Agricultural Systems最新文献

{"title":"Land suitability modeling integrating geospatial data and artificial intelligence","authors":"Huezer Viganô Sperandio ,&nbsp;Marcelino Santos de Morais ,&nbsp;Luciano Cavalcante de Jesus França ,&nbsp;Danielle Piuzana Mucida ,&nbsp;Reynaldo Campos Santana ,&nbsp;Ricardo Siqueira da Silva ,&nbsp;Cristiano Reis Rodrigues ,&nbsp;Bruno Lopes de Faria ,&nbsp;Maria Luiza de Azevedo ,&nbsp;Eric Bastos Gorgens","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104197","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Sustainable agricultural practices are critical in a world grappling with climate change and pressure on natural resources. Unplanned agricultural expansion often harms ecosystems and the services they provide. Balancing food production with environmental protection demands sophisticated tools like spatial analysis and artificial intelligence to inform land-use decisions.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study introduces an AI-driven process to assess land suitability for agrosilvopastoral systems, going beyond traditional methods by incorporating a broader spectrum of landscape characteristics. Our approach integrates climate, water resources, soil properties, morphological features, and accessibility to enhance the accuracy of suitability mapping.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We constructed a data cube comprising 100 geospatial layers representing diverse landscape attributes. Field observations from two watersheds in Minas Gerais, Brazil, were used to train and validate a Random Forest classification model. We evaluated the model's accuracy and quantified the influence of each attribute group on suitability determination.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Integrating climate, water, edaphic, and morphological attributes significantly improved the model's accuracy and provided a more nuanced understanding of agrosilvopastoral suitability compared to using only soil class, lithology, and slope. Climate and edaphic variables emerged as key drivers of suitability. This approach identified a more constrained, yet potentially more sustainable, distribution of suitable land.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Our findings highlight the need to transition from conventional land suitability assessments towards more holistic, data-driven approaches that consider the complex interplay of environmental factors. This model offers a valuable tool for guiding sustainable land-use planning, potentially mitigating environmental impacts while optimizing agrosilvopastoral production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104197"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142747353","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":"Risk tolerance and climate concerns predict transformative agricultural land use change","authors":"Meredith T. Niles ,&nbsp;Philip Stahlmann-Brown ,&nbsp;Dennis Wesselbaum","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104195","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104195","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Research and policy continue to highlight the potential importance of transformative adaptations (involving wholly new systems, processes, or locations for activities) for climate and other future changes, including in agriculture. Despite this, there are few examples of transformative changes in action and insufficient understanding about the drivers that enable or facilitate transformative change.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We assess the extent to which farmers have implemented transformative or incremental land use changes on their farms over the previous ten years and their likelihood to implement both types of changes in the future, with a particular emphasis on respondents' patience (i.e. low discount rates) and risk preferences, which we expect to have differing effects on change type.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We utilize data from a large-scale, Internet-based survey of farmers, foresters, and growers from across New Zealand. Participants were recruited through industry bodies and government databases, and the final sample includes 4458 respondents representing all major activities in New Zealand's primary sector and all 65 districts in the country. The sample is broadly representative by both demographics and industry.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>We find that transformative land use changes are indeed rare - only 15 % of farmers had implemented transformative land use changes in the past, and only 11 % intended to implement them in the future. Furthermore, transformative land use changes are more common in some industries than others, with the arable sector having the highest levels of transformative change; in contrast, incremental change is common across all sectors. Surprisingly, individual patience was not generally associated with actual or intended adaptations, but risk tolerance was a strong predictor of change. Furthermore, risk-tolerant individuals who also expressed climate change belief were significantly more likely to have already implemented transformative change.