介绍多国生态农业实践的一本新著作

本文简要介绍了2017年由Alexander Wezel主编的生态农业专著《Agroecological Practices for Sustainable Agriculture:Principles,Applications and Making the Transition》的主要内容,着重指出了值得我国生态农业建设重视的新思路和新方法。文章还对本著作的主要优点和存在问题进行了评价。     

Diversity of methodologies to experiment Integrated Pest Management in arable cropping systems: Analysis and reflections based on a European network

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to promote physical and biological regulation strategies that help farmers contain populations of pests (pathogens, animal pests and weeds) and to finally reduce the reliance on pesticides. It is based on the holistic combination of multiple management measures rather than on the sum of single methods, each of them having only small effects on pests reduction. Thus, to analyse the interactions between IPM measures and to evaluate the sustainability of their implementation, we require an approach considering the whole cropping system (CS), i.e. a functional entity whose complexity is more than the sum of its parts. A network of European experiments at the CS level was set up recently, and aimed at sharing data and expertise to enhance knowledge of IPM. Comparison of existing methodologies highlighted a diversity of CS designs and experimental layouts. We deduced that the concept of CS itself was viewed differently among scientists, and this affected experimental protocols. Other differences were related to the research context and objectives. Some experiments aimed to explore very innovative strategies and generated knowledge on both their effects on the agroecosystem and their ability to satisfy a set of performance targets, while others aimed to provide quickly adoptable solutions for local farmers in line with the current socio-economic constraints. In some research programmes, the experiment was part of the CS design process — and tested CS were regularly revised based on an continuous improvement loop — while in other cases CS were kept stable across years so as to enable the evaluation of their long-term cumulative effects. A critical aspect contributing to the diversity among CS experiments was the distinction between a factorial design of experimental CS and systemic approaches: factorial experiments allowed quantification of the effects of each IPM component regardless of the consistency between components defining the CS. In contrast, systemic approaches focused on the overall evaluation of CS designed with consideration of their consistency, hence maximising their ability to meet the objectives. Because CS experiments represent a huge investment in terms of economics and time, preliminary reflections of the relevance of the experimental strategy is of critical importance.     

Research and Extension Supporting Ecologically Based IPM Systems

Summary

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has a long history of developing pest management strategies based on ecological principles. While IPM systems differ in their reliance on chemical controls, an ecological approach to IPM offers opportunities both to test ecological theory and to develop novel pest management techniques. We review ecological concepts relevant to habitat management as a tool for managing pest and natural enemy populations in annual cropping systems, and we describe a case study of the impacts of habitat management on predatory ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in annual cropping systems. Experimental manipulation of carabid population density revealed a positive relationship between the abundance of carabids in cropland and prey removal. Provision of stable refuge habitats in annual crops increased carabid species richness and abundance. Further studies demonstrated that the presence of refuge habitats mitigated the impacts of insecticide disturbance on carabid abundance and community structure in adjacent cropland. These results were used as part of a program to educate extension agents and producers in the principles of agroecology and ecologically based pest management. We encourage extension agents and producers to test novel practices using adaptive management. In this approach, predictions are formulated regarding specific management practices and evaluated against the results. Based on these observations, management is then adapted to yield the desired outcome. Such an approach recognizes the inherent uncertainty of multifactor ecological manipulation while providing producers with methods to manage this uncertainty.     

为了中国农业之崛起--黄秉维农业地理学与农业生态学学术思想研究

本文概略地论述了黄秉维农业地理学和农业生态学学术思想的渊源、内涵及方法论特征。认为黄秉维继承和发展了传统地理学与发展中的生态学等领域的有关理论，汲取了相关科学的精髓而深化了认识，并结合中国国情与农业生产实践，致力于将科学理论转化为农业生产力，取得了多方面的建树和良好的效益。他的农业地理学与农业生态学学术思想卓识将引导着未来的农业地理学与农业生态学研究。     

系统论、信息论和控制论与我国农业生态学的发展

我国构建农业生态学的学科体系中,不仅把生态系统生态学作为其学科基础,而且把系统论、信息论和控制论同样作为其重要的学科基础。因此,在我国的农业生态学的学科体系中不仅像国外的农业生态学学科体系那样重视包括物种、种群、群落、生态系统和景观层次的农业生态系统的能流物流结构和相互关系;而且还十分重视系统的信息流和资金流,包括自然信息流,以及人们主动收集、传输和利用的人工信息流,劳动所体现的价值流,及其以货币形式反映出来的资金流。我国的农业生态学不仅像国际上农业生态学体系那样很重视包括生产者、消费者和分解者在内的农业生态系统的能流和物流转换结构,而且十分重视农业生态系统的调节与控制机制,包括自然调控机制和人为调控机制,其中人为调控机制又包括了如农业经营者在种植业与养殖业中各种操作所代表的人为直接调控,也包括如市场需求、政府政策、国家法律、社会习俗、教育宣传、信息传播等能够影响农业经营者行为的人为间接调控。在系统论、信息论和控制论基础上构建的农业生态学体系有利于更好地深入剖析我国优秀的传统农业实践,启迪农业生态学相关的基础研究和应用研究,开拓信息时代农业生态转型的创新途径。     

Growing media for horticultural bedding plants yield under agriculture organic systems

The aim of this experiment was to test on-farm growing after composting the mixture of following legume plants Crotalaria juncea, Cajanus cajan, Mucuna aterrima with the grass Sorghum bicolor. The treatments were compared to commercial growing medium (CGM) and CGM+NPK to produce bedding plants of lettuce, broccoli, kale, and cabbage. The nutrient contents in CGM and CGM+NPK were higher than the values found in the mixture of the legumes plants with the grass. The pH was higher in the growing media from legume plants as well as the electrical conductivity in the combination CroSor and CajSor. The water retention capacity was higher in the treatments MucSor and CGM. The chemical attributes indicated that CroSor, CajSor, MucSor and CGM+NPK were better than CGM. The growing media from the mixture of legume with grass are an affordable alternative to produce bedding plants of lettuce, broccoli, kale and cabbage under organic agriculture system.     

