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The article examines the peculiarities of the reform of agricultural protection legislation in Ukraine in the context of European integration obligations. It was concluded that the European agricultural protection model, in addition to substantive and formal components, also has a mandatory technical and legal part, which is represented by important legal mechanisms: a) land registration systems (IACS and LPIS); b) accounting and analytical networks (FADN); c) institutional and functional structures (national payment agencies). European integration transformations in the domestic agro-protection sphere should concern all three components at once: substantive component (specific support mechanisms), formal component (compliance with legislation), technical-legal component (creation of an implementation environment for successful implementation of legislative requirements). In the course of our research, the imbalance of the European integration reform of domestic agricultural protection legislation was recorded. Such an imbalance is manifested in the active anticipatory development of the technical and legal component and in the passivity of rule-making in relation to the substantive and formal parts of the agro-protection model. The identified disproportionality can lead to future legislative problems and conflicts. Perhaps the lawmaker is postponing the reform (or at least its conceptual outline), hoping that he will have time to do it relatively quickly, relying on agricultural protection regulations and EU directives. However, this task is not so simple, because each EU member country must develop its own national version of legislation on state support for agriculture, focusing on its own needs, opportunities and priorities. Given the specific circumstances of Ukraine becoming a candidate for EU membership and the ultra-crisis modern conditions of preparation for accession, Ukraine is once again taking a crooked path of European integration reform of agricultural protection legislation, which may have negative consequences. In this regard, the classic sequence of the European integration reform of legislation on state support for agriculture of Ukraine "from abstract to concrete" seems optimal, namely: 1) conceptual stage (theoretical development of a new system of agricultural protection legislation, selection of legal mechanisms and their legislative form, outline future system of legislation); 2) the rule-making stage (creating the regulatory framework for the functioning of the new support system); 3) technical stage (creation, testing, launch of necessary information products for proper implementation of legal requirements). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm cultivation has experienced explosive expansion in recent decades. Although the oil palm boom has serious environmental and socioeconomic consequences, only environmental issues have garnered attention in public discussion and synthesis studies. In this study, we synthesize the literature on the socioeconomic impacts of oil palm expansion across various observation units and spatial and temporal scales, which is of significant relevance to policymakers, researchers, and the wider public. Our review demonstrates that oil palm expansion is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has significantly helped both producing and non-producing countries' economies by facilitating the (re)export of crude palm oil and its byproducts and by creating employment opportunities. This has stimulated rural economies, led to rural poverty reduction, and improved food security and diets for rural households in producer countries. On the other hand, it has increased conflicts and tension between local communities and agro-industrial companies, worsened workers' conditions, and widened domestic economic inequality between producing and non-producing areas within a given producer country. Monetary quantification of the costs of oil palm's negative environmental and social impacts indicates that the loss of ecosystem services and social services far outweighs the benefits derived from the increased production of oil palm. The direct income benefits through harvest sales and employment are more evident in the Southeast Asia production frontier, where oil palm cultivation and marketing are relatively advanced and well-integrated into global value chains. The negative outcomes are observed in all oil palm production regions, with more negative effects on food security in the African production frontiers. We propose multiple actionable research and policy recommendations that may jointly lead to inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic (and environmental) outcomes in oil palm cultivation. The socioeconomic consequences of oil palm expansion at the global level, in the African and American production frontiers, and the role of gender in oil palm production systems remain understudied. Hence, studies should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good agricultural practices (GAP) are guidelines designed to ensure the production of high-quality agricultural products that meet specified standards while optimizing resource use. This study aimed to examine the challenges and success factors in implementing a holistic system of GAP in hydroponic vegetable business management and to enhance the efficiency of Thailand's policies on safe agricultural standards. In this study, a qualitative research methodology was used, using in-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews, and observations with 36 intermediaries and consumers in Thailand. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that key challenges to successful GAP implementation include unsupportive government policies and a lack of in-depth knowledge among farmers on how to effectively apply GAP principles. For successful implementation, it is crucial that farmers who lead these efforts thoroughly understand the methods and prioritize safe and proper farming practices. This knowledge can then be leveraged to prepare and educate farmers, producers, and entrepreneurs to produce high-quality agricultural products. GAP for crops include policies, benchmarks, and audit processes that adhere to international standards, providing a framework for controlling and promoting product quality throughout the agricultural production process, including post-certification maintenance. The study suggests that cooperation across all relevant sectors, from upstream to downstream, is essential for the successful implementation of GAP. Such collaboration would significantly enhance the quality and safety of Thailand's agricultural standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

References to agroecology have gradually started appearing in national and international public policies. We examine the extent to which agroecology is becoming a frame of reference for public action in the French national and regional context. Using textual statistics, we analyzed institutional documents concerning agroecology put out by public policy actors between 2008 and the summer of 2021, and conducted interviews with key actors of the Agroecological Project for France (PAEF, Projet Agroécologique pour la France). Our analysis shows that agroecology invoked in framing texts is reclassified in the vocabulary of triple performance, dominated by the notion of economic performance. A comparative analysis of the national and regional texts reveals mismatches, especially in terms of the level of autonomy of the actors concerned, and in the processes of knowledge transfer and support for changes in agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the EU, policies towards territorial development and the sustainability of agri-food systems are exemplified above all in Pillar II of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, policies for the promotion of sustainable food systems and networks are mainly driven by municipalities and large cities. In order to understand multi-level configurations of policies to promote Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), this paper strives to identify the challenges that municipal policymakers face in implementing sustainable agri-food policies, from a multi-level governance perspective. To this end, and through in-depth interviews and secondary documentation analysis, the policies implemented in 10 different municipalities of the Madrid Region (Spain) are studied and the challenges these municipalities are facing are analysed from a multi-scale and territorialised perspective. The following research objectives are addressed: (1) description of the type of policies implemented for the promotion of SFS and the narrative frameworks in which they are shaped; (2) identification of challenges of local policies to support SFS especially governance challenges; and (3) proposals for the promotion of sustainable food systems through a multi-level, territorialised governance perspective. The paper identifies three main axes of tension and discoordination—municipal Vs regional competences; agricultural vs. food policies; and rural vs. urban territories—that constrains the sustainability potential of multi-level agro food policies. Finally, we provide a comprehensive, sustainable scheme to assess local agri-food governance throughout a multi-level and multi-actor approach, setting interrelations between the different levels, actors and agencies involved to overcome the lock-ins identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: All US commercial maize (Zea mays) is a single race, "Corn Belt Dent," and its genetic base has been in decline for at least 40 years. Independent genotyping can only be