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Given that transformative changes involve high risk and are often costly, these results highlight the importance of societal investment to foster transformative changes where needed, as many individuals – especially marginalized or under resourced producers – will have minimal capacity for their implementation. This work identifies the industries and characteristics of producers that may need the greatest investment to implement transformative changes to respond to a host of rapidly changing agricultural conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104195"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699261","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":"Integrated assessment of farm-level mitigation measures for gaseous emissions","authors":"Oyinlola Rafiat Ogunpaimo ,&nbsp;Cathal Buckley ,&nbsp;Stephen Hynes ,&nbsp;Stephen O'Neill","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104188","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104188","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Some gaseous emissions continue to pose a serious threat to human health and the environment locally, regionally and globally. This has resulted in several studies advocating for the implementation of mitigation measures to reduce the emissions of harmful gases.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>While the vast majority of studies focus on a single type of gas, much less attention has been paid to the complementary or conflicting effects of mitigation measures across multiple harmful gaseous emissions dimensions.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>To address this research gap, this study uses Irish farm-level data to assess the holistic costs and benefits of a suite of mitigation measures that have the potential to abate greenhouse gases, ammonia or both. A cost-benefit analysis framework is employed to assess the impact of the mitigation measures across five different farm system types.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>Results indicate that the relative effectiveness of the mitigation measure varies depending on the gaseous emission dimension being examined.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Analyses that fail to account for such synergistic and antagonistic relationship impacts may lead to flawed policy decisions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104188"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699262","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":"Agroecological performance of smallholder dairy cattle systems in the Peruvian Amazon","authors":"D.M. Pizarro ,&nbsp;M.G. Erickson ,&nbsp;C.A. Gómez-Bravo ,&nbsp;V.D. Picasso ,&nbsp;D. Lucantoni ,&nbsp;A. Mottet ,&nbsp;M.A. Wattiaux","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104199","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104199","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>In Peru, silvopastoral systems have been included as a national measure to address deforestation and mitigate carbon emissions. Limited studies have assessed the sustainability of mixed livestock-crop systems using tools that address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We assessed the sustainability of smallholder dairy farms in the Peruvian Amazon as affected by system type (silvopastoral or conventional) and herd size (medium or large) using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE). Furthermore, we explored the linkages among TAPE indicators including the 10 Elements of Agroecology (EA), an overall evaluation scale (Characterization of Agroecological Transition; CAET), and 11 SDG-linked Core Criteria of Performance (CCP).</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>Twenty-two farmers of the San Martin region were surveyed. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, Pearson correlations, and fitted to linear and quadratic functions.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Silvopastoral systems showed a greater agroecological transition than conventional systems (69.0 vs. 60.2; CAET mean) regardless of herd size.</div><div>Results suggested that EA and CCP were essentially independent of each other if linearity was assumed. However, concave quadratic relationships were detected between the CAET and 4 CCP: <em>Farm Income</em>, <em>Agricultural Net Income, Dietary Diversity,</em> and <em>Women's Empowerment</em>. For these CCP, depressed values for farms with intermediate CAET (60 to 69) suggested that they neither reap the full benefits of agroecological practices found mainly in silvopastoral farms (CAET &gt;70) nor the full benefits of conventional practices (CAET &lt;60)<em>.</em></div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>The implementation of agroecological practices in smallholder systems may support positive economic and social sustainability outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104199"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A systematic review of food-waste based hydroponic fertilisers","authors":"Oscar Wang,&nbsp;Rosalind Deaker,&nbsp;Floris Van Ogtrop","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104179","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;CONTEXT&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;This review article seeks to evaluate existing research in hydroponic systems which utilise a fertiliser solution derived from food-waste, also known as “Food-waste based hydroponic fertilisers” (FWBHF). FWBHF research is rooted in addressing increasing concerns surrounding food security, addressing both non-productive waste streams and sustainable production of hydroponic fertilisers. In 2018, the world was predicted to have wasted 931 million tonnes of food, 17 % of the total food produced throughout the year (&lt;em&gt;FAO, 2021&lt;/em&gt;). Meanwhile, existing hydroponic systems rely on synthetic fertilisers which are constituted from unsustainable processes, such as Haber-Bosch systems or mining for phosphate rocks. These practices contribute heavily to greenhouse gas emissions or rely on destructive exploitation of finite reserves, which researchers believe will increase in price as accessible reserves are exhausted (Liu et al., 2020&lt;em&gt;;&lt;/em&gt; Cordell et al., 2011). With increasing population in urban areas, the demand of produce imported from regional areas grows alongside the density of waste generation. Thus, exploring methods to re-utilise urban food-waste in urban horticultural systems may help in improving food security, reducing waste, and providing a local source of fresh produce for consumers.