Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems最新文献

{"title":"Marketing performance and factors influencing farmers choice for agricultural output marketing channels: the case of garden pea (Pisum sativum) in India","authors":"Pankaj Thakur, P. Mehta, Chhaya Devi, Prashant Sharma, Krishna Kumar Singh, Shikha Yadav, Priyanka Lal, Yashpal Singh Raghav, Promil Kapoor, Pradeep Mishra","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1270121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1270121","url":null,"abstract":"Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and farmers play significant role in sustaining the sector. However, farmers face several challenges such as poor market access and limited access to market information which adversely affect their marketing performance. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the marketing performance and factors influencing farmers choice for agricultural output marketing channels in garden pea in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The study utilized primary data collected through structured questionnaires administered via the interview method to a sample size of 400 farmers selected through a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and acharya approach to study the marketing performance. Further, a multinomial logistic regression model was used to determine the factors that influence farmers marketing choice of marketing channels. Additionally, the constraints experienced by farmers during marketing were investigated using garret ranking. The study revealed that farmers who sold their pea directly to consumer had higher marketing performance than those who sold through market intermediaries such as local traders, commission agents and wholesalers. Further, the results indicated that farm income, farm experience, distance to the market and market information were significant determinants of farmers choice for marketing channels. Whereas, lack of market consultancy, high commission chargers and poor transportation were the major constraints faced by farmers during marketing of pea. The findings of this study highlight the need for policymakers to develop and implement interventions that enhance farmers marketing skill, facilitate access to markets, improve negotiation power which can lead to higher incomes for farmers, improve their livelihoods, better quality produce for consumers and a more efficient and sustainable food system.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"32 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138588945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do county financial marketization reforms promote food total factor productivity growth?: a mechanistic analysis of the factors quality of land, labor, and capital","authors":"Yang Liu, Junfu Cui, Hui Jiang, Hua Yan","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1263328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1263328","url":null,"abstract":"Improving food total factor productivity is a necessary way to break the double constraint of resources and environment, and promote the transformation of the food production system and the realization of the sustainable development goal of zero hunger. Based on the panel data of 729 counties in China from 2010 to 2019, this paper analyzes the effect of county financial marketization reform on food total factor productivity by using a two-way fixed effects model, focusing on the mechanism of the quality of factors such as land, labor and capital. The results show that county financial marketization reform promoted food total factor productivity growth by promoting technical progress, while technical efficiency did not play a significant role. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of county financial marketization reform on grain total factor productivity is not significantly different in eastern and central China. There is a significant difference in the western region, where county financial market reform hindered the growth of grain total factor productivity. In terms of different functional areas of grain production, the facilitating effect is only played in the main grain production area, and the inhibiting effect is played in the main grain marketing area. Mechanistic analysis shows that the county financial marketing reform promoted the growth of food total factor productivity by improving the quality of labor and land, while the quality of agricultural capital has a masking effect. On this basis, it is necessary for the government to implement differentiated financial market-oriented reform strategies, and to guide and encourage county financial institutions to provide financial services to improve the quality of agricultural labor and farmland through tax incentives and loan interest subsidies.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"40 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138593813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agronomic and reclamation strategies to enhance soil fertility, productivity and water accessibility","authors":"Alexey Rau, Kai Zhu, Balgabayev Nurlan, Mirdadayev Mirobit, Kalybekova Yessenkul, Meymank Hozhaev Bek, M. Nabiollina, Zhanymhan Kurmanbek, Yerlan Issakov, Sándor Antal, Apolka Ujj, Lóránt Dénes Dávid","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1288481","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1288481","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last decade, yields and profitability of crops on agricultural lands in the Kyzylkum irrigation massif in the south of Kazakhstan, as well as soil fertility, have been decreasing. The Kyzylkum irrigation basin, located in the Syrdarya River basin, is affected by various factors such as agronomic practices, reclamation factors, and human activities including tourism. This study aims to monitor the yields of cotton and alfalfa in alfalfa-cotton crop rotations in the Kyzylkum irrigation massif, assess soil fertility after alfalfa and cotton cultivation under production conditions, and evaluate the profitability of water consumption.The research methodology involved experimental and observational studies conducted on a nine-pole alfalfa-cotton crop rotation area in the Kyzylkum basin within the Syrdarya river basin. The study was conducted on three farms: Didar, Toishy, and Ali-Myrza. Productivity, soil fertility after crop cultivation, and profitability of water consumption were determined through these studies.The study found that the Ali-Myrza farm experienced a 21% increase in cotton yield, a 24% increase in alfalfa yield, a 36% increase in profit from crop rotation, a 34% increase in profitability, and a 5-6% increase in water consumption. After alfalfa rotation, the Ali-Myrza farm recorded the highest cotton yield at 3.5 t/ha and a profit of 1,316 euros/ha. However, in the following year, cotton yields