conducted after patent and licensing restrictions have expired, a period of 20 years. These restrictions also impede a molecular based assessment of the standing crop by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as recommended by experts. Data blanks about landscape vulnerability put farmers at risk of crop failure and the public at risk of food insecurity. Understanding maize diversity experts' perspectives and analysis helps describe the contours of these data blanks and inform policy recommendations. Summary: Recommendations by the Maize Crop Germplasm Committee to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a molecular based vulnerability assessment on the US standing maize (Zea mays) crop have not been acted on because of intellectual property and licensing restrictions. This research explores maize diversity experts' access to data and perceptions and analysis of the standing crop.The data come from semi‐structured interviews conducted with 44 maize diversity experts in the public and private sectors.Experts explain that genetic data blanks restrict non‐industry research, describe public sector concerns that standing diversity is narrow(ing), and find historic sources of pedigree data in Plant Variety Protection and patent records are no longer reliable. Some interviewees perceive that industry monitoring of standing diversity is in their best financial interest. Industry participants describe concentration in US maize allows them to control diversity over time, while public researchers discuss efficiency of scale narrowing genetic diversity and global concentration spreading this trend.Knowledge gaps about genetic diversity in US commercial maize are designed through patents, contracts, non‐disclosure agreements, and confidentiality agreements by patent holders who do not want their inbred lines genotyped by competitors. This restricts research and knowledge flow about genetic information into public networks. The Maize Crop Germplasm Committee is a node for knowledge flow; however, the lack of mechanisms for action suggests it is performative. We recommend all protections used on seed include exemptions for research, breeding, and seed saving; an independent assessment of how industry monitors standing diversity; and a molecular analysis of the standing crop conducted by the USDA. All US commercial maize (Zea mays) is a single race, "Corn Belt Dent," and its genetic base has been in decline for at least 40 years. Independent genotyping can only be conducted after patent and licensing restrictions have expired, a period of 20 years. These restrictions also impede a molecular‐based assessment of the standing crop by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as recommended by experts. Data blanks about landscape vulnerability put farmers at risk of crop failure and the public at risk of food insecurity. Understanding maize diversity experts' perspectives and analysis helps describe the contours of these data blanks and inform policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do discursive fields influence support for climate policies? The European Green Deal (EGD) has gained media attention in part because it was presented as a cross-sectorial strategy aiming to 'transform the European economy'. Our analysis focuses on two specific policy proposals of the EGD: the carbon border adjustment mechanism and the reform for a greener Common Agricultural Policy. By comparing their discourse network structure, we aim to understand policy (dis)continuity introduced with the EGD. We use an original longitudinal dataset and discourse network analysis to map framing dynamics over time and understand how particular frames can gather support in policy networks. Our study shows that two elements favor policy change, namely the resonance of new frames with the discursive field and the presence of brokers connecting previously disconnected actors or coalitions. This paper is relevant for scholars interested in the discursive layer of policy networks as well as (dis)continuity in policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long‐term agricultural field experiments (LTFEs) have been conducted for nearly 150 years. Yet lack of coordination means that synthesis across such experiments remains rare, constituting a missed opportunity for deriving general principles of agroecosystem structure and function. Here, we introduce the Diverse Rotations Improve Valuable Ecosystem Services (DRIVES) project, which uses legacy data from North American LTFEs to address research questions about the multifunctionality of agriculture. The DRIVES Project is a network of researchers who have compiled a database of primary (i.e., observations) and secondary (i.e., transformed observations or modeling results) data from participating sites. It comprises 21 LTFEs that evaluate how crop rotational diversity impacts cropping system performance. The Network consists of United States Department of Agriculture, university, and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center scientists (20 people) who manage and collect primary data from LTFEs and a core team (nine people) who organize the network, curate network data, and synthesize cross‐network findings. As of 2024, the DRIVES Project database contains 495 site‐years of crop yields, daily weather, soil analysis, and management information. The DRIVES database is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, which allows integration with other public datasets. Initial research has focused on how rotational diversity impacts resilience in the face of adverse weather, nutritional quality, and economic feasibility. Our collaborative approach in handling LTFE data has established a model for data organization that facilitates broader synthesis studies. We openly invite other sites to join the DRIVES network and share their data. Core Ideas: Long‐term agricultural field experiments are critical for understanding the multifunctionality of agroecosystems.The DRIVES (Diverse Rotations Improve Valuable Ecosystem Services) network synthesizes data across long‐term experiments to understand the role of crop rotation diversity.The DRIVES Network has constructed a publicly available database containing daily weather and crop yield observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which decoupled farm subsidies from production, was expected to increase farmers' market orientation and to positively impact farm productivity. This theoretical effect of decoupling on farm performance has been verified in a few ex-post analyses. However, these studies lack important aspects of farm-level policy impact evaluations. First, they do not use a well-defined counterfactual scenario, second they do not account for farm heterogeneity when measuring performance and third they do not assess farm performance in a comprehensive manner. We address these shortcomings by combining quasi-experimental empirical methods with a latent-class production function. Using UK and French farm-level data, we show that farms indeed operate with distinct production technologies and that decoupling had positive and significant effects on productivity. Our results further show that under decoupling, farmers tend to diversify their businesses while keeping environmental pressure at a similar level as with coupled support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming plays a pivotal role in the recent initiative to develop a sustainable economy in the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan). Key national policy documents support a green agricultural development path and highlight the potential of organic agricultural production and exports. This study therefore elicited perspectives on organic farming from organic farmers and stakeholders in Kyrgyzstan, focusing on the role of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) in its promotion. Interviews held with these two groups revealed that, whereas organic farmers are primarily motivated by personal and family health concerns despite unfair market prices and insufficient governmental support, stakeholders prioritize environmental protection and view the inclusion of PGS in national legislation as a milestone in organic certification. Also, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has influenced farmers' motivation for organic conversion owing to increased health concerns and food safety. The study's findings highlight the potential of PGS to foster cooperation within local communities and familiarize farmers with organic principles and methods. PGS can be used as a framework to strengthen social and economic links within local farming communities and preserve traditional local knowledge and farming practices that are crucial for climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture. Moreover, PGS may be applied in business as a model for establishing collaboration with other sectors at both domestic and international levels. The findings underscore the significance of PGS in the sustainable development of organic farming in Kyrgyzstan. However, challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and knowledge need to be addressed through the government's increased involvement and through cooperation among actors within the organic sector. Overall, the PGS approach may be used by policymakers as a relevant and feasible tool for introducing organic principles within agricultural policies and disseminating organic practices across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timely and accurate prediction of maize (Zea mays L.) yields prior to harvest is critical for food security and agricultural policy development. Currently, many researchers are using machine learning and deep learning