Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
Volume 159, Issue -, Pages 283-290Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.08.011
Keywords
Nature-based solutions; Crop suitability; Scaling; Perennial grains; Remote sensing
Funding
- Perennial Grain Crops for African Smallholder Farming Systems project - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1076311]
- United States Agency for International Development [AID-OAA-A-13-00006]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1076311] Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Modem plant breeding tends to focus on maximizing yield, with one of the most ubiquitous implementations being shorter-duration crop varieties. It is indisputable that these breeding efforts have resulted in greater yields in ideal circumstances; however, many fanned locations across Africa suffer from one or more conditions that limit the efficacy of modem short-duration hybrids. In view of global change and increased necessity for intensification, perennial grains and long-duration varieties offer a nature-based solution for improving farm productivity and smallholder livelihoods in suboptimal agricultural areas. Specific conditions where perennial grains should be considered include locations where biophysical and social constraints reduce agricultural system efficiency, and where conditions are optimal for crop growth. Using a time-series of remotely-sensed data, we locate the marginal agricultural lands of Africa, identifying suboptimal temperature and precipitation conditions for the dominant crop, i.e., maize, as well as optimal climate conditions for two perennial grains, pigeonpea and sorghum. We propose that perennial grains offer a lower impact, sustainable nature-based solution to this subset of climatic drivers of marginality. Using spatial analytic methods and satellite-derived climate information, we demonstrate the scalability of perennial pigeonpea and sorghum across Africa. As a nature-based solution, we argue that perennial grains offer smallholder fanners of marginal lands a sustainable solution for enhancing resilience and minimizing risk in confronting global change, while mitigating social and edaphic drivers of low and variable production.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available