Evaluation of the Diversity of Agroecosystems in Afghanistan

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Herat University, Afghanistan. Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Herat University, Afghanistan

Abstract

Introduction: Intensive agricultural systems are mainly monocultures with low sustainability because they neglect the mutual relationships between living organisms and the environment. Intensification in spatiotemporal dimensions and uncontrolled use of external inputs have created ecosystems with less diversity and greater vulnerability. Afghanistan has an agricultural-based economy and the food security of people is mostly dependent on national agricultural production. However, in recent years food production in the country has been threatened due to complicated political conditions. Proper use of biodiversity could enhance crop production in low-input systems. However, so far, no published information is available on this important issue. This study was conducted to evaluate the diversity of Afghanistan's agricultural production at the agroecosystem level.
Material and Methods: In order to carry out this research, a countrywide data set was collected. In this research, the required data were extracted through collected questionnaires from 388 counties in 34 provinces of Afghanistan. For this purpose, all provinces and at least 10% of the counties located in each province were selected and evaluated based on the cultivated area of crop species across the provinces. In addition, the national registered information and the data available in the agricultural management centers of the provinces were also used. The existing production systems were differentiated using cluster analysis. The common crop rotations in different provinces were also extracted from the questionnaires and included in the relevant table.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the provinces of Afghanistan are very similar in terms of the proportion of land allocated for cereal crop production. Cluster analysis indicated that the cereals cropping system is practiced across the country. According to the cluster analysis, since cereals have been allocated between a minimum of 41.2% (Maidan Wardak Province) and a maximum of 96.70% (Konar Province) and the agricultural system of Afghanistan is based on the cultivation of cereals especially wheat. Pulse, vegetables, industrial plants and forage crops respectively formed a maximum equal to 14.2%, 55.5%, 33.4%, and 38.2% of the cultivated area of other major agricultural products, respectively in Daikundi, Nimroz, Balkh and Logar provinces. The study of crop rotations showed that in most of the provinces, cereals are the dominant crops and other crops such as pulse, vegetables, industrial plants and forage crops are alternated as second crops along with cereals. Common crop rotations in the country are mainly based on wheat cultivation and do not have much variation among provinces. In addition to irrigated agriculture, dryland farming is also prevalent in this country, which includes 32% of all cultivated lands.
Conclusion: The results showed that the agroecosystems of Afghanistan are very similar to the neighboring countries, including Iran, and have been developed based on wheat cultivation. Also, the diversity is relatively poor at the level of agroecosystems, and their management is designed for the development of uniform irrigated agriculture in short-term crop rotations.Also,due to economic problems, agricultural production is managed in the form of low-input systems. Therefore, the most logical solution for poor farmers who do not have access to resources is to increase the level of species and genetic diversity in order to increase production without the need for external inputs.

Keywords

References

  1. Aguilar, J., Gramig, G.G., Hendrickson, J.R., Archer, D.W., Forcella, F. and Liebig, M.A., 2015. Crop species diversity changes in the United States: 1978-2012. PLoS One. 10, 1–15.

    Altieri, M.A., 2006. Agroecology: Principles and Strategies for Designing Sustainable Farming System. University of California, Berkeley. http://nature.berkeley.edu/agroeco3/principles_and strategies.

    Amin, H., 1974. Agricultural Geography. Published by Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Kabul, Afghanistan, pp. 50-95.

    Bajwa, M.A., 1995. Wheat research and production in Pakistan. In: Villarel, L. (ed), Wheats for More Tropical Environments. Proceedings of the International Symposium, CIMMYT, Mexico, pp. 68 -72.

    Beillouin, D., Ben-Ari, T., Mal´ezieux, E., Seufert, V. and Makowski, D., 2021. Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Global Change Biology. 1–14.

    Ceccarelli, S. and Grando, S., 2022. Return to agrobiodiversity: Participatory plant breeding. Journal of Diversity. 14(2), 126.

    Chaudhary, P., Bahatta, S., Aryal, K.P., Joshi, B.K. and Gauchan, D., 2020.Threats, drivers and conservation imperative of agrobiodiversity. Journal of Agriculture and Environment. 21, 44-61.

    Duflot, R., Avron, S., Ernoult, A., Fahrig, L. and Burel, F., 2015. Reconsidering the role of ‘semi-natural habitat’ in agricultural landscape biodiversity: A case study. Ecology Research. 30 (1), 75–83.

    Faith, D.P., 1992. Conservation evaluation and phylogenetic diversity. Biological Conservation. 61(1), 1–10.

    FAO., 2010. The Second Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome, Italy: Food & Agriculture Organization.

    Ghalegolab, A., Koocheki, A. and Nassiri Mahallati, M., 2023. Assessing the effect of leading factors on spatial and temporal changes of agrobiodiversity in agroecosystems of Iran by using Structural Equation Models. Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 23 March Journal of Agroecology. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Gliessman, S., 1992. Agroecology in the tropics: achieving a balance between land use and preservation.

    Journal of Environmental Management.16, 681-689.

    Hashemi Shadegani, F., Khoshbakht, K., Mahdavi Damghani, A., Veisi, H. and Liaghati, H., 2010. A survey of agrobiodiversity in Gachsaran county and influence of climatic factors. Journal of Agroecology. 2(1), 1-11. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Hahs-Vaughn, D.L., 2016. Applied Multivariate Statistical Concepts (1st ed.). Routledge.

