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Advances in Agricultural Systems Modeling
Transdisciplinary Research, Synthesis, and Applications
Volume 9
Lajpat R. Ahuja, Series Editor
Enhancing Agricultural Research and Precision Management for Subsistence Farming by Integrating System Models with Experiments
Dennis J. Timlin, Saseendran S. Anapalli, Editors
Copyright © 2022 American Society of Agronomy, Inc. / Crop Science Society of America, Inc. / Soil Science Society of America, Inc. All rights reserved.
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This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Abdullah Jaradat who passed away in 2020 while the book was being prepared. Dr. Jaradat was an ARS Research Agronomist at the USDA‐Agricultural Research Service‐North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory (Soil’s Lab) in Morris, MN. Dr. Jaradat was recognized nationally and internationally as an authority on biodiversity, genetic resources, salinity, and cropping systems under dryland, irrigated, continental and desert agroecosystems. He was a passionate scientist, curious and eager to learn new tools for managing, manipulating, and analyzing big data. One of the recent tools Dr. Jaradat learned to use were crop models. His interest was to understand constraints to production in the dryland agricultural systems of the Fertile Crescent, one of the birth places of agriculture around the world. The result is an excellent chapter on an assessment of all the factors that affect the productivity of dryland systems in this area and impacts from climate change.
USDA‐ARS Soil Management Research Unit
1 Introduction: System Models Integrated with Experiments Can Be Useful Tools to Develop Improved Management Practices for Subsistence Farming to Address Increased Intensification and Climate Change
Dennis J. Timlin and Saseendran S. Anapalli
Semi‐arid to sub‐humid regions of the world are major producers of food and fiber. Soil, water, and climate resources are becoming major limiting factors for agriculture in these regions, especially in developing countries where subsistence farming is dominant. Driving factors include increased urban and industrial use of land, more frequent droughts, climate warming, and natural limits to precious natural resources. At the same time, there is a need to produce even more food for the growing population, which requires more intensive use of these resources. To obtain the most production from available resources while maintaining environmental quality, we need whole‐system based quantitative knowledge and tools to help select appropriate crops and optimally manage water and associated soil inputs at different locations on a site‐specific basis under variable and changing climate. Site‐specific experimental results are available for limited locations, limited periods of time, and limited management options. Well‐tested, process models of cropping systems can extend field research results to long‐term weather conditions, other climates, and soils (Beah et al., 2021; Falconnier et al., 2020). This will allow us to explore new management options, and thus provide the whole‐system based knowledge and management guides for various locations over variable weather and climate. The contributions to this book present various applications of crop system models to help develop management decision tools to optimize the use of limited water and soil nutrients for subsistence farming (low‐input agriculture) and explore adaptations and mitigations for climate change under a variety of conditions. Subsistence farming generally involves smaller farms and the use of suboptimal amounts of nitrogen, water, and other inputs. The lower inputs require the models to more rigorously account for soil nitrogen–water–temperature interactions than in the cases where adequate amounts of nitrogen and water are applied.
Chapter 2 (Birnholz et al., 2022) covers the use of models to assess sustainable land management practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya. This multi‐faceted study used a whole farm model to investigate impact of farm configurations (such as physiographic location, socio‐economics, and crop and livestock choices) on farm performance. The information from this model was used to evaluate the outcomes of various erosion control practices on farm health and erosion. They found that profitability trade‐offs existed for erosion control