to predict maize yields in specific regions with high accuracy. However, existing methods typically have two limitations. One is that they ignore the extensive correlation in maize planting data, such as the association of maize yields between adjacent planting locations and the combined effect of meteorological features and maize traits on maize yields. The other issue is that the performance of existing models may suffer significantly when some data in maize planting records is missing, or the samples are unbalanced. Therefore, this paper proposes an end-to-end bipartite graph neural network-based model for trait data imputation and yield prediction. The maize planting data is initially converted to a bipartite graph data structure. Then, a yield prediction model based on a bipartite graph neural network is developed to impute missing trait data and predict maize yield. This model can mine correlations between different samples of data, correlations between different meteorological features and traits, and correlations between different traits. Finally, to address the issue of unbalanced sample size at each planting location, we propose a loss function based on the gradient balancing mechanism that effectively reduces the impact of data imbalance on the prediction model. When compared to other data imputation and prediction models, our method achieves the best yield prediction result even when missing data is not pre-processed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dwindling groundwater supplies threaten food security and livelihoods. Output subsidies for farmers are a ubiquitous agricultural policy tool, yet their contribution to growing groundwater stress remains poorly quantified. We show how output subsidies guaranteeing the purchase of crops at higher than market prices may have contributed substantially to declining water tables in India. Our analysis suggests that these policies may have led to a 30% over-production of water intensive crops. In the northwestern state of Punjab, rice procurement can potentially account for at least 50% of the groundwater table decline over 34 years. In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, wheat procurement adopted in the late 2000s appears to have driven a 5.3 percentage point increase in dry wells and a consequent 3.4 percentage point increase in deep tubewells. These results suggest that well-intentioned but poorly designed subsidies can impose harmful externalities on the environment and undermine long-term sustainable development. The study shows that India's agricultural subsidies have driven significant groundwater depletion by incentivizing overproduction of water-intensive crops like rice and wheat. This impact is evident in both Punjab's alluvial aquifers and Madhya Pradesh's hard rock aquifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the high average per capita income and the Human Development Index for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the average area of organic farms does not exceed 23.5 thousand hectares during the period 2018-2022. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the impact of potential expansion in organic agriculture on self-sufficiency and production inputs (chemical fertilizers and pesticides). Methods: This study relied on secondary data from the FAOSTAT website and the statistical book issued by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, in addition to studies and research related to organic agriculture. In achieving its objectives, this study also relied on economic and statistical analysis. Result: This study showed that the productivity of organic farms is lower than that estimated for conventional farms, with rates ranging from a minimum of 19.2% for green fodder crops to a maximum of 74.8% for palm trees. With the doubling of the area of organic farms, a small relative decline in both total production and self-sufficiency of food products is expected. This is due to the modest average area of organic farms and their low productivity compared to conventional farms and most of the area of organic farms is planted with palm trees and fruits. It was also found that with the increase in organic farms by 100%, the amount of savings in chemical fertilizers and pesticides is estimated at 17041.8, 464.0 tons for each, respectively. Finally, the agricultural policy put the producer in front of two options: Namely organic agriculture and good agricultural practices. Therefore, this study recommends the need to compare organic agriculture with good agricultural practices from the point of view of the producer, the country and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, China's remarkable economic growth has brought forth opportunities and challenges, including unsustainable food systems. Policies are pivotal in driving sustainable development, facilitating a balance between food supply, consumer demands, and environmental goals, thereby promoting a more sustainable food system. This study delves into the role of national policies from 2000 to 2022 in addressing these challenges, intending to reveal policy characteristics and potential impacts on agriculture and food. The research employs heat-map analysis, neural networks analysis, and topic analysis to explore policy concepts and themes, with findings underscoring the significance of rural development and food safety within agri-food policies. The presence of policy duplication and complementarity across different ministries provides valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of policy and their implications for sustainable agri-food systems in China and global sustainability endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture has implemented various measures to ensure a stable food supply, considering food security a top priority due to the increasing uncertainty of the global economy. However, the ministry's food security policy has evolved substantially with a disproportionate focus on the domestic production of specific food products. This policy change occurred without being widely recognized by the public, media, or intellectuals. Why has the Agricultural Ministry's policy changed even though its goal has remained the same? By applying both qualitative and quantitative research methods, we investigated the context behind this obscure policy transition. Our findings reveal that, contrary to conventional understanding, this policy shift occurred not so much due to political pressure from the agricultural sector, but mainly because of a change in the definition of a key policy concept (i.e., the food self‐sufficiency rate) in the late 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important path to breaking the urban-rural dual system and promoting agricultural modernisation in China, the process of urbanisation might have a strong influence on promoting agricultural economic resilience (AER). Using panel data from provincial-level administrative regions of China’s mainland, we constructed a novel indicator system to measure AER, and employ the system generalised method of moments model to examine the impact of urbanisation on AER and the moderating roles of land transfer and heterogeneous human capital. Our study yielded three notable findings. First, the urbanisation process can significantly enhance AER. This finding remained robust after conducting multiple robustness tests and addressing endogeneity using the instrumental variable method. Second, the influencing mechanism analysis results indicated that land transfer and human capital had significant moderating roles, and the level of land transfer and educational improvement can enhance the positive impact of urbanisation on AER, while the migratory human capital weakened this positive effect. Third, the heterogeneity analysis revealed regional differences in the impact of urbanisation on AER, demonstrating that the promotional effect of urbanisation was much greater in the major grain-producing areas. Our study offers a new perspective and evidence for researchers and policymakers investigating how to enhance AER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a competitive economy, agricultural policy must be implemented with a balanced sustainability approach by supporting producers in agricultural production. In recent years, it has been argued that global climate change, local/international marketing dynamics and local/international agricultural policy changes have more impact on the agricultural sector. Governments and international organizations are making intense efforts to develop sustainable policies in the agricultural sector to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While research on the adoption of new practices and new strategies in agriculture continues to grow and develop, agricultural policy practices offer new opportunities for agricultural marketing. The main purpose of this study is to determine and rank the importance level weights of the criteria affecting agricultural policy for sustainable agricultural marketing. In determining the criteria weights, the Best Worst method (BWM) from the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods was preferred. The research proposes a framework for determining the weights of the appropriate criteria for agricultural policy strategy selection through a combined approach of multi-criteria decision making involving relevant stakeholders in an environment of uncertainty. According to the research results, project costs were determined to be the most important criterion for decision makers. This was followed by social benefits and employment opportunities criteria, respectively. When determining agricultural policy strategies for sustainable agricultural