Agricultural Systems最新文献

{"title":"Sustainable digitalisation - a system thinking approach for determining costs and benefits in the agri-sector","authors":"K. Soma ,&nbsp;G. Brunori ,&nbsp;C. Giagnocavo ,&nbsp;F. Meulman ,&nbsp;M. Ryan ,&nbsp;R.M. Heredia Hortigüela ,&nbsp;C. Iliopoulos ,&nbsp;M. Paulus ,&nbsp;A. Ferrari ,&nbsp;E. Kilis ,&nbsp;S. Grando ,&nbsp;V. Bellon-Maurel ,&nbsp;A. Knierim ,&nbsp;A. Gobrecht ,&nbsp;T. Selnes ,&nbsp;L. Ortolani ,&nbsp;M. Bacco ,&nbsp;C. Mannari","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>The digital transformation of agriculture is widely promoted as a pathway to sustainability, yet the actual outcomes of digitalisation remain uncertain and context-dependent. As such, technology uptake among businesses can have positive impacts on individual farms, while the aggregated outcomes of digitalisation involving multiple farms and multi-actors in associated networks are fully uncertain. The novelty of this research is the introduction of an approach to investigate costs and benefits in different contexts at different levels of digitalisation.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>The main objective is to introduce a systems-based approach for assessing sustainable digitalisation by differentiating outcomes across multiple levels of analysis. This approach is designed to address the common pitfall of generalising impacts such as assuming large-scale effects based on evidence limited to the farm level.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This research is based on a scoping literature review in the European Union Horizon Europe project called CODECS, which is highly suited for interdisciplinary research with multiple topics.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusion</h3><div>A framework has been designed to clarify the needs for distinguishing costs and benefits of digitalisation across three interconnected system levels: digitised socio-physical systems, socio-cyber-physical systems, and governance-cyber-ecological systems. To deal with complexities at each level, the framework integrates internal and external drivers, contextual conditions, and value-based perspectives, which all will influence outcomes of sustainability assessments.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>The framework offers a practical tool for researchers, policymakers, and innovation actors, to deal with the complexities of digital transitions in agriculture, to reach at sustainable digitalisation outcomes in a long term regionally, as well as in a short-term locally, by enhanced understanding of the needs for distinguished sustainability assessment applications to reach at more accurate costs and benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104529"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145262505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Natural capital enhances farm production, profitability and financial resilience: findings from a study on 230,000 ha of farmland in Australia","authors":"Elizabeth Heagney ,&nbsp;Daniel Gregg ,&nbsp;Dan Hill ,&nbsp;James Radford ,&nbsp;Grace Sutton ,&nbsp;Fred Rainsford ,&nbsp;Daniel O'Brien ,&nbsp;Angela Hawdon ,&nbsp;Imogen Semmler ,&nbsp;Mark Gardner ,&nbsp;Milly Taylor ,&nbsp;Sue Ogilvy","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104553","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104553","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Ambitious targets under the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework bring increasing urgency for agriculture to play an active role as a nature-based solution to climate and biodiversity loss. But widespread uptake of nature-based solutions by the agriculture sector has proved elusive. This paper presents the results of the <em>Farming for the Future Livestock Program</em>, a large-scale program that sought to quantify the financial implications of natural capital for farm business performance in Australia's broadacre livestock sector, which covers 350 million ha and contributes more than 50% of the country's gross value of agricultural production.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We aim to build a better understanding of the financial implications of natural capital on farms - a critical knowledge gap that limits effective policy and landholder adoption of nature-based solutions in the agriculture sector. We aim to quantify the effect of on-farm natural capital on farm business performance.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We collected natural capital data from 114 farms via satellite imagery analysis and on-ground vegetation surveys, alongside production and financial data collected via detailed producer surveys. We used five natural capital metrics (<em>Ecological Condition</em>, <em>Aggregation</em>, <em>Proximity</em>, <em>Ground Cover</em>, and <em>Forage Condition</em>) to understand the effect of natural capital on farm business performance (productivity efficiency, profitability and financial resilience) on farms with a combined land area of &gt;230,000 ha, in the largest analysis of its kind to date.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Our multi-region models tested a total of 20 natural capital – farm business performance relationships (4 business performance measures x 5 natural capital metrics). There was moderate or strong evidence for 6 of these (5 positive, one negative) and weak statistical evidence for a further 6 relationships (4 positive, 2 negative). Region-specific models yielded similar results to the multi-region model. This suggests that high-performing livestock businesses benefit from high levels of natural capital. High levels of specific types of natural capital were associated with increased production efficiency of up to 3%, improved livestock gross margin, higher farm earnings, and higher levels of climate resilience.