5 pages, India's agrarian economy contributes 21% to the country's GDP and provides employment to 60% of the population. Rainfed agriculture constitutes 67% of the net sown area, contributing 44% of food grains and supporting 40% of the population. To meet the increasing demand for food grains, it is crucial to enhance the productivity of rainfed areas from the current 1 t/ha to 2 t/ha over the next two decades. However, the quality of natural resources in these regions is deteriorating due to overexploitation, and rainfed areas face biophysical and socio-economic constraints affecting crop and livestock productivity.
This paper critically examines economically viable technologies for rainfed agriculture, including soil and rainwater conservation, efficient crops and cropping systems tailored to the growing season, and suitable implements for timely sowing and labor-saving. Sustainable practices such as integrated nutrient and pest management (INM and IPM) are emphasized. Additionally, the paper highlights interventions in dryland technologies to utilize marginal lands through alternative land-use systems like silvopasture, rainfed horticulture, and tree farming, demonstrated on a watershed basis. The integration of livestock with arable farming systems and the incorporation of indigenous knowledge are also discussed. Finally, the paper advocates for the formation of self-help groups, innovative extension tools such as portable rainfall simulators, and focus group discussions to facilitate the adoption of rainfed technologies by farmers. A farming systems approach in rainfed agriculture not only addresses income and employment challenges but also ensures food security.
11 pages, This research aims to examine the relation between farmer organization and welfare using Propensity Score Matching approach. Numerous prior studies have demonstrated that farmers’ involvement in a producer group significantly affects their income levels, efficiency rates, and the adoption of cutting-edge agricultural technologies. However, there have been few studies on salt farming in Madura Island, despite its status as a primary salt producer in Indonesia. This study focused on examining how the participation of salt farmers in farmer groups, specifically known as the “Traditional Salt Business Group” (or Kelompok Usaha Garam Rakyat [KUGAR] in Indonesian), impacts their agricultural income. In this study, the researchers examined primary data collected through interviews with 115 traditional salt farmers on Madura Island, East Java, Indonesia. Logistic regression analysis revealed three independent variables affecting the decisions of salt farmers, specifically farmer’s latest level of education, salt production in the last season, and the number of their family members. Then, employing a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach, the study showed a significant income disparity between salt farmers who were KUGAR members and those who are not. Moreover, the level of education emerged as a key determinant influencing salt farmers’ decisions to join KUGAR. Furthermore, the Indonesian government could intervene by encouraging younger salt farmers to join the producer groups to realize benefits, including improvements in the well-being of salt farmers.
16 pages, The round sardinella, Sardinella aurita, is the most important species in the North Sinai fisheries; it represents about 85 % of the total catch in the North Sinai fisheries, yet the fishing activities are still based on traditional methods, like gathering information from fellow fishermen. The fishing grounds constantly change due to environmental factors; therefore, determining the potential fishing zones (PFZs) must depend on effective and advanced techniques to monitor the optimal (PFZs) for Sardinella aurita along the North Sinai coastal zone. This study integrated the daily Sentinel-3 satellite's remotely sensed data, advanced digital imagery processing techniques, and fish yield data obtained from the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD) for Sardinella aurita in the North Sinai fisheries during 2021 to build a suitable model for determining, monitoring, and predicting the other optimal (PFZs) for Sardinella aurita along the North Sinai coastal zone. The results confirmed that, regarding the total catch of Sardinella aurita in 2021, the highest catch reached 73, 68, and 47 tons in April, December, and November, respectively, while the lowest catch reached 6 tons in January. The predicted PFZs resulting from the model are estimated to be 7 times more than the fishing grounds where fishermen currently fish. Moreover, the results confirmed the strong linkage between Sardinella aurita abundance and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration with sea surface temperature (SST). This study highlighted the importance of using remotely sensed data to help increase the national income from the fisheries sector by determining and predicting new fishing zones.
