| 11. |
- Jensen, Erik Steen, et al.
(författare)
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Diversifying European agricultural systems by intercropping grain legumes and cereals
- 2020
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Ingår i: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES. - : PONTIFICIA UNIV CATOLICA CHILE. - 2452-5731. ; 47:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- E.S. Jensen, I.R. Chongtham, N.R. Dhamala, C. Rodriguez, N. Carton, and G. Carlsson.2020. Diversifying European agricultural systems by intercropping grain legumesand cereals. Int. J. Agric. Nat. Resour. 174-186. Cropping system diversification is akey factor in developing more sustainable cropping and food systems. The agroecologicalpractice of intercropping, meaning the simultaneous cultivation of two or more species inthe same field, has recently gained renewed interest as a means of ecological intensificationin European agricultural research. We discuss some recent research developments regarding1) intercropping for ecological intensification in agroecological and conventional croppingsystems, 2) studies on nitrogen resource use by cereal-grain legume intercropping cultivation,3) the role of intercropping in the management of biotic stressors, especially weeds, and 4)intercropping as a means of creating cropping systems that are more resilient to the abioticand biotic stress associated with climate change. Finally, we propose methods for the greateradoption of intercropping in European agriculture by unlocking farming systems from upstreamand downstream barriers, with the aim of developing more sustainable agricultural and foodsystems.
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| 12. |
- Jensen, Erik Steen, et al.
(författare)
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Intercropping of grain legumes and cereals improves the use of soil N resources and reduces the requirement for synthetic fertilizer N: A global-scale analysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Agronomy for Sustainable Development. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1774-0746 .- 1773-0155. ; 40
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Planetary boundaries for terrestrial inputs of reactive nitrogen (Nr) are transgressed and reducing the input of new Nr and its environmental impacts are major global challenges. Grain legumes fix dinitrogen (N-2) in symbiosis with soil bacteria and use soil N sources, but often less efficient than cereals. Intercropping grain legumes with cereals may be a means of increasing use efficiency of soil N. Here, we estimate the global sole cropped grain legume acquisition of N from soil to approximately 14.2 Tg N year(-1), which corresponds to one-third of the global synthetic fertilizer N use (109 Tg N year(-1)) for all crops, assuming that grain legumes recover on average 40% of the fertilizer N. Published data from grain legume-cereal intercrop experiments, employing stable N-15 isotope methods, have shown that due to competitive interactions and complementary N acquisition in intercrops, the cereals recover a more than proportional share of the soil N sources. As a consequence, the intercropped legume derives more of its N from the atmosphere, compared with when it is grown as legume sole crop. We estimated that the increased N use efficiency in intercropping can reduce the requirements for fossil-based fertilizer N by about 26% on a global scale. In addition, our estimates indicate that if all current grain legume sole crops would instead be intercropped with cereals, a potential net land saving would be achieved, when also replacing part of the current cereal sole crop area with intercropping. Intercropping has additional potential advantages such as increased yield stability and yield per unit area, reduced pest problems and reduced requirements for agrochemicals, while stimulating biodiversity. It is concluded that crop diversification by intercropping has the potential to reduce global requirements for synthetic fertilizer N and consequently support the development of more sustainable cropping systems.
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| 13. |
- Källman, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Use of CAM among cancer patients : results of a regional survey in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 2662-7671. ; 23:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by patients is widespread. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the extent and details of patient CAM use in Sweden, especially in rural Sweden. The aim of this study was to estimate the extent and characteristics of CAM use among cancer patients in Region Gävleborg. Methods: A total of 631 questionnaires were distributed to which 376 responses were registered, yielding a response rate of 59.6%. Questionnaires were distributed to oncology patients at their first visit for curative treatment at the Department of Oncology, Gävle Hospital. Palliative patients were recruited at their first visit and during enrollment in palliative outpatient care in their own homes. The characteristics of the respondents were presented with standard descriptive statistics. A multivariable logistic model was fitted to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and identify potential predictors (Age, Gender, Education, Diagnosis) of CAM use post-cancer diagnosis. Results: 54% of all participants reported lifetime CAM use, 34% reported CAM use post-diagnosis. The most common CAM methods used after diagnosis are vitamins, health food preparations, herbal teas, prayer and dietary methods. The most common source of information reported is family and friends. Almost 70% of those who used CAM after their diagnosis stated that they did not discuss their use with healthcare professionals. Most patients reported that they would like some CAM modalities to be offered within conventional care regardless of their own CAM use. Conclusions: The use of CAM is common among patients with cancer in the region of Gävleborg, and previous studies show a similar use in Sweden in general. Based on the widespread use of CAM and patient interest in discussing CAM use with healthcare professionals, greater attention and focus should be placed on creating a basis for this dialogue. If we, as healthcare professionals, are to emphasise our commitment to providing patient-centred care, we must acknowledge that patients use CAM and are seeking a dialogue about CAM use in their care.
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| 14. |
- Lind, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)
- 2021
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Ingår i: eLife. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.
