Industrial coffee plantations are warming our climate because too much fertilisers are applied. Capa et al. tested coffee cropping using various amounts of fertilisers. They found that cutting by half the fertiliser amounts is still economically and environmentally sustainable.
Weeds increase bees and crop yields, yes they can!
Industrial agriculture is killing bees and other pollinators, thus paradoxically threatening future crop production because 35% of world crops need pollination. In the USA honeybees have declined by 59 % in 61 years, and weed diversity by 50 % in 70 years. Bretagnolle and Gaba report the unexpected benefits of weeds for bees and crop production.
Transplastomic plants for sustainable agriculture
Agriculture is actually facing major issues such as climate change, overpopulation, decreasing soil fertility, droughts and pests. There is therefore a need for new plants that tolerate novel stresses and contain higher minerals and vitamins. Wani et al. review the advantages and potential applications of plants modifed in their plastid genome, as an alternative to common genetically modified plants, that are plants modified in their nuclear genome. Biosafety issues and public concerns are discussed.
Building ecological agriculture
Agroecology is a novel concept that proposes the use of ecological tools and practices to replace actual harzardous farm management such as spraying toxic pesticides and degrading soil quality. However, this is actually little knowledge on which and how ecological processes should be used to improve farming. A review of agroecological and management sciences by Duru et al. provides tools to develop biodiversity-friendly agriculture.
Flaws of agricultural assistance to developping countries
Food security is an urgent matter, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many organisations are providing agricultural help to improve farming in poor nations. While such help is usually considered beneficial, unexpected negative consequences are possible. Scientists Schindler et al. analysed how agricultural assistance is planned by organisations. They found that methods used to plan agricultural assistance do not agree with the theory of sustainability.
Organic maize pest drawn to a sex trap like a moth to a flame
The fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda is the larval life stage of a moth. This worm is a pest that can wreak havoc with crops if left to multiply. Biocontrol methods are currently developped to avoid the use of toxic pesticides. Agronomists Figueiredo et al. show that the yield of organic maize can be increased by 19% using the wasp Trichogramma pretiosum and a pheromone sex trap.
An app for farmers to decrease pesticide application
The overuse of pesticides leads to contamination of water and food. Therefore there is a need for tools to reduce pesticide applications. Agronomists Nansen et al. present SnapCard, a free computer app that allow farmers to optimise spray coverage, reduce spray drift, and minimize the risk of resistance development in target pest populations.
Advanced tools to design agricultural landscapes to meet food demand
Producing more food with less land is a serious issue. Indeed the world agricultural area, which amounts to about 46% of earth surface, is actually decreasing whereas global food demand is projected to increase up to 70% in 2050. Therefore there is a need for a better optimisation of agricultural land. Agronomists Memmah et al. review 38 case studies that optimise agricultural landscape in 16 countries using using metaheuristics algorithms.
Do not ditch birds
For higher yields industrial agriculture has been removing all landscape diversity such as ditches and hedges, which has led in the long run to many adverse impacts such as loss of plant and animal diversity, soil erosion, water pollution, and, paradoxically, loss of plant nutrients. Agronomists Dollinger et al. review the major ecosystem services provided by ditches, e.g. flood regulation, water purification, pesticide retention and wildlife conservation. A striking example is that the occurrence of ditches can double the number of bird species in crop fields.
The roots of free fertilisation
Nitrogen (N) is a major element that plant need for growth. Legumes are nitrogen-rich plants that are named ‘green fertilisers’ because legume residues enrich the soil in nitrogen after plant death. This fertilising effect is actually assessed by measuring shoot N concentrations, which does not take into account root contribution. Agronomists Carranca et al. indeed found that roots contain 7 – 11% of total legume N. The power of legumes as fertilisers for the next crop is thus underestimated.
