17 pages, via online journal, The greatest challenge now facing agricultural science is not how to increase production overall but how to enable resource-poor farmers to produce more.
The transfer-of-technology (TOT) model of agricultural research is part of the normal professionalism of agricultural scientists. In this model, scientists largely determine research priorities, develop technologies in controlled conditions, and then hand them over to agricultural extension to transfer to farmers. Although strong structures and incentives sustain this normal professionalism, many now recognise the challenge of its bad fit with the needs and conditions of hundreds of millions of resource-poor farm (RPF) families. In response to this problem, the TOT model has been adapted and extended through multi-disciplinary farming systems research (FSR) and on-farm trials. These responses retain power in the hands of scientists. Information is obtained from farmers and processed and analysed in order to identify what might be good for them. A missing element is methods to encourage and enable resource-poor farmers themselves to meet and work out what they need and want.
Carmenta, Rachel (author), Coomes, David A. (author), DeClerck, Fabrice A.J. (author), Hart, Abigail K. (author), Harvey, Celia A. (author), Milder, Jeff (author), Reed, James (author), Vira, Bhaskar (author), and Estrada-Carmona, Natalia (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 132 Document Number: D11357
Online via open access., Researchers gathered survey data on 104 integrated landscape initiatives (ILIs) within Latin America and the Caribbean jurisdictions of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Findings suggested four distinct strategies existed, two of which were only weakly integrated and another two of which were more ambitiously attempting integration, engaging more sectors and scales of governance, and targeting the structural barriers to sustainability.
9pgs, This research was conducted in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the aims to study the knowledge of farmers and to evaluate the perceptions of the farmers about Climate Change (CC). To accomplish these objectives primary data was collected from 98 randomly selected farmers by structure questionnaire through face to face interview method and was analysed by using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that majority (93%) of farmers were aware of CC phenomena and perceived changes in temperature (89%) and precipitation (86%) during the last decade. Crop diversification, soil and water management practices and application of necessary farm inputs were the farmer’s preferred adaptive strategies to CC. Barriers to adaptive strategies were the ineffective government support, lack of capital, information and extension services, traditional beliefs and high cost of farm inputs. The study concludes that climate is changing and the farmers are practicing different adaptive strategies to overcome this problem, but still there is a space for more scientifically verified strategies which can boost the farmer’s productivity and increased the overall wellbeing for the future sustainability of farming.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D10013
Notes:
Research summary from Corteva Agriscience retrieved online via Agri Marketing Weekly. 2 pages., Results of a survey among 4,160 respondents from 17 countries.
Hundal, Gaganpreet Singh (author), Laux, Chad Matthew (author), Buckmaster, Dennis (author), Sutton, Mathias J (author), and Langemeier, Michael (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2023-01-09
Published:
Switzerland: MDPI
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12835
16 pages, The production of row crops in the Midwestern (Indiana) region of the US has been facing environmental and economic sustainability issues. There has been an increase in trend for the application of fertilizers (nitrogen & phosphorus), farm machinery fuel costs and decreasing labor productivity leading to non-optimized usage of farm inputs. Literature describes how sustainable practices such as profitability (return on investments), operational cost reduction, hazardous waste reduction, delivery performance and overall productivity might be adopted in the context of precision agriculture technologies (variable rate irrigation, variable rate fertilization, cloud-based analytics, and telematics for farm machinery navigation). The literature review describes low adoption of Internet of Things (IoT)-based precision agriculture technologies, such as variable rate fertilizer (39%), variable rate pesticide (8%), variable rate irrigation (4%), cloud-based data analytics (21%) and telematics (10%) amongst Midwestern row crop producers. Barriers to the adoption of IoT-based precision agriculture technologies cited in the literature include cost effectiveness, power requirements, wireless communication range, data latency, data scalability, data storage, data processing and data interoperability. Therefore, this study focused on exploring and understanding decision-making variables related to barriers through three focus group interview sessions conducted with eighteen (n = 18) subject matter experts (SME) in IoT- based precision agriculture practices. Dependency relationships described between cost, data latency, data scalability, power consumption, communication range, type of wireless communication and precision agriculture application is one of the main findings. The results might inform precision agriculture practitioners, producers and other stakeholders about variables related to technical and operational barriers for the adoption of IoT-based precision agriculture practices.
