 sites, with Spearman’s correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance with multiple comparisons, path analysis, and stepwise regression analysis used to analyze the generated data. The results showed the following: (1) The pathway analysis of daylily yield with each agronomic trait showed that the BN and PH directly affected the yield of daylily with direct pathway coefficients of 0.844 and 0.7, respectively, whereas the SN indirectly affected the yield of daylily through the BD and PH, with indirect pathway coefficients of 0.827 and 0.566, respectively. (2) A total of four principal components were extracted for the soil factors, of which SMC, ST and BD had large loadings on PC1; OM, TN and pH had large loadings on PC2; AK had large loadings on PC3; and AP had large loadings on PC4. (3) From the principal component regression and stepwise regression, it can be seen that SMC is the most critical factor affecting the yield of daylily, as well as the related agronomic traits, and the results also show that yield prediction was affected by OM, ST, and AK, while BN was influenced by OM and ST, and SN and PH were influenced by AP. Comparing the goodness of fit and significance of the two models, it can be concluded that the stepwise regression model is the optimal model for this study. Full article

Global climate change inflicts unambiguous risks on agricultural systems and food security. Small ruminants are known for their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. This paper aims to characterize sheep production systems in a vulnerable agricultural zone and the breeders’ perceptions of climate change to apprehend challenges that they are confronting, and formulate resilience actions. The data analysis is based on 94 semi-structured surveys of sheep farmers carried out in the Tunisian semi-arid region. The PCA analysis results revealed three main sheep production systems. The agro-pastoral rain-fed system (AGPRF) is dominant (55%), with large farms and common pastures integrating cereals and fodder. The agro-pastoral irrigated system (AGPI: 20%) is characterized by small-area and forage irrigation (1.8 ha) and a smaller number of ewes but a greater use of animal feed supplementation. The agro-sylvo-pastoral system (AGSP: 25%) is a system where grazing is based on common lands and using tree sub-products, while the agricultural area is exclusively used to cultivate cereal crops. Sheep breeders’ climate perceptions are summarized as unpredictable climate events, a decrease in precipitation, and an increase in temperature. Resilience actions principally consist of reducing flocks’ numbers, using alternative local feed, fodder, and water resources, and building more shelters and planting more trees in the grazing areas. Nevertheless, cost-effectiveness should be considered in such vulnerable zones to insure the sheep production systems’ sustainability. Full article

It is an important issue to explore achieving high accuracy long-term crop classification with limited historical samples. The West Liaohe River Basin (WLRB) serves as a vital agro-pastoral ecotone of Northern China, which experiences significant changes in crop planting structure due to a range of policy. Taking WLRB as a case study, this study constructed multidimensional features for crop classification suitable for Google Earth Engine cloud platform and proposed a method to extract main grain crops using sample augmentation and model migration in case of limited samples. With limited samples in 2017, the method was employed to train and classify crops (maize, soybean, and rice) in other years, and the spatiotemporal changes in the crop planting structure in WLRB from 2014 to 2020 were analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Integrating multidimensional features could discriminate subtle differences, and feature optimization could ensure the accuracy and efficiency of classification. (2) By augmenting the original sample size by calculating the similarity of the time series NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) curves, migrating the random forest model, and reselecting the samples for other years based on the model accuracy scores, it was possible to achieve a high crop classification accuracy with limited samples. (3) The main grain crops in the WLRB were primarily distributed in the northeastern and southern plains with lower elevations. Maize was the most predominant crop type with a wide distribution. The planting area of main grain crops in the WLRB exhibited an increasing trend, and national policies primarily influenced the variations of planting structure in maize and soybean. This study provides a scheme for extracting crop types from limited samples with high accuracy and can be applied for long-term crop monitoring and change analysis to support crop structure adjustment and food security. Full article