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| 15. |
- Nilsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Geographical Differences in Likelihood of Home Death Among Palliative Cancer Patients : A National Population-based Register Study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Anticancer Research. - : International Institute of Anticancer Research. - 0250-7005 .- 1791-7530. ; 40:7, s. 3897-3903
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background/Aim: Previous studies have shown discrepancies between patient's desired and actual death place. As planning of family support and involvement of palliative home care teams seem to improve the chance to meet patients preferences, geographical availability of specialized palliative home care could influence place of death.Patients and Methods: Data of patients diagnosed and deceased between January 2011 until December 2014 with lung, brain, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer was collected from Swedish national registers and multiple regression analyses were performed.Results: Patients with lung, brain, colorectal, and prostate cancer who resided in rural municipalities had a higher likelihood of dying at home than dying in hospital settings, compared to those who lived in urban areas.Conclusion: Patients in Sweden, with the exception of breast cancer patients, have a higher likelihood of home death than inpatient hospital death when residing in rural areas compared to when residing in urban areas.
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| 16. |
- Nilsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Socioeconomy as a prognostic factor for location of death in Swedish palliative cancer patients
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Palliative Care. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1472-684X. ; 20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: An important aspect of end-of-life care is the place of death. A majority of cancer patients prefer home death to hospital death. At the same time, the actual location of death is often against patient's last-known wish. The aim of this study was to analyze whether socioeconomic factors influence if Swedish palliative cancer patients die at home or at a hospital. There is no previous study on location of death encompassing several years in Swedish cancer patients.Methods: Data was collected from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care for patients diagnosed with brain tumor, lung, colorectal, prostate or breast cancer recorded between 2011 and 2014. The data was linked to the Swedish Cancer Register, the Cause of Death Register and the Longitudinal Integration Database for health-insurance and labor-market studies. A total of 8990 patients were included.Results: We found that marital status was the factor that seemed to affect the place of death. Lack of a partner, compared to being married, was associated with a higher likelihood of dying at a hospital.Conclusion: Our findings are in line with similar earlier studies encompassing only 1 year and based on patients in other countries. Whether inequalities at least partly explain the differences remains to be investigated. Patients dying of cancer in Sweden, who do not have a life partner, may not have the option of dying at home due to lack of informal support. Perhaps the need of extensive community support services to enable home death have to improve, and further studies are warranted to answer this question.
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| 17. |
- Reckling, Moritz, et al.
(författare)
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Diversification improves the performance of cereals in European cropping systems
- 2022
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Ingår i: Agronomy for Sustainable Development. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1774-0746 .- 1773-0155. ; 42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the face of climate change, cropping systems need to achieve a high performance, providing food and feed and adapting to variable environmental conditions. Diversification of cropping systems can support ecosystem services and associated biodiversity, but there is little evidence on which temporal field arrangement affects the performance of crop yields (productivity and stability), partly due to a lack of long-term data and appropriate indicators. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effect of cropping system diversification on yield stability, environmental adaptability, and the probability of diversified systems to outperform less diverse cereal-based systems in Europe. Spring and winter cereal yields were analyzed from long-term field experiments from Sweden, Scotland, and France. We investigated diversification through (i) introduction of perennial leys, (ii) increasing the proportion of ley in the rotation, (iii) varying the order in which crops are positioned in the rotation, (iv) introduction of grain legumes, and (v) introduction of cover crops. The results showed that cereal crops within cropping systems incorporating perennial leys outperformed systems without leys in 60–94% of the comparisons with higher probabilities at low fertilizer intensities. The yield stability of oat did not differ, but mean yields were 33% higher, when grown directly after the ley compared to oat grown two years later in the crop sequence under similar management. Durum wheat grown in a cropping system with grain legumes had higher yields in lower-yielding environmental conditions compared to rotations without legumes. Diversification with cover crops did not significantly affect yield stability. We conclude that diverse cropping systems can increase cereal productivity and environmental adaptability and are more likely to outperform less diverse systems especially when introducing perennial forage legumes into arable systems. Effects of diversification on cereal yield stability were inconsistent indicating that higher productivity is achievable without reducing yield variability. These novel findings can support the design of more diverse and high-performing cropping systems.
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| 18. |
- Rodriguez, Carolina, et al.