8 pages, Commercial, Industrial and agricultural wastes are major soil pollutants, which contain inorganic, organic compounds and heavy metals. When these heavy metals accumulate in agricultural lands, they adversely affect on growth and physiology of crops ultimately causing decrease in food productivity. In this experiment maize was used to investigate the effects of heavy metals on plant physiology and growth. Maize is cultivated throughout the world for its importance as cereal. It is the third most important cereal crop, following wheat and rice. Maize is a significant food source for humans providing essential minerals, vitamins, carotene and ascorbic acid. Apart from its importance as a cereal source, it also serves as important raw material for various products such as syrup, starch and oil. Various concentrations of Cr and Mn were applied individually as well as in combination to examine their effects on growth and physiology of maize. Analysis of recorded data showed that the treatment 0.5 mM MnCl2 + 0.25 mM CrCl3 had the most harmful effect and caused significant decrease in height, number of leaves and chlorophyll 'a' and 'b' in the stems and leaves. While less harmful effects were seen when heavy metals were applied individually such as 0.25 mM CrCl3, 0.25 mM MnCl2 and 0.5 mM MnCl2 as these treatments did not significantly impact on height, leaf area and chlorophyll content in stems and leaves. So, from these results it can be concluded that. when chromium was applied separately, it had minimal impact on plant physiology and growth, but in combination with manganese, it severely affected on maize plants. Similarly, a small concentration of manganese alone did not affect plant growth, but combined with chromium, it negatively impacted photosynthetic pigments and growth traits.
8 pages, This study examined the impact of replacing soybean meal (SBM) for treated and untreated sesame meal (SM) with varying amounts of crude protein (CP) on nutrient intake and digestibility, milk composition, and ruminal parameters in lactating goats. Forty mid-lactation Murciano-Granadina goats were randomly allocated to four diets including (1) SBM (16.5% CP; CON); (2) untreated SM (USM; 16.5% CP). (3) formaldehyde-treated SM (FTSM; 16.5% CP), and (4) FTSM containing 14.5% CP (LPFT). FTSM goats had higher dry matter (DM) and nutrient intake than CON and LPFT, as observed for milk fat (P<0.001) and total solids (TS; P=0.001) yield. Milk fat content was higher with USM than LPFT (P<0.05). In general, the sum of milk saturated fatty acids (SFA) decreased, and milk unsaturated FA (UFA), monounsaturated FA (MUFA), polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), and long-chain FA (LCFA) increased by the inclusion of USM, and FTSM in the diet. Incorporation of FTSM in the diet decreased ruminal pH, ammonia nitrogen, and acetate molar proportion compared to CON and USM as observed with LPFT. Also, this inclusion increased total volatile FAs production and propionate proportion compared to CON and USM (P<0.001). In conclusion, substitution of SBM for FTSM in the diet of dairy goats can improve milk and milk component yield as well as health-promoting alterations in milk FAs profile. Furthermore, reducing dietary CP level along with FTSM inclusion in the diet may be considered as a proper tool in compensating the adverse effects of dietary CP deficiency and optimizing the productive performance of dairy goats utilizing lower amounts of nitrogen sources.
26 pages, Commercial restrictions limit the extent of women's participation in the South African economy despite gender equality being valued. Since the implementation of The Women Empowerment Project in 1999, the agricultural sector's contribution has not yet been fully quantified. Women’s opportunities, challenges, and roles in agriculture must be explored further by evaluating resource management strategies and policies. This study aimed to quantify women's empowerment in agriculture using descriptive research methodology. Data were collected and statistically analysed using the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to identify the origin and extent of female farmers' difficulties. Satisfactory outcomes in production, leadership, assets, income, and time usage were more strongly associated with empowerment than demographic variables, and time available contributed the most to women feeling disempowered. Overall, women reported feeling more empowered compared to men. Disempowerment in male respondents as the control group was attributed to time, workload, and resources. In future studies, gender policies should be further developed to incorporate gender dimension, gender budgeting and sex-disaggregated data administration.
15 pages, A significant emphasis on scaling up food security efforts is needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030. Scaling up sustainable intensification efforts for Cambodian smallholder farmers is key since they face greater exposure to the uncertainties of climate change, globalizing markets, and rural-to-urban migration. One way to increase the effectiveness of efforts and the scaling up of sustainable intensification technologies is through improving access to information about production and marketing technologies. This study aimed to identify sources of information about sustainable technologies available to smallholders and barriers that may be preventing adoption. Information was gathered from a household survey to document the sources of agricultural information for smallholders in Northwest Cambodia. This research suggests Cambodian smallholders are receiving agricultural extension services, however, the overall quality and effectiveness of these messages are unknown, since NGOs with competing foci are the primary provider of extension information. Smallholders face significant barriers that prevent the adoption of sustainable technologies and participation in markets, such as low price for goods, poor product quality, lack of time, and concerns for safety. Future endeavors to strengthen the price of goods and alleviate market-related challenges would likely result in increased smallholder income and food availability.