marketing, economic, social and environmental criteria may influence the evaluation of policy makers and stakeholders. Therefore, when determining strategies in agricultural policy, more importance should be given to sustainability approaches, taking into account all these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital livestock technologies (DLTs) are presented as solutions to grand challenges in post‐Brexit British agricultural policy, such as climate change and food security. Evidence suggests technological solutions to agricultural challenges will be more effective with stakeholder and public engagement, yet there is little known about stakeholder views on these emerging technologies. We drew on responsible research and innovation, to analyse stakeholder perspectives on three case studies of DLT development through anticipatory focus groups with expert stakeholders in British animal agriculture. We found that stakeholders from broadly agroecological approaches to farming are at risk of exclusion from DLT development and policy, with negative implications for the ability of DLTs to resolve grand challenges in animal agriculture. We propose a heuristic framework of purpose, practicality and effects as key considerations for inclusive and responsible DLT development that contributes to ensuring effective solutions to grand challenges while avoiding wasted investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides policy recommendations for accelerating the adoption of Fossil-Energy-Free Technologies and Strategies (FEFTS) in the EU agricultural sector. Faster adoption of these technologies and strategies is crucial to achieving the medium- and long-term sustainability targets laid out in EU policy. The prepared policy recommendations originate out of the key outputs and findings of the Horizon 2020 project "AgroFossilFree", including an assessment and evaluation of the current energy use status in EU agriculture, survey results on farmers' needs, ideas and interests on the adoption of FEFTS, FEFTS categories identified through an online inventory of FEFTS called the AgEnergy platform, and key innovative processes through national and transnational workshops that combine expertise from hundreds of keys stakeholders (researchers, innovation brokers, policymakers, farmers, and industry representatives). The policy recommendations are synthesized and presented in the form of 19 policy briefs split into three main categories: those that are related to energy issues in farming and can be applied to any farm and FEFTS type; those that are specific to certain agricultural production systems; and those that are necessary for FEFTS integration in agriculture in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beekeeping has faced increasing difficulties during the past decades, among which is the decline in floral resources. Agriculture provides essential floral resources for beekeeping, but some farming practices have also been shown to be responsible for their decline. To provide floral resources for beekeeping, what type of agricultural transformation should be promoted, and how? To answer these questions, we still lack knowledge about the floral resources that are used by beekeeping and about the technical-economic obstacles that farmers face in implementing more favorable farming practices, particularly in agropastoral settings. To help fill these gaps, we develop a novel approach that frames both agropastoral farming and beekeeping as farming systems, by characterizing the beekeeping systems of a given place, the floral resources they use, and the impacts these farming systems have on floral resources. This approach is applied to the agropastoral landscapes of Mount Lozère, southern France, using a methodology based on semi-structured interviews with farmers and beekeepers addressing the agronomical functioning of their farms. We demonstrate that the floral resources used by beekeepers on Mount Lozère are threatened by the current dominant agricultural development paths, which seek to maximize the material productivity of labor. Such paths lead to the intensification of agricultural practices in harvested areas and the extensification of rangelands. These pathways are reinforced by the low remuneration of agropastoral labor and by the current rules of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy. "Frugal" farming, a farming system based on reduced inputs and investments, and labor-intensive practices, namely, a labor-intensive use of pasture, seems an effective way to produce floral resources. Both, agropastoral farmers and beekeepers, would benefit from an increase in the number of agricultural workers in agropastoral landscapes. This calls for public policies that promote a better remuneration of agropastoral labor, either directly or by driving market mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive farmland in Europe hosts high biodiversity levels but is threatened by land use changes associated with market and agricultural policy drivers. We show that a nationwide replacement of rainfed cereals in favor of beef production in Portugal has coincided with a nearly 80% decline in the population of a ground‐nesting raptor, the Montagu's harrier Circus pygargus, since 2002. Reduced cereal crop cover led to nesting attempts occurring mostly in fodder crops, the predominant habitat with suitable sward structure at the onset of breeding. This results in a twofold ecological trap: early hay harvesting destroys first nesting attempts, whereas late cereal harvesting destroys replacement clutches. This double phenological mismatch prevents any breeding success and likely explains the country's observed population decline of Montagu's harriers and other key farmland birds. Reforming current agroenvironmental schemes to promote practices compatible with wild population phenology is paramount to revert these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic mulches made from nonbiodegradable polymers (e.g., polyethylene) provide an essential service in commercial horticultural production systems by enhancing crop productivity through weed suppression, soil moisture conservation, and moderating soil and canopy temperature conditions. Plastic mulches are particularly important in organic agriculture because weed management options are limited. Nevertheless, there is increasing concern about addressing the negative environmental impacts of plastic mulch waste. Soil-biodegradable plastic mulch (BDM) films that are designed to biodegrade in soils after incorporation are promising alternatives to nonbiodegradable plastic mulch. However, although the US organic standards technically permit the use of BDM films, no commercially available products meet National Organic Program (NOP) requirements for 100% biobased content and 90% degradation after 2 years following soil incorporation (7 Code of Federal Regulations, section 205.2). Other concerns about biodegradable film mulches include high perceived cost, esthetics, and uncertainties regarding the impacts of soil incorporation. New mulch technologies have emerged to diversify sustainable mulch options and overcome barriers associated with BDM film use in organic production. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of alternative and emerging mulch technologies, with an emphasis on biodegradable mulches, including water-based sprayable mulches such as hydromulch and foam mulch, and biobased agrotextiles. Information about how these mulch technologies contribute to organic and sustainable agriculture is provided, along with definitions, opportunities, challenges, and recommended areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop type maps are essential in informing agricultural policy decisions by providing crucial data on the specific crops cultivated in given regions. The generation of crop type maps usually involves the collection of ground truth data of various crop species, which can be challenging at large scales. As an alternative to conventional field observations, street view images offer a valuable and extensive resource for gathering large-scale crop type ground truth through imaging the crops cultivated in the roadside agricultural fields. Yet our ability to systematically retrieve crop type labels at large scales from street view images in an operational fashion is still limited. The crop type retrieval is usually at the pixel level with uncertainty seldom considered. In our study, we develop a novel deep learning-based CropSight modeling framework to retrieve the object-based crop type ground truth by synthesizing Google Street View (GSV) and PlanetScope satellite images. CropSight comprises three key components: (1) A large-scale operational cropland field-view imagery collection method is devised to systematically acquire representative geotagged cropland field-view images of various crop types across regions in an operational manner; (2) UncertainFusionNet, a novel Bayesian convolutional neural network, is developed to retrieve high-quality crop type labels from collected field-view images with uncertainty quantified; (3) Segmentation Anything Model (SAM) is fine-tuned and employed to delineate the cropland boundary tailored to each collected field-view image with its coordinate as the point prompt using the PlanetScope satellite imagery. With four agricultural dominated regions in the US as study areas, CropSight consistently shows high accuracy in retrieving crop type labels of multiple dominated crop species (overall accuracy around 97 %) and in delineating corresponding cropland boundaries (F1 score around 92 %). UncertainFusionNet outperforms the benchmark models (i.e., ResNet-50 and Vision Transformer) for crop type image