7 pgs, Farmers’ markets may improve access to healthful foods in rural areas. Our objective was to identify facilitators and barriers to farmers’ market use in a rural county. We collected data via surveys, focus group sessions, and key informant interviews. Study participants identified the two existing farmers’ markets as community assets. Barriers to use farmers’ markets included inconvenient market hours, not accepting nutrition assistance program benefits, limited transportation, and limited variety. Interventions to improve food access should include ways to meet the needs of specific populations such as low-income residents and residents living in outlying areas without farmers’ markets.
10 pages, Food safety is a growing concern worldwide but is especially prevalent in Nepal. Agriculture is the country's critical economic sector, and its sustainability is challenged due to the increasing use of agrochemicals. As a result, low Soil Organic Matter (SOM), reduced crop productivity, increased food safety hazards, and negative impacts on human health and the environment are reported in the agriculture sector in Nepal. In 2018, the concept of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) was introduced in Nepal to address the issues of food safety, trade, and sustainability. As GAP is relatively new to Nepal, it is still broad and ambiguous, which makes its use and implementation difficult. For this purpose, we conducted a literature review on available global evidence to present the benefits of GAP and to identify the critical barriers to the adoption of GA. The review shows GAP's potential to increase crop yield by up to 36%, reduce agrochemicals use by 31%, increase SOM from a mean of 3.32%–3.77%, and increase farmers' income by more than 100%. However, the review has also identified barriers to wider adoption of GAP, broadly categorized into production, extension, regulation and standards, and markets and finance. The valuable outcome of this review is that it proposes five key pathways: (i) Technical capacity building, (ii) Awareness creation, (iii) Soil fertility management strategies, (iv) Extension programs, and (v) Market development for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal, based on the learning from global evidence. This review could be useful for policymakers and the government of Nepal to develop detailed implementation guidelines for GAP, including appropriate policies as well as short, medium, and long-term plans and programs for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal.
Schiefer, Gerhard W. (author), Rosskopf, Karin (author), Gelb, Ehud (author), Parker, Caroline (author), and Wagner, Peter (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2005-07-18
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23525
Notes:
In the e-book, E.Gelb and A. Offer (eds.), ICT in Agriculture: perspectives of technological innovation. Center for Agricultural Economic Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 8 pages.
Keyser, Patrick (author), Schexnayder, Susan (author), Willcox, Adam (author), Bates, Gary (author), Boyer, Christopher N. (author), and Center for Native Grasslands Management
Human Dimensions Research Lab
University of Tennessee
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-12-12
Published:
United States: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11232
10 pages, via online journal, Adoption of native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) in the tall fescue belt is limited despite studies documenting the potential contribution of these forages to profitable beef production. On the basis of two surveys conducted in Tennessee, a survey of beef producers and a survey of agricultural professionals, we evaluated perceptions of NWSG forages and how those perceptions could influence their adoption. Although agricultural professionals were more familiar with NWSGs than producers, both populations had limited knowledge regarding these forages, indicating that additional Extension education is needed. Our results provide useful guidance for developing NWSG forage educational programs for producers and agricultural professionals.
Lebowitz, Abraham (author), Gelb, Ehud (author), and Taragola, Nicole (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2005-07-18
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23524
Notes:
In the e-book, E.Gelb and A. Offer (eds.), ICT in Agriculture: perspectives of technological innovation. Center for Agricultural Economic Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 9 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23517
Notes:
In the e-book, E.Gelb and A. Offer (eds.), ICT in Agriculture: perspectives of technological innovation. Center for Agricultural Economic Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 8 pages.
Jackson, Janine (author) and Carpenter, Zoe (author / The Nation)
Format:
Interview
Publication Date:
2019-07-19
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 129 Document Number: D11275
Notes:
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), online via website. Episode of a CounterSpin radio interview. 8 pages., Issues in media coverage of politics, finance, and structural barriers in climate change legislation in Oregon, USA.