    Isbell, C., Tobin, D. and Reynolds, T., 2021 Motivations for maintaining crop diversity: Evidence from Vermont’s seed systems. Ecological Economics. 189, 107138.

    Jackson, L.E., Pascual, U. and Hodgkin, T., 2007. Utilizing and conserving agrobiodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Journal of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 121(3), 196-210.

    Jahedi Pour, S., Koocheki, A., NassiriMahallati, M. and Rezvani Moghaddam, P., 2020. The effect of ecological factors on plant species biodiversity of natural ecosystem in Quchan Baharkish. Journal of Agroecology. 11(4), 1449-1465. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Jami, Y., Koocheki, A., Nassiri Mahallati, M., Khorramdel, S. and Nazarian, R., 2024. Evaluation of Afghanistan agricultural crop species and genetic diversity. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Production Science. In Press. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Joshi, B.K., Gorkhali, N.A., Pradhan, N., Hari Ghimire, K., Gotame, T.P., Prenil, K.C., Mainali, R.P., Karkee, A. and Paneru, R.B., 2020. Agrobiodiversity and its Conservation in Nepal. Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council. 6, 14-33.

    Kearney, J., 2010. Food consumption trends and drivers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. B. 365, 2793–2807.

    Koocheki, A., Nassiri Mahallati, M., ZareaFizabadi, A. and Jahanbin, M., 2004.  Diversity of cropping systems in Iran. Pajouhesh & Sazandegi Magazine. 63, 70 - 83. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Koocheki, A., NassiriMahallati, M., Hassanzade, F., Mansoori, H., Amiri, S.R., Zarghani, H. and Karimian,

    M., 2013. Assessing vegetable biodiversity in Iranian Agro-ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology. 2, 1-

    1. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Ladha, J.K., Dawe, D., Pathak, H., Padre, A.T., Yadav, R.L., Singh, B., Singh, Y., Regmi, Gami, S.K., Bhandari, A.L., Gupta, R.K. and Hobbs, P.R., 2003. How extensive are yield declines in long-term rice-wheat experiments in Asia? Journal of Field Research. 81,159-180.

    Lindemann-Matthies, P., 2005. ’Loveable’ mammals and ’lifeless’ plants: How children’s interests in common local organisms can be enhanced through observation of nature. International Journal of Science Education. 27, 655–677.

    Lopez, B., Montes, C. and  Benayas, J., 2007. The non-economic motives behind the willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation. Journal of Biological Conservation. 139, 67–82.

    Mohammadzadeh, A., Basiri, R. and Tarahy, A., 2014. Biodiversity assessment plant species Arasbaran using nonparametric indicators of ecological factors in relation to height above sea level. Journal of Plant (Journal of Biology Iran). 27, 949-963. (In Persian with English abstract).

    NassiriMahalati, M., Koocheki, A.R., TavakkoliKakhki, H.R. and Soltani, M., 2017. Agrobiodiversity indices for three Cucurbit Species in Khorasan- Razavi Province. Journal of Agroecology. 9(1), 1-14. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Pande, S., Maji, A.K., Johansen, C. and Bantilan, F.T., (Eds.) 2000. GIS application in cropping system analysis- Case Studies in Asia: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Harmonization of Databases for GIS Analysis of Cropping Systems in the Asia Region, 18-29 August 1997, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India.

    International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. ISBN 9290664231.

    Pourghasemian, N. and Moradi, R., 2016. Assessing Biodiversity of Agronomical and Horticultural Productions of Isfahan Province. Journal of Agroecology. 8(2), 212-226. (In Persian with English abstract).

    Rahman, S., 2016. Impacts of climate change, agroecology and socio-economic factors on crop diversity in Bangladesh (1948–2008). Land Use Policy. 50, 169–178.

    Renard, D. and Tilman, D., 2019. National food production stabilized by crop diversity. Nature. 571, 257–260.

    Shrestha, J., Subedi, S., Devkota, H., Acharya, B., Subedi, M. and Pokhrel, D., 2019. Ecosystem diversity of  field  crops,  garden  crops  and  aquatic  plants  in  Nepal. In: Joshi, B.K. and Shrestha, B.(Eds.),Working  Groups of Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources (APGRs) in Nepal Proc. National Workshop, 21-22 June  2018, Kathmandu. NAGRC, Nepal. pp. 121-130.

    Smith, A.K., Chewings, V.H., Bastin, G.N., Ferrier, S., Manion, G. and Clifford, B., 2004. Integrating historical datasets to priorities areas for biodiversity monitoring? In: Australian Rangelands Society 13th Biennial Conference: “Living in the outback”, Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

    Smith, J., Potts, S. G., Woodcock, B. A., and Eggleton, P., 2008. Can arable field margins be managed to enhance their biodiversity, conservation and functional value for soil macrofauna? Journal of Applied Ecology. 45, 269-278.

    Swift, M.J., Izac, A.M.N. and Van Noordwijk, M., 2004. Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Are we asking the right questions? Journal of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 104, 113-134.

    Zarezadeh Mehrizi, T., Koocheki, A., Nassiri Mahalati, M. and Zand, E., 2023. Assessing the biodiversity of weed species in Pomegranate agro-systems of Mahriz, Taft and Yazd regions. Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 23 March Journal of Agroecology. (In Persian with English abstract).

Environmental Sciences
Volume 22, Issue 3
2024
Pages 469-482

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics