Responsible agriculture must adapt to the wetland character of mid‐latitude peatlands

Abstract

Drained, lowland agricultural peatlands are greenhouse gas (GHG) emission hotspots and a large but vulnerable store of irrecoverable carbon. They exhibit soil loss rates of ~2.0 cm yr−1 and are estimated to account for 32% of global cropland emissions while producing only 1.1% of crop kilocalories. Carbon dioxide emissions account for >80% of their terrestrial GHG emissions and are largely controlled by water table depth. Reducing drainage depths is, therefore, essential for responsible peatland management. Peatland restoration can substantially reduce emissions. However, this may conflict with societal needs to maintain productive use, to protect food security and livelihoods. Wetland agriculture strategies will, therefore, be required to adapt agriculture to the wetland character of peatlands, and balance GHG mitigation against productivity, where halting emissions is not immediately possible. Paludiculture may substantially reduce GHG emissions but will not always be viable in the current economic landscape. Reduced drainage intensity systems may deliver partial reductions in the rate of emissions, with smaller modifications to existing systems. These compromise systems may face fewer hurdles to adoption and minimize environmental harm until societal conditions favour strategies that can halt emissions. Wetland agriculture will face agronomic, socio‐economic and water management challenges, and careful implementation will be required. Diversity of values and priorities among stakeholders creates the potential for conflict. Successful implementation will require participatory research approaches and co‐creation of workable solutions. Policymakers, private sector funders and researchers have key roles to play but adoption risks would fall predominantly on land managers. Development of a robust wetland agriculture paradigm is essential to deliver resilient production systems and wider environmental benefits. The challenge of responsible use presents an opportunity to rethink peatland management and create thriving, innovative and green wetland landscapes for everyone's future benefit, while making a vital contribution to global climate change mitigation.

Metabolomic Approach to Study the ‘Purple Queen’ Pomegranate Cultivar Response to Alternative Culture Media and Phenological Stages

“…Regarding PCA for sugars and organic acids studied (11) in pomegranate leaves (in three substrates), the first two principal components (PC) explained 100% of the total variation. The first component (PC1), which represents 60.77% of the total variance, was related to the organic acids formate, acetate, malate, fumarate, succinate and with the sugar's sucrose, fructose, glucose, and UDP-sugar.…”

“…To achieve a better understanding of the trends and relationships between the amino acids studied (11) in pomegranate leaves (in three phenological stages), principal component analysis (PCA) was applied. The first two principal components (PC) explained 100% of the total variation.…”

“…During the last five decades, the most used substrate for plant cultivation has been peat [8], since it represents an ideal culture medium due to its physicochemical characteristics, optimal for many plant species and for the management of different farming systems [9,10]. However, the pillaging of these peatlands around the world over the years can pose a problem of depletion, since it is a limited resource [11]. For this reason, its necessary to obtain new substrates allowing us to reduce or even replace the use of peat in agriculture.…”

Climate change and the urgency to transform food systems

“…The potential of carbon sequestration in agricultural lands is debated though it could be (with global variations) considered a cobenefit of improving cropland and grazing land management (26). Restoration of peatlands and the reforestation of marginal and unimprovable agricultural lands should be a priority, but conflicts with the increased demand for food (27).…”

The Potential of Pineapple Products as a Strategy for Community Economic Revitalization in Peatlands

“…So far, the use of friendly peat is still minimal, which means that it has not been able to produce significant benefits for its owners. Some studies even reveal that very vulnerable peatlands can be used for food production in the future with the following considerations [5]: (1) low productivity, (2) sizeable potential land, (3) cropping index ( IP) is still low, (4) potential degraded land is still vast, Pineapple cultivation on peatlands with an agroforestry scheme can reduce the potential for land fires and improve community welfare [6]. Pineapple is one of the crops recommended by BRGM and CIFOR to be planted on peatlands.…”