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;OBJECTIVES&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;The objectives of this review article are to : i) Utilise PRISMA protocol to collect and synthesize existing literature related to food-waste based hydroponic systems, ii) Identify major challenges found across literature which inhibit yield outcomes in food-waste based hydroponic systems, iii) Explore potential improvements using conventional or non-conventional methods, including chemical, physical, and biological modifications to existing systems, iv) Suggest a standardized reporting framework for future research in this area.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;METHODS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Using the PRISMA protocol, 6840 papers were identified with key words: “Food-waste AND hydroponic AND fertiliser,” “Organic AND hydroponic AND fertiliser,” and “Organic AND Hydroponics.” 308 papers were selected based on the relevance of their title and abstract. After considering quality, overlaps, and relevance, 37 papers were chosen to be part of this systematic review. Literature was chosen based on its contents utilising any form of processing to prepare waste generated from the food-waste industry for use in a hydroponic system. These papers utilised waste generated at i) Farm, ii) Industry, and iii) Consumer, levels as well as a range of novel methods such as fermentation, steaming, or composting. This review studies how both feedstock composition and processing methodologies play a role in determining the efficacy of a food-waste based hydroponic fertiliser.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;RESULTS AND DISCUSSION&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;It was found that while feedstock plays a larger role in the final nutritional composition, categorisation by me","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104179"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AquaCrop model to optimize water supply for a sustainable processing tomato cultivation in the Mediterranean area: A multi-objective approach","authors":"P. Garofalo ,&nbsp;M. Riccardi ,&nbsp;P. Di Tommasi ,&nbsp;A. Tedeschi ,&nbsp;M. Rinaldi ,&nbsp;F. De Lorenzi","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104198","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104198","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;CONTEXT&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Efficient irrigation management must consider multiple aspects of cropping systems, such as productivity, water use efficiency, and economic viability. Crop simulation models like AquaCrop are essential tools for analyzing crop responses under different irrigation scenarios. Organizing the model's outputs into standardized parameters allows for a multi-objective evaluation, which can be consolidated into a single index for optimizing irrigation strategies.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;OBJECTIVE&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;This study aims to formalize the response of processing tomato cropping systems in Southern Italy to various irrigation regimes and develop a framework to identify optimal irrigation volumes for production, water use efficiency, and economic returns.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;METHODS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;AquaCrop was used to assess the effects of different seasonal water supplies on dry yield, water use efficiency, and irrigation water use efficiency. Sustainability was evaluated via the blue water footprint and drainage, while economic sustainability was measured through net income and irrigation economic efficiency. A multi-objective evaluation framework was built, developed to consolidate performance indices into a single multi-aggregated index (&lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;mobj&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;).&lt;/em&gt; The AquaCrop model was calibrated and validated using field data, with high accuracy in simulating canopy cover, biomass, and dry yield (&lt;em&gt;NRMSE&lt;/em&gt; &lt; 30 %, &lt;em&gt;r&lt;/em&gt; &gt; 0.90, and &lt;em&gt;d&lt;/em&gt; &gt; 0.97). Polynomial regression was used to model the relationships between irrigation volumes and cropping system variables. Each variable was assigned a truth value (&lt;em&gt;TW&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;i&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;), derived from regression coefficients, statistical significance, and model fit. These values were normalized using a sigmoid function and consolidated into the &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;mobj&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; index, providing an overall measure of irrigation performance.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;AquaCrop accurately simulated canopy cover, biomass, and dry yield. Multi-objective analysis showed yield and profitability were most sensitive to irrigation changes, followed by drainage, blue water footprint, and water use efficiency. The 500 mm irrigation regime yielded the highest productivity and profitability but negatively impacted water use efficiency and environmental sustainability. Irrigation volumes above 500 mm worsened all water-related variables, while volumes of 400 mm reduced profitability but improved the sustainability. The &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;mobj&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; index identified that irrigation between 300 mm and 400 mm provided the best trade-off across all evaluated variables.