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>We highlight the important role that integrating robust information about the financial implications of natural capital in production systems can play in shaping appropriate and adoptable nature-based climate solutions for the agriculture sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104553"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145516443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agroforestry as a climate change adaptation strategy: Evidence from Ghana's cocoa sector","authors":"Marlene Yu Lilin Wätzold ,&nbsp;Katharina Krumbiegel ,&nbsp;Pascal Tillie ,&nbsp;Meike Wollni","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>In sub-Saharan Africa, where most farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture, climate change poses serious threats. Agroforestry offers a promising adaptation strategy, with well-documented ecological and economic benefits. Yet, evidence on its role in enhancing household-level resilience to adverse weather events, such as drought, remains limited.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>We assess how decreases in rainfall affect cocoa yield among agroforestry adopters and non-adopters in Ghana and examine whether these effects vary by regional climatic suitability.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We combine a two-wave panel data set of 365 cocoa-producing households with satellite-based climate data. We use a correlated random effects model to estimate the differential effects of reduced rainfall on yield by agroforestry status. To test for heterogeneity, we re-estimate the model for two subsamples located in climatically suitable and less suitable cocoa-growing regions.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>We find that on average, agroforestry adopters are less severely affected by reduced rainfall. A one-millimeter decrease in rainfall significantly reduces yield by 2.17 kg/ha for adopters and 2.84 kg/ha for non-adopters. However, when disaggregating between regions, this effect only holds in climatically suitable regions. In less suitable, drier regions, we do not find any significant effects. Our findings suggest that agroforestry could be used as a strategy for adapting to climate change, although more research is needed to understand the conditions under which it would be most effective.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>We are among the first to use household panel data to econometrically assess the effects of reduced rainfall on yield based on agroforestry adoption in the cocoa sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104519"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145358701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrogen fertilizer and high-protein varieties work together to increase wheat grain protein concentration and yield","authors":"Jiayi Kang ,&nbsp;Xiaotian Mi ,&nbsp;Lei Fan ,&nbsp;Zhaohui Wang ,&nbsp;Gang He","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104510","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104510","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Meeting humanity's growing grain protein needs is the top priority for food production, and although the formation of grain protein in plants is a complex and integrated process, some specific crop management practices may play a dominant role. Few studies have been data-driven to quantitatively assess the benefits of crop management practices on wheat grain protein on a national scale.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>To fill this gap, we quantified the total national benefits of crop management practice on wheat grain protein and estimated for the first time the productivity of China's wheat grain protein in 2030.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A meta-analysis was performed by compiling 5819 pairs of observations related to crop management practices and wheat grain protein, and a large-scale farmer survey was conducted from 2010 to 2020 to understand the current status of smallholder wheat production and to predict further trends using the Random Forest model.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>Results showed that the concentration and yield of grain protein increased by 2.6–6.9 % and 9.4–13.2 % for topdressing, and 9.1 % and 6.7 % for high-protein variety, but decreased by 5.3 % and 8.5 % for optimized nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate, respectively. The RF model showed that eleven key predictors from crop management practices and soil-climate factors accounted for 84 % of the effect on wheat grain protein, with N fertilizer management and wheat varieties making the largest contributions. Using this data-driven approach, we estimated that China's grain protein production would increase from 18.6 to 19.8 Mt. with a 14 % reduction in N use through optimized N fertilizer management and the use of higher gluten wheat varieties under future climate change. Optimized N fertilizer management and the adoption of high-protein variety are the most important approaches to simultaneously improve grain yield and protein concentration.