What can new research bring to Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture? Dr Adélia de Paula

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1 Competing demands and perceptions of sustainability for the food industry Workshop - University of Birmingham, 4 th July 2017 What can new research bring to Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture? Dr Adélia de Paula

2 The challenges: THE GREEN REVOLUTION Responding to demands for increasing food production The global growth of fertilizer use and cereal production, Source: UNEP 2011

3 There is a pressing need for the 'sustainable intensification' of global agriculture in which yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the cultivation of more land. Priorities for action: Promote sustainable intensification

4 Sustainable Intensification (SI) Sustainable intensification means simultaneously raising yields, increasing the efficiency with which inputs are used and reducing the negative environmental effects of food production. It requires economic and social changes to recognise the multiple outputs required of land managers, farmers and other food producers, and a redirection of research to address a more complex set of goals than just increasing yield. The Future of Food and Farming Challenges and choices for global sustainability

5 Socio-economic Intensification Creating Enabling Environments Building Social Capital Building Human Capital Creating Sustainable Livelihoods Genetic Intensification Higher Yields Improving Nutrition Resilience to Pests and Diseases Resilience to Climate Change Nitrogen Uptake and Fixation Ecological Intensification Intercropping Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Conservation Farming Organic Farming

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8 SI examples from developing countries: Push-Pull technology in Africa

9 Trade-off and short- and long-term gains Rice-fish in Asia

10 SI requires research with more systems orientated approaches: Holistic approach for farming, planning and management connecting resources, production, consumption and investments Research should be participatory (diagnostic, design, evaluation and learning) Should address farmer s priorities, strategies and resource allocation decisions Systems should be delineated by spatial and temporal boundaries Uses systematic investigation to understand interdependence Requires inter-disciplinarity Applies modern technology tools It is depended of data, information and knowledge development of models, scenarios It is also important to provide evidence for agricultural policies

11 Examples from the UK Partners and sub-contractors 4.5M investment

12 Understanding the systems Designing interventions Socio-economic context SIP 1 - Integrated Farm Management for improved economic, environmental and social performance (led by NIAB) Metrics/indicators Integrated Farm Management practices Decision support SIP 2 - Opportunities and risks for farming and the environment at landscape scales (led by University of Exeter) Land typology (capability and risk) Landscape scale interventions Collaborative land management, performance and benchmarking SIP 3 - Markets and drivers (led by ADAS) Resilience of UK farming Income streams Sphere of influence

13 Farmers attitudes and practices adoption of new practices strongly influenced by supply chain (including farm suppliers and advisors) The role of value chain in influencing farming practices costumer-orientated focus to production, good relationship with buyers to secure market and premium price Mechanisms for driving changes to SI practices most effective are those that stimulate long-term changes in beliefs and norms which then influence the behaviours that supports SI

14 Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems ASSIST ( 11 million research programme) Develop a large-scale network of study farms & new sensor networks to undertake hypothesis-driven experimentation Provide data, models, web portal, infrastructure & opportunities to support complementary research programmes & Horizon topics Develop innovative farming systems in collaboration with industry and stakeholders to: Increase efficiency of food production Improve resilience to extreme events Reduce the environmental foot print of agriculture

15 Soil to Nutrition S2N Identify the key processes determining nutrient use efficiency, productivity and resilience across food production systems From soil to landscape, will provide the key mechanistic indicators necessary to direct interventions for sustainable intensification of future farming systems at the field, farm and landscape scales

16 The Sustainable Intensification Research Network (SIRN) SIRN is a community network for UK researchers in agricultural, biological, environmental and social sciences SIRN aims to: achieve better integration of research and resources and looks for innovative approaches to address SI stimulate proposals for innovative, systems-oriented research relevant to SI at the interfaces between disciplines in the biological and environmental and social sciences

17 Leadership team Prof Andy Whitmore Rothamsted Research (Principal Investigator) Prof Sue Hartley University of York Prof Michael Winter University of Exeter Dr Matt Heard Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Dr Adelia de Paula Rothamsted Research (Network Coordinator)

18 Coordination with other research groups and networks and interfaces with funders Achieving Agricultural Sustainable Systems (ASSIST) Soil to Nutrition (Optimising Nutrient Flow) Integration of agricultural, biological, environmental and social sciences Facilitate sharing and coordination of capabilities, resources of expertise Promote, disseminate and connect activities in SI research, and stimulate new ones Encourage links with other related UK and international activities

19 How you can get involved? You can become a member of the network You can subscribe to SIRN newsletter and follow SIRN on social media You can participate in our events and discussion forums For more information:

20 Modern agriculture requires an innovative capacity which goes far beyond the individual farmer, researcher, industrialist, trader or adviser, even beyond the abilities of any one of their organizations or institutions. Paul G. Engel