Large-scale land use/land cover changes have occurred in Mato Grosso State (hereafter MT), Brazil, following the introduction of extensive mechanized agriculture and pastoral activities since the 1980s. Author investigated what kind of agro-pastoral activities which are both cattle ranching and top five crops (soybean, sugarcane, corn, cotton and rice) that are closely related to land use change on lands experiencing conversion land use change (such as deforestation and the increase in deeply anthropogenically influenced areas) at each municipal district in MT. Then, this study identifies the volume of exports including contribution ratio by municipal districts where land use changed due to agro-pastoral activities. The patterns of vegetation change indicated that cattle ranching, corn, cotton, rice croplands in the northwest, and soybean and sugarcane fields in the central areas are the main contributors to deforestation. It is shown that land use change due to soybean or corn cultivation occurs mainly in the west and the southeast, respectively. Corn cultivation is associated with a greater increase in anthropogenically influenced areas than soybean cultivation. The municipal districts that export each agro-pastoral product with land use change are limited. Exports of soybeans, corn, and cotton in the municipal districts associated with deforestation had increased dramatically after experienced land use change. For example, Sapezal, which has experienced deforestation, was the only municipal district associated with export of corn to only Switzerland. Since 2007, the number of export partners has increased to 56 countries with the export volume increased 2300 times. These findings highlight the overall non-sustainability of environmental resource development activities in MT. Full article

Temporal and spatial variations in land use/land cover (LULC) and their driving factors are direct reflections of regional natural and anthropogenic impacts. To explore the pathways for green upgrading development in ecologically fragile areas, this study focused on Baicheng, located in the northern agropastoral transition zone, China. Based on the topographic map of 1954 and Landsat remote sensing images taken from 1976 to 2020, the spatial distribution of LULC data for the study area in 1954, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2010, and 2020 was obtained. The temporal and spatial characteristics of LULC changes and their driving factors under the combined influence of human activities and climate were analyzed using dynamic degree, flowchart, spatial analysis, and principal component analysis. The results indicate that (1) the dominant LULC type in Baicheng is cropland. By 2020, dry land accounted for over 41% of the total area, while the area of saline–alkaline land increased the most, and grassland decreased most drastically. (2) The dynamic degree of different LULC types ranked from highest to lowest as follows: paddy field > unused land and other types > woodland > saline–alkaline land. (3) LULC Changes in Baicheng were mainly influenced by human activities and economic development, especially regional gross domestic product and the sown area of crops. These research findings can provide a scientific basis for formulating sustainable development and protection strategies to ensure regional green upgrading development. Full article

As part of the ecological barrier and an essential element of food security, the agro-pastoral ecotone is vital in northern China. Since soil fertility in northern China is low due to frequent surface disturbances, it is necessary to improve the properties of the soil. This study aims to examine the impact of fungal residue return on soil properties based on six treatments (CK: 0 kg/40 m²; R3: 90 kg/40 m²; R5: 150 kg/40 m²; R7: 210 kg/40 m²; R9: 270 kg/40 m²; R11: 330 kg/40 m²;) of fungal residue return concentration experimental data from 0 to 30 cm soil depth. The results showed that the effect of fungal residue returning on soil habits was greater at 0–10 cm of the surface layer. The bulk density can be reduced to 25.83% of CK, and water content can be increased up to 26.26%. Adding fungal residue to the field led to a greater increase in soil parameters (SOM and AP), and this characteristic effect continued as the return concentration increased. The number of soil bacteria and actinomycetes remained stable, and the amount of fungi was at its lowest. Compared with CK, the number of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes increased by 1.94 times, 1.46 times, and 1.71 times, respectively. After the residue was returned to the field, AK had the strongest correlation with other factors (p < 0.01), and microorganism and enzyme activities were strongly correlated (p < 0.01). In conclusion, this study presents a new method of resource utilization of downstream wastes in the food industry while simultaneously providing natural, pollution-free improvements to the soil, which is very beneficial to increasing crop yield. Full article