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In China, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used for broadcast application of agricultural inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, and seeds. UAVs have the potential for site-specific precision agriculture, facilitating precise management of fertilization, plant protection, and irrigation to reduce environmental footprint of farming. There has been research on the use of UAVs in agriculture, but less is known about UAV-based precision agriculture, particularly pattern management. To close these research gaps, this paper conducted structured in-depth interviews with 18 experts from various fields related to UAVs in Chinese agriculture to study the status quo, drivers, and barriers of adopting UAVs, focusing on UAV-based precision agriculture, particularly pattern management. The results show that the adoption of UAVs in China is influenced by farmers’ production characteristics, farmers’ perceptions about UAVs, and social factors. UAV-based precision agriculture is at the initial stage in China, and the promotion of this approach still needs to overcome technical barriers such as improving the accuracy of crop measurements, developing real-time UAV positioning systems, and enhancing the response time of variable-rate spraying systems, as well as socio-economic barriers like farmers’ limited UAV-related knowledge, small farm sizes, and lack of technical assistance.

Thanks to their multifunctionality, mobility and high data processing capacity, smartphones and their mobile applications have become a permanent companion for farmers in everyday life. This paper systematically analyses the mobile applications for agriculture available on the German market. The status quo (n = 1,214 apps) was recorded, systematically structured and descriptively evaluated based on the qualitative content analysis according to MAYRING (2015). A comparison of these results with the study by HOFFMANN et al. (2014) shows that the market offer for mobile apps is extremely dynamic. There are significantly more apps available for crop production (46.9%; n = 569) than for livestock farming (28.6%; n = 347). A vast majority (41.4%; n = 503) is used to provide information. The app ratings suggest that the majority of users are satisfied with the mobile apps available for agriculture.

Along the lower-middle São Francisco River, in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, irrigated agriculture contributes to reduce rural poverty. In the framework of the Itaparica Reservoir construction, three irrigation schemes were implemented in the Pernambuco state to compensate the local population for flooded land. Despite favourable production conditions for irrigated agriculture, many smallholders in the irrigation schemes are facing poverty. To identify socio-economic key indicators on farm income, expert interviews (n=16) and a household survey (n=120) were conducted. The effect of socio-economic factors and crop choice on farm income was investigated by analysis of variance. Insufficient infrastructure, limited market access and low market power, volatility of producer prices, lack of credit availability, unequal distribution of irrigable land, and insufficient social capital and knowledge about irrigated fruit production threatened the smallholders’ livelihoods. Crop choice and availability of irrigable areas were the main characteristics of prosperous smallholders, whereas knowledge intensive and capital intensive perennials as well as high value annual cash crops with high risks of yield losses were the most profitable crops. Thus, wealthier farmers were more likely to generate high farm income. Agricultural extension, investments in infrastructure, especially in improved market access and value-adding facilities, and off-farm income alternatives are recommended to provide adequate income to the local population and prevent rural exodus.

For the traditionally small-scaled Swiss agriculture, large economies of scale exist in dairy farming. Farm expansion is typically linked to a barn investment, but the opportunities for expanding the necessary acreage are limited. To enable an investing farm to expand its acreage, neighboring farms must shrink or phase out. Hence, the question arises how neighboring farms affect investing farms. To address this farm management question, we used a set of Farm Accountancy Data Network data and government data on subsidized projects. We combined this dataset with agricultural census data to assess the concentration of agricultural land as well as the number of subsidized investments within the municipality of an investing farm. By means of random-effects models for agricultural income per family working unit on the one side and herd size change on the other, we found two effects of neighborhood effects. A high number of subsidized projects and a high concentration of land (Gini coefficient) limited the growth in herd size due to scarcity of available land. At the same time, neighborhood positively influenced the management, leading to a higher agricultural income per family working unit. The results illustrate that an extension of the Farm Accountancy Data Network data, which in itself is extensive, can further help to address specific research questions.

Investing in larger barns and increasing herd size are crucial milestones in dairy production. Based on the Swiss Farm Accountancy Data Network and data on government-supported investments, we investigate the development of two key variables over the first eight years after investment: change in herd size and calculated profit, that is, farm income minus opportunity costs for family labour and capital. We apply a fixed-effects panel regression and test for autocorrelation present in the time series. Compared to the year before the investment, calculated profit decreases in the first three years, while in the remaining years no significant difference compared to the year before investment can be seen. Herd size increases slowly, predominantly in the second and third years after investment, to some extent explaining the less favourable development of profitability in these years. We conclude that investment in a dairy barn does not lead to improved profitability in the short and medium term, pointing to the question of whether this picture changes in the long term.

As a consequence of rapid ongoing technological developments and increasing integration into agricultural mechanization and agricultural intelligence, UAVs are gradually starting to play an increasingly important role in field crop management and monitoring. This review introduces and covers the development in four major applications of UAVs in maize production: (i) water stress detection, (ii) weed mapping, (iii) nutrient status monitoring and (iv) yield prediction. In addition, this review summarizes UAV data management methods, explains how expert systems work in UAV systems, and provides standardized workflow data for farmers in maize production. In addition, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of UAV use in maize production are analyzed. Based on more than eighty publications and our own research, the discussion and conclusions point out key issues in UAV usage in maize cropping and research gaps that need to be filled, along with a number of recommendations for the development of UAVs in maize production in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structure and state of cooperatives in Albania as a country with a unique history, a post communism country on the development of cooperatives. It is important to understand the way cooperatives are perceived at higher levels. Information strongly influences the development of trust among farmers. Access to information and trust play an important role in the emerging stages of cooperatives. However, the development of cooperatives still remains a very delicate issue in Albania due to misleading of trust issues from the communism era. Cooperatives should not be a forbidden word in the Albanian vocabulary but instead should be considered as a normal and trusted topic at the governmental and organizational levels.

Die klassischen physischen Transaktionsplätze werden in den letzten Jahren immer mehr zugunsten von onlinebasierten Distributionskanälen verdrängt. Bei der Vermarktung landwirtschaftlicher Betriebsmittel ist diese Entwicklung besonders interessant, da sich durch den Anstieg der Einkaufspreise und den EU-weit steigenden Anteil der Vorleistungen (~60 % des Wertes der Enderzeugung) die Suche nach optimierenden Maßnahmen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette verschärft. Mittels einer standardisierten Online-Befragung wurden quantitative Antworten von 303 Landwirten ermittelt, die über statistische Auswertungen zu folgenden Ergebnissen geführt haben: Die Nutzung des onlinebasierten Einkaufens von Betriebsmitteln ist deutschlandweit flächig verbreitet. Die Nutzerstruktur der Online-Kunden erweist sich als alters-, betriebsgrößen-, ortsunabhängig und ist losgelöst von der Betriebsausrichtung. Als Hauptmotiv für die Beschaffung von Betriebsmitteln über E-Commerce-Kanäle wurden Zeitvorteile ermittelt, was im Widerspruch zu den in der Literatur genannten Kostenvorteilen steht. Entscheidender Hemmfaktor für die Nutzung von E-Commerce-Strukturen ist eine gute Versorgung flächig verteilter Standorte des Landhandels. Dies könnte ein Anknüpfungspunkt für den physischen Landhandel sein, indem z. B. digitalisierte Beratungssysteme für den Online-Handel etabliert werden oder weitere Vermarktungstools aufgebaut werden, die mit Farmmanagementsystemen verknüpft werden.