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Our findings fill a gap in national estimates of wheat grain protein production and highlight the importance of strategic crop management practices for nutritional security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104510"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatial planning based on the modeling the food-energy-water‑carbon nexus: A case study of the Yangtze River basin","authors":"Beibei Guo ,&nbsp;Xian Zou ,&nbsp;Yingxue Cui ,&nbsp;Suchen Ying ,&nbsp;Yinkang Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus is crucial for addressing global resource conflicts and sustainability challenges. It achieves this by securing resources, enhancing synergies, managing competition, and supporting climate adaptation. In the context of China, there is an urgent need to balance FEW securities with carbon neutrality in its food system, particularly given the complex environmental and socioeconomic pressures it faces.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aims to analyze correlations within the food-energy-water‑carbon (FEWC) nexus, characterize its resources, identify spatial allocation patterns and synergistic relationships, determine obstacles to agricultural sustainability, land planning, and cultivated land protection within the nexus, and propose tailored protection strategies for the basin.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Utilizing multi-source remote sensing data, FEWC resource potentials were characterized (integrated food production, power plant/renewable energy potential, total regional water production, carbon storage). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the Yangtze River basin data to study the FEWC nexus, using representative indicators providing a robust scientific characterization.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>PCA showed the first principal component indicates FEWC synergies (reflecting overall synergy intensity), while the second reveals FEWC trade-offs. FEWC nexus evolution enhanced overall synergy but displayed an inverted U-shape pattern in terrestrial ecosystems, marked by growing energy dominance and a shift of food status. Consequently, food security's strategic importance decreased amid rising energy consumption, persistent water scarcity, and increasing carbon neutrality demands. Future conflicts concentrate in cultivated land areas. Spatial zoning requires prioritizing farmland protection and developing energy-agriculture linkages. Monitoring should track food production polarization and conflict zone changes, with FEWC synergy projected to rise in more than 70 % of cities. Carbon storage dynamics must also be monitored, while agricultural buffer zones are needed to reduce ecological risks.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>The study provides valuable insights applicable to territorial spatial planning efforts at the basin scale. Furthermore, it offers tools with which to analyze complex resource nexuses and strategies for sustainable agricultural land management on a global scale.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104552"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying intercropping water advantages: A novel cosine similarity framework linking root water uptake patterns to productivity","authors":"Yingbo Liu ,&nbsp;Yusen Yuan ,&nbsp;Taisheng Du","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Intercropping modifies soil water dynamics through complex interspecific interactions crucial for enhancing water productivity. However, quantitative assessment of its productivity based on underlying water utilization processes remains a critical gap. Thus, novel methodologies are needed to evaluate water use patterns-productivity relationships in agricultural systems with interactions.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aimed to develop and validate a novel quantitative framework, using cosine similarity metrics derived from stable isotope data, to evaluate water use complementarity and competition in different intercropping systems.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Stable isotope combined with the MixSIAR Bayesian mixing model quantified root water uptake (RWU) and differentiated water use strategies. The Relative Difference in RWU (RDRWU) was introduced to quantify water deficits or advantages in intercropping compared to monocultures. Four cosine similarity metrics, θ_CS, RDSW_CS, RWU_CS, and RDRWU_CS, were proposed linking to water productivity.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>The cosine similarity metric based on RDRWU (RDRWU_CS) demonstrated the strongest linear relationship with water productivity, proving to be a robust and effective indicator for linking intercropping water use complementarity and water productivity.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>The stable isotope method linked with cosine similarity metrics establishes a novel quantitative framework for water utilization patterns in intercropping. They hold significant potential for simulating and optimizing water productivity across irrigation regimes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104501"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performances of conventional and organic livestock development scenarios in France through nitrogen flow analysis","authors":"Fanny Vergely,&nbsp;Aurélie Wilfart,&nbsp;Joël Aubin,&nbsp;Souhil Harchaoui","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104527","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104527","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Organic agriculture (OA) is promoted in the European Union (EU) as a sustainable form of agriculture. However, its expansion may be limited by its dependence on external nitrogen (N) resources, such as conventional manure and imported feed, as it prohibits the use of industrial fertilisers. There is currently no consensus on the role of livestock in scenarios of OA expansion, despite their critical contribution to increasing soil fertility through grazing and nutrient cycling via manure and urine.