decreased to 2.52 t/ha, and profits dropped to 576 euro/ha. The first year of alfalfa cultivation resulted in a yield of 10 t/ha and a profit of 462 euro/ha, which increased to 14 t/ha and 967 euro/ha in the subsequent year. Soil analysis revealed that after two years of growing alfalfa in a six-pole rotation, the root mass in the top 20 cm of soil reached 8.89 t/ha. In contrast, rotations with seven (Toishy) and nine (Didar) crops resulted in lower root masses of 4.68 t/ha and 3.47 t/ha, respectively. The corresponding humus content was 1.65%, 1.40%, and 1.1%, respectively.Comparing the seven and nine-pole rotations of alfalfa and cotton, the six-pole rotation demonstrated significant improvements in soil fertility (30-40% increase), cotton yield (18-23% increase), alfalfa yield (20-28% increase), and water consumption (5-6% increase). These findings confirm the effectiveness of the alfalfa-cotton rotation method in enhancing soil fertility, productivity, water efficiency, and grey soil productivity in Kyzylkum irrigated fields. The results obtained from this study can be applied in cotton farms in South Kazakhstan that use nine-layer cotton and alfalfa rotations. Furthermore, the findings have implications for cotton cultivation in any country worldwide.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"27 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138592330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on agricultural production strategy from the perspective of loss aversion","authors":"Shifeng Han, Yijie Cheng","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1287814","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1287814","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural products have the characteristics of high perishability, short life cycles, and low salvage, and agricultural production is easily affected by uncontrollable natural conditions. Therefore, farmers will face great risk when making agricultural production decisions. In addition, farmers have a high demand for basic income security, so they are typically loss-averse decision-makers. Simultaneously, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic has undoubtedly increased their loss aversion. The piecewise utility function is an effective model for investigating decision-making with consideration of loss aversion, in which the loss aversion parameter will be adjusted by the epidemic to a certain degree. We innovatively involve the impact of COVID-19 epidemic by a quantitative correction factor in the loss-averse newsvendor model to deal with the decision-making problem of agricultural production and investigate the influences of the epidemic and farmers’ loss aversion degree on the optimal production quantity and profits as well as the relationship between the epidemic situation and loss aversion. Through model analysis and numerical experiments on a specific agricultural product by Matlab software, it is found that the effect caused by the epidemic and the increased level of loss aversion will reduce farmers’ production and income. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen regular epidemic prevention and control and formulate corresponding support policies to stimulate farmers’ production motivation. Maintaining relative stability in the agricultural market demand can also alleviate the negative impact of the epidemic to a certain extent. Faced with the impact of the epidemic, farmers need to do their best to control agricultural production costs to relieve their economic pressure.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"26 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138590942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems","authors":"F. Kebede, Hans Komen, T. Dessie, O. Hanotte, Steve Kemp, S. Alemu, John W M Bastiaansen","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1305799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1305799","url":null,"abstract":"Animal performance is an outcome of genetic effects, environmental influences, and their interaction. Understanding the influences of the environment on performance is important to identify the right breeds for a given environment. Agroecological zonation is commonly used to classify environments and compare the performance of breeds before their wider introduction into a new environment. Environmental classes, also referred to as agroecologies, are traditionally defined based on agronomically important environmental predictors. We hypothesized that our own classification of agroecologies for livestock at a species level and incorporating the most important environmental predictors may improve genotype by environment interactions (GxE) estimations over conventional methodology. We collected growth performance data on improved chicken breeds distributed to multiple environments in Ethiopia. We applied species distribution models (SDMs) to identify the most relevant environmental predictors and to group chicken performance testing sites into agroecologies. We fitted linear mixed-effects models (LMM) to make model comparisons between conventional and SDM-defined agroecologies. Then we used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to visualize the influences of SDM-identified environmental predictors on the live body weight of chickens at species level. The model fit in LMM for GxE prediction improved when agroecologies were defined based on SDM-identified environmental predictors. Partial dependence plots (PDPs) produced by GAMs showed complex relationships between environmental predictors and body weight. Our findings suggest that multi-environment performance evaluations of candidate breeds should be based on SDM-defined environmental classes or agroecologies. Moreover, our study shows that GAMs are well-suited to visualizing the influences of bioclimatic factors on livestock performance.