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Long-term evidence for ecological intensification as a pathway to sustainable agriculture

dc.contributor.authorMacLaren, C.
dc.contributor.authorMead, A.
dc.contributor.authorvan Balen, D.
dc.contributor.authorClaessens, L.
dc.contributor.authorEtana, A.
dc.contributor.authorde Haan, J.
dc.contributor.authorHaagsma, W.
dc.contributor.authorJack, O.
dc.contributor.authorKeller, T.
dc.contributor.authorLabuschagne, J.
dc.contributor.authorMyrbeck, A.
dc.contributor.authorNecpalova, M.
dc.contributor.authorNziguheba, G.
dc.contributor.authorSix, J.
dc.contributor.authorStrauss, J.
dc.contributor.authorSwanepoel, P.A.
dc.contributor.authorThierfelder, C.
dc.contributor.authorTopp, C.
dc.contributor.authorTshuma, F.
dc.contributor.authorVerstegen, H.
dc.contributor.authorWalker, R.
dc.contributor.authorWatson, C.
dc.contributor.authorWesselink, M.
dc.contributor.authorStorkey, J.
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-12T08:37:29Z
dc.date.available2022-10-12T08:37:29Z
dc.date.issued2022-09
dc.identifier.citationMacLaren, C., Mead, A., van Balen, D., Claessens, L., Etana, A., de Haan, J., ... & Storkey, J. (2022). Long-term evidence for ecological intensification as a pathway to sustainable agriculture. Nature Sustainability, 5(9), 770-779.
dc.identifier.issn2398-9629
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/7860
dc.description.abstractEcological intensification (EI) could help return agriculture into a ‘safe operating space’ for humanity. Using a novel application of meta-analysis to data from 30 long-term experiments from Europe and Africa (comprising 25,565 yield records), we investigated how field-scale EI practices interact with each other, and with N fertilizer and tillage, in their effects on long-term crop yields. Here we confirmed that EI practices (specifically, increasing crop diversity and adding fertility crops and organic matter) have generally positive effects on the yield of staple crops. However, we show that EI practices have a largely substitutive interaction with N fertilizer, so that EI practices substantially increase yield at low N fertilizer doses but have minimal or no effect on yield at high N fertilizer doses. EI practices had comparable effects across different tillage intensities, and reducing tillage did not strongly affect yields.
dc.description.sponsorshipThirty Percy Foundation
dc.description.sponsorshipLawes Agricultural Trust
dc.description.sponsorshipScottish Government RESAS Strategic Research Programme
dc.description.sponsorshipGlobal Challenge Research Fund
dc.format.extent770-779
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectClimate Smart Agriculture
dc.subjectIntensification
dc.subjectFertilizers
dc.subjectYields
dc.subjectEcological Agriculture
dc.titleLong-term evidence for ecological intensification as a pathway to sustainable agriculture
dc.typeJournal Article
cg.contributor.crpMaize
cg.contributor.affiliationRothamsted Research, United Kingdom
cg.contributor.affiliationStellenbosch University
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University and Research Centre
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture
cg.contributor.affiliationSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences
cg.contributor.affiliationAgroscope, Switzerland
cg.contributor.affiliationWestern Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa
cg.contributor.affiliationResearch Institutes of Sweden
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity College Dublin
cg.contributor.affiliationETH Zürich
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
cg.contributor.affiliationSRUC Edinburgh
cg.coverage.regionACP
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionEast Africa
cg.coverage.regionEurope
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.coverage.regionWest Africa
cg.coverage.countryKenya
cg.coverage.countryMalawi
cg.coverage.countryMozambique
cg.coverage.countryNigeria
cg.coverage.countrySouth Africa
cg.coverage.countrySweden
cg.coverage.countryThe Netherlands
cg.coverage.countryThe United Kingdom
cg.coverage.countryZambia
cg.coverage.countryZimbabwe
cg.coverage.hubEastern Africa Hub
cg.coverage.hubCentral Africa Hub
cg.researchthemeNatural Resource Management
cg.identifier.bibtexciteidMACLAREN:2022a
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country institute
cg.iitasubjectAgronomy
cg.iitasubjectClimate Change
cg.iitasubjectFood Security
cg.iitasubjectNatural Resource Management
cg.iitasubjectSmallholder Farmers
cg.iitasubjectSoil Fertility
cg.journalNature Sustainability
cg.notesOpen Access Article; Published online: 27 Jun 2022
cg.accessibilitystatusOpen Access
cg.reviewstatusPeer Review
cg.usagerightslicenseCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 0.0)
cg.targetaudienceScientists
cg.identifier.doihttps://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00911-x
cg.iitaauthor.identifierLieven Claessens: 0000-0003-2961-8990
cg.iitaauthor.identifierGenerose Nziguheba: 0000-0003-4227-2242
cg.futureupdate.requiredNo
cg.identifier.issue9
cg.identifier.volume5


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