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Introduction: Crop diversification is a promising practice to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems, contributing to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functions, and food security without compromising productivity. Although diverse cropping systems may be more labour-intensive and require good knowledge of the specific cropping system in the local context, they have high potential in managing many of the problems faced in current cotton production in India. However, the adoption of crop diversification is still moderate, with an overall crop diversification index (CDI) of 0.65 for all of India and state-wise CDI between 0.43 and 0.83. Methods: Therefore, a four-phased study was conducted to identify the main barriers to crop diversification in cotton-based farming systems in India and highlight levers that can foster their wide adoption to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The study was carried out between January to October 2020 and consisted of i) a literature review of regional and national policy and planning, ii) situational analysis with a problem tree approach, iii) individual stakeholder interviews with stakeholders from the broader Indian cotton sector, and iv) a participatory feedback workshop with said stakeholders. A total of 51 stakeholders from 24 different organizations were interviewed, 37 of them on technical aspects of crop diversification and 21 stakeholders on market and policy aspects. The same stakeholders were invited to the participatory feedback workshop, where 26 participated in the session on different benefits of crop diversification practices, and the session on market and policy challenges counted 24 participants. The study focused on the main organic cotton producing states in India: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. Results and discussion: In our study, it became evident that many policies and governmental schemes exist to promote national food security

Systematic studies on the economic competitiveness of organic farming systemscompared to conventional farming systems are particularly lacking in tropicalenvironments. In tropical regions, the evaluation of organic production systemstypically concentrates on main cash crops earmarked for export markets.Consequently, crops grown in rotation or in association with these main crops havebeen largely overlooked, with their contribution to farm profitability is oftenconsidered negligible due to perceived challenges in securing premium organicprices. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an analysis of twelve years ofeconomic data from four long-term farming system comparison trials in tropicalregions. Our objective was to delve into the economic competitiveness of bothorganic and conventional production systems at the system level, considering notonly the main cash crops but also the associated and rotational crops. The outcomesof our analysis revealed that in three out of four systems, the gross margins oforganic and conventional systems were comparable. In the fourth system, the grossmargins of the organic system were 13.13% lower, equivalent to $169.8 per hectareper year compared to the conventional system. Furthermore, the contribution ofcrops grown in rotation with these main crops remains similar even when premiumprices are not obtained. In instances where premium prices for non-cash crops aresecured, their profitability can even surpass that of cash crops. Additionally, in thecase of agroforestry, companion plantings serve as valuable additions for both dietaryand income diversity. Thesefindings suggest that the profitability of an agriculturalsystem is not solely dependent on whether it is organic or conventional but isinstead influenced by various system components. The emphasis should shift from asingular focus on main cash crops to a more comprehensive understanding thatconsiders the entire spectrum of crops within a farming system.

Quality data is the key commodity of research projects. But with the size of a research project, number of parties involved and range of data collected, the complexity of data management increases significantly. In long-term experiments (LTE), continuity and comparability of collected data throughout the study duration is important but being challenged by personnel changes and development in infrastructure and technology, as well as changes to the trial itself. Managing a longterm trial remotely at field sites in the tropics adds another layer of challenges, including timely transfer of new data, time consuming pre-processing and validation of data between field and scientific staff, data literacy of local field staff and language barriers due to varying levels of English and local languages within the project team. We share our challenges in data management and the strategies and tools used in the context of two LTE trials with field sites in India and Bolivia, managed by local partner organizations and coordinated by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Switzerland, highlighting the technical infrastructure in use, definition of responsibilities and workflows. Our main considerations are a) finding a balance between data security, easy and timely sharing of data in both directions and minimising number of different data repositories and file versions, b) the use of simple, well-known tools that are flexible enough to consider (evolving) needs of different involved parties including field staff, and c) the importance of quick data availability for analysis to serve as a basis for decision making in trial management.

Phosphorus is a key nutrient for food production and essential for growth and development of food crops. Though phosphorous is abundant in the soil, more than 90 % of it is not available for plants. The low availability of phosphorous for plants is due to the fact it easily binds to other elements, making it unavailable for plant uptake. Hence, phosphorous is usually added as external fertiliser in agriculture. In organic farming as synthetic P fertilisers are prohibited, natural sources of phosphorous containing material are recommended (e.g., bone meal, guano, or rock phosphate). Among these available phosphorous sources, rock phosphate (RP) is one of the most promising. However, it is a challenge to extract phosphorous from RP to make it available to plants. It is specifically a challenge to find techniques for doing so that are suitable for local context. Our study region is located in central India, where we work with approx. 3000 organic cotton farmers. Cotton is the main cash crop for farmers in our region. Here we present results from a participatory approach, where we worked with farmers to find solutions to increase phosphorous availability from RP in organic cotton production. Through farmer workshops and field visits we first identified locally available products for acidulation of RP. The products identified were tamarind, tomato, mahua vinegar, gooseberry and buttermilk then we trialed these products in farmer fields to measure their effects. Buttermilk was identified as the most promising product. Being farmer driven, adoption potential of our technique was high; however, challenges remained. We will discuss the process and challenges of such participatory research approaches and ideas to improve their sustainability.

