Assessment of agro-ecosystem sustainability across varying scales in South Africa.

Abstract

Maize production plays an important socio-economic role in rural communities of the Highveld region of South Africa, yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce maize economically with current agricultural policy conditions and existing management systems. This has direct socio-economic impacts for both commercial farmer and small-scale farmer. Sustainable commercial maize production is not only a question of yields, but also of protection of the environmental resource base, social welfare, and the livelihoods of farmers per se as well as the surrounding rural and urban communities. Sustainability for the small-scale farmer, on the other hand raises questions of equity, economic viability and household food security. Therefore, information is required to ascertain whether an existing agro-ecosystem can be identified as sustainable, and what facets of that system make it sustainable or unsustainable. To begin to answer these key questions it is important to state, and to some extent attempt to standardise, the definitions of agricultural sustainability. Agro-ecosystem sustainability with regard to maize production was assessed at the regional scale of the Highveld of South Africa as well as at, the Quaternary Catchment scale and the smallholder farm scale. Von Wiren-Lehr's (2001) goal orientated system was considered an appropriate and practical system by which agro-ecosystem sustainability across a range of scales could be investigated. At the regional scale, optimum management strategies for each of the 497 Quaternary Catchments in the Highveld region were devised, based on present climatic conditions and using an index which was based on mean yields and yield variability. Economic returns and their impact on sustainability were then also assessed under plausible future climate scenarios. At the Quaternary Catchment scales optimum management strategies were ascertained by using a sustainability index. These strategies were then modelled under present and plausible future climate scenarios. The results from the sustainability modelling showed that a maize crop will benefit, especially with respect to mean grain yields, from an effective doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, this benefit can be counteracted when there is a concurrent increase in temperature, particularly of 2°C or more. At the smallholder scale, a range of management options was assessed. These options included several types of tillage practices in combination with applications of either inorganic fertiliser or manure. The management strategies were modelled under present climate conditions and under plausible climate change scenarios for southern Africa. The conventional tillage type (disc) was ranked highest under most of the climatic conditions modelled, including present climate conditions. This was in contrast to actual yields from smallholder farmers (-1 ha field size) in the Potshini area, near Bergville in the KwaZuluNatal province of South Africa, who have experienced an increase in yield when conservation tillage practices have been used on their land (Smith et al., 2004). The sustainability of agro-ecosystems depends on the maintenance of the economic, biophysical and social components that make up the system (Belcher et al., 2004). The modelling performed for the Highveld region built on previous work and for the first time incorporated daily temperatures and ISCW soil information into CERES-Maize. The intention was to incorporate other agro-ecosystem functions, as well as yield, into the sustainability assessment. Only limited research has previously been carried out in South Africa with respect to modelling smallholder agro-ecosystems and sustainability. This research sought to model the smallholder system along with the impacts that climate change would have on sustainability and associated food security.