Strategies to Reduce Inorganic Fertilizer Inputs in Crop Production through Integrated Crop-livestock Systems

Integrated crop-livestock farming systems

a substantial global increase in the demand for food of animal origin, while also aggravating the competition between crops and livestock (increasing cropping areas and reducing rangelands). The livestock revolution 1 is stretching the capacity of existing production, but it is also exacerbating environmental problems. Therefore, while it is necessary to satisfy consumer demand, improve nutriti...

Crop and cattle responses to tillage systems for integrated crop–livestock production in the Southern Piedmont, USA

Integration of crops and livestock has the potential to provide a multitude of benefits to soil and water conservation and nutrient cycling efficiency, while reducing economic risk and increasing profitability. We conducted a field study from May 2002 to October 2005 to determine crop and cattle responses to three management factors on a Typic Kanhapludult in Georgia, USA. Summer grain/winter c...

Potential for biological nitrification inhibition to reduce nitrification and N2O emissions in pasture crop-livestock systems.

Agriculture and livestock production systems are two major emitters of greenhouse gases. Methane with a GWP (global warming potential) of 21, and nitrous oxide (N2O) with a GWP of 300, are largely emitted from animal production agriculture, where livestock production is based on pasture and feed grains. The principal biological processes involved in N2O emissions are nitrification and denitrifi...

An Integrated Systems Approach to Crop Improvement

Progress in crop improvement is limited by the ability to identify favourable combinations of genotypes (G) and management practices (M) given the resources available to search among possible combinations in the target population of environments (E). Crop improvement can be viewed as a search strategy on a complex G×M×E adaptation or fitness landscape. Here we consider design of an integrated s...

Crop - Livestock Interactions