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>Here, we explored the expansion of OA with a view to having 25 % of total agricultural land under OA by 2030, as defined by the EU Green Deal policy, using two development pathways for organic and conventional livestock: business as usual (BAU) and halving the number of livestock (HL).</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We modelled N flows for organic, conventional and the entire agricultural system using an existing N budget model applied at the national scale for France.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>The results indicated that changing the numbers of livestock species when expanding OA influences N availability. Transitioning to 25 % of agricultural land under OA along with increasing the number of organic livestock in the BAU and HL scenarios decreased total N input, especially industrial fertiliser and feed imports, by 9 % and 28 %, respectively, while decreasing N surpluses by 9 % and 26 %, respectively. In parallel, in the BAU and HL scenarios, biological N fixation increased by 32 % and 61 %, respectively, N output in animal and crop products decreased by 9 % and 30 %, respectively, due to the lower productivity of organic livestock and crops. Notably, this transition implied decreasing human consumption of animal products in the BAU and HL scenarios by 5 % and 30 %, respectively. The scenarios demonstrated the key contribution of livestock and biological N fixation of legumes to the expansion of OA, but further analysis is required, such as considering changes in human diets, farming practices or land use.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This study highlights simultaneous trade-offs of two agricultural systems at the national scale.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104527"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agriculture on wet peatlands: the sustainability potential of paludiculture","authors":"Ralph J.M. Temmink ,&nbsp;Kristiina Lång ,&nbsp;Renske J.E. Vroom ,&nbsp;Jens Leifeld ,&nbsp;Christian Fritz ,&nbsp;Walther Zeug ,&nbsp;Daniela Thrän ,&nbsp;Clemens Kleinspehn ,&nbsp;Greta Gaudig ,&nbsp;Josephine Neubert ,&nbsp;Jürgen Kreyling ,&nbsp;Jennifer M. Rhymes ,&nbsp;Chris D. Evans ,&nbsp;Wiktor Kotowski ,&nbsp;Anke Nordt ,&nbsp;Franziska Tanneberger","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Humanity must overcome the polycrisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution. These challenges are especially urgent in peatlands, which develop slowly under waterlogged conditions, function as landscape filters and store large amounts of carbon. Drainage for agriculture, forestry or peat extraction leads to severe socio-ecological impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, land subsidence, higher flood and drought risks and downstream pollution.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study evaluates paludiculture as an innovative wet agricultural land use that maintains wet peatlands, offers economic alternatives to drainage-based systems and reduces environmental impacts.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We reviewed and synthesized ecological and socio-economic evidence from low- and high intensity paludiculture practices to assess their potential to balance human needs with peatland conservation.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Paludiculture is a promising new agricultural land use that effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, supports biodiversity restoration and contributes to climate mitigation and sustainable development. Our findings show direct and indirect contributions to ten UN Sustainable Development Goals: no poverty, good health, clean water, clean energy, innovation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production, climate action, life below water, and life on land. Nonetheless, challenges remain regarding economic viability, land-use competition and management.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Paludiculture shows how wetland agriculture can create new revenue opportunities combined with ecological protection. By contributing to both climate and biodiversity goals, it is a sustainable alternative to drainage-based peatland use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104561"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145568698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digitalising agriculture with the internet of things: Insights from Canadian collaborators","authors":"Melanie McCaig ,&nbsp;Davar Rezania ,&nbsp;Rozita Dara","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104520","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104520","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>The digitalisation of agriculture through Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is promoted as a driver of efficiency and sustainability, yet adoption remains uneven, particularly where farmers face barriers of skills, trust, and infrastructure.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study explores how Canadian farmers, industry representatives, and government officials construct discourses around IoT adoption, and how these shape opportunities, constraints, and legitimacy.