This study evaluated the effects of organic agriculture manuring systems on carrot (Daucus carota) root morphology and sugar and polyacetylene content. Carrots were harvested three times per season 2006–2007 in a long-term field experiment at Skilleby research farm, Sweden. The effects of pelleted chicken manure, fresh farmyard manure and composted farmyard manure (COM) were compared against control plots left unmanured since the field experiment started in 1991. The carrots were analyzed for root size, root shape, amount of soluble sugars and amount of falcarinol-type polyacetylenes. Differences between manuring systems were found to be smaller than the variation between harvest years and harvest occasions, probably due to the grass-clover ley included in the crop rotation system. On an average for the six harvests, manuring with COM increased root length by 6% compared with fertilizing with pelleted chicken manure. Carrots fertilized with pelleted chicken manure also had 6–7% lower total soluble sugar content than carrots manured with 50 t ha−1 of composted or fresh manure. The falcarinol to total falcarinol-type polyacetylenes ratio was 15.4% in carrots manured with 50 t ha−1 of composted or fresh manure and 14.7% in carrots fertilized with pelleted chicken manure. Seasonal fluctuations in falcarinol-type polyacetylenes were more pronounced in carrots manured with fresh or composted manure than in carrots fertilized with pelleted chicken manure. The results suggest that manuring organic carrots with compost may be the most beneficial strategy, at least in systems where fertilizer is applied only once per crop rotation, whether directly to the carrot crop or in the preceding crop.

Food loss and waste throughout the food supply chain is a growing issue with significant economic, social and environmental implications. Wasted food represents lost profits for the food industry, increased food insecurity in communities and the unnecessary production of greenhouse gas emissions, among many other detrimental consequences. Due to the large number of stakeholders involved in the food supply chain and the complexity of their relationships, there is increasing interest in addressing food waste issues through collaborative governance approaches, such as food policy councils (FPCs). Assessing how FPCs engage diverse stakeholders and organizations in food waste reduction efforts can provide important lessons for improving local food systems governance more broadly and contribute to the creation of more sustainable food systems. To do this, we leverage the theoretical concept of ‘collaborative advantage’ to analyze how FPCs foster collaboration, both internally and with external partners, to achieve policy and programmatic goals that individual stakeholders could not achieve alone. Drawing on plan documents and semi-structured interviews with members of five FPCs across the USA, we find that FPCs can foster collaborative advantage by establishing comprehensive food system plans, systematically measuring progress toward objectives, and transparently communicating the evidence of their progress to the communities they serve.

This work presents the results of a three-year field study of agroecosystems designed to restore soil organic matter (SOM) to degraded soils of the Georgia Piedmont. The systems combine a suite of management practices previously demonstrated to increase SOM when studied individually, and examine the effects of these techniques when used in combination in a cropping systems context on soil characteristics, crop production and weed biomass. The systems' components include organic management, alley cropping with perennial legumes, conservation tillage, use of winter cover crops, straw mulch and two compost application rates. Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop. The systems were not able to maintain soil C or N without the addition of compost. Systems incorporating alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and compost maintained soil C, and increased in soil C when mulch was not applied. In organic, conservation tillage without alley cropping, soil C did not change significantly, even with annual 44.8 Mg ha−1 of compost additions. Patterns for soil N followed those of soil C. The study demonstrated that alley cropping can maintain and sequester soil C and N beyond organic conservation tillage alone, and more than conventionally tilled, chemically fertilized treatments. Crop yields did not vary by treatment due to high variation within treatments. Winter cover crop residue provided an effective weed barrier for 4 to 6 weeks in the spring, but additional hand weeding was required throughout the summer. The results of this systems-level study demonstrated interactions between management practices when used in combination that would not have been observed when studied individually. It also demonstrates that agroforestry techniques, conservation tillage and compost applications can increase soil C in degraded, clayey soils while they are in cultivation.

Afar in Ethiopia is a drought prone area characterized by low rainfall, high temperature and suffering from flash flood emerging from adjacent mountains. We introduced a flood barrier, water spreading weirs (WSWs) in 2015 to convert floods to a productive use and assessed its effect in 2016 and 2017. WSWs resulted in deposition of sediments where sand deposition was higher in the upside of upstream weir whereas silt and clay deposition was prominent at the central location between the two weirs. There was a moisture gradient across farming fields with volumetric water content (VWC) at 20 cm depth varying between 10 and 22% depending on the relative position/distance of fields from the WSWs, consequently, effecting significant difference in yield between fields. There was a positive relationship between VWC made available by WSWs at planting and the yield (P < 0.001, r = 0.76) and biomass productivity (P < 0.005, r = 0.46). WSWs created differing farming zone following soil moisture regime, affecting grain and biomass yield. In good potential zones with high moisture content, the WSW-based farming enabled to produce up to 5 and 15 t ha−1 yr−1 of maize grain and biomass, respectively, while in low potential zones there was a complete crop grain failure. The system enabled pastoralists to produce huge amount of biomass and grain during Belg (short) and Meher (long) growing seasons that was stored and utilized during succeeding dry periods. Furthermore, the practice ensured a visible recovery of degraded rangelands. This was evident from the filling up of the riverbed as well as the two WSW wings with 1 m high and about 450 m length each with fertile sediment from Belg and Meher seasons of 2016 and 2017. Hence, future studies should analyze the sustainability and the potential of flood-based development at large scale.

The US organic milk food system has several interesting characteristics. The product has been enthusiastically embraced by consumers, resulting in increased retail sales of organic milk. The processing sector is oligopolistic, with three dominant firms. At the farm level, the definition and enforcement of regulations relating to access to pasture and transitioning livestock have been the subject of controversy and slow to change to meet the needs of the sector. This paper uses two sources of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data (Agricultural Resource Management Survey and Organic Survey) and other evidence to trace changes in the discourse about organic dairy, the market, processing and farm sector, along with the evolution of the regulation. Concern over inconsistencies in the language and enforcement of the regulation at the farm level continued throughout the 30-year period. We find evidence of strong and continued growth of the organic dairy sector at the farm level, among all regions of the US. The amount of pasture available per cow increased as the access to outdoor rules tightened. In 2016 many dairies failed to meet the 30% threshold for feed from grazing. Another key finding, which may underlie the internal debates, is that the profitability of large-scale organic dairies in the West substantially increased in 2016. The organic dairies in other regions did not experience this improvement, although their profitability remained similar to prior years. While there is evidence of problems with the regulation, we note that the structure of the processing sector is an important but overlooked dimension. Thus, additional research into the farmer–processor relationship is needed to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the organic dairy farm sector.

Rabbit farming is a form of low input agriculture that has potential to address food security and poverty in East Africa and beyond. For low input agriculture, farmers utilize local and affordable farm resources making it accessible across income levels. Understanding barriers and facilitators to rabbit farming could increase effectiveness of this form of low input agriculture in communities struggling with low food security and poverty, particularly for indigenous, smallholder farms. News media is an available source of data about community perceptions and practices on issues such as rabbit farming, food security, and poverty. For this qualitative study, researchers applied a priori and open coding text analysis to examine recurring themes in news media representations regarding perceptions of rabbit farming in East Africa. Results reveal that community members view rabbit farming as a community strategy that promotes better nutrition and food security while reducing poverty. Important themes included how gender and other cultural norms shaped efforts, and the role of sustainability and climate change on farming practices. Further, the easy cultivation of rabbits, funding, and protective policy and support of indigenous smallholder farms were perceived as facilitators for rabbit farming. Finally, investment in infrastructure for market, production, and knowledge-transfer of best production and business practices were considered critical to success for rabbit farmers throughout East Africa.

The choice between organic and inorganic farming is an exciting debate in scholarly literature. A large number of studies has enriched the discussion. However, this particular study adds to this debate in unique ways. This study uses a hybrid model based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a methodological contribution to the debate of organic and inorganic farming by using multicriteria decision analysis. Also, this study uses several conflicting criteria (such as health benefits, environmental benefits, soil fertility, consumer awareness, etc.) that have not been combined in a single research study earlier to consider the choice of organic and inorganic farming. The study is based on a questionnaire survey undertaken by consumers, farmers and agriculture experts. After the application of the AHP-TOPSIS based hybrid model, several interesting results have been founded that have important policy implications for farming in Pakistan and other developing countries.

Urbanization, changes in the retail sector and economic growth in developing countries may offer new opportunities to build connections between urban consumers and nearby farmers. The design of strategies to build such connections will require deeper insights into the food preferences of urban consumers. This paper presents a choice experiment of the preference of locally grown apples, avocados and pears vis-à-vis nonlocal equivalents with 300 consumers in a traditional market in Cusco, Peru. Willingness-to-pay estimates are derived from a multinomal logit analysis. We found that consumers who are younger and more educated and those with young children tend to be willing to pay more for locally produced apples, avocados and pears. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the research for advancing efforts to localize food systems in developing countries and opportunities for future research.

In an attempt to utilize large amounts of Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) that were captured using a mass trapping system, compost using Japanese beetle carcasses was prepared with the layer method. Carbon sources included shredded paper, wood chips and leaves, while the sole nitrogen source was frozen Japanese beetles. In addition, Japanese beetle-based vermicompost was prepared in the greenhouse by mixing the Japanese beetle-based compost with sphagnum peat moss and moist shredded paper and exposing this mixture to composting earthworms (Eisenia fetida). Chemical analyses of the Japanese beetle carcasses indicated that 10.8% of their body weight is nitrogen (N). Analyses of the resulting Japanese beetle-based compost and vermicompost indicated that both types of materials are good quality soil amendments. Greenhouse studies were conducted to quantify the effects of varying proportions of Japanese beetle-based vermicompost and compost mixed with a potting medium and varying dosages of synthetic fertilizer 20-0-0, on mean fresh and dry weight of lettuce shoots and leaf area. Japanese beetle-based compost and vermicompost increased lettuce biomass to an extent that was comparable with the addition of synthetic N-based fertilizer. A mixture of 15 and 30% of each compost type with potting media significantly increased plant weight and leaf area compared with potting medium alone. Results indicate that composting and vermicomposting insect carcasses are a simple, effective and affordable method to augment fertilization in support of organic production.

The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of suppliers' intensity of participation in the European Union school fruit scheme (SFS) based on the example of the SFS in the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2013/14, approximately 100 suppliers including many agricultural enterprises or farm shops took part in a telephone survey. The data were processed by a factor analysis. Multivariate regression and ordered logit analyses were used to examine the determinants of intensity of participation. The results indicate that economic as well as non-economic factors determine suppliers' intensity of participation in such programs, though the financial aspect was determined as the most influential single factor for participation. In addition, the feel-good factor from helping to improve children's dietary habits and supporting the local community has been identified as an important motive.

Corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is one of the most important pests in organic sweet corn (Zea mays) production. Breeding of corn earworm-resistant varieties has been identified as a potential approach to deal with this pest, but it is critical that plant breeding efforts reflect the contexts and needs of organic producers who might eventually adopt earworm-resistant varieties. In November–December 2017, we surveyed organic sweet corn producers in the U.S. to learn about impacts of corn earworm on organic sweet corn production, how producers are currently managing the pest and opportunities for plant breeding to reduce its overall impact. The survey confirmed that corn earworm is the most challenging insect pest for organic sweet corn producers, that current management options remain limited and that earworm-resistant varieties could improve the ability of growers to consistently produce damage-free sweet corn and to improve the value of sweet corn within organic operations.

Combining existing traditions of rice and of fish in an integrated rice−fish (IRF) culture is a promising strategy for sustainably increasing land productivity and diminishing the need for external inputs in smallholder agriculture of Amazonia. This study evaluates the potential of IRF for weed control in irrigated rice production. It was conducted from August 18 to December 5, 2008 in the Maranhão lowlands in the eastern periphery of Amazonia. We compared weed communities in four 3-year-old IRF and four adjacent ‘conventional’ irrigated rice (CIR) fields at 20 and 40 days after transplanting (DAT), at the mid-vegetative stage and at the onset of flowering, which served as an indicator of potential grain yield. Rice–fish fields contained differing mixtures of herbivore and omnivore fish species totaling 4000 fish per ha or 1.7 fish per m3. Total weed density was reduced in the IRF system, particularly early in the season, the most critical stage for rice development. The integration of fish into irrigated rice cultivation affected weed species composition, with fish-weeding preferentially reducing monocotyledonous Cyperaceae, one of the more aggressive and problematic weed families in this region. Monocot weed density was negatively correlated with rice aboveground biomass at 40 DAT rice. Although floristic similarity between IRF and CIR fields was low, the impacts of IRF on weed species diversity and weed species richness were not significant. Thus, IRF was not associated with a simplification of the weed community. We conclude that fish-weeding may substitute for manual or chemical weeding in irrigated rice agriculture, an important consideration for resource-poor smallholder agriculture in environmentally sensitive riverine or delta areas of eastern Amazonia.

Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is a potentially useful tool in agricultural systems with limited options regarding use of synthetic chemicals for fertility and pest control. We tested the response of Allium porrum cv. Lancelot to inoculation with AM fungi in a field high in available P (169 μg g−1 soil) that had been repeatedly cultivated to control weeds. Seedlings were inoculated during the greenhouse production period with a mixed species inoculum produced on-farm in a compost and vermiculite medium with Paspalum notatum Flugge as a nurse host. Inoculated and uninoculated seedlings were the same size at outplanting. Inoculated seedlings were over 2.5-fold greater in shoot weight and shoot P content than uninoculated seedlings at harvest. These results demonstrate the potential yield benefits from inoculation with AM fungi in situations where farm management practices may negatively impact on indigenous populations of AM fungi.

Land degradation is a global challenge that affects lives and livelihoods in many communities. Since 1950, about 65% of Africa's cropland, on which millions of people depend, has been affected by land degradation caused by mining, poor farming practices and illegal logging. One-quarter of the land area of Ethiopia is severely degraded. As part of interventions to restore ecosystem services, exclosures have been implemented in Ethiopia since the 1980s. But the lack of tools to support prioritization and more efficient targeting of areas for large-scale exclosure-based interventions remains a challenge. Within that perspective, the overarching objectives of the current study were: (i) to develop a Geographic Information System-based multicriteria decision-support tool that would help in the identification of suitable areas for exclosure initiatives; (ii) to provide spatially explicit information, aggregated by river basin and agroecology, on potential areas for exclosure interventions and (iii) to conduct ex-ante analysis of the potential of exclosure areas for improving ecosystem services in terms of increase in above-ground biomass (AGB) production and carbon storage. The results of this study demonstrated that as much as 10% of Ethiopia's land area is suitable for establishing exclosures. This amounts to 11 million hectares (ha) of land depending on the criteria used to define suitability for exclosure. Of this total, a significant proportion (0.5–0.6 million ha) is currently under agricultural land-use systems. In terms of propriety river basins, we found that the largest amount of suitable area for exclosures falls in the Abay (2.6 million ha) and Tekeze (2.2 million ha) river basins, which are hosts to water infrastructure such as hydropower dams and are threatened by siltation. Ex-ante analysis of ecosystem services indicated that about 418 million tons of carbon can be stored in the AGB through exclosure land use. Ethiopia has voluntarily committed to the Bonn Challenge to restore 15 million ha of degraded land by 2025. The decision-support tool developed by the current study and the information so generated go toward supporting the planning, implementation and monitoring of these kinds of local and regional initiatives.

Over the last several decades, agriculture in industrialized countries experienced a significant intensification as a result of the diffusion of mechanization, the widespread use of genetically improved genotypes, and the large-scale use of off-farm inputs, mainly in the form of fossil fuel energy and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Under the pressure of the growing agro-industrial sector, which has been oriented to promote models based on large volumes and long-distance supply chains, intensification was accompanied by progressive specialization of farms and cropping systems (Ratnadass et al., 2012). Indeed, the reduction of diversity at the field, farm, and territory level, a result of a low number of crops, the shortening of crop rotations, and a decrease in the number of cultivated genotypes, is becoming evident in many agro-environments in developed countries.

There is a growing interest among farmers and consumers in increasing production and consumption of grain legumes in Sweden. This requires better knowledge among farmers and advisors about suitable species, varieties and management practices for different conditions. Since cultivar suitability and management practices are highly site-specific, farmers need to gain their own experience of new crops and practices. This paper describes a farmer–researcher collaboration in which cultivation of grain legumes for food was investigated in on-farm experiments designed, managed and evaluated jointly by a group of farmers and researchers. Farmers tested innovative practices using within-field species diversity, comparative performance of varieties and methods for weed control. Post-harvest steps such as cleaning and selling the crops were considered by farmers to be integral components of the experiments. The process generated different types of knowledge, including practical knowledge on crop management, strategic knowledge on economic sustainability and knowledge about joint learning through collaboration. The on-farm experiments combined advantages of ‘pure’ farmer experiments (i.e., context specificity) and ‘pure’ researcher experiments (i.e., scientific inquiry), facilitating deeper analysis and understanding of outcomes. This enabled efficient knowledge building, adoption of new crops and innovative practices and stimulated further experimentation. The outcomes of this study are that farmer–researcher collaborations using on-farm experiments can stimulate collective learning by stimulating the exchange between participants and combining complementary perspectives throughout the experimentation process. The study also provides recommendations for facilitating on-farm experiments in future work, for instance using collective settings to evaluate the results.

Organic producers in Minnesota and North Dakota, USA, indicated that they wanted to participate in hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell) variety evaluations. The objectives were to determine if a farmer–researcher developed scoring system could be used to rank wheat varieties for yield potential when grown in certified organic fields, identify views of organic producers about on-farm research, and identify the educational impact of the participatory variety evaluation process. Hard red spring wheat varieties were compared for grain yield at six locations on certified organic farms in Minnesota and North Dakota over a three-year period. A scoring system was developed and then used to identify the relative rank of adapted varieties for yield. Producers were asked to rank all varieties on a scale from 1 to 9, where 1 is lowest yield potential and 9 is highest yield potential. Producers were able to distinguish higher producing varieties as a group in 2003 and 2004. ‘Oklee’ a high yielding variety was ranked lowest in 2005. There was a significant linear relationship between producer ranking and yield (P<0.05) even though producers could not pick the highest yielding varieties consistently in the field. The producer survey showed that grain yield, protein content, wheat scab resistance, leaf disease resistance, early seedling vigor, test weight and canopy closure were traits producers valued most in a variety. Heading date, impact on succeeding crops, straw and stubble production were ranked lower. Multi-year variety evaluation on certified organic land was highly valued by the producers surveyed. From an educational perspective, the exercise was successful in that producers had to observe individual varieties carefully in order to come to a consensus producer ranking. The model of participatory research can be used for a variety of field research projects and field days.

Results from research on controversial topics are often interpreted according to the world view of the reader. With conflicting results from different researchers or institutions, it is likely that vested financial interests or adherence to conventional wisdom will lead to rejection of science-based conclusions. An example from the past is the comparison of multiple cropping with monocrop systems, where clear advantages of complex systems are discounted by those committed to the monoculture paradigm. A current example is comparison of organic with conventional farming systems and food products, where food price, suspicion about certification and philosophy about perceived ‘non-scientific’ results cloud the technical conclusions. An emerging example is comparisons of local versus global food systems, where multiple issues including comparative advantage and food preferences obscure the key questions of energy investment, food equity and local well-being. A proposed solution to this dilemma is to instead focus scarce research funds on improving the development of alternative agroecosystems, rather than invest human energy into futile comparisons that are unlikely to convince the skeptics. In this way, more creative alternatives can be explored and greater progress made toward food equity and sufficiency.

In temperate regions, reduced tillage is still not broadly accepted in organic farming although the guidelines often recommend the reduction of tillage intensity. During the years 5–7 of a long-term experiment, we studied the effects of the three tillage systems moldboard plowing (MP, soil inversion to 30 cm depth), two-layer plowing (TP, inversion to 15 cm, loosening to 30 cm) and layer cultivation (LC, loosening to 30 cm) on soil nutrients, nutrient content of barley, rye and associated weeds, and yield on a clay loam soil. Crops were cultivated within a five-course crop rotation consisting of green fallow, winter wheat, field peas, winter rye and spring barley; no additional fertilizers were applied. Tillage affected only soil nitrate under barley, which decreased with decreasing tillage intensity. Soil humus, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were unaffected by tillage under both crops. Barley shoot nitrogen content was significantly influenced by tillage, with, across years, 38 and 83% higher values under MP than under TP or LC, respectively. Weeds in barley had a higher P and K content at LC than at MP or TP. This resulted, across years, in 73% higher barley yields in MP than in LC. The TP showed a 29% higher barley yield than the LC. Tillage methods had no effect on rye nutrient contents, rye yields or on weeds associated with rye. The significant interaction between tillage and year for rye yield suggests that weather conditions in a given year (e.g., amount of rainfall) can considerably alter the effect of reduced tillage.