Scope for improved eco-efficiency varies among diverse cropping systems

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 110; no. 21; pp. 8381 - 8386
• Main Authors: Carberry, Peter S., Liang, Wei-li, Twomlow, Stephen, Holzworth, Dean P., Dimes, John P., McClelland, Tim, Huth, Neil I., Chen, Fu, Hochman, Zvi, Keating, Brian A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 21.05.2013; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT SPECIAL FEATURE; Agricultural production; Agriculture - economics; Agriculture - methods; Australia; Biological Sciences; Cereal crops; China; Commercial farms; Corn; Crop economics; Crop management; Crop production; Crop science; Crop yield; Cropping systems; Crops; Crops, Agricultural - economics; Crops, Agricultural - growth & development; double cropping; eco-efficiency; Ecosystem; emissions; Environmental risk; Farmers; fertilizers; Fertilizers - economics; Food crops; Food security; Food supply; Food Supply - economics; Food Supply - methods; foods; Grain; grain yield; Grains; International comparisons; irrigation; Irrigation systems; natural fibers; nitrates; nitrogen; Nitrous Oxide; Rainfed farming; Resource efficiency; risk; Risk assessment; Soil profiles; Sustainable agriculture; Wheat; Zimbabwe; Australia; Zimbabwe; China; APSIM; nitrogen fertilizer; yield gap; greenhouse gas; potential yield

Global food security requires eco-efficient agriculture to produce the required food and fiber products concomitant with ecologically efficient use of resources. This eco-efficiency concept is used to diagnose the state of agricultural production in China (irrigated wheat–maize double-cropping syste...