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GCRF: CEPHaS - Strengthening Capacity in Environmental Physics, Hydrology and Statistics for Conservation Agriculture Research.

GCRF：CEPHaS - 加强保护性农业研究的环境物理、水文学和统计能力。

基本信息

批准号：
NE/P02095X/1
负责人：
Richard Lark
金额：
$ 655.15万
依托单位：
British Geological Survey
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2017 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FP02095X%2F1
关键词：
GCRF CEPHaS Strengthening Capacity Environmental

项目摘要

Two recent El Niño-associated drought seasons in southern Africa have highlighted the vulnerability of agriculture there to climate change. One reason for this is the dependence of much production on the occurrence of sufficient rainfall at the start of the growing season. This is because little water is stored in the soil profile. One strategy for agricultural production, which is attracting a lot of interest in Africa, is "conservation agriculture" (CA). In CA farmers use minimum tillage of the soil and they mulch it with organic materials to reduce water loss. The use of appropriate crop rotations is also key to CA. However, CA cannot be offered as a panacea. Its adoption has different labour demands to those of traditional cultivation, and increased use of herbicides. There may also be competing uses for the mulching materials (animal feed, fuel). Furthermore, the success of CA varies between different soils, and so it may not be universally suitable. The evaluation of CA requires cross-disciplinary input. Part of this must be an evaluation of the extent to which CA can be expected to be more resilient than traditional cultivation under climate change.African members of our established research network run CA trials, some long-term, and engage with policy makers and extension services. They and others have shown that there can be yield benefits from CA, but little is known about how CA affects the behaviour of soil water. In particular, does it improve the soil water supply (and so make production more resilient to delayed rains)? Furthermore, how does CA and its impact on water in the rooting zone affect the recharge of groundwater? There may be synergies if CA improves infiltration of water into the soil, reducing runoff and associated flooding and erosion, but there may also be trade-offs if more water is taken up by plants and does not serve to recharge the groundwater.These gaps in knowlege about CA systems, critical to their full evaluation, arise from gaps in research capacity. This has been identified through critical reflection on CA research by the partnership proposing this project. Core members of the partnership in Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi) and the UK are already engaged together in research on the nutrient status of crops under CA. Collectively we have recognized that the African research centres have uneven experience in the cross-disciplinary science areas that are key to address the questions identified above (soil physics, shallow geophysics, geohydrology and spatial statistics). Partners also lack the equipment and experience needed to undertake observations with modern methods used in soil physics (e.g. in-situ measurement of soil water dynamics). In this project we will undertake learning-centred demonstration trials in all three African countries. At each site existing trials, with CA plots and controls, will be instrumented and sampled so that the fate and behaviour of water under the contrasting systems can be compared. In addition we will undertake statistically designed soil sampling to assess the variability of soils at experimental sites and to support statistical modelling for extrapolation from experimental farms to wider regions. The design of these activities will not reflect a conventional research project but rather will be focussed on capacity strengthening. Planning, execution and publication will be undertaken collaboratively by working groups with staff from all organizations, and the experiences of these groups will be recorded formally to provide a resource for future capacity strengthening at other centres. The activities will be integrated with formal training to develop relevant technical and research skills. The Capacity Research Unit at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are partners and will contribute to development and monitoring of the programme as an exercise in research capacity strengthening.

最近两次发生在南部非洲的厄尔Niño-associated干旱季节凸显了那里的农业对气候变化的脆弱性。造成这种情况的一个原因是，大部分生产依赖于生长季节开始时是否有足够的降雨。这是因为土壤剖面中储存的水很少。农业生产的一个策略是“保护性农业”（CA），这在非洲引起了很大的兴趣。在加州，农民对土壤进行最少的耕作，并用有机材料覆盖土壤以减少水分流失。使用适当的作物轮作也是CA的关键。然而，CA不能作为万灵药提供。与传统种植相比，采用这种种植方式对劳动力的需求有所不同，而且增加了除草剂的使用。覆盖材料（动物饲料、燃料）也可能存在竞争用途。此外，CA的成功在不同的土壤中有所不同，因此它可能不是普遍适用的。CA的评估需要跨学科的投入。这其中的一部分必须是评估在气候变化下，人工种植在多大程度上比传统种植更具弹性。我们已建立的研究网络的非洲成员进行CA试验，其中一些是长期的，并与决策者和推广服务机构接触。他们和其他人已经表明，CA可以带来产量效益，但是对于CA如何影响土壤水的行为知之甚少。特别是，它是否改善了土壤水分供应（从而使生产对延迟降雨更有弹性）？此外，根系区CA及其对水分的影响如何影响地下水补给？如果CA改善了水进入土壤的渗透，减少了径流和相关的洪水和侵蚀，可能会产生协同效应，但如果植物吸收了更多的水，而不能补充地下水，也可能存在权衡。这些关于CA系统的知识差距，对它们的全面评估至关重要，源于研究能力的差距。这是通过提出该项目的合作伙伴对CA研究的批判性反思确定的。非洲伙伴关系的核心成员（赞比亚、津巴布韦和马拉维）和英国已经共同参与了在CA下对作物营养状况的研究。我们共同认识到，非洲研究中心在解决上述问题（土壤物理学、浅层地球物理、地质水文和空间统计）的关键跨学科科学领域的经验参差不一。合作伙伴还缺乏用土壤物理学中使用的现代方法进行观测所需的设备和经验（例如，就地测量土壤水动力学）。在这个项目中，我们将在所有三个非洲国家进行以学习为中心的示范试验。在每个地点，现有的试验，包括CA图和对照，将被测量和取样，以便可以比较不同系统下水的命运和行为。此外，我们将进行统计设计的土壤取样，以评估实验地点土壤的可变性，并支持从实验农场到更广泛地区的外推统计模型。这些活动的设计将不反映一个传统的研究项目，而是侧重于加强能力。规划、执行和出版工作将由工作组与所有组织的工作人员合作进行，这些工作组的经验将正式记录下来，以便为今后加强其他中心的能力提供资源。这些活动将与正式培训结合起来，以发展有关的技术和研究技能。利物浦热带医学院的能力研究单位是合作伙伴，将为该项目的发展和监测作出贡献，作为加强研究能力的一种实践。