生态农业和有机农业的创新

现代农业系统在明显提高产量、保证粮食安全的同时,也对人类健康和地球的可持续性产生了影响。在持续不断的严重环境破坏和自然资源毁坏的背景下,建立可持续的农业生产方式至关重要。生态农业和有机农业是减少生态可持续性和生产力及社会可持续之间权衡关系的重要方法。这两种农业方法都属生态集约化范畴,均具有减少环境污染的巨大潜力;然而,生态农业和有机农业常导致产量降低。虽然产量降低带来的损失可以通过改变人们的饮食习惯来弥补（如减少食物浪费、减少食用精饲料喂养的肉类）,但是,由于全球的发展趋势与之相反,因此本文探讨了通过科学研究寻求新的解决方案前景来提高低投入农业系统作物产量的可能性。为权衡生产力与可持续发展的关系,使生态农业和有机农业有助于粮食安全,我们对未来研究提出5点建议：1）农场和田地的景观设计与复合种植模式、2）数字化技术的应用、3）以农田低投入为目标的作物育种、4）农业废弃物的高质量循环利用和5）非化学作物保护。     

Agroecological principles for the redesign of integrated crop–livestock systems

Combining crops and livestock within integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) represents an opportunity to improve the sustainability of farming systems. The objective of this paper is to analyse how agroecological principles can help farmers to redesign and improve the resilience, self-sufficiency, productivity, and efficiency of ICLS. Relying on case studies from Brazil and France, we examine how the transformation of two conventional, specialised systems into more integrated-production systems illustrates the different dynamics towards agroecological ICLS. The French case study, based on self-sufficient farming systems belonging to a sustainable agriculture network, highlights that cost-cutting management led to a win–win strategy comprising good economic and environmental performances. The farms decreased their dependence on external inputs and had only a limited loss of production. The past trajectories of the farms illustrate how increasing the interactions between subsystems improved the self-sufficiency and efficiency of the farms. The Brazilian case study compares slash-and-burn agriculture in the Amazonian region with the recovery of degraded grazing area by ICLS. A small increase in chemical inputs linked to a diversification of productions led to a large increase in production and a large decrease in environmental impacts (deforestation). The Brazilian case study also illustrates how the diversification of production increased the resilience of the system to market shocks. Reconstructing the links among soil, crops, and animals following agroecological principles could improve the different performances of ICLS. New agroecological ICLS, benefiting from diversified productions and increased interactions between subsystems, are likely to offset the trade-off between agricultural production and environmental impacts observed in current ICLS.     

The greening of the “barrios”: Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba

Urban agriculture in Cuba has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce for the urban and suburban populations. A large number of urban gardens in Havana and other major cities have emerged as a grassroots movement in response to the crisis brought about by the loss of trade, with the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. These gardens are helping to stabilize the supply of fresh produce to Cuba's urban centers. During 1996, Havana's urban farms provided the city's urban population with 8,500 tons of agricultural produce, 4 million dozens of flowers, 7.5 million eggs, and 3,650 tons of meat. This system of urban agriculture, composed of about 8,000 gardens nationwide has been developed and managed along agroecological principles, which eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, emphasizing diversification, recycling, and the use of local resources. This article explores the systems utilized by Cuba's urban farmers, and the impact that this movement has had on Cuban food security.     

生态农业确认体系的构建

构建操作性强的生态农业确认体系是推动生态农业被广泛认可和广泛推广的重要一步,是政府制定支撑政策和建立生态农产品市场的重要前提。结合国内外的一些经验,文章提出了我国确认生态农业需要遵循资源匹配、生态保育、环境友好、食品安全的底线原则。实现生态农业的方法应当有广泛的包容性,可以从传统农业、民间实践、科研成果、高新技术中筛选吸纳、组装配套。在制定生态农业可操作性指标体系时,一方面需要全国统一的生态农业确认原则,另一方面操作性强的生态农业指标体系需要结合各个地方的特点有针对性选定。在具体指标确定方面,应当注意到不同自然与社会背景下,在理解生态农业的经营规模、经营主体、采用方法、产生效益、社会改革等方面存在的差异,根据区域的关键瓶颈问题,解决这些瓶颈问题的关键措施,以及解决了瓶颈问题以后所表现的关键状态,酌情制定。在生态农业的确认手续上,应当充分利用诚信体系和信息技术,充分理解第三方认证和参与式保障体系的优点和缺点,取长补短,综合运用,有利于简化手续,加强可操作性,以便加速生态农业的确认,加快生态农产品市场的发育与政府支撑政策的完善。