Farm-diversification research wins high kudos
窪蹋勛圖s Zia Mehrabi and an international group of researchers are named national champion of the Frontiers Planet Prize for research that finds environmental and social benefits of agricultural diversification
Widespread agricultural diversification could improve the health of the worlds environment and that of its people, a landmark study published last year found.
Zia Mehrabi, assistant professor of environmental studies at the 窪蹋勛圖, alongside a large group of international researchers, has been named the for the , the Frontiers Research Foundation announced today.
As one of 19 national champions, Mehrabi and team are in contention to be named one of three international champions, each of whom will receive $1 million in funding to advance their research. The international champions will be announced at the Frontiers Planet Prize ceremony in Switzerland in June.
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Zia Mehrabi, a 窪蹋勛圖 assistant professor of environmental studies, has been named the U.S. national champion for the .
The Frontiers Planet Prize celebrates breakthroughs in Earth system and planetary science that address these challenges and enable society to stay within the safe boundaries of the planets ecosystem. The prize puts scientific rigor and ingenuity at its heart, helping researchers worldwide accelerate society toward a green renaissance, the says.
Professor Jean-Claude Burgelman, director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, said the planet faces immense threats that require bold, transformative solutions rooted in evidence and validated by science.
Innovative yet scalable solutions are the only way for us to ensure healthy lives on a healthy planet, Burgelman said. By spotlighting the most groundbreaking research, we are helping scientists bring their work to the international stage and provide the scientific consensus needed to guide our actions and policies.
Mehrabi, who leads the泭, was recognized, alongside his co-authors, for an article published last year in the journal Science titled .泭
Laura Vang Rasmussen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Ingo Grass of the University of Hohenheim in Germany were lead authors of the paper, which had 58 co-authors. Claire Kremen of the University of British Columbia was a senior author and co-principal investigator on the study.
The researchers found that diversifying crops and animals and improving habitat, soil and water conservation on individual farms can improve biodiversity while improving or, at a minimum, not coming at a cost to yields. Additionally, diversified farming can yield social benefits and improve food securityshowing improved food access or a reduced number of hungry months, for example, particularly in smallholder systems.
The more diversification measures farms employed, the more benefits accrued, researchers observed. Essentially, the team found evidence to move toward agriculture that more closely reflects natural systems.
If you look at how ecosystems operate, its not just plants growing alone. Its not just animals or soil, Mehrabi said last year. Its all of these things working together.
Using data from 2,655 farms across 11 countries and covering five continents, the researchers combined qualitative methods and statistical models to泭analyze 24 different datasets. Each dataset studied farm sites with varying levels of diversification, including farms without any diversification practices. This allowed the team to assess the effects of applying more diversification strategies.
Diversified farming differs from the dominant model of agriculture: growing single crops or one animal on large tracts of land. That efficient, monoculture style of farming is a hallmark of agriculture after the Green Revolution, which reduced global famine by focusing on high-yield crops that rely on fertilizers and pesticides.泭
The Green Revolution did many, many great things, but it came with a lot of costs, Mehrabi says, noting that synthetic fertilizers and pesticides harm the environment.
Also, to increase labor productivity, large farms rely on mechanization, which tends to replace people with machines.
If you look at how ecosystems operate, its not just plants growing alone. Its not just animals or soil. Its all of these things working together, says Zia Mehrabi.
So, the idea of trying to engineer nature into our agricultural systems is somewhat antithetical to the whole way we think about agricultural development, Mehrabi says.
Making a case for a different way of doing agriculture is one thing. Implementing it on a widespread basis is something else. The dominant view, fostered by big ag (short for agriculture), is that if you want to do ag, youve got to do it this way, Mehrabi says.
Our work challenges that idea, but its a bit of a David-and-Goliath situation, he adds. We have the stone, but it hasnt yet landed.
But its necessary to confront Goliath, Mehrabi contends, noting that agriculture affects all the things people care about environmentally, including climate change, water security, biodiversity, pollution, land use and habitat destruction.
A third of the Earths land is used for agriculture, and about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions stem from agriculture, he notes. Climate change has reduced agricultural yields by as much as 5% to 10% in the last four decades, research has shown.
If we want to do something about environmental issues, agriculture is one of the big buckets that we need to really, really start in.
Separate from the research published in Science, Mehrabi has done if the world continues business-as-usual farming. He found that in the next century, the number of farms is likely to be cut in half and the average size of farms would likely double.
Given that, along with what scientists know about the , the future looks a little bit bleak, Mehrabi says. But this new research shows it could be different.
Though he does not suggest that all farms must be small farms, he does advise that agriculture strive to diversify systems that have been massively depleted and massively simplified.
窪蹋勛圖 the Frontiers Planet Prize, Mehrabi says hes gratified to be recognized as one of 19 national champions. Additionally, he underscores the importance of the Frontiers Research Foundations financial commitment to this kind of research, calling it a signal to other funding entities that might follow suit.
Launched by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022, the prize encourages universities worldwide to nominate their top three scientists working on understanding and putting forward pathways to stay within the safe operating space of that are outlined by the Stockholm Resilience Center.
These nominations are then vetted at the national level, and the top scientists face an independent jury of 100a group of renowned sustainability and planetary health experts chaired by Professor Johan Rockstr繹mwho vote for the National and International Champions.
Read a guest opinion by Zia Mehrabi and co-authors at this link. See a Q&A with Mehrabi about adding carbon-footprint labels on food泭at this link.泭泭
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