This paper presents a novel approach to multi-criteria sustainability performance assessment of horticultural crops. The crops are ranked by the decision-making method ELECTRE IV with environmental, energy and technological criteria. In total eight indicators are taken into consideration and calculated based on primary data collected from over 260 farms in northern Iran. Additionally, Data Envelopment Analysis is used to calculate the technical efficiency and potential for energy saving by different management of the production units. The novel contribution of this study is the comparison of several horticultural products (oranges, kiwis, persimmons and tangerines), when most of the previous studies have focused on one product. Moreover, novel calculations of the carbon footprint are presented for oranges, tangerines and persimmons. This paper also includes the first study on the environmental impact of persimmon fruit's production. The obtained results show that energy efficiency for orange, tangerine, kiwi and persimmon products: 1.1, 0.84, 0.53 and 1.22, respectively. In each hectare of kiwi orchards, the amount of CO2 emissions of 1219 kg and the ecological footprint of 3.21 hectares have been calculated, which is statistically significant compared to orange, tangerine and persimmon. The chemical and fuel inputs have the greatest potential for reducing energy consumption in the studied products. Results of ELECTRE IV showed that kiwi is the most sustainable selection for the studied region followed by orange, persimmon and tangerine, respectively. Kiwi has also relatively low technical efficiency. This means that this product has the greatest potential for a reduction of energy consumption, while maintaining the same amount of crop. It is recommended to include the development of kiwi orchards in the policies of Guilan, but with more careful management of the production inputs.

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.

Agriculture plays a central role in providing food security and essential goods globally. Producers must consider and manage risk to ensure that the production system and its associated individuals are capable of enduring unexpected and disruptive events. Analyzing the different types of risk and accompanying uncertainties that growers experience can be essential to better reflect and understand the realities of their circumstances, but these concepts are not always accounted for in the adoption process. Drawing on the importance of risk and uncertainty, this study aims to assess the different types of risk and uncertainties involved in the risk decision-making process of the processed raspberry industry, where plastic mulch is a new production technique. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants involved in the use, research, outreach, manufacturing, and distribution of plastic mulch, specifically polyethylene (PE) mulch and soil-biodegradable mulch (BDM). Findings indicate that risk can be present in various forms including production, price, and hidden risks, with production and price risks being the most significant to all participants. When accounting for overall risk, PE mulch was considered riskier to industry representatives but less risky to growers and most research and outreach specialists. BDM was considered risky due to the uncertainties about durability, degradability, and the unknown impacts on the environment if BDM fragments do not degrade readily. The application of PE mulch and/or BDM can be beneficial for the raspberry production systems but will require time for additional research and effort to disseminate information to a wider agricultural audience.

Extensive and semi-extensive production based on local swine breeds such as Majorcan Black Pig, Cinta Senese, Gascon, Krškopolje and Turopolje is becoming extremely rare and on the verge of disappearing in Europe. In this context, the main aim of this study was to assess the potential feasibility of marketing strategies to act as guidelines for stakeholders along the supply chain to create and improve added value and match market demands. The sustainability of five production systems was evaluated together with 60 stakeholders representing five local swine breeds, using a World Café (WC) method combined with an Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). The results showed that the proposed strategies could differ slightly depending on each system, while the product strategy was a common marketing priority for most of the stakeholders and represented all the systems evaluated. Diversifying production toward quality, innovative products, enhanced standardization, and quality labeling or seals of guarantee, such as the protected geographical indication or the protected designation of origin, would contribute to the sustainability of these chains. Advertising the storytelling of the meat products and emphasizing their healthier properties were also considered as positive strategies. To this effect, promotion should involve improving knowledge of the local systems and raising the profile of the meat products via public relations (networks, web pages, food and gastronomic events, workshops and so on) in the Hotels, Restaurants and Catering (HORECA) sector, stores selling top-quality products and local food shops. Better showcasing of these products and keeping the price in the premium segment would indirectly help the primary sector. By way of conclusion, other more developed local swine systems could be strong competitors, hence it is extremely important to effectively identify and trace all autochthonous swine breed products throughout the production chain. Furthermore, the entire chain must place greater emphasis on grazing (extensive or semi-extensive), the origin of the swine and their meat products. However, of utmost importance is cooperation between farms, firms and institutions.