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We conducted 47 semi-structured interviews with farmers, industry actors, and government officials. Thematic analysis identified 12 themes, organised along two continua: individual versus structural opportunities and rational versus cultural elements. The analysis was guided by a dual lens framework of opportunity structures and loose coupling.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Adoption depended on both individual capacities (training, simplicity, digital literacy) and structural conditions (labour, routines, connectivity). Legitimacy was negotiated through rational evaluations of utility and risk and cultural considerations such as values, ethics, and identity. Adoption unfolded through loosely coupled discourses, producing incremental and uneven rather than uniform diffusion.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>The study advances debates on agricultural digitalisation by showing how adoption is experienced through everyday practices, negotiated legitimacy, and loosely coupled diffusion. Beyond Canada, the framework offers a transferable lens for analysing contested adoption in agriculture and other socio-technical systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104520"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145324141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Achieving the once-unthinkable: Successful Rabi cropping via technology integration in coastal saline Bengal","authors":"Donald S. Gaydon ,&nbsp;Sukamal Sarkar ,&nbsp;Mohammed Mainuddin ,&nbsp;Edward G. Barrett-Lennard ,&nbsp;Richard W. Bell ,&nbsp;Koushik Brahmachari ,&nbsp;Md. Maniruzzaman ,&nbsp;Buddheswar Maji ,&nbsp;Md. Alimur Rahman ,&nbsp;Md. Enamul Kabir ,&nbsp;Md.Harunor. Rashid ,&nbsp;Md. Shahidul Islam Khan ,&nbsp;Mustafa Kamal Shahadat ,&nbsp;Khokan Kumer Sarker ,&nbsp;Mark R. Glover ,&nbsp;Sukanta Kumar Sarangi ,&nbsp;Apurbo Kumar Chaki ,&nbsp;Dhiman Burman ,&nbsp;Md. Belal Hossain ,&nbsp;Uttam Kumar Mandal ,&nbsp;Manoj Kumar Nanda","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104539","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Context&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Agricultural productivity in the coastal saline zones of the Ganges Delta in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India faces significant constraints due to high soil salinity, seasonal waterlogging, freshwater scarcity, and increasing climatic variability. These challenges collectively limit the sustainability and intensification of dry season (&lt;em&gt;Rabi&lt;/em&gt;) cropping systems, thereby impeding regional food security and livelihoods.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Objective&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;This study aimed to assess the key biophysical constraints affecting &lt;em&gt;Rabi&lt;/em&gt; season cropping systems and to evaluate the integration of key agronomic and water management technologies using a combination of field experimentation and cropping systems modelling, with the goal of supporting climate-resilient intensification in coastal saline environments.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Method&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Two years of field experimentation were conducted across multiple locations, generating a comprehensive validation dataset comprising 139 crop instances, including transplanted Aman (T. Aman) rice, wheat, maize, sunflower, grass pea, and lentil. These datasets represented a diverse range of potentially integratable technologies and agroecological conditions. The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM), employing the APSIM-SWIM3 module, was used to simulate crop production outcomes for a range of different integrated technologies. To achieve this, a novel modelling approach was developed to dynamically simulate surface soil salinity and moisture, and then its subsequent effects on crop production, using daily inputs of water table depth, salinity, irrigation, and climatic data.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Results and conclusions&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;APSIM simulations closely matched observed field data, with performance metrics (RMSE, R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) falling within acceptable ranges of experimental uncertainty. Long-term (25-years) scenario analyses demonstrated that advancing sowing dates by 15–30 days could substantially increase yield potential by reducing salinity exposure during critical crop stages. However, early sowing increased the risk of waterlogging, especially in low-lying fields. In some cases, the incorporation of in-field drainage structures was shown to mitigate waterlogging risks effectively. In situations where this is not possible due to landscape constraints, model-based identification of optimal sowing periods provided a viable alternative to reduce risk of waterlogging. Additionally, the retention of crop residues was shown to reduce surface soil evaporation and salinity accumulation, increasing yield, particularly in late-sown &lt;em&gt;Rabi&lt;/em&gt; crops.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Significance&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Focusing on the integration of four key technologies— short-season improved Kharif rice varieties, early Rabi crop sowing, field drainage, and crop residue retention—this study delivers a validated, model-supported decision framework for enhancing &lt;em&gt;Rabi&lt;/em&gt; cropping in coa","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"231 ","pages":"Article 104539"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145324140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}