Contextual realities and poverty traps: Why South Asian smallholder farmers negatively evaluate conservation agriculture

Pragya Timsina Emma Karki Brendan Brown (2023, [Artículo])

Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) is gaining prominence as an agricultural pathway to poverty reduction and enhancement of sustainable food systems among government and development actors in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia. Despite substantial investment in research and extension programs and a growing understanding of the agronomic, economic and labor-saving benefits of CASI, uptake remains limited. This study explores farmer experiences and perspectives to establish why farmers choose not to implement CASI systems despite a strong body of recent scientific evidence establishing the benefits of them doing so. Through thematic coding of semi-structured interviews, key constraints are identified, which establishes a narrative that current households' resources are insufficient to enable practice change, alongside limited supporting structures for resource supplementation. Such issues create a dependency on subsidies and outside support, a situation that is likely to impact any farming system change given the low-risk profiles of farmers and their limited resource base. This paper hence sets out broad implications for creating change in smallholder farming systems in order to promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in resource-poor smallholder contexts, especially with regard to breaking the profound poverty cycles that smallholder farmers find themselves in and which are unlikely to be broken by the current set of technologies promoted to them.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE POVERTY TRAPS

Dynamics of Maize Consumption and its Implication in Maize Technology Demand in Nepal

Shriniwas Gautam Dyutiman Choudhary (2018, [Capítulo de libro])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA MAIZE TECHNOLOGY VARIETIES

Farmers’ perspectives as determinants for adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Ajay Kumar Mishra ML JAT (2022, [Artículo])

Understanding the farmer's perspective has traditionally been critical to influencing the adoption and out-scaling of CA-based climate-resilient practices. The objective of this study was to investigate the biophysical, socio-economic, and technical constraints in the adoption of CA by farmers in the Western- and Eastern-IGP, i.e., Karnal, Haryana, and Samastipur, Bihar, respectively. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was administered to 50 households practicing CA in Western- and Eastern-IGP. Smallholder farmers (<2 ha of landholding) in Karnal are 10% and Samastipur 66%. About 46% and 8% of households test soil periodically in Karnal and Samastipur, respectively. Results of PCA suggest economic profitability and soil health as core components from the farmer's motivational perspective in Karnal and Samastipur, respectively. Promotion and scaling up of CA technologies should be targeted per site-specific requirements, emphasizing biophysical resource availability, socio-economic constraints, and future impacts of such technology.

Smallholder Farmers Agents of Change Technology Diffusion Climate-Smart Practices CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SMALLHOLDERS SOCIAL STRUCTURE IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE

Corrección de defectos óseos en el área de Ingeniería tisular

Correction of bone defects by tissue Engineering

ROSA ALICIA SAUCEDO ACUÑA MONICA GALICIA GARCIA JUDITH VIRGINIA RIOS ARANA SIMON YOBANNY REYES LOPEZ (2012, [Artículo])

Hoy en día, los defectos óseos representan uno de los casos de mayor impacto en la salud debido a la frecuencia con que éstos ocurren a causa de traumatismos, fracturas, enfermedades congénitas o degenerativas. En la actualidad, los implantes de tejido óseo de gran volumen se encuentran severamente restringidos a causa de las limitaciones de difusión en la interacción con el ambiente del huésped para los nutrientes, intercambio gaseoso y eliminación de desechos. Es por ello que la corrección de los defectos óseos ha cobrado gran importancia en el área de Ingeniería tisular buscando mejorar las estrategias clínicas para su tratamiento. El propósito de esta revisión es proporcionar un panorama general del desarrollo de andamios para la regeneración de tejido óseo, mostrando los avances logrados en los ensayos in vitro e in vivo en la última década

Currently, bone defects cases represent a major impact on health due to how often they occur because of trauma, fractures, congenital or degenerative diseases. Now, bone implants to large volume are severely restricted because of the diffusion limitations in the interaction

with the environment of the host for nutrients, gas exchange and waste disposal. That is why the correction of bone defects has become very important in the field of tissue engineering looking to improve clinical strategies for treatment. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the development of scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration, showing the progress made in the in vitro and in vivo in recent decades.

MEDICINA Y CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD Ingeniería tisular regeneración ósea Andamio Tissue engineering Bone regeneration Scaffolds

Socio-technological responses to COVID-19 in Mexico: Spin-offs, repositories and 3D printing

Max Matus (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The objective of the article is to analyze two sociotechnical initiatives, one citizen and the other governmental, that were configured in Mexico as a response to the shortage and hoarding of medical devices in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The citizen response analyzed is the coronavirus_maker_mx movement, while the governmental initiative under scrutiny are the Gätsy and Ehecátl 4T ventilators developed under the coordination of the National Council on Science and Technology. The methodology used involved online tracking of coronavirus_maker groups, open interviews with community members, and review of second-hand sources in the case of the government initiative. By unraveling the networks of actors that were behind the design and production or printing of devices to address COVID-19, we conclude that the cases analyzed represent different models of technological development that invite us to think about some alternatives for the promotion of "sovereign" technology in Mexico.