classification, showing an improvement in overall accuracy of 2–8 %. The fine-tuned SAM surpasses the performance of Mask-RCNN and the base SAM in cropland boundary delineation, achieving a 4–12 % increase in F1 score. The further comparison with the benchmark crop type product (i.e., cropland data layer (CDL)) indicates that CropSight is a promising alternative to crop type mapping products for providing high-quality, object-based crop type ground truth of diverse crop species at large scales. CropSight holds considerable promise to extrapolate over space and time for operationalizing large-scale object-based crop type ground truth retrieval in a near-real-time manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social farming is a much-studied concept in the European Union, but debates continue on the issues of standardised content and terminology. Therefore, this study involved an empirical analysis of various social farming concepts, outlining a way in which relevant rules can be designed at the European level. Various models of social farming were empirically analysed, with a focus on the (a) aim of the organisation, (b) actors within and outside the organisation, and (c) communication and decision-making structures. This study demonstrates that a European-level legal act should be adopted to achieve standardisation; however, full harmonisation is not desirable, at least not at present. It will be necessary to oblige Member States to catalogue specific activities to be covered by the term social farming in a given legal system. The pivotal point here is the multifunctional idea of agriculture, which ultimately means that social agriculture will have to support traditional agricultural activities, an approach that could be used to promote social farming systematically. The main feature of this proposal is the implementation of an open, subsidiary approach to do justice to the versatility of social farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Small-scale farmers are highly heterogeneous with regard to their types of farming, levels of technology adoption, degree of commercialization and many other factors. Such heterogeneous types, respectively groups of small-scale farming systems require different forms of government interventions. This paper applies a machine learning approach to analyze the typologies of small-scale farmers in South Africa based on a wide range of objective variables regarding their personal, farm and context characteristics, which support an effective, target-group-specific design and communication of policies. Design/methodology/approach: A cluster analysis is performed based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative survey among 212 small-scale farmers, which was conducted in 2019 in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. An unsupervised machine learning approach, namely Partitioning Around Medoids (PAM), is applied to the survey data. Subsequently, the farmers' risk perceptions between the different clusters are analyzed and compared. Findings: According to the results of the cluster analysis, the small-scale farmers of the investigated sample can be grouped into four types: subsistence-oriented farmers, semi-subsistence livestock-oriented farmers, semi-subsistence crop-oriented farmers and market-oriented farmers. The subsequently analyzed risk perceptions and attitudes differ considerably between these types. Originality/value: This is the first typologisation of small-scale farmers based on a comprehensive collection of quantitative and qualitative variables, which can all be considered in the analysis through the application of an unsupervised machine learning approach, namely PAM. Such typologisation is a pre-requisite for the design of more target-group-specific and suitable policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the long‐lasting debate on whether the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) forecasts are optimal, we employ an unknown loss method for ex post evaluation which assumes that the USDA forecasters' loss function is unknown. We conduct optimality tests of the WASDE forecasts for corn, soybeans, and wheat published during 1988–2019. Our results suggest that USDA forecasters generally realize optimality during the data‐generating process. Our findings are consistent with previous studies when narrowing down the more general unknown loss function to the symmetric or asymmetric loss function which assumes a specific shape for the loss function. This study provides implications based on the unknown loss function that the USDA forecasters can boost their information set as an alternative way to improve the WASDE forecasts. [EconLit Citations: D84, E37, Q13, Q14]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Studies have explored social capital (SC) in diverse ways. Still, little is known in the literature about how its functional areas, including bonding, bridging and linking relationships, interact to facilitate sustainable development, particularly in agricultural diversification. We address this gap by using the rural web and the social capital frameworks to (1) analyse factors influencing SC and (2) assess the relationship between SC and agricultural diversification. Drawing on a survey of 600 rural households and 60 interviews with key stakeholders from the Upper West and Ashanti regions of Ghana, we found that socioeconomic factors, including farm size, remittance, household size and education, significantly influence bonding, bridging and linking SC. The findings also show that rural farmers depend strongly on bonding, bridging and linking SC to improve their livelihoods through agricultural diversification. These findings have implications for achieving SDG targets, particularly poverty reduction (SDG 1) and food security (SDG 2), regarding accessibility to resources, market participation, social empowerment, and contract farming. Therefore, agricultural policies in sub‐Saharan Africa should incorporate SC as a critical indicator for achieving agricultural diversification initiatives and sustainable development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper applies the farm accountancy data network (FADN) approach to conduct a comparison analysis of the revenue of EU fruit producers. The study constitutes a significant contribution to the requisite development of more accurate metrics and appropriate approaches, which are necessary for assessing the economic success of EU fruit production in the principal sector of EU agriculture. The metrics used to measure the economic success in fruit production include farm net value added (FNVA), farm net income (FNI), annual working unit (AWU) of FNVA, and farm family income (FFI/FWU). An agricultural farm's overall productivity can be determined by dividing its entire output (production) by the inputs employed in its operations, such as specific expenses and intermediate consumption. The FADN approach, which tracks the increase in agricultural revenue and assesses the effects of European policies on the agricultural sector, improves monitoring and meeting of performance goals. Finding economic, technological, and other aspects that will improve agricultural farms' businesses and, by extension, agriculture as a whole will require applying an appropriate methodological approach to portray the actual situation and results of these farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the economic feasibility and benefits of introducing genetically modified (GM) crops into Lebanon's agricultural sector. The methodology combines a rigorous cost–benefit analysis with qualitative insights from local farmers and agricultural scientists to ensure relevance to Lebanon's unique agricultural context. Through this study, we identified tomatoes and potatoes as the most suitable crops for GM implementation. The findings indicate that GM tomatoes could increase net income by USD 10,000 per hectare in the short term and USD 50,000 over five years. These economic benefits are primarily driven by higher yields and reduced pesticide costs. This study emphasizes the necessity of a holistic approach, including financial support, infrastructure development, farmer education, and robust market access strategies, to maximize the potential of GM crops. This research provides a strategic framework for leveraging GM technology to address Lebanon's agricultural challenges, promoting sustainable practices, enhancing food security, and ensuring long-term economic stability. By integrating local context and stakeholder perspectives, this paper offers a unique and actionable pathway for successful GM crop implementation in Lebanon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endurance and vitality of European agriculture are threatened by the aging of farmers, together with the lack of generational change. The small share of young farmers also impacts on the innovative capacity and competitiveness of the sector. The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union started addressing the issue long ago by providing financial aid to help young farmers to start up. Over time, the aid increased and packages of measures were set to reinforce the aid and to promote investments, innovations, and networks at the farm level. While the literature focuses on analyzing the effectiveness of the start-up aid in fostering new entries, this paper assumes an original perspective as it seeks to assess whether this aid has actually promoted innovations and networks in the beneficiary farms. The analysis relies on sample data collected in 2021 in Italy and Poland via interviews of 500 farmers under 40 who had entered the sector both with and without the aid. A probit model estimates whether the