Climate change and soil degradation are the issues depleting the soil's ability to promote good yield. One of the ways to combat this is the practice of conservation agriculture (CA). This study was carried out to explore and investigate the impact of CA. Multinomial endogenous switching regression model and cross-sectional data were used to investigate the determinants and the impact of the adoption of CA on the income of smallholder maize farmers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Three categories of CA (minimum tillage, crop diversification and a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification) were considered. The empirical results revealed that regardless of the choices of CA practices adopted by the maize farmers, the income realized was higher for adopters than for non-adopters of CA practices. The average treatment effect for the adopters of both minimum tillage and crop diversification was the highest, showing an increase in income by 60.31% (R15575.99/$996.57USD) compared to the non-adopters. The policy implication for these results is that there is a need to promote the adoption of CA practices, particularly a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification, given their significant impact on farmer income, an important welfare outcome that has significant implications on food security and poverty alleviation.

Two prevailing trends in livestock production include increasing farm sizes and higher recycling rates of manure. Using beef cattle farms in China as a case study, we examine the impact of farm size on farmers' choice of manure disposal modes. Three forms of manure disposal modes are identified: (1) selling to neighboring farmers, (2) giving away to neighboring farmers and (3) self-use. Based on primary data from a field survey of beef cattle farmers in China, we estimate the choice of the above-mentioned three disposal modes using the constrained singular Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model. We find a significant and nonlinear impact of farm size on farmers' choice of manure disposal modes. Specifically, there is a significant and inversed U-shaped relationship between farm size and manure giving away, and a significant U-shaped relationship between farm size and manure selling or self-use. We additionally find several other factors that affect farmers' choice of manure disposal: the educational level of a farmer has a positive impact on manure selling; the better a farmer's physical health condition, the more likely the farmer self uses manure and less likely gives it away; land acquisition, as well as engagement in crop farming, increases manure self-use and reduces manure giving away and selling; the availability of manure treatment facilities reduces manure self-use; and the willingness of nearby crop growers to accept manure significantly decreases manure self-use and increases manure selling and giving away. Policy implications are also discussed.

In recent decades, there has been an increase in public concerns about the animal welfare impacts of many farm practices. The transition to systems that are perceived to increase animal welfare is however, hampered by the lack of transparency regarding farming practices, information gaps and poor value signaling. Using the case of milk choice, this study investigates US consumer (N = 1020) preferences for systems that allow for additional calf-dam (mother) contact, dehorning and the role of different formats of information (i.e., text and images). The study applies a multi-profile (Case 3) best-worst scoring approach. Data were analyzed using mixed logit and latent class models. The results indicate that consumers signal significantly higher values for production systems that allow for more calf-dam contact. These preferences differ by consumer segments. Consumers also expressed positive values for dehorning with pain mitigation. The results further show that a seemingly small addition to textual information treatment, i.e., providing consumers with pictures associated with calf-dam contact practices generates statistically significant premiums. Sensitivity to additional information was high amongst female and urban consumers. The findings of this study highlight the demand incentives for the creation of niche markets for calf management practices in the dairy industry.

Determining an effective approach to replacing chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer is a difficult challenge for the Chinese government. This paper constructs a dynamic analysis framework with broader application than previous statistical and case studies by theoretically deriving the impact of farmers' participation in contract farming on their organic fertilizer application behavior. The framework analyzes farmers' intertemporal organic fertilizer application behavior under the two scenarios of participation and nonparticipation in contract farming. Participation in contract farming positively impacts organic fertilizer application behavior in both the short and long terms. Survey data from 473 vegetable farmers in Shandong province of China were used to conduct an empirical analysis, and the endogenous switching probit model was used to solve the endogeneity problem of farmers' participation in contract farming. The empirical analysis supports the above results: farmers' participation in contract farming increases their probability of applying organic fertilizer by 50.7%. Robustness tests conducted using the recursive bivariate probit model and replacing the dependent variable (the intensity with which farmers replace chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer) confirm the research results. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that farmers' participation in contract farming has a more obvious promoting effect on organic fertilizer application behavior in the older group, the group with an education level of primary school or below and the small-scale farming group. Therefore, the government should promote participation in contract farming, especially among elderly, low-education and small-scale farmers, to improve the adoption level of organic fertilizer in China.

