Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Ruta 226 km 73,5, cc 276, Balcarce, 7620 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Ruta 226 km 73,5, cc 276, Balcarce, 7620 Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Funes 3350, Mar del Plata, 7600 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 10;950:175218. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175218. Epub 2024 Aug 2.
Ensuring the sustainability and circularity of mixed crop-ruminant livestock systems is essential if they are to deliver on the enhancement of long-term productivity and profitability with a smaller footprint. The objectives of this study were to select indicators in the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability of crop-livestock systems, to assess if these indicators are relevant in the operational schedule of farmers, and to score the indicators in these farm systems. The scoring system was based on relevance to farmers, data availability, frequency of use, and policy. The study was successful in the assemblage of a suite of indicators comprising three dimensions of sustainability and the development of criteria to assess the usefulness of these indicators in crop-ruminant livestock systems in distinct agro-climatic regions across the globe. Except for ammonia emissions, indicators within the Emissions to air theme obtained high scores, as expected from mixed crop-ruminant systems in countries transitioning towards low emission production systems. Despite the inherent association between nutrient losses and water quality, the sum of scores was numerically greater for the former, attributed to a mix of economic and policy incentives. The sum of indicator scores within the Profitability theme (farm net income, expenditure and revenue) received the highest scores in the economic dimension. The Workforce theme (diversity, education, succession) stood out within the social dimension, reflecting the need for an engaged labor force that requires knowledge and skills in both crop and livestock husbandry. The development of surveys with farmers/stakeholders to assess the relevance of farm-scale indicators and tools is important to support direct actions and policies in support of sustainable mixed crop-ruminant livestock farm systems.
如果要提高长期生产力和盈利能力，同时减少足迹，那么确保混合作物-反刍动物畜牧系统的可持续性和循环性至关重要。本研究的目的是在环境、经济和社会可持续性维度中选择作物-畜牧系统的指标，评估这些指标是否与农民的运营计划相关，并对这些农场系统中的指标进行评分。评分系统基于对农民的相关性、数据可用性、使用频率和政策。该研究成功地汇集了一套指标，包括可持续性的三个维度，并制定了评估这些指标在全球不同农业气候区的作物-反刍动物畜牧系统中的有用性的标准。除氨气排放外，空气中排放主题内的指标得分较高，这是向低排放生产系统过渡的国家中混合作物-反刍系统的预期结果。尽管营养物质损失和水质之间存在内在联系，但由于经济和政策激励的混合，前者的得分总和在数值上更大。盈利能力主题内的指标得分总和（农场净收入、支出和收入）在经济维度中得分最高。劳动力主题（多样性、教育、传承）在社会维度中脱颖而出，反映了需要一支有积极性的劳动力，他们需要具备作物和畜牧业管理方面的知识和技能。制定农民/利益相关者调查以评估农场规模指标和工具的相关性对于支持支持可持续混合作物-反刍动物畜牧农场系统的直接行动和政策非常重要。
