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Diverse and resilient agro-pastoral systems: a common goal for the Mediterranean regions

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Title Diverse and resilient agro-pastoral systems: a common goal for the Mediterranean regions
 
Creator Ates, Serkan
 
Contributor Casasus, Isabel
Louhaichi, Mounir
 
Subject crop/livestock farming
dryland forage legumes
mediterranean agriculture
crop-livestock
 
Description The potential of agriculture to maintain or even further intensify production to meet the food and fibre
needs of increasing populations without degrading the capacity of the resource base is a major concern worldwide.
This review briefly assesses options for the ecological intensification and increased resilience in agro-pastoral
systems from the dual perspectives in the southern and the northern Mediterranean by providing examples
of successful case studies. Despite the significant disparities in demographic, economic and agricultural
land utilization patterns between countries in the north and south Mediterranean, improved animal and crop production
is a shared priority with lesser concerns for preserving the natural resources in the southern part of the
basin. While intensification may be a more achievable target in favourable areas of the northern Mediterranean,
it is crucial to increase the resilience of resource poor agro-pastoral systems through sustainable management
in the arid regions of the southern part. As the pressures on land and water resources increase, the major challenge
today is how to achieve ecological intensification to be able to sustain the food security without compromising
the environmental quality and natural resources that underpin crop and livestock production in the
Mediterranean region. Fundamentally, ecological intensification is closely associated with increased efficiency
and successful adjustment of seasonal herd management to available feed resources in agro-pastoral systems.
Concomitantly, livestock can be used as a tool for the preservation of the natural resources, either by adapting
management in conventional systems or through the design of new environmentally-targeted production systems.
In addition, in mixed farming systems of the Mediterranean region, inclusion of locally available improved
forage legumes in cropping rotations and the use of alternative fodder plants like shrubs and cactus in alley
cropping system particularly in marginal areas to increase the availability of high quality feed resources are
among the most viable options to achieve diverse and resilient agro-pastoral systems.
 
Date 2017-01-09T22:29:53Z
2017-01-09T22:29:53Z
 
Type Conference Paper
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/downloadmelspace/hash/TR7Jmnec/v/b6edb32ee4d0092c293708b2cae926b0
Serkan Ates, Isabel Casasus, Mounir Louhaichi. (30/6/2014). Diverse and resilient agro-pastoral systems: a common goal for the Mediterranean regions. Clermont-Ferrand, France.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/5426
Open access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-NC-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes, Istituto Agronomico Mediterraneo Bari (CIHEAM-IAMB)
 
Source Series A: Mediterranean Seminars -Number 109