Suchergebnisse

The sustainability of agricultural systems is under scrutiny in many parts of the world. In the European Union farming systems are increasingly subject to legislation aimed at controlling production or the environment. Against this background a wide range of research is being undertaken into new or alternative land use systems. In this paper it is argued that sustainability in effect provides parameters for this process of change. Therefore, one of the roles of researchers is to high light the options for change available to farmers and to suggest to policy makers the likelihood and ways of improving the uptake of desirable farming practices. Examples are drawn from a variety of research being undertaken in Agricultural Systems at the University of Reading. It is concluded that a systems approach must be an integral part of progress towards increasingly sustainable farming practices and to achieve this agricultural universities must maintain a strong systems research and teaching commitment.

Expansion of global population each year at the rate of approximately 90 million more than the current population of The Philippines will also necessitate unprecedented expansion of food production. As there is little room to bring more land under cultivation, almost all of the increase must come from productivity gains. The challenge being faced is much more complex than ever before, as never before have agricultural systems had to respond simultaneously to the triple goals of increasing food security, reducing rural and global poverty, and improving the management of natural resources. As with earlier challenges science is being looked upon to provide the solutions. New kinds of scientific partnerships will be required to respond to this triple challenge. Such partnerships must facilitate strong alliances among the international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), advanced research institutions in both developed and developing countries, and the national agricultural research systems of developing countries. These partnerships must lever the intellectual and material resources of their members, promote coherence and capitalise on synergies. The Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) of the CGIAR is offered as one such partnership model. How this Programme responds to the aforementioned challenges and its use of virtual networks and virtual laboratories to facilitate decentralised management, promote ownership and provide operational effectiveness and efficiencies within global partnerships are discussed in this paper.

The study was conducted to determine whether likely global climatic uncertainty in the future will pose substantive risk to small-scale vegetable producers in Africa, and to consider whether climate change threatens the development and sustainability of improved vegetable horticultural systems in Africa. Annual average air temperature and rainfall totals were assessed over the period 1975-2014 or, where possible, for rainfall for longer periods approaching 100 years; the trends in these data sets were determined through linear regression techniques. Predictions of the likely values of annual average air temperatures in the next 25, 50, 75 and 100 years were made. Considerable variability in trends is reported ranging from extremely fast warming in Tunis, Tunisia contrasting with slight cooling in Bamako, Mali. Annual variability in rainfall was substantive but there were no long-term trends of consequence, even when considered over the last 100 years. Consequently, the sustainability of vegetable production will be threatened mostly by changes in pest (e.g., weeds, insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses) damage to crops in small-scale production systems. A call is made for national governments to give these issues enhanced priority in the distribution of future research and capacity-building resources, as most of these production stressors are under-researched and evident solutions to such problems are not currently available. ; Peer Review