Farming Systems Ecology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands; Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de la República del Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad de la República del Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 1;810:152248. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152248. Epub 2021 Dec 10.
Vegetables are commonly produced with high inputs of pesticides and fertilisers to boost production and meet cosmetic market standards. Yet, reports on the relationships between agrochemical inputs and crop productivity are scattered and an overview is missing. We assessed the relationship between pesticide and nutrient inputs and crop productivity for five vegetable crops in the south of Uruguay at field and farm level and explored the relation with farm resource endowment. We analysed crop yield and input use for tomato, onion, sweet potato, and strawberry with a dataset of 82 farms and 428 fields constructed between 2012 and 2017. Clear crop-specific patterns in pesticide and nutrient input levels were found, despite considerable variation across fields within the same crop. Strawberry and long cycle tomato had the greatest pesticide input regarding of the number of applications (20 and 18, respectively) and pesticide load (21 kg AI ha). Cumulative nutrient inputs were greatest for long cycle tomato (1127 kg ha). The relationships between inputs and yield were weak or non-significant, indicating inefficiencies and overuse of inputs, and there was no agronomical rationale for input use. We found substantial variation in management practices between fields and farms. In several cases, 21% of the fields and 17% of the farms producing onion, strawberry and tomato, attained relatively high yield levels with limited input levels. Yield and input use levels were not related to farm resource endowment. Our findings question the efficiency of the current high levels of pesticide and nutrient inputs in Uruguayan vegetable systems. The inputs may pose environmental and human health risks and in most cases did not increase yields. Learning from positive deviant farmers in combination with guided farm redesign, high-quality extension services, and use of context-specific knowledge and technologies may equip farmers to use more sustainable management practices.
蔬菜通常需要大量使用农药和化肥来提高产量，以满足商品市场的标准。然而，关于农药和化肥投入与作物生产力之间关系的报告却分散在各处，缺乏全面的概述。我们在乌拉圭南部地区的田间和农场水平上评估了五种蔬菜作物的农药和养分投入与作物生产力之间的关系，并探讨了与农场资源禀赋的关系。我们分析了 2012 年至 2017 年间 82 个农场和 428 个地块的番茄、洋葱、甘薯和草莓的作物产量和投入使用数据。尽管同一作物的不同地块之间存在很大的差异，但我们发现了不同作物的农药和养分投入水平存在明显的特定作物模式。草莓和长周期番茄的施药次数（分别为 20 次和 18 次）和农药用量（分别为 21 公斤 AI/公顷）最高。长周期番茄的养分投入最高（1127 公斤/公顷）。投入与产量之间的关系较弱或不显著，表明投入效率低下且投入过度，并且投入使用没有农业学依据。我们发现不同地块和农场之间的管理实践存在很大差异。在某些情况下，生产洋葱、草莓和番茄的 21%的地块和 17%的农场，通过有限的投入水平获得了相对较高的产量水平。产量和投入使用水平与农场资源禀赋无关。我们的研究结果对乌拉圭蔬菜系统目前高水平的农药和化肥投入的效率提出了质疑。这些投入可能会对环境和人类健康构成风险，而且在大多数情况下，并没有增加产量。从表现优异的农民身上学习，结合有针对性的农场重新设计、高质量的推广服务以及利用特定背景的知识和技术，可能使农民能够采用更可持续的管理实践。