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;SIGNIFICANCE&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;This study highlights the value of integrating crop productivity, economic viability, and sustainability into irrigation management. The proposed framework, combined with AquaCrop, offers a holistic tool for optimizing irrigati","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104198"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global warming creates the adaptation tipping points of livestock exposure to cold and heat stress on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau","authors":"Ning Zhan ,&nbsp;Weihang Liu ,&nbsp;Tao Ye ,&nbsp;Yiqing Liu ,&nbsp;Zitong Li ,&nbsp;Heng Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104190","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104190","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Global warming has created tipping points across various ecosystems, but few studies have focused on the livestock systems. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has been warming at a rate two to three times greater than the global average, potentially leading to a transition from historically prevalent livestock cold stress to heat stress.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study aims to estimate the cold and heat stress exposure of livestock systems on the QTP under climate change, and identify the adaptation tipping points and disproportionate changes of livestock predominant cold-to-heat stress exposure.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>Livestock cold and heat stress were evaluated based on seasonal distribution and specific thresholds. The Moving-<em>t-</em>test and non-linear analyses were used to identify adaptation tipping points and examine disproportionate changes between the increase in heat stress and the decrease in cold stress.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>The adaptation tipping points of cold-to-heat stress transition for cattle have already arrived, while that for sheep would also come within this century if warming is not limited to 2 °C. As climate warming becomes more severe, the increased heat stress exposure is greater than decreased cold stress exposure, and the positive disproportionality is increasing with the rise of temperature.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This study not only sheds light on the underexplored realm of tipping points within the livestock systems but also offers crucial insights into livestock adapting to the changing dynamics of cold and heat stress on the QTP in the context of global warming.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104190"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699259","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":"Enhancing capacities for sustainability transition policy design: Lessons from French pesticide reduction plans","authors":"Viviane Trèves,&nbsp;Mourad Hannachi,&nbsp;Jean-Marc Meynard","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104175","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104175","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Reducing pesticide use has become an important policy objective in several countries, yet many have failed to reach their goals. Policies need to be more systemic to address lock-ins hindering pesticide reduction. To do so, policymakers must improve policymaking processes, while ensuring active stakeholder participation. This requires specific policy capacities, which have not yet been characterized.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This article aims to identify policy capacities needed to improve the collective elaboration of pesticide reduction policies and integrate a systemic approach.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We studied the collective elaboration of the French pesticide reduction plans. We built a narration of the policy process organized by policymakers, based on semi-structured interviews and an analysis of grey literature. We then reflected on which policy capacities policymakers needed to better manage the policy design process, using the “management situation” concept.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Our results show that to better design pesticide reduction policies, policymakers lacked four types of interdependent “policy capacities”: capacities to support collective sensemaking about lock-ins, to co-design interdependent and multi-level instruments, to co-design suitable implementation structures and to ensure learning. These results highlight an issue of dynamic capabilities in public organizations.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Our results provide concrete proposals to improve design processes for pesticide reduction policies aiming at systemic transformations: there is a need to develop new methods, tools, analytical resources and training programs for policymakers, to support the development of the policy capacities identified. These results also suggest avenues for future action-research between public management, systemic agronomy, sustainability and design sciences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104175"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Main characteristics of French farms adopting cereal–legume intercropping: A quantitative exploration at the national and local levels","authors":"Elodie Yan,&nbsp;Philippe Martin,&nbsp;Marco Carozzi","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Cereal–legume intercropping is a diversification practice that offers many advantages, especially in low-input systems. However, its adoption remains low on European farms, as technical and economic barriers hinder its development. In recent years, an increase in the proportion of arable land cultivated with cereal–legume intercrops has been observed in France. Three areas in particular – in Western, Eastern and Southern France – seem to be particularly dynamic.