beneficiaries have a higher probability to innovate and network. Then, the contribution of the aid to the intensity of the adoption of innovations and networks is estimated via an Average Treatment Effect on the Treated model (ATT). Results suggest that the start-up aid increased the adoption of innovations and networks. The ATT indicates that this positive effect holds even after correcting for self-selection bias. By adopting an original perspective, our analysis suggests that the start-up aid for young farmers goes beyond rejuvenating agriculture by fostering innovation at the farm level and by promoting networking, thus enhancing agricultural change. However, farmer behaviors in the two countries are different, suggesting quite complex patterns for the impact of this measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus on environment and climate-friendly farming is increasingly important in the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Activities of the Measure M10 "Agri-environment and Climate" of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014–2020 were those policy instruments that pursued environmental and climate goals over large areas under agricultural activities, but their effectiveness is still being questioned. After evaluating implementation successes and failures of the activities of the Measure M10 "Agri-environment and Climate" of the Lithuanian RDP 2014–2020, we aim to contribute to policy instruments that are better designed, more effective, and more attractive for farmers to achieve environmental and climate goals. This research was conducted in several stages: (1) a thorough analysis of the Measure M10 and its implementation; (2) analysis of the Measure M10 activities' contribution to the policy target areas; (3) multi-criteria evaluation of the activities; (4) survey of beneficiaries and discussions in the focus groups. The data available from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, Agricultural Data Center, and National Paying Agency under Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania was used for the analysis. Analysis of the strategic documents and data on the implementation of Measure M10 was supplemented with results from studies focused on the environmental impact of the implementation of Measure M10 in Lithuania. Multi-criteria evaluation methods were used to arrange the activities of the Measure with respect to the selected indicators. The results from the survey of beneficiaries and discussions in the focus groups let us better clarify the motives, experiences, and preferences of farmers' participation in the activities of Measure M10. The questionnaire was distributed to 2455 beneficiaries through the National Paying Agency and 342 answers were received back, i.e., 13.9%. Five discussions in focus groups, formed from farmers participating and not participating in the activities, representatives of implementing institutions, and employees of consulting and scientific institutions, were organized. The research has revealed areas for improvement in Measure M10, and suggestions for improvement were prepared to better achieve environmental and climate objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farm overinvestment is highly dangerous in how it affects productivity and profitability. Therefore, it imperatively needs to be measured in the context of investment support offered under the Common Agricultural Policy. In turn, technical efficiency is one of the best methods for measuring farm investment. This paper analyzes the technical efficiency of 3273 Polish farms based on unpublished FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) data from 2010–2019. The purpose of this study was to indicate the level of, and changes in, technical efficiency of Polish farms in function of their investment levels, with particular emphasis on overinvested holdings. Technical efficiency was examined using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). The study proved a decline in technical efficiency in underinvested farms and in those affected by absolute overinvestment (i.e., ones where the assets-to-labor ratio grows while labor productivity drops). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the demand for rice in Africa has been growing rapidly, and in order to meet this demand, the rice cultivation area is also expanding rapidly, thus it is of great significance to monitor the rice cultivation in Africa. The spatial and temporal distribution of rice cultivation in Africa is complex, making it difficult to use a climate-based rice identification method, and the existing rice distribution products are all grid based statistical data with low resolution, unable to obtain accurate rice field location and available labels. To address these two difficulties, based on time-series optical and dual-polarisation SAR data, this study proposes a sample set construction method by fast coarse positioning assisted visual interpretation, and a feature importance guided supervised classification combining multiple temporal optical and SAR features to reduce the impact of rice diversity in Africa. Firstly, we use the time-series statistical features of VH data for fast coarse positioning and screening of possible rice areas, and combine multiple auxiliary data for visual interpretation to make sample set; secondly, based on the complementary information in SAR data and optical data, the 20 meter Africa rice distribution map of 2023 was completed by combining the object-oriented segmentation results of temporal optical images and the pixel based classification results of temporal SAR data features after feature selection. The average classification accuracy of the proposed method on the validation set is more than 85 %, and the R2 of the linear fit to various existing statistical data is more than 0.9, which proves that the proposed method can achieve the spatial distribution mapping of rice under the complex climatic conditions in a large region, providing crucial data support for rice monitoring and agricultural policy development. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13729353 (Jiang, Zhang et al. 2024). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the possibility of changes in energy intensity of production in the context of farm investment scale. The empirical section relies on unpublished FADN microdata. The study answers the question of whether investments and fixed capital growth can contribute to improvements in environmental performance of agricultural production. As it turns out, the group of farms with the greatest amount of investments saw an increase in energy consumption costs, though at a much slower rate than growth in production value. As a result, there was a drop in energy intensity of production, defined as the ratio between energy costs and production value. These findings corroborate the hypothesis advanced in this study, namely that upon reaching a sufficiently large amount of investments, farms can become capable of reducing the energy intensity of their production activity. Hence, higher levels of capital productivity are attained when the farms invest in more energy-efficient fixed assets. Conclusions cannot be universal, as the analysis involved a portion of selected farms. However, the research indicates a trend in the study of energy intensity of production depending on the scale of investment and the validity of the investment comprehensiveness approach. These conclusions provide a basis for recommendations for an agricultural policy which should include support for investments that are large and comprehensive (in relation to the farm's assets) and go beyond the simple renewal of assets. Therefore, in its investment-oriented measures, the agricultural policy should take the innovativeness (including energy efficiency) criterion into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is a highly political commodity as it is the main staple of the country. It has always been at the forefront of agricultural policies in government. Most of the strategies focus on fostering food self-sufficiency, providing rice farmers with high incomes, and making prices affordable to consumers (Tobias, Molina, Valera, Mottaleb, and Mohanty, 2012). On February 14, 2019, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) titled "An Act liberalizing the importation, exportation, and trading of rice, lifting for the purpose the quantitative import restriction on rice, and for other purposes". This is also known as the Rice Liberalization Act or Republic Act No. 11203, which amends the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 that imposed tariffs on agricultural imports except for rice (Dansal, 2019). In order to ensure that our local farmers are able to cope with the competition among the commercial imported rice as stipulated in the liberalization act on rice as a primary commodity, NFA was given the function to ensure that farmers' produce is still well accommodated as buffer stocks during emergencies and disasters. The main challenge that this capstone project would like to address is the difficulties confronted by NFA as it struggles to find enough storage logistics in the areas during the procurement period season. Quigley & Robertson (2015) underscored that the storage capacity is one of the most important logistics required for palay procurement operation. Establishing a collaborative program between the NFA and the community stakeholders ensures that there will be enough rice for the people, and that supply should always be maintained at its optimal level of buffer stock. This collaboration shall lead to an innovative measure to strengthen the community's awareness of the problem regarding insufficient