HEИндивидуална стипендия2023–2026

EcoDiv · An ecological framework to advance crop diversification in southern Africa

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2023-03-06 → 2026-06-05
Финансиране от ЕС: 277 291 €
Участници: 2
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Разнообразието от култури в Южна Африка се изследва чрез анализ на различни комбинации от растения и тяхното влияние върху почвата, влагата и вредителите. Това помага за повишаване на продуктивността и устойчивостта на शेите при малките фермери.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

An ecological framework to advance crop diversification in southern Africa

Crop diversification is critical to sustainable agriculture, offering opportunities to utilise positive interactions between different crops to increase productivity and resilience, and minimise the need for economically and environmentally costly agricultural inputs. EcoDiv investigates how ‘option by context’ interaction determines the contribution of crop diversification to food security for smallholder farmers in southern Africa, with a focus on Zambia. EcoDiv has three research objectives: (1) Quantify how the crop production differs among crop configuration options under different environmental conditions. (2) Identify which crop configuration options can best meet different socioeconomic needs in different environments. (3) Investigate whether differences in crop configuration performance are determined by their effects on and interactions within the field microhabitat (temperatures, moisture, soil organic matter and nitrogen, and weed, pest, and disease pressure). In parallel to these research objectives, EcoDiv seeks to develop the career of the lead researcher, Chloe MacLaren, and to establish a collaborative relationship between the EU host, SLU’s Department of Crop Production Ecology, and the outgoing host, CIMMYT Zimbabwe. EcoDiv collaborates with the larger project ‘Sustainable Intensification for Smallholder Farmers in Zambia’ (SIFAZ) led by CIMMYT, FAO and Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture. EcoDiv’s societal impacts are realised through its contributions to future research, extension and policy activities undertaken by these organisations.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Crop diversification offers substantial potential benefits for smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Positive interactions between diverse crops can lead to higher and more stable yields, more nutritious diets, better economic returns, and lower agrichemical use. However, choosing the right diversification option to realise these benefits is challenging. Interactions between crops can be negative as well as positive, and it is not yet well understood which features of different crop combinations and their environments determine their overall performance.EcoDiv will address this knowledge gap by undertaking an ambitious analysis of large datasets from agricultural field experiments across Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Specifically, EcoDiv will 1) quantify the relationships between crop combination productivity and crop traits under different environmental conditions, 2) explore which characteristics of crop combinations are important to meet different socioeconomic needs, and 3) investigate whether the effects of crop combinations on microhabitat conditions explain their performance. This research will produce an ecological framework for crop diversification in southern Africa: an understanding of the key interactions between crop traits and environmental conditions that predict the performance of different crop combinations in different contexts.To achieve EcoDivs objectives, Dr Chloe MacLaren (the research fellow) will work with interdisciplinary and international research teams at two host institutes, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT). EcoDiv will advance Dr MacLarens career by developing the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to achieve leading research positions in ecology for agricultural development. Both hosts will benefit from transfer-of-knowledge in new statistical methods, and from strengthened collaboration around shared research goals in sub-Saharan Africa.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

SVERIGES LANTBRUKSUNIVERSITET · UppsalaКоординаторШвеция
CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MEJORAMIENTO DE MAIZ Y TRIGO INT · Estado De MexicoМексико