Biodegradable and biobased mulch films and fabrics (BDMs) are potentially sustainable alternatives to polyethylene plastic mulch film (PE) in vegetable production because BDMs can be incorporated into the soil by tillage at the end of the growing season for decomposition. However, grower adoption has been limited in part by concerns about slow degradation rates and possible adverse effects on soil health and productivity. The objective of this study was to measure the effects of soil incorporated residues from two BDMs and compost on soil chemical and physical properties and vegetable crop yield across two diverse locations [Lincoln (LNK) and Scottsbluff (SBF), NE, USA] during a 2-yr study. The BDMs, including a polylactic acid biofabric with embedded wood particles (PLA; 1.14 mm thick and 298 g m−2), and a starch-polyester bioplastic mulch film (STP; 0.015 mm thick and 20 g m−2), were applied in May 2017 for vegetable production. Mulches were incorporated in soil by tillage in September 2017 in half of the experimental plots and removed in the other half as a control. Compost was applied in fall 2017 and 2018 at rates between 42 and 60 Mg ha−1 to establish high and low (no compost) fertility soil environments within each location. Sweet corn (Zea mays) was grown in 2018 and cabbage (Brassica oleraceae) in 2019, and yield data were collected. The soil was sampled at ~6 month intervals for two years. The BDM residues had little effect on soil pH, organic matter or physical properties, but the incorporation of PLA in the soil at SBF reduced soil nitrate 6 months after the incorporation of residues. Nitrogen immobilization likely contributed to the 16% ± 5% reduction in sweet corn yield observed at SBF in plots without compost where BDM residues were incorporated compared to removed. No additional yield differences were detected in sweet corn (2018) or cabbage (2019) across locations or treatments, which suggests that BDM residues are less likely to immobilize nitrogen and reduce yield in high fertility soil environments. Given the potential environmental benefits of BDMs as an alternative to PE, future research should seek to mitigate the negative effects of BDM residues on crop yield, particularly in lower fertility soils.

Sorghum plays a crucial role in the rural economy and nutrition of rural households in Mali. Yet the productivity of this crop is constrained by limited adoption of agricultural intensification technologies, which could be partly because technology development does not properly consider farmers' preferences. This study with smallholder farmers in southern Mali aimed to assess farmers' preferences for different attributes of sorghum technologies through the lens of sustainable intensification. The study used a discrete choice experiment, a method which involves asking individuals to state their preference over hypothetical alternative scenarios, goods or services. We considered six attributes corresponding to different domains of sustainable intensification: grain yield, risk of yield loss, soil fertility, nutrition, labor requirement and fodder yield. We analyzed the data using the mixed logit model, while considering the multinomial logit model as a robustness check. The findings revealed that smallholder farmers are strongly interested in transitioning from their existing sorghum-based cropping systems to those that closely align with these domains of sustainable intensification. However, there were diverse preferences among all the smallholder farmers studied, and between distinct sub-groups of smallholder farmers characterized by their social networks and agroecological zones, which yield relevant policy implications. Overall, these results support the growing research and development prioritization and policy interests toward scaling sustainable intensification among farmers, with a particular focus on human nutrition.

Consumers are increasingly demanding information regarding the characteristics of products, their place of origin and methods of production. A Geographical Indication (GI) can be understood as a way to meet these demands, as it protects the origin of the product, as well as its characteristics. In addition to contributing to territorial development, GI signs have the potential to add value to products and help producers to become more competitive. However, some authors argue that there are barriers that can prevent the benefits of GI from reaching producers. Therefore, this article aims to identify the barriers and benefits of GI for producers. To reach this end, a Systematic Literature Review was carried out. As a result, it was observed that among the main benefits offered by the GI are higher prices, access to markets and preservation of cultural identity. Regarding the challenges, it was highlighted the existence of inefficient institutions, organizational problems, power asymmetry and appropriation of value by the most powerful agents of the supply chain. To conclude, this paper shows that the difficulties and benefits of GI to producers are not absolute and vary from region to region. In this sense, further research on the impact of GI, especially in developing countries, is necessary. The results here presented may be used as a base for future research that search to identify the importance of GI for producers and may also contribute to the development of actions or public policies related to GI.

Conservation practices in agricultural landscapes can greatly mitigate biodiversity loss. However, agricultural landscapes are embedded in complex, social-ecological systems and therefore require a strong social-ecological approach for effective conservation measures. The Galapagos Islands are globally recognized for their high levels of biodiversity. Nevertheless, in recent years, Galapagos landbirds have suffered rapid declines, specifically in the agricultural zone. Our study is the first to examine the farmers’ perception of landbirds in the agricultural zone of Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 38 farmers to characterize the relationship between farmers and landbirds including how landbirds affect farmers and farmers’ perceptions of landbirds. The interviewed farmers managed a diverse array of farm types including coffee in agroforestry settings (23.7%), small-scale fruit and vegetable (60.5%) and livestock production (15.8%). We found that 86.9% of farmers had a positive or neutral perception of birds despite 52.6% of farmers finding finches bothersome. The most common techniques farmers employed to deter birds were putting out food and water, using nets to protect seedbeds and crops and using protective tubes around young plants. Our results suggest a positive potential for future conservation work targeted on farmland biodiversity. Future conservation projects should also address disservices and the mitigation of crop raiding by landbirds, the uninformed use of pesticides and other pest issues such as ants and rats.

Food production on ever-dwindling agricultural land is a severe problem in Ethiopia, necessitating the adoption of more efficient and sustainable land-use strategies to feed the country's growing population. The benefits of intercropping are known to be limited by a variety of factors such as companion crop sowing date and variety. The present study was therefore initiated to evaluate the effect of varieties and planting dates of lupines in bread wheat-lupine under an additive design intercropping system in Northwest Ethiopia. Field experiments were conducted for two years in Adet and Debre Tabor experimental sites. The treatments consisted of four planting dates of lupines and two varieties of lupine. Moreover, the sole crop of bread wheat (Triticum aestivume L.), local lupine (Lupinus albus L.) and sweet lupine (Lupinus angustiflolius L.) were also included. The experiments were laid out in factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results showed that at the Adet experimental site, the highest land equivalent ratio (LER) was recorded in the simultaneous planting of sweet lupine and bread wheat (1.3), followed by the planting of sweet lupine two weeks after bread wheat (1.23). While at Debre Tabor experimental site, the highest LER was recorded in planting sweet lupine two weeks after bread wheat (1.67). A greater area time equivalent ratio (ATER) was reported in the simultaneous planting of sweet lupine and bread wheat (1.29), followed by the planting of sweet lupine after bread wheat (1.22) at the Adet experimental site. A greater ATER was also recorded in the planting of sweet lupine after bread wheat (1.53) had the highest ATER in Debre Tabor, followed by simultaneous planting of sweet lupine after bread wheat (1.39) intercropping. This revealed that sole cropping would necessitate 29 and 53% more area, respectively, to attain the same yield as intercropping. In Adet, the simultaneous planting of sweet lupine and bread wheat intercropping, while in Debre Tabor, planting of sweet lupine two weeks after bread wheat boosted productivity, and production efficiency and is a viable option for increasing household food security.

The exponential increase in population and economic activities has led to the intensification of agriculture and aquaculture in developing countries. The Green Revolution in the 1960s and Blue Revolution in the 1980s were giant steps in this direction to meet the food demand of the burgeoning population. It resulted in the increased use of modern technology for the intensification of agriculture and aquaculture in India. However, coping with the ever-increasing demand for food has adversely impacted our environment. Hence, it is imperative that we explore sustainable practices that enable us to produce more food without compromising environmental integrity and human health. Integrated rice-fish farming is one such solution that optimizes use of resources, maintains sustainable environmental conditions and provides socio-economic stability to the farmers. This review summarizes the various integrated rice-fish cultivation systems practiced in India including traditional practices, their importance, recent development in this area and the existing challenges.

Green roof technology can partially mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization by controlling stormwater runoff, pre-filtering water, minimizing climate change outcomes and reducing heat island effects. However, improvements to current green roof systems and innovative approaches are paramount to advancing environmental benefits and consumer acceptance of this technology. Regular green roofs are hindered by high cost and mass, as well as the incorporation of large amounts of polymers. Hydroponic green roofs (HGRs) require specific setups, maintenance and frequent replacement of plant-growing substrate, with limited energy savings in the heating and cooling load of the building due to the space between the roof surface and the hydroponic setup. In this review, a comparison of regular and HGRs is provided, and research into the environmental benefits of these technologies, including stormwater control, water purification and lifecycle assessment, is summarized. Following this, the prospect of porous concrete (PC), as a combined plant-growth substrate and structural layer in a novel extensive hydroponic green roof (EHGR) design is proposed, through a compilation and analysis of recent studies reporting the feasibility of this construction material for different applications. The mechanical, hydrological and vegetative properties of PC are discussed. Finally, a new green roof system that incorporates both PC and hydroponics, termed the EHGR system, is presented. This new green roof system may help offset the effects of urbanization by providing stormwater and pollution control, runoff delay and physical and thermal benefits, while concurrently producing biomass from a reusable substrate.

Overuse of fertilizer is detrimental to the sustainability of crop production from an economic and environmental perspective. While rice side-deep fertilization technology can significantly improve fertilizer utilization efficiency, improve crop yield and reduce environmental pollution caused by improper use of fertilizer compared with conventional fertilization methods. Therefore, side-deep fertilization technology has an important role in the sustainable development of agriculture. This article describes fertilizer selection, side-deep fertilization devices and the effects of side-deep fertilization technology on rice plants and soil. We summarize the types and characteristics of side-deep fertilizers and their ratios and modes. The basic principles and characteristics of the key components of mechanical fertilization devices are described in detail, including fertilizer discharging devices (rotating disc type, outer groove wheel type, screw type), fertilizer conveying devices (pneumatic, mechanical forced type) and sensors. The effects and mechanisms of side-deep fertilization on rice growth, yield, quality, fertilizer utilization efficiency and soil microorganisms are summarized. Finally, based on current research on side-deep fertilization, future directions are identified to aid the development of this promising technology.