warehouse logistics, thereby would lead to innovative efforts such as, but not limited to, active community participation and empowerment. This study concludes that a proactive approach of orientation coupled with a positive advocacy drive can achieve collaborative governance and synergies among the stakeholders to face the challenges in the public sector. It is very important to recognize and include the different values and perspectives of the multistakeholders to be able for them to appreciate the significance of the project and policy guidelines being implemented. Collaboration in this project has been touted as a valuable tool of innovation. Community partnering can develop and establish development opportunities. The government as a backbone of the society could not do it alone, the participation of the community is very critical to materialize an impact project. However, embracing collaborative governance acknowledges that it is no easy. There are always impediments to fulfilling it, hence, it is a challenge to build a more compassionate atmosphere. Being more persistent in advocating this mechanism is the central factor to attain a collaborative environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) consortia were assembled based on their plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits and biocontrol properties, previously characterized in vitro, and tested to protect tomato plants against Alternaria spp. infections. Results indicated that PGPR consortia significantly reduced Alternaria disease severity on tomato plants. Consortia C2 and C3 were particularly effective, demonstrating disease control rates similar to or exceeding those achieved with full-dose chemical fungicides. Furthermore, PGPR treatments markedly decreased fungal colonization in both leaves and fruits, with the best performing consortia reducing fungal presence by up to 98% shortly after inoculation in the short term. Only tenuazonic acid (TeA) was detected among the tested mycotoxins, and its levels were significantly lower in fruits from PGPR-treated plants. The combination of PGPR consortia with a reduced dose of fungicide also showed promising results, indicating a synergistic effect in controlling both fungal spread and mycotoxin production in the long run. Findings support the potential of PGPR as sustainable alternative to chemical fungicides, enhancing plant health while reducing environmental impact, aligning with current agricultural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many farming households in Nigeria are deprived, and poor, hence, the need for economic empowerment intervention. Sweetpotato production, due to its short cycle and low input requirement could be projected on a larger scale for farming households' economic empowerment. However, data regarding ability of sweetpotato farming for farming households' economic empowerment is scarce. Therefore, farming households' sweetpotato production and economic empowerment in Nigeria's Niger-Delta Area was investigated. 364 sweetpotato farming households were chosen through a five-stage sample process. Descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, T-test, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data that interview schedule was used to collect. Most respondents were female and aged 42.7±11.9 years. Farm size; farming experience; and income from sweetpotato, other crops, and non-crop livelihood activities were 2.6±3.4 hectares; 17.2±12.4 years; and N1,327,723.0±1,639,414.0 yearly, N2,385,815.0±2,615,273.0 yearly, and N1,828,004.0±2,336,270.0 yearly, respectively. The sweetpotato production and economic empowerment were low and high amongst farming households, respectively. Age, farm size and income from sweet potato were significantly related to economic empowerment. The economic empowerment status of high and low sweetpotato producers differed significantly. Between farming households with low and high income from sweetpotato production, their economic empowerment status significantly differed. Farming households' economic empowerment was mostly predicted by farming experience; and income from sweetpotato, and non-crop livelihood activities. Sweetpotato production influenced farming households' ability to prosper economically. Agricultural policies oriented towards improving economic empowerment should be promoted to emphasize increased sweetpotato production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil plays a central role in the global carbon (C) cycle and the fight against climate change as it contains the largest existing organic C stock on earth. Natural processes exacerbated by climate change and unsustainable agricultural soil management practices are contributing to the steady decrease in organic C stocks in farmland. Carbon farming practices, underpinned by various incentives, can be used to maintain and increase C stocks in agricultural soils. Carbon credit mechanisms, that is, tradable credits each corresponding to one tonne of CO2eq, are one such incentive. Carbon credits are issued upon the demonstration of increased soil C stocks over time through the application of C accounting methodologies for each agroecosystem and farming practice. This study presents a detailed and critical analysis of carbon credit methodologies, focusing on agricultural soil C in temperate zones, by comparing the European Commission proposal for a regulation on carbon removals with relevant certification frameworks implemented in extra‐European Union industrialized countries (Australia, Alberta in Canada, United States). Based on this, we recommend strengthening the European Commission proposal by (i) expanding the list of eligible agricultural practices, (ii) setting a minimum maintenance time frame for each agricultural practice and incentivizing longer duration, (iii) setting the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as a regulatory baseline, (iv) beyond the regulatory baseline, defining a farm level baseline in terms of carbon farming practices applied that can be monitored through the Integrated Administration and Control System of the CAP, (v) clarifying the interaction between the European Commission proposal of regulation and the CAP, the Soil Monitoring Law, and Land Use/Cover Area Frame Survey inventory, (vi) retaining a portion of unsold carbon credits as a buffer against the risk of reversal and (vii) applying a default discount to account for leakage risk if yield reductions are observed. We propose these recommendations to guarantee effective environmental protection, technical and bureaucratic feasibility as well as economic affordability for farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with a significant devaluation of its currency and a surge in food prices, the Nigerian government prohibited the use of foreign currency for food imports. This essentially blocked the importation of numerous food items under the guise of stimulating the domestic output of these staples. Consequently, food prices in Nigeria increased despite a global decline in food prices, and the incidence and severity of food insecurity escalated. This study examines the changes in the types and severity of coping mechanisms for food insecurity resulting from the food price shock caused by the oil price crash, currency devaluation, and restrictions on foreign exchange. Nigeria's General Household Survey Panel data from 2012 and 2015, during periods of high oil prices, is compared with data from 2018 when oil prices had remained low, the currency had been devalued, and the treasury had been depleted. Alongside detailed descriptive statistics, logistic and hurdle regressions are employed for statistical analysis. Findings indicate a rise in the percentage of Nigerian households grappling with food insecurity from 2015 to 2018. During this period, 68.7% of households resorted to at least one coping mechanism, 31.8% adopted six or more coping strategies, and 43.2% resorted to severe coping strategies. The issue stems not primarily from natural disasters or conflicts but from a failure in macroeconomic and agricultural economic policies. Our findings confirm that these policies come at great cost, particularly to female‐headed households, single‐parent households, households headed by elderly people, and other vulnerable populations, pushing them deeper into food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work focuses, first of all, on the legal and political dimensions attached to the concepts of environment, agriculture, and nutrition in the European Union. Secondly, we analyze the projection of the sustainability principle in food policy since the approval of the European Green New Deal, and the development of the "Farm to Fork" strategy. On this basis, we examine the concepts of food safety and food sovereignty, and their relationship to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and other norms. Finally, we discuss from a legal-administrative perspective how the "Farm to Fork" Strategy has been implemented in the areas of prevention, control, and punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to highlight the importance of climate and environmental challenges for agricultural economics and policy. Empirical research based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method determined the average technical efficiency and scale efficiency of farms in the European Union in total and in economic size classes in the period 2004–2020. The results indicate that agriculture is generally characterised by high technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Analysis by economic size classes of farms, defined by the standard sum of their agricultural output, shows that the relationship between the