Rozenstein, Offer (author), Cohen, Yafit (author), Alchanatis, Victor (author), Behrendt, Karl (author), Bonfil, David J. (author), Eshel, Gil (author), Harari, Ally (author), Harris, W. Edwin (author), Klapp, Iftach (author), Laor, Yael (author), Linker, Raphael (author), Paz-Kagan, Tarin (author), Peets, Sven (author), Rutter, S. Mark (author), Salzer, Yael (author), and Lowenberg-DeBoer, James (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2023-08-15
Published:
Netherlands: Springer Nature
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 209 Document Number: D13550
12 pages, Sustainability in our food and fiber agriculture systems is inherently knowledge intensive. It is more likely to be achieved by using all the knowledge, technology, and resources available, including data-driven agricultural technology and precision agriculture methods, than by relying entirely on human powers of observation, analysis, and memory following practical experience. Data collected by sensors and digested by artificial intelligence (AI) can help farmers learn about synergies between the domains of natural systems that are key to simultaneously achieve sustainability and food security. In the quest for agricultural sustainability, some high-payoff research areas are suggested to resolve critical legal and technical barriers as well as economic and social constraints. These include: the development of holistic decision-making systems, automated animal intake measurement, low-cost environmental sensors, robot obstacle avoidance, integrating remote sensing with crop and pasture models, extension methods for data-driven agriculture, methods for exploiting naturally occurring Genotype x Environment x Management experiments, innovation in business models for data sharing and data regulation reinforcing trust. Public funding for research is needed in several critical areas identified in this paper to enable sustainable agriculture and innovation.
9 pages, As the food industry becomes globally connected, it is essential to provide Food Science students with experience working in virtual teams before they enter the workforce. Working in teams virtually brings extra challenge due to a lack of face-to-face interactions. FSHN 230, Professional Issues in Food Science (asynchronously online), provided students the opportunity to practice virtual teamwork skills. Low, medium, and high dosage team projects allowed for experiential learning and practice in virtual teamwork. Team effectiveness (psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact) was closely monitored using team members’ evaluations of the team at the middle and end of the semester. Students' perceptions of learning were assessed using a survey at the end of the instructional period. Across all teams, students were most likely to report experiencing psychological safety and dependability in their virtual teams and least likely to report experiencing the work as meaningful. Across all teams, students were most likely to perceive the virtual team project as assisting with learning about food science-related careers. As higher education continues to create real-world simulations to teach skills, such as virtual teamwork, more effort may be needed to help students connect classroom activities and career-ready skills to real-world expectations.
26 pages, Agricultural productive services are an important means to achieve effective allocation of regional resources and play an important role in ensuring food security and improving farmers’ welfare. However, the development process of agricultural productive services still faces problems such as large differences in service levels in different segments and low participation rates in the full service. In order to investigate the influential paths of the low participation rate of farmers in the full-service process, this study takes maize farmers in northeast China as the research object. Based on 937 survey data from six cities in three northeastern provinces, we used the Item Response Theory (IRT) model to measure farmers’ information acquisition ability and constructed the Heckman two-stage model and the IV-Heckman model to analyze the logical framework of “information acquisition ability—farmers’ choice of productive agricultural services”. The main findings are as follows: firstly, the more channels there are, the stronger the farmers’ channel internalities; the higher the degree of channel differentiation, the stronger the farmers’ channel internalities. Second, after addressing the sample selection bias and endogeneity, there is a small rise in the facilitation effect of information acquisition ability on farmers’ productive agricultural service behavior. Third, this facilitation effect is achieved through farmers’ perceived usefulness of productive agricultural services, and the mediating effect of perceived ease of use is not significant. Therefore, fostering farmers’ self-perceptions and optimizing information delivery strategies are effective ways to promote farmers’ choice of agricultural productive services and to facilitate the modernization of Chinese agriculture. In general, this study helps to reveal the theoretical mechanism of farmers’ information asymmetry, and provides empirical evidence for how to promote the development of agricultural productive services.