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study aimed (i) to identify the main farm characteristics associated with the presence of cereal–legume intercrops at the national level in France and (ii) to highlight more specific characteristics that could explain the particular dynamics observed in each focus region.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We analysed data from the 2020 French Agricultural Census for 43,968 farms representative of the French arable crop, livestock, and mixed crop–livestock farming systems. Through a literature review, we identified key factors linked to the presence of cereal–legume intercrops and related them to 42 variables in the census. At the national level, the most important of these variables were identified and interpreted using a balanced random forest and a classification and regression tree (CART). We tested the CART obtained at the national level in the Western, Eastern, and Southern areas and conducted a random forest analysis for each area to identify local particularities.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>At the national level, the presence of cereal–legume intercropping was strongly linked to organic farming and the presence of livestock, especially ruminants. These intercrops were prevalent on farms with high feed autonomy for the cattle and sheep. Additionally, they were commonly observed on farms with grain storage, possibly indicating feed autonomy, on-farm transformation, or marketing outside of agricultural cooperatives. The belonging to a farm machinery cooperative was also strongly associated with cereal–legume intercropping, likely because these cooperatives give farmers access to specific machinery and provide opportunities for knowledge exchange regarding their practices. Similar characteristics were identified at the local level; organic farming was pivotal in the Western and Eastern areas, followed by feed autonomy for cattle. In the Southern area, however, on-farm grain storage capacity was dominant, likely due to longstanding efforts to achieve feed autonomy.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This exhaustive study on French farms identified key farm characteristics strongly linked to cereal–legume intercrops adoption. This insight is critical for promoting this practice, whether through national public policies or local farming support services. The methodology proposed can be easily reproduced to investigate other farming practices at different spatial scales.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104196"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reliability of irrigation water and farm-level productivity: Evidence from semi-arid farming systems in northern Ethiopia","authors":"Menasbo Gebru ,&nbsp;Tewodros Tadesse ,&nbsp;Melaku Berhe","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104193","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104193","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Access to sufficient amount of irrigation water enables farmers to intensify cultivation, leading to increased productivity. The type, application level of irrigation infrastructure, and water use management conditions affect the extent of water supply and farm-level productivity. Despite this, much of the literature on the impact of irrigation water on farm-level productivity considers the dichotomous concept of access to irrigation without accounting for differences in the reliability of access to irrigation water.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>Beyond the dichotomous effect of access to irrigation, this study examined the impact of reliable irrigation water on farm-level productivity in semi-arid agricultural systems.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>Using data from 462 irrigated farm plots from northern Ethiopia, we estimated the impact of reliability of irrigation water on plot-level productivity based on the control function approach to address the potential endogeneity associated with the reliability of irrigation water in the productivity model.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>Results show that reliability of irrigation water positively and significantly affects farm-level productivity. The implication is that beyond access to irrigation water, reliability in access and use of irrigation water remains crucial to productivity. In this regard, it is vital to work on strengthening the village-level water management systems and enhancing their institutional efficiency to ensure water use reliability and sustain future investments in irrigation systems to enhance plot-level productivity.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>The bulk of the literature is restricted to documentation of knowledge on the dichotomous effect of access to irrigation that could mask the more realistic impact on plot-level productivity. This study extends the literature by modeling not only access to but also reliability of access to unmask the differential impact of access to and reliability of irrigation water on plot-level productivity. It can also provide policy a useful direction in promoting the need to invest, beyond access, on ensuring the reliability of irrigation water for enhancing productivity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"223 ","pages":"Article 104193"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699257","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}