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"46 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138592276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Locally-selected cacao clones for improved yield: a case study in different production systems in a long-term trial","authors":"L. Armengot, Marco Picucci, J. Milz, Jon Kehlet Hansen, Monika Schneider","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1253063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1253063","url":null,"abstract":"Ageing plantations, poor genetic material, soil degradation, pests and diseases are, among other factors, limiting cacao production. To meet the increasing demand for cacao in the absence of productivity gains, forests are cleared and the use of external inputs is generalised, with severe negative impacts on biodiversity and GHG emissions. The use of improved plant genetic material should support a sustainable increase of production. In this study, we evaluate and compare the yield performance of four locally-selected clones with those of four widely-used international clones in South America and four full-sib families (crosses of the same international clones). The research was conducted in a long-term trial in Bolivia with different production systems, including monocultures and agroforestry systems under organic and conventional farming and a successional agroforestry system without external inputs. Their cacao yields and the factors determining productivity (pod index, flowering intensity, pod load, pod losses, aboveground biomass, harvesting period) were assessed during 5 years. The cacao trees grown in the two monocultures had higher yields than those in the agroforestry systems. This was the result of higher aboveground biomass, flowering intensity and pod load, and similar pod losses due to cherelle wilt and fungal diseases in the former when compared with the latter. No differences between conventional and organic management were observed. We did not identify any genotypes performing better in a specific production system. On average, the local clones had twofold and five times higher yields than the international ones and the full-sib families, respectively. This was related to their higher total pod load, bigger pods and higher yield efficiency, i.e., higher yield per unit of tree biomass. However, the local clones had less flowering intensity, more cherelle wilt and similar losses due to fungal diseases to those of the international clones. This study clearly shows the need to invest in selection and breeding programmes using locally-selected genetic material to increase cacao production and support renovation/rehabilitation plans. Breeding genetic material that is adapted to low light intensities is crucial to close the yield gap between monocultures and agroforestry systems, and to further promote the adoption of the latter.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"39 21","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138594081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Could alien invasive species be a solution to postharvest losses of fresh produce?","authors":"Asanda Mditshwa, Zezethu Mnqeta, Precious N. Mahlambi, Ghulam Khaliq","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1291118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1291118","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"63 37","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138594806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Expanding recognition and inclusion of animal-free organic agriculture in the sustainable agriculture movement","authors":"Mona Seymour","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1293261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1293261","url":null,"abstract":"Animal-free organic agriculture resides at the margins of sustainable agriculture discourse, practice, and imaginaries, which center animal-based forms of farming. However, the concerns and goals of sustainable agriculture are overwhelmingly consistent with those of many forms of animal-free organic agriculture (AFOA), described as organic farming sans animal production, labor, and byproducts. Despite this sidelining, AFOA has great potential to contribute to a more robust sustainable agriculture movement. In order to emphasize the continuities between animal-based and animal-free sustainable agriculture, this Perspective identifies a number of key similarities between animal-free and animal-based sustainable farming, including mutual foci on soil health and shared opposition to intensive animal agriculture. It contends that beyond being compatible with sustainable agriculture, AFOA holds answers to some of the difficult questions currently and potentially confronting animal-based agriculture, such as projected impacts of climate change on animal agriculture and stability of supply chains for animal-based soil amendments. Barriers to greater inclusion of AFOA into the sustainable agriculture movement exist as well; this piece suggests potential ways to address some of these challenges, including the integration of AFOA into formal sustainable agriculture education.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"44 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138596751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of agricultural subsidies on farm household decisions: a separable household model approach","authors":"Priyanka Lal, B. S. Chandel, R. Tiwari, Mohamed A. El-Sheikh, Sheikh Mansoor, Alok Kumar, Gyanendra Singh, M. Lal, Ravinder Kumar","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1295704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1295704","url":null,"abstract":"This study employs a separable household model to estimate the effect of agricultural subsidies on production and consumption decisions taken by farm households. The study used data from a household survey using a pre-tested schedule to develop and calibrate an agricultural household model.First, we calculated a price index for the model. The index was higher for non-agricultural commodity groups in all the categories of farm households. Expenditure on non-agricultural commodity groups was more than agricultural commodity groups.Results indicated that for the agricultural commodity group, the estimated coefficients of linear expenditure system (LES) model were positive and less than one for all farm household categories except for the wage-price coefficient which was found to be negative. The estimates of profit function in the study area depict that the variable inputs were negatively related to the profit function and the fixed inputs were positively related to profit. Our study highlights a few crucial points – First, the removal of subsidies will decrease the demand for electricity, concentrate and irrigation by 80, 73 and 70 %, respectively. Second, removing subsidies will not only affect the demand for inputs but will also lead to a decline in the consumption demand for both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities. Third, this effect was found to be more prominent in the small and medium categories of farm households.","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"133 38","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138599036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Continuous living cover: adaptive strategies for putting regenerative agriculture into practice","authors":"Evelyn C. Reilly, Ashley Conway-Anderson, Jose G. Franco, Jacob M. Jungers, E. B. Moore, Carol Williams","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2023.1320870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1320870","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36666,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"78 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138600135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}