Over 20 years after the implementation of irrigation schemes in the surrounding area of the Itaparica Reservoir, in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, insufficient infrastructure and low market power still impact smallholders’ incomes and development of market strategies to support rental increase from the smallholders. Lack of access to credit, high input costs, and low producer prices for major crops have helped to maintain the poverty status of smallholders that equally affects small agricultural producers like cattle breeders. Agricultural cooperatives have contributed to increase their members’ market power in agricultural commerce and facilitate their access to credit and agricultural expansion. To analyze the historical context of this situation, as well as the potentials and constraints of agricultural cooperatives and associations, 24 qualitative expert interviews were conducted among members of cooperatives or associations and consultants involved with technical assistance to smallholders. During the study period, no active agricultural cooperatives could be identified. Financial problems related with lack of financial resources, inadequate government support, absence of leadership and poor organization, and missing solidarity and mistrust were considered the main reasons for the cooperatives’ poor situation. However, the potential of these cooperatives are illustrated by the efficiency of the fishery and apiculture associations.

Construction of the Itaparica dam and reservoir induced changes in the agricultural production systems of the Itaparica micro-region, at the lower-middle São Francisco river basin. Extensive traditional systems were replaced by e.g. irrigated fruit production. However, over twenty years after the dam construction, many farmers are still facing income insecurity. A survey, consisting of expert interviews and structured on-farm interviews, has been conducted to analyze current production systems. A Linear Programming farm optimization model was applied to determine optimal land allocation considering changing production conditions. Income depended strongly on low wages for day laborers, free irrigation water, and stable prices of the main crop, coconut. Diversification of production and improved market access can help to improve farmers’ income situation. Moderate water pricing can raise the awareness of water scarcity and lead to implementation of water saving production methods.

Globalisierung, volatile Märkte und der vermehrte Rückzug der Agrarpolitik aus der Marktregulierung sorgen dafür, dass die Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse auf landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben an Komplexität zunehmen. Applikationen bieten durch ihre Mobilität und individuellen Ausgestaltungsmöglichkeiten Optionen, um den Landwirt bei seiner täglichen Arbeit zu unterstützen. In diesem Kontext nimmt diese Arbeit eine Bestandsaufnahme und Kategorisierung nativer Applikationen mit landwirtschaftlichem Bezug vor. Die Ergebnisse zeigen unter anderem einen Angebotsschwerpunkt im Produktionszweig Pflanzenbau und bei den Funktionen bestimmte häufig auftretende bedarfsbedingte Kombinationen (z. B. Planung und Analyse).

Um die Einstellungen von Landwirten hinsichtlich der Nachhaltigkeit in der Landtechnikherstellung und des Nachhaltigkeitsengagements der Landtechnikhersteller zu ermitteln, wurden im Rahmen einer empirischen Untersuchung 273 Fragebögen (39 % von 700 versandten Fragebögen) ausgewertet. Bei den Teilnehmern der Befragung handelt es sich um Kunden der Landmaschinenfabrik Rauch GmbH und Leiter landwirtschaftlicher Ausbildungsbetriebe (z. T. Nicht- Kunden). Insgesamt wird das Engagement der Unternehmen hinsichtlich der Nachhaltigkeit von den Landwirten positiv bewertet. Insbesondere werden dabei Aspekte, die der sozialen Säule der Nachhaltigkeit zuzuordnen sind, mit Nachhaltigkeitsengagement in Verbindung gebracht, wie beispielsweise Maßnahmen zur Mitarbeiterausbildung. Darüber hinaus werden aus dem Bereich der ökonomischen Säule der Nachhaltigkeit die Zukunfts- und Innovationsorientierung besonders hervorgehoben. Bezüglich ihrer Einschätzung hinsichtlich nachhaltiger Landmaschinen stehen für die Landwirte insbesondere die Qualität der Maschine, die Nachrüstbarkeit und die Qualität der mit der Maschine getätigten Arbeiten im Vordergrund.

The requirements in terms of information availability, risk precaution and control in the food industry continue to increase. In this context the interest of companies in the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach is also increasing. This development attracts notice to Business Excellence and connected systems. Similarly, various quality management tools and techniques are available. In this regard a research project analyzed to what extent the companies in the food industry apply different activities of the TQM scheme. The research calculates the importance that the companies attach to different requirements of TQM and how they implement them. Additionally, statistical analysis provides evidence that there is a positive correlation between the implementation of the activities of TQM and the medium- to longterm success of a company. In this article the methodology and major findings of this research project are presented.