(författare)
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Grain legume-cereal intercropping enhances the use of soil-derived and biologically fixed nitrogen in temperate agroecosystems. A meta-analysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Agronomy. - : Elsevier. - 1161-0301 .- 1873-7331. ; 118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Grain legumes are known for their benefits to deliver ecosystem services on provisioning of protein-rich food and feed, reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the symbiotic nitrogen fixation function and diversification of cropping systems. Intercropping is an agroecological practice in which two or more crop species are grown simultaneously in the same field, thereby maximizing the use of resources to enhance yields in low input systems and the resilience of cropping systems. We quantified the effect of grain legume-cereal intercropping on the use of N resources in temperate agroecosystems, focusing on dinitrogen (N2) fixation and soil-derived nitrogen acquisition using a meta-analysis of 29 field-scale studies. We estimated and compared effects of different intercrop compositions (proportion of each species in the intercrops), fertilization rates, crop species, soil properties, and other management practices on the symbiotic N2 fixation and the acquisition of soil-derived nitrogen by the cereals and grain legumes. The proportion of N derived from N2 fixation was on average 14 % (95 % CI = [11, 16]) higher in intercropped grain legumes (76 %) compared to legume sole crops (66 %). On the other hand, intercropping reduced the amount of N2 fixed (kg ha−1) by about 15 %, when N2 fixation in inter- and sole cropped legumes was expressed at equivalent density by compensating for the sown legume proportion in intercrops relative to their sole crop sowing rate. The results were mainly influenced by the intercrop composition, legumes species and the method used to quantify N2 fixation. Soil-derived nitrogen acquisition in intercropped grain legumes was significantly reduced (−47 %, 95 % CI = [−56, −36]) compared to sole crop legumes, expressed at equivalent density, while the soil N acquired by intercropped cereals was much higher (+61 %, 95 % CI = [24, 108]) than in sole crop cereals. Total soil N acquisition (legume + cereal) was significantly higher in intercrops than in legume sole crops (+25 %, 95 % CI = [1, 54]), while there was no significant difference between intercrops and cereal sole crops. The meta-analysis confirms and highlights that intercropping consistently stimulates complementary N use between legumes and cereals by increasing N2 fixation by grain legumes and increasing soil N acquisition in cereals. Based on the results of this analysis it would be suggested that cropping systems diversification via intercropping can be used for simultaneous production of both cereals and grain legumes, while increasing the use of N-sources and reducing external inputs of N fertilizers, thereby enhancing the sustainability of agriculture.
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| 19. |
- Rodriguez, Carolina, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability of Diversified Organic Cropping Systems—Challenges Identified by Farmer Interviews and Multi-Criteria Assessments
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Agronomy. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2673-3218. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diversification of cropping and farming systems is a central agroecological principle, which may improve resource use efficiency, reduce pests and diseases, diversify income sources, and enhance the resilience of the production. The main objective of this study was to identify challenges related to the sustainability of organic cropping systems that were diversified according to one or several of the following practices: diverse crop rotation, integration of cover crops, and intercropping. The sustainability assessments were made using a multi-criteria decision aid method (MCDA) and a framework based on the FAO Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agricultural Systems (SAFA) guidelines. Social, economic and environmental aspects were integrated in the sustainability assessments and combined with semi-structured interviews to identify and discuss farmer's perceptions of barriers to crop diversification and sustainability transition. The results showed that diversified organic cropping systems could achieve high overall sustainability, especially in the environmental dimension thanks to non-inputs of pesticides or mineral fertilizers and efficient use of resources. On the other hand, social and economic dimensions were more variable, with challenges of lower sustainability in profitability and management complexity for several of the diversified cropping systems. Limited access to knowledge, technology and markets for minor crops, and concerns about the consistency of policies were highlighted by farmers as barriers for crop diversification. We discuss how the identified challenges can be overcome and argue that fostering collaboration among stakeholders may increase investment capacity and improve access to new or alternative markets, thereby stimulating transitions toward more diversified and sustainable cropping systems.
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| 20. |
- Rodriguez Gonzalez, Carolina, et al.
(författare)
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Combining crop diversification practices can benefit cereal production in temperate climates
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agronomy for Sustainable Development. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1774-0746 .- 1773-0155. ; 41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diversifying cropping systems by increasing the number of cash and cover crops in crop rotation plays an important role in improving resource use efficiency and in promoting synergy between ecosystem processes. The objective of this study was to understand how the combination of crop diversification practices influences the performance of arable crop sequences in terms of crop grain yield, crop and weed biomass, and nitrogen acquisition in a temperate climate. Two field experiments were carried out. The first was a 3-year crop sequence with cereal or grain legume as the first crops, with and without undersown forage legumes and forage legume-grass crops, followed by a cereal crop. The second experiment was a 2-year crop sequence with cereal or legume as the first crops, a legume cover crop, and a subsequent cereal crop. For the first time, crop diversification practices were combined to identify plant-plant interactions in spatial and temporal scales. The results partly confirm the positive effect of diversifying cereal-based cropping systems by including grain legumes and cover crops in the crop sequence. Legume cover crops had a positive effect on subsequent cereal grain yield in one of the experiments. Using faba beans as the first crop in the crop sequence had both a positive and no effect on crop biomass and N acquisition of the subsequent cereal. In cover crops composed of a forage legume-grass mixture, the grass biomass and N acquisition were consistently increased after the grain legume, compared to the cereal-preceding crop. However, differences in the proportion of legume to grass in mixture did not influence crop yield or N acquisition in the subsequent cereal. In conclusion, these results support that increased crop diversity across spatial and temporal scales can contribute to resource-efficient production and enhance the delivery of services, contributing to more sustainable cropping systems.
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