Improving agroforestry and silvopastoral systems in Latin America by maximising species and genetic diversity of the multipurpose legume Inga

亚马逊和拉丁美洲许多其他地区的热带森林土壤一般营养不良，不适合长期农业使用。通过砍伐和焚烧自然植被而转为农业的土地往往只能保持几年的生产力，因此必须不断推进农业边界，同时伴随着砍伐森林，并造成粮食不安全和贫困的局面。已证明，这些技术对维持和恢复农业景观，包括退化和废弃土地的长期生产力具有巨大影响，非常适合贫穷的农村小农户使用。它们可以通过改善生计和粮食安全以及当地经济提供重大利益。因加是豆科植物的一个多样化属，分布在拉丁美洲的潮湿热带地区。这些快速生长的树木能够从大气中捕获氮，并使周围的土壤肥沃。它们可以生长在贫瘠、退化的土壤中，战胜杂草和入侵物种。一些项目充分证明了包括因加在内的本地树木在农林系统中的价值，种植这些树木是为了给农作物提供一个培育环境，而且这种价值的势头正在增强。然而，这一点尚未得到充分探讨。大多数此类系统都是围绕单一物种的有限遗传资源开发的，Inga edulis，但它在有限的条件范围内表现最佳，其他Inga物种可能会在此范围之外提供同等的利益，如果不是更大的话，这将扩大这些系统可以应用的地理和生态范围。新兴的遗传学技术提供了快速识别物种的潜力，因此，我们可以利用具有相似生态特征的Inga基因型，从而促进快速跟踪合适的候选人进入田间试验，并最终进入更具生产力的景观。该项目将采用最先进的遗传学方法完成对该属的彻底分析，主要侧重于巴西亚马逊地区的物种，确定最适合农林业和林牧系统的物种。重要的是，物种的选择将与利益攸关方和小农协商，以确保所选物种的吸收和使用，从这些物种中有针对性地收集组织标本和种子将支持正在进行的遗传研究，并将用于在马托格罗索州（亚马逊南部）建立控制环境和农林系统的早期田间试验。将对这些进行监测，以评估一系列特征，包括生长速度、生物量和树形，所有这些都是其适用性的重要指标。使用该项目开发的协议进行长期监测，将进一步表明其在这些系统中的潜在价值。该项目将通过英国和巴西科学家之间的合作伙伴关系在巴西交付。它的目的是发展和展示一种方法的有效性，这种方法可以成为改善整个拉丁美洲的农林业和森林畜牧业系统的基础。在该项目的过程中，该团队将在巴西和其他拉丁美洲国家建立一个科学家和从业人员网络，促进该领域进一步研究的发展，并将其研究结果传达给拉丁美洲和英国的一系列学者，农林和林牧系统从业人员以及普通公众。

Tropical forest soils in the Amazon and many other parts of Latin America are generally nutrient-poor and unsuited to long-term agricultural use. Land converted to agriculture by cutting and burning natural vegetation tends to remain productive for only a few years, necessitating continual advance of the agricultural frontier, with accompanying deforestation, and generating situations of food insecurity and poverty.Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems, which incorporate trees into crop and livestock systems, have been shown to make a dramatic impact on the maintenance and restoration of long-term productivity in agricultural landscapes, including degraded and abandoned land, and are well suited to use by poor rural smallholders. They can provide major benefits through enhanced livelihoods and food security, as well as to local economies.Inga is a diverse genus of trees from the legume family, found across the humid tropics of Latin America. These fast-growing trees are able to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and fertilise the soil around them. They can be grown in poor, degraded soils, out-competing weeds and invasive species. The value of native trees, including Inga, within agroforestry systems, where they are planted to provide a nurturing environment for crops, has been amply demonstrated by a number of projects, and is gaining momentum. However, this has been insufficiently explored. Most such systems have been developed around a limited genetic stock of a single species, Inga edulis, yet it performs best under a limited range of conditions and other Inga species are likely to provide equal if not greater benefits outside of this range, which would expand the geographic and ecological scope within which these systems can be applied.Emerging techniques in genetics offer the potential for rapid identification of species and genotypes of Inga with similar ecological characteristics, thus facilitating fast-tracking of appropriate candidates into field trials and ultimately into more productive landscapes. The project will apply state-of-the-art genetic approaches to complete a thorough analysis of the genus, focusing primarily on species in the Brazilian Amazon, identifying the most suitable species for agroforestry and silvo-pastoral systems. Critically, this selection of species will be done in consultation with stakeholders and smallholders, to ensure uptake and use of the selected species.Targeted field collection of tissue specimens and seeds from these species will support ongoing genetic research, and will be used to establish early-stage field trials in Mato Grosso (southern Amazon), both in controlled contexts and in agroforest systems. These will be monitored to assess a range of characters including growth rate, biomass and tree form, all of which are important indicators of their suitability. Longer-term monitoring, using protocols developed by the project, will provide further indication of their potential value within these systems.The project will be delivered in Brazil through collaborative partnerships between UK and Brazilian scientists. It aims to develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of a methodological approach that can form the basis for improved agroforestry and silvopastoral systems across Latin America. In the course of the project, the team will build a network of scientists and practitioners within Brazil and across other Latin American countries, facilitating the development of further research in this field and communicating its findings to a range of academics, practitioners of agroforestry and silvo-pastoral systems and the lay public, in both Latin America and the UK.