TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable and Profitable Farming in Europe
AU - Hessel, Rudi
AU - Wyseure, Guido
AU - Panagea, Ioanna S.
AU - Alaoui, Abdallah
AU - Reed, Mark S.
AU - van Delden, Hedwig
AU - Muro, Melanie
AU - Mills, Jane
AU - Oenema, Oene
AU - Areal, Francisco
AU - van den Elsen, Erik
AU - Verzandvoort, Simone
AU - Assinck, Falentijn
AU - Elsen, Annemie
AU - Lipiec, Jerzy
AU - Koutroulis, Aristeidis
AU - O’Sullivan, Lilian
AU - Bolinder, Martin A.
AU - Fleskens, Luuk
AU - Kandeler, Ellen
AU - Montanarella, Luca
AU - Heinen, Marius
AU - Toth, Zoltan
AU - Hallama, Moritz
AU - Cuevas, Julián
AU - Baartman, Jantiene E. M.
AU - Piccoli, Ilaria
AU - Dalgaard, Tommy
AU - Stolte, Jannes
AU - Black, Jasmine E.
AU - Chivers, Charlotte-Anne
PY - 2022/5/25
Y1 - 2022/5/25
N2 - Soils form the basis for agricultural production and other ecosystem services, and soil management should aim at improving their quality and resilience. Within the SoilCare project, the concept of soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) was developed as a holistic approach to facilitate the adoption of soil management that is sustainable and profitable. SICS selected with stakeholders were monitored and evaluated for environmental, sociocultural, and economic effects to determine profitability and sustainability. Monitoring results were upscaled to European level using modelling and Europe-wide data, and a mapping tool was developed to assist in selection of appropriate SICS across Europe. Furthermore, biophysical, sociocultural, economic, and policy reasons for (non)adoption were studied. Results at the plot/farm scale showed a small positive impact of SICS on environment and soil, no effect on sustainability, and small negative impacts on economic and sociocultural dimensions. Modelling showed that different SICS had different impacts across Europe—indicating the importance of understanding local dynamics in Europe-wide assessments. Work on adoption of SICS confirmed the role economic considerations play in the uptake of SICS, but also highlighted social factors such as trust. The project’s results underlined the need for policies that support and enable a transition to more sustainable agricultural practices in a coherent way.
AB - Soils form the basis for agricultural production and other ecosystem services, and soil management should aim at improving their quality and resilience. Within the SoilCare project, the concept of soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) was developed as a holistic approach to facilitate the adoption of soil management that is sustainable and profitable. SICS selected with stakeholders were monitored and evaluated for environmental, sociocultural, and economic effects to determine profitability and sustainability. Monitoring results were upscaled to European level using modelling and Europe-wide data, and a mapping tool was developed to assist in selection of appropriate SICS across Europe. Furthermore, biophysical, sociocultural, economic, and policy reasons for (non)adoption were studied. Results at the plot/farm scale showed a small positive impact of SICS on environment and soil, no effect on sustainability, and small negative impacts on economic and sociocultural dimensions. Modelling showed that different SICS had different impacts across Europe—indicating the importance of understanding local dynamics in Europe-wide assessments. Work on adoption of SICS confirmed the role economic considerations play in the uptake of SICS, but also highlighted social factors such as trust. The project’s results underlined the need for policies that support and enable a transition to more sustainable agricultural practices in a coherent way.
KW - soil quality
KW - sustainable soil management
KW - adoption
KW - crop management
KW - environmental dimension
KW - sociocultural dimension
KW - economic dimension
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130741280&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/land11060780
DO - 10.3390/land11060780
M3 - Article
SN - 2073-445X
VL - 11
SP - e780
JO - Land
JF - Land
IS - 6
M1 - 780
ER -
