TY - JOUR
T1 - Do agroecological practices enhance the supply of ecosystem services? A comparison between agroecological and conventional horticultural farms
AU - Palomo-Campesino, Sara
AU - García-Llorente, Marina
AU - Hevia, Violeta
AU - Boeraeve, Fanny
AU - Dendoncker, Nicolas
AU - González, José A.
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge all the farmers for their time, collaboration, and kindness. We also acknowledge Inés Gutiérrez Briceño, Irene Pérez Ramírez, Jorge Ortega Marcos, and Salomé Carle for their invaluable help during the field work. Sara Palomo-Campesino was funded by a grant from the Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology, co-funded by the Social European Fund (FPI-INIA). This work was also supported by AgroecologiCAM project funded by the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and Madrid Regional Government under the Rural Development Programme (RDP-CM 2014-2020); by SIMBIOSIS API-AGRO project funded by the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and Madrid Regional Government under the Rural Development Programme (RDP-CM 2014-2020); by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N_81819, by the project entitled: Co-design of novel contract models for innovative agri-environmental-climate measures and for valorisation of environmental public goods; and by SAVIA project (Sowing Alternatives for Agro-ecological Innovation) funded by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Dirección General de Investigación e Innovación de la Consejería de Educación e Investigación de la Comunidad de Madrid (SI1/PJI/2019-00444).
Funding Information:
Sara Palomo-Campesino was funded by a grant from the Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology, co-funded by the Social European Fund (FPI-INIA). This work was also supported by AgroecologiCAM project funded by the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and Madrid Regional Government under the Rural Development Programme (RDP-CM 2014-2020); by SIMBIOSIS API-AGRO project funded by the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and Madrid Regional Government under the Rural Development Programme (RDP-CM 2014-2020); by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N_81819, by the project entitled: Co-design of novel contract models for innovative agri-environmental-climate measures and for valorisation of environmental public goods; and by SAVIA project (Sowing Alternatives for Agro-ecological Innovation) funded by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Dirección General de Investigación e Innovación de la Consejería de Educación e Investigación de la Comunidad de Madrid (SI1/PJI/2019-00444).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Agricultural intensification has strongly impacted ecosystems and accelerated the process of global change. Consequently, agroecological practices are being increasingly adopted. Agroecological practices are biodiversity-based solutions that aim to generate sustainable and resilient agroecosystems, which could enhance the supply of ecosystem services. This study compared agroecological and conventional horticultural farms in terms of agroecological practices and ecosystem services supply. We conducted biophysical samplings and interviews on 24 agroecological and conventional farms over two summers in the Madrid Region (Spain). We used multiple indicators as proxies of the supply of 12 ecosystem services, and we identified the agricultural practices applied at each farm. We found that agroecological farmers applied more agroecological practices compared to conventional farmers, and agroecological farms had a higher potential to supply regulating, provisioning, and cultural services. Some agroecological practices, such as crop diversification, light tillage, and the use of organic pesticides, were associated with enhancing soil fertility, pest control, and pollination services. Our study provided empirical evidence that agroecological practices enhance ecosystem services at horticultural farms, which is extremely relevant to upscaling agroecology in the current context of ongoing European policy reforms.
AB - Agricultural intensification has strongly impacted ecosystems and accelerated the process of global change. Consequently, agroecological practices are being increasingly adopted. Agroecological practices are biodiversity-based solutions that aim to generate sustainable and resilient agroecosystems, which could enhance the supply of ecosystem services. This study compared agroecological and conventional horticultural farms in terms of agroecological practices and ecosystem services supply. We conducted biophysical samplings and interviews on 24 agroecological and conventional farms over two summers in the Madrid Region (Spain). We used multiple indicators as proxies of the supply of 12 ecosystem services, and we identified the agricultural practices applied at each farm. We found that agroecological farmers applied more agroecological practices compared to conventional farmers, and agroecological farms had a higher potential to supply regulating, provisioning, and cultural services. Some agroecological practices, such as crop diversification, light tillage, and the use of organic pesticides, were associated with enhancing soil fertility, pest control, and pollination services. Our study provided empirical evidence that agroecological practices enhance ecosystem services at horticultural farms, which is extremely relevant to upscaling agroecology in the current context of ongoing European policy reforms.
KW - Agroecological practice
KW - Agroecological transition
KW - Conventional farming
KW - Ecosystem service indicators
KW - Horticulture
KW - Sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137302825&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101474
DO - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101474
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85137302825
SN - 2212-0416
VL - 57
JO - Ecosystem Services
JF - Ecosystem Services
M1 - 101474
ER -