Soil organic carbon (SOC) depletion is a global issue linked to land use changes, climate, and management practices. Poplar plantations (PP), widely grown in the Mediterranean for plywood and bioenergy, have potential for carbon capture, but their impact on SOC and climate change mitigation is understudied. This research evaluated the effect of PP on SOC stocks in arable soils in Northern Italy by analyzing 15 sites across six farms, comparing PP with cropland (CR) and polycyclic plantations (PC). SOC stocks were assessed at 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm depths using a paired comparison and a spatial survey of 30-year-old plantations.
Results showed that PP generally maintains higher SOC stocks than cropland, with significant variations in half of the cases. SOC sequestration rates were 0.09 and 0.32 Mg C ha−1 year−1 for 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm depths, respectively, with a mean rate of 0.75 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Initial carbon loss occurred in the first 1–5 years. PC showed even greater SOC stocks, suggesting its potential for climate change mitigation. The study also identified the need for further research on the effects of fertilization and deep-soil tillage on SOC, along with improvements in supply chain sustainability for PP farmers.
Find the deliverables and special issues published following the conferences organised on the theme of mixed crop-livestock farming systems and territorial crop-livestock interactions:
- conference in Poitiers 2012 and Innovations Agronomiques Journal, volume 22 (2012),
- conference in Toulouse 2013 and Innovations Agronomiques Journal, volume 39 (2014),
- conference in Dijon 2017 and Innovations Agronomiques Journal, volume 72 (2019) and Fourrages Journal n°235 (2020),
- conference in Poitiers 2019 and Innovations Agronomiques Journal, volume 80 (2020),
- conference in Montpellier 2024: presentations and abstracts
Pollock, ML., & Holland, JP. (2024). Climate ready farming: integrating livestock and trees. Reforesting Scotland,
Spring/Summer(69), 8-10. https://pure.sruc.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/89760826/RS69-Climate-ready-farming.pdf
Adding trees to agricultural systems adds resilience but benefits may take time, explain Meg Pollock and John Holland.
Recent years have seen drastic changes in the structure of Polish agriculture. More than one million farms have disappeared and the main production focus has changed. The share of farms with animal production and mixed production has decreased significantly. Livestock-free farms now dominate, accounting for more than half of all farms in Poland. This is due to the low profitability of animal husbandry in agriculture and the high labour input. Livestock production has withdrawn particularly from small farms. The consequence of this process is a decrease in the organic matter content of soils, a negative balance of plant nutrients and a reduction in crop diversity with a pronounced dominance of cereals. Non-livestock farms are attempting to compensate by growing intercrops and leaving crop residues in the field. However, domesticated animals were also important in the use of perennial forage crops and permanent grassland important for CO2 sequestration.
Due to the intensification of agriculture and transition to monoculture plantations, vast areas of native woodland have been lost from the Irish landscape. As these trees gradually vanished from agricultural land, the use of traditional, ancient agroforestry practices dwindled. Currently, forestry cover in Ireland is 25% lower than the European average, with the rate of afforestation remaining critically low. Agroforestry has been cited as a means to increase forestry cover in Ireland while continuing to produce viable high quality agricultural products on the same parcel of land. However, even with a range of afforestation schemes available, farmers exhibit an evident reluctance to adopt agroforestry. This research aimed to examine the main attitudes and perceptions of Irish dairy and drystock farmers to planting trees on their land and adopting agroforestry practices. The majority of farmers included within the dataset exhibited a positive attitude towards trees on their farms, with the main negative behavioural beliefs relating to impacts on pasture. Family and Teagasc (The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) are the highest cited influential bodies while the majority of farmers exhibit high perceived behavioural control. Intention rates to plant trees are high, albeit mainly on marginal areas of the farm. Agroforestry knowledge is low in Ireland with the word itself eliciting negative responses amongst the farming community. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the main attitudes, influential bodies and barriers that affect agroforestry uptake in Ireland.
The article shortly describes the main types of agro-forestry, and provide some example through European cases of the species and productivity in agro-forestry systems.
Management structures of agro-forestry was published in “Agro-Erdészeti Jegyzetek” Nr. 3, 2006. Szeptember issue edited by the “Dunántúli Mezőgazdasági Szaktanácsadók Szövetsége” (http://www.pkkft.axelero.net/nvt/cikkek.htm)
It can be found on Academia.edu platform:
https://www.academia.edu/18230843/Az_agroerd_gazdlkods_termelsi_rendszerei?email_work_card=view-paper
This paper summarises a review of literature on the sustainability of a specific mixed farming system i.e. the integration of laying hens into organic agricultural systems. The major findings are:
1) the integrated system contributes to the reduction of inputs (less feed and fertilizers) and a diversified production;
2) it supports ecosystem services shaping the landscape toward biodiversity and contributing to a healthier environment;
and 3) it improves farmers’ livelihood, especially in developing countries.
The authors suggest that its benefits will be increased by using mobile systems to ensure a better distribution of manure and in synchronization with canopy cover species, such as fruit and forest trees.
Climate and management effects on the herbaceous layer productivity of a cork oak woodland by M. C. Bicho, A. C. Correia, A. R. Rodrigues, J. Soares David & F. Costa-e-Silva. Agroforestry Systems volume 96, pages 315–327 (2022)
This paper reports on research carried out in a certified cork oak ecosystem with a moderate tree density in central Portugal. Eight years of data on meteorological variables and herbaceous biomass productivity were analysed to investigate how understorey herbaceous biomass is affected by inter annual and seasonal climate variability. Key findings were:
1) Herbaceous biomass productivity was on average 8 times higher in an understorey of improved pasture, grazed by cattle, than in the natural vegetation understorey, most likely due to the positive effects of the initial fertilization and the legume rich seed composition which increased N soil availability.
2) The main climatic driver explaining the biomass productivity was the cumulative precipitation from February to May.
3) The proportion of grasses increased in response to drought with a pronounce decrease in legumes, regardless of the management system.
4) The natural vegetation understorey system was more resilient to drought compared to the improved pasture understorey, suggesting a need to better understand the role and contribution of each native species to resistance, resilience and recovery to drought in order to improve future forage mixtures.
The authors conclude that these results may support better management decisions by forest producers which are mostly based on empirical procedures and might provide some directions for further studies.
The very actual topic by Kovács Klaudia, Vityi Andrea and Szalay Dóra was published in 2019 in the journal “Actual social and economic processes” in Hungarian about agroforestry potentials in satisfying wood demands and embed to forestry practices.
Abstract:
"The growing demand for wood has put growing pressure on forest management. The useof agroforestry practices can also play a significant role in the future by improving the quantitativeand qualitative parameters of dendromass yields from wooded areas. Intermediate cultivation in foreststands is a traditional practice in the Carpathian Basin. Domestic experiences and test results confirmthe positive effect of this practice on the soil microclimate and on the growth parameters of the treestands, which can significantly affect the success of forest regeneration. At the same time, by utilizingthe free space for other purposes (fodder production, ecosystem services), renovation is coupled withresource efficiency and economic benefits."
In response to worsening wildfires in the Mediterranean as a result of climate change, this study investigates the impact of sheep grazing on silvopastoral land in Spain. The goal of this study was to quantify and clarify the effect of fuelbreak grazing on ground cover and growth of holm oak saplings. The paper also reports on how the grazing impacted herbage biomass and species composition. The data was collected over the course of three consecutive years, which allowed the researchers to observe the impact of climatic changes on grazing.