Socio-ecological resilience (SeR) is an integral aspect in enhancing farm system sustainability and this integration is being widely adopted in recent years in development projects. Multiple indicators are used to assess socio ecological resilience of suggested solutions in farming systems or, to design projects with an aim to ultimately enhance SeR. However, the indicators or the suggested solutions remain largely technical; often overlooking the role that social solutions or power relations play in the long term in farming systems sustainability. There is growing evidence indeed that unequal power relations in agriculture are a threat to food security worldwide. Hence, there is a need to focus on equity when determining indicator or when developing solutions for sustainable food systems. We set up a long-term farming systems programme in 2007 in three tropical countries (India, Kenya and Bolivia) to compare organic and conventional management systems across multiple parameters. In all the countries we have been working with small-scale farmers on specific cropping systems (cotton, cacao and maize). The approaches of our programme have been interdisciplinary fo- cusing on all the way from fundamental agronomic questions to participatory farmer research. Over the years multiple studies and analysis have been conducted within our programme to understand the socio-ecological dimensions of sustainable farming practices in our study areas. We will present compiled learnings of these studies with a focus on two of our study regions, India and Bolivia. We will particularly summarise the role that factors such as farmer networks, farmer cooperatives, caste and identity, motivation and extension services play (a) in understanding farming systems and, (b) in adoption of suggested solutions. Using these results, we will discuss additional parameters that need to be considered when assessing social-ecological resilience of farming systems, with a particular focus on power rela

Ist der Ökologische Landbau eine Antwort auf die Düngemittelkrise? Ergebnisse von 15 Jahren Langzeitforschung in den Tropen.

Cotton is the most widely used fibre crop and quality parameters such as fibre length are crucial for successful processing. These quality parameters can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as nutrient supply to the plant and varieties used. Establishing a correlation between these influential factors and the quality parameters of cotton can help improve the production process and enable farmers to earn more income from their cotton production. This study aimed to assess product quality data from a long term farming systems comparison trial under semi-arid conditions in central India in regard to different management regimes. The trial has been running since 2007, comparing biodynamic, organic, and conventional with GM and without GM cotton management. All treatments include a two year crop rotation which is first-year cotton-wheat/chickpea and second-year soybean-wheat. To assess fibre quality, we took sampled plants for ginning and subsequent lab testing for quality parameters like fibre staple length, fibre fineness, maturity index, micronaire etc. Results show that no significant difference in quality parameters like fibre length, fibre fineness, short fibre index, maturity index in both the systems even less percentage of nitrogen was provided in an organic system. The results considering which factors are the most important and which are of lesser importance provide some insight into changes in management effect on lint yield and fibre quality and provide some basis for future investment in research. This bears relevance to stakeholders in the cotton industry including both Indian and international cotton merchants, ginners, spinners, textile mills and commodity exchange.

SysCom was initiated to provide evidence for the performance and viability of organic agricultural cropping systems in the tropics. While case studies and long term studies were available for temperate zones, little scientifically backed-up evidence was available to assess the potential of organic agriculture in sustainable development in countries within the tropical climate. Thus in 2007 long term trials in India, Bolivia and Kenya were established, comparing in each country two organic systems with two conventional systems based on locally relevant cropping systems and main crops (cotton, cocoa, maize). Combining the existing practical examples and recommendations from local agricultural institutions organic and conventional treatment were designed, putting high emphasis on the local relevancy and prevalent practices. After the systems established it became clear that organic systems in our long-term experiments (LTEs) were lacking behind in profitability and productivity, not offering a valuable approach for local farmers to sustain their livelihoods. In our analysis we had to realise that often a mere copy of conventional practices, substituting conventional with organic inputs would not suffice to provide solid evidence on the potential of organic agriculture in the tropics. Using the example of the SysCom program, we want to discuss the challenges and opportunities of adapting LTEs, confronting questions on how to adapt the three LTEs implemented in different countries to still be in nexus to each other, how to balance systems approaches to optimise the different compared treatments while still being comparable to each other and finally how to meet the golden mean of innovative and optimised farming approaches while being realistic and relevant to local contexts. The adaptations realised in the annual cropping system LTEs, such as changing input levels and seed material, introducing more complex intercropping patterns and crop rotations are proving to be valu