scale of production and technical efficiency of farms is U-shaped. The highest technical efficiency and scale efficiency are characterised by small, large and very large farms economic classes. Economies of scale shift the burden of food production to large farms, which provide food security and are technically efficient but excessively burdensome for the climate and the environment. Small farms produce environmentally friendly food but on a small scale. Therefore, increasing the technical efficiency of medium-sized farms can contribute to more sustainable food production that meets both food security and climate and environmental objectives. The Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027 provides greater access to financial support for moderate-scale farms and farms undertaking ecosystem restoration activities. This may affect the strength and direction of the relationship between farm scale and productivity, including technical efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources are a prerequisite constraint for agricultural development, and their utilization efficiency has a significant impact on economic and social development. Effectively measuring the impact of agricultural subsidies on irrigation water use efficiency is important for assessing agricultural subsidy policies and improving water use efficiency. To assess the impact of agricultural subsidies and farmland operation scale on cotton irrigation water use efficiency on the basis of research data of 312 farm households in Xinjiang, China, in 2023, we used the transcendental logarithmic stochastic frontier production function model and analyzed the nonlinear impacts of agricultural subsidies and farmland operation scale on the irrigation water use efficiency of Xinjiang cotton with the Tobit model. The results showed that the average cotton irrigation water use efficiency of the farmers was 0.560, and the loss of efficiency was relatively serious. The agricultural subsidies and farmland operation scale of the farmers had a direct inverted“U”effect on the cotton irrigation water use efficiency. The farmland operation scale had a mediating effect on the impact of agricultural subsidies on cotton irrigation water use efficiency. The study shows that, to improve irrigation water use efficiency in the context of the coexistence of severe water scarcity and low water use efficiency in Xinjiang, policy efforts should be increased in terms of promoting moderate agricultural subsidies and guiding farmers to operate on an appropriate scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the world's largest organization in terms of its impact and scope, which has grown and developed along with human history. One of the most important parts of this organization from past to present has undoubtedly been Anatolia. Çukurova is one of the leading geographies that bring this feature to Anatolia. Mersin and İçel provinces, which are the subject of our topic and will be united in 1933, contain a significant part of this fertile geography within their borders. For this reason, it is possible to grow almost all kinds of agricultural plants. Cotton, citrus fruits, grains, olives and vegetables are the most important products of the region. Mersin, located in the Mediterranean basin, constitutes 2% of Türkiye's total surface area with its surface area of 1,585,300 hectares. Mersin ranks 3rd after Antalya and Konya in terms of agricultural production. The subject of our article titled Agricultural Policies and Economic Effects in Mersin (İçel) in the Early Years of the Republic (1923-1945) is the agricultural situation in Mersin and the effects of agricultural production on the country's economy. The Republic Archive, newspapers of the period, official parliamentary documents, product statistics published by the ministry and scientific sources. Efforts will be made to shed light accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high rice prices of 2023 have highlighted the need for increasing rice productivity. But improving productivity, especially in low‐performing rice‐producing regions, should also improve incomes for the numerous smallholder cultivators. This article examines what we can learn from the experience of high‐performing rice‐growing regions, which have both high rice yields and incomes. We focus on two best‐performing villages from Kerala, southern India and Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Using a detailed case study approach combining farm budget analysis, counterfactual simulations using agricultural household models, and qualitative insights, our analysis shows the contribution of price support, irrigation, and agricultural research in these two regions to the current situation. While price support was the prominent factor in Keralaʼs village, irrigation and extending the cropping intensity was important for farm incomes in the Mekong Delta village. This comparative analysis demonstrates the need for an ongoing evaluation of price and non‐price factors and supplementing farm incomes through specific interventions for developing low‐performing rice‐producing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalating adversities of climate change increasingly jeopardise agriculture in coastal Indian states like Odisha. The significance of the agriculture sector for the state necessitates effectively mitigating the adverse climatic impacts. Strengthening the resilience of agriculture has been widely acknowledged as one of the most effective strategies for mitigating negative climatic impacts. Framing and implementing essential resilience-enhancing measures depends on a comprehensive preliminary assessment of existing resilience. This study estimates agricultural resilience to climate change in Odisha by constructing district-level composite indicators. The Principal Component Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process are employed to assign weights to a multidimensional set of indicators and aggregate them into composite indicators. In addition, the Cluster Analysis is employed to identify heterogeneity among the districts in terms of their agricultural resilience. The study finds that the coastal districts in the state have the lowest agricultural resilience, which may be attributed to the higher vulnerability of these districts to a number of climatic risks. The composite indicators further highlight the need for region-specific interventions. Similarly, the interplay of multiple social and environmental factors is found to influence resilience, underscoring crucial implications for public decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: Multiple cropping, the cultivation of several crops on the same land in a year, occupied an important part of Taiwan's agricultural research from 1950 to 1970. This research originated in the context of Taiwan's land reform and diversification programs and their connections to the government's political ambition to maximize food production. The study of how multiple cropping was politicized and depoliticized by different actors helps to expand the narratives of the Green Revolution in Asia, analyze their legacies, and highlight Taiwan's role in the international exchange of visions of agricultural development during the Cold War. Summary: Scholars have recently expanded the history of the Green Revolution to move beyond the narrative of North–South technological diffusion. This article enriches the scholarship with the case of multiple cropping in Taiwan and its connection to Cold War geopolitics.Rice productivity in postwar Taiwan was boosted through a land reform launched by the Sino‐American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR) in the 1950s. Backed by American aid and staffed by scientists from the Republic of China (ROC) government, the JCRR envisioned to turn tenant farmers into landowners so as to encourage labor input and adoption of seeds and fertilizers.By 1960, the JCRR presented its reform as a "bloodless social revolution" and extended its focus to multiple cropping through a diversification program. The JCRR further created the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) in 1971 to spread Taiwan's breeding and cropping techniques. The ROC's diplomatic isolation in the 1970s, however, prompted the center to reinterpret Taiwan's success in multiple cropping from a political achievement to a technological triumph, thus reinforcing the technology‐driven narrative used by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).Through Taiwan's influences on IRRI's rice breeding and multiple cropping research, this paper illustrates that the history of the Green Revolution requires more complex narratives. In addition, with Taiwan's political and economic transition since the 1980s, farmers began to reclaim their voice and influence agricultural policies. The case thus highlights the need of democratic participation in agricultural research, a concern that remains relevant today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing orders are government-supported cartels designed to help farmers by allowing them to set production quotas and quality standards. Given that, it is surprising that a growing number have been voluntarily terminated in recent decades by their constituent farmers. To better understand why, we construct a novel data set on the timing of initiation and termination of marketing orders active between 1974 and 2019 and estimate duration models to examine the impact of specific factors on marketing orders' probability of survival. We find that the most significant factor affecting marketing order persistence is whether the order had a corresponding marketing agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]