Impresión 3D manufactura aditiva makers ciencia abierta CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES 3D printing additive manufacture open science

Editorial: Model organisms in plant science: Maize

Manje Gowda (2023, [Artículo])

Model Organism Genomic Selection CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA MAIZE PLANT SCIENCES RESEARCH CROP IMPROVEMENT PLANT PHYSIOLOGY PLANT BREEDING

Distance learning for farmers: Experience during the pandemic

Andrea Gardeazabal (2023, [Documento de trabajo])

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption of farmer training—a crucial component for enhancing the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder farmers—CIMMYT innovated educational solutions to sustain capacity building in agri-food systems. Addressing the challenges of limited mobile device access, poor internet connectivity, and digital illiteracy, CIMMYT implemented two pilot projects in Mexico. These projects facilitated distance learning for adult farmers in rural areas, employing both internet-based and non-internet methods. The non-internet approach utilized traditional media like print, while the internet-based approach leveraged WhatsApp for educational content delivery. Building on these experiences, CIMMYT expanded its offerings by creating micro -courses delivered through WhatsApp, hosted on the Co-LAB's new Learning Network platform, specifically targeting farmers. This paper delves into the various strategies, methods, and techniques adopted, documenting the learning outcomes, results, and key conclusions drawn from these innovative training initiatives.

Distance Learning Digital Inclusion Innovative Training CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA DISTANCE EDUCATION CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT METHODS COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Sustainable maize intensification through site-specific nutrient management advice: Experimental evidence from Nigeria

Miet Maertens Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Tahirou Abdoulaye Jordan Chamberlin (2023, [Artículo])

There is growing evidence on the impacts of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) from Asia. The evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where SSNM developments are more recent and where conditions concerning soil fertility and fertilizer use differ importantly from those in Asia, is extremely scarce. We evaluate a SSNM advisory tool that allows extension agents to generate fertilizer recommendations tailored to the specific situation of an individual farmer’s field, using a three-year randomized controlled trial with 792 smallholder farmers in the maize belt of northern Nigeria. Two treatment arms were implemented: T1 and T2 both provide SSNM information on nutrient use and management, but T2 provides additional information on maize price distributions and the associated variability of expected returns to fertilizer use. We estimate average and heterogenous intent-to-treat effects on agronomic, economic and environmental plot-level outcomes. We find that T1 and T2 lead to substantial increases (up to 116%) in the adoption of good fertilizer management practices and T2 leads to incremental increases (up to 18%) in nutrient application rates, yields and revenues. Both treatments improve low levels of nutrient use efficiency and reduce high levels of greenhouse gas emission intensity, after two years of treatment. Our findings underscore the possibility of a more gradual and sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture in SSA, as compared with the Asian Green Revolution, through increased fertilizer use accompanied by improved fertilizer management.

Randomized Controlled Trial CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION GREEN REVOLUTION FERTILIZERS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Innovative approaches to integrating gender into conventional maize breeding: lessons from the Seed Production Technology for Africa project

Rachel Voss Jill Cairns Michael Olsen Esnath Tatenda Hamadziripi (2023, [Artículo])

The integration of gender concerns in crop breeding programs aims to improve the suitability and appeal of new varieties to both women and men, in response to concerns about unequal adoption of improved seed. However, few conventional breeding programs have sought to center social inclusion concerns. This community case study documents efforts to integrate gender into the maize-focused Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project using innovation history analysis drawing on project documents and the authors’ experiences. These efforts included deliberate exploration of potential gendered impacts of project technologies and innovations in the project’s approach to variety evaluation, culminating in the use of decentralized on-farm trials using the tricot approach. Through this case study, we illustrate the power of active and respectful collaborations between breeders and social scientists, spurred by donor mandates to address gender and social inclusion. Gender integration in this case was further facilitated by open-minded project leaders and allocation of funding for gender research. SPTA proved to be fertile ground for experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration around gender and maize breeding, and has provided proof of concept for larger breeding projects seeking to integrate gender considerations.

Crop Breeding On-Farm Trials Tricot CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA GENDER CROPS BREEDING ON-FARM RESEARCH SOCIAL INCLUSION CITIZEN SCIENCE MAIZE

Teacher training in the state of Chihuahua: Between the health challenