Gobi agriculture: an innovative farming system that increases energy and water use efficiencies. A review

Abstract

In populated regions/countries with fast economic development, such as Africa, China, and India, arable land is rapidly shrinking due to urban construction and other industrial uses for the land. This creates unprecedented challenges to produce enough food to satisfy the increased food demands. Can the millions of desert-like, non-arable hectares be developed for food production? Can the abundantly available solar energy be used for crop production in controlled environments, such as solar-based greenhouses? Here, we review an innovative cultivation system, namely "Gobi agriculture." We find that the innovative Gobi agriculture system has six unique characteristics: (i) it uses desert-like land resources with solar energy as the only energy source to produce fresh fruit and vegetables year-round, unlike conventional greenhouse production where the energy need is satisfied via burning fossil fuels or electrical consumption; (ii) clusters of individual cultivation units are made using locally available materials such as clay soil for the north walls of the facilities; (iii) land productivity (fresh produce per unit land per year) is 10-27 times higher and crop water use efficiency 20-35 times greater than traditional open-field, irrigated cultivation systems; (iv) crop nutrients are provided mainly via locallymade organic substrates, which reduce synthetic inorganic fertilizer use in crop production; (v) products have a lower environmental footprint than open-field cultivation due to solar energy as the only energy source and high crop yields per unit of input; and (vi) it creates rural employment, which improves the stability of rural communities. While this system has been described as a "Gobi-land miracle" for socioeconomic development, many challenges need to be addressed, such as water constraints, product safety, and ecological implications. We suggest that relevant policies are developed to ensure that the system boosts food production and enhances rural socioeconomics while protecting the fragile ecological environment.

Agro-financing and food production in Nigeria

“…Nigeria relies heavily on importation of food; though, the importation has reduced from 481billion in the second quarter of 2017 to 349.9 billion in the second quarter 2018 (Osabohien et al, 2018a,b;Nevin et al, 2019). However, there is the need to take action in controlling the importation of food, as food import has gradually shown an upward trend, which was shown in the first and second quarters of 2018 (Omondi, 2019;Mota et al, 2019, Alola andAlola, 2019;Xie et al, 2018;Waha et al, 2018). In order to control the importation of food, local food production has to increase, which can be done through improving agricultural financing.…”

Pollen Release Dynamics and Daily Patterns of Pollen-Collecting Activity of Honeybee Apis mellifera and Bumblebee Bombus lantschouensis in Solar Greenhouse

“…In recent years, protected cultivation of vegetables and fruits has been rapidly developing for the highly profitable inter-seasonal harvest in China [20]. The most popular cultivation system in northern China is solar-powered plastic greenhouse [21]. Unlike conventional greenhouses where heating and cooling are usually provided by fossil fuel or electric heaters, this type of cultivation system uses only solar energy for crop production.…”

Assessing the Ecological Carrying Capacity Based on Revised Three-Dimensional Ecological Footprint Model in Inner Mongolia, China

“…This study conducted an empirical study taking the potential productivity of science and technology into account. Gobi-land cultivation systems and rotational grazing systems could be sustainable management tools for IMAR [43,44]. Different farming methods produced different results, particularly in the carbon footprint, besides grain production and soil carbon storage [45].…”