One of the most widely used fiber crops in the world, cotton is utilised in manufacturing clothing and other goods. Its production is highly affected by the American bollworm pest, Helicoverpa armigera. To fight off the attacks of H. armigera, GMO Bt-cotton was designed, which now dominates India’s cotton production. In India, around 90 % of the total cotton production is sourced from Bt Cotton. However, as GMO crops are not allowed in organic farming the attacks of the American bollworm remain a major threat to organic cotton production. At our study site in Madhya Pradesh in central India, we tested different biopesticides on the American bollworm in organic cotton field trials. Three commercially available biopesticides containing the a) Nuclear polyhedrosis virus, b) Bacillus thuringiensis, and c) Metarhizium rileyi were evaluated and compared with the control, which was not treated against pest attacks. The experiment included four replications in 2021 and 2022. We monitored the pest occurrence and started applying the treatments when the economic threshold level was reached. We counted the number of larvae and eggs of the American bollworm on the cotton plants in regular scouting. In both years, the number of H. armigera on the cotton plants was significantly reduced compared to the control. All treated plots had significantly fewer damaged balls when compared to the controls. However, no significant effect on yield could be found. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of commercially available biopesticide products in laboratory tests. Furthermore, we envisage insect ecology studies to better understand the pest dynamics affecting organic cotton production.

Measuring the impact of project interventions becomes a more and more common request from donor organisations. In the quest for measurable impact and the aim to assess project interventions, the scientific community commonly uses surveys. Indeed, well-planned surveys and interviews are crucial for quantifiable tools such as impact evaluation, which aims to establish a causal relationship between the project intervention and its impact on people’s lives. However, these tools are highly demanding in costs and scientific conceptualisation, usually exceeding the project’s scope. Often a false compromise is made, leading to extensive survey data, which lacks comparability across surveyed groups, causal connection with interventions, or baseline data. When such anonymous quantitative data lacks rigid scientific validation it tells us very little about the lives of the interviewed people. Conclusions from such data make it hard for us to understand the realities of people involved in the project and how the track of their lives might have changed through exposure to project interventions. We have tried out a diametrically different approach within the system comparison trial in the tropics (SysCom) in India. The project works with farmers and a team of national and international researchers on organic cotton. For the series “Faces of Organic Cotton”, we have talked to eleven people involved at some level within the project, including farmers, researchers, cotton processors, and school children. The conversations followed general questions and were guided by curiosity to understand more of the interviewee’s life beyond the project. The result was 11 highly personal stories, where the project and its effect are only one facets of people’s lives. We have considered the inherent challenges of such an approach: translation, bias to over-positivity, and white saviorism. The stories were written in first person, attempting to represent their own stories in their own words as accu

SysCom was initiated to provide evidence for the performance and viability of organic agricultural cropping systems in the tropics. While case studies and long term studies were available for temperate zones, little scientifically backed-up evidence was available to assess the potential of organic agriculture in sustainable development in countries within the tropical climate. Thus in 2007 long term trials in India, Bolivia and Kenya were established, comparing in each country two organic systems with two conventional systems based on locally relevant cropping systems and main crops (cotton, cocoa, maize). Combining the existing practical examples and recommendations from local agricultural institutions organic and conventional treatment were designed, putting high emphasis on the local relevancy and prevalent practices. After the systems established it became clear that organic systems in our long-term experiments (LTEs) were lacking behind in profitability and productivity, not offering a valuable approach for local farmers to sustain their livelihoods. In our analysis we had to realise that often a mere copy of conventional practices, substituting conventional with organic inputs would not suffice to provide solid evidence on the potential of organic agriculture in the tropics. Using the example of the SysCom program, we want to discuss the challenges and opportunities of adapting LTEs, confronting questions on how to adapt the three LTEs implemented in different countries to still be in nexus to each other, how to balance systems approaches to optimise the different compared treatments while still being comparable to each other and finally how to meet the golden mean of innovative and optimised farming approaches while being realistic and relevant to local contexts. The adaptations realised in the annual cropping system LTEs, such as changing input levels and seed material, introducing more complex intercropping patterns and crop rotations are proving to be valu

Im Biolandbau können gleiche Erträge wie im konventionellen Landbau erreicht werden. In Bezug auf die Nachhaltigkeit ist er dem konventionellen Landbau in einer kleinbäuerlichen Landwirtschaft in den Tropen deutlich überlegen. Die Biolandwirtschaft kann damit global einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Transformation der Ernährungssysteme leisten und zur Ernährungssicherung in Ländern mit niedrigem Einkommen beitragen.

Eleven people give an insight into their joys, their worries and their personal values in the environment of organic cotton production. The series "Faces of Organic Cotton" shows eleven portraits in which people provide a very personal insight into their everyday lives. The different life worlds are connected in the topic of organic cotton and the SysCom (Farming Systems Comparison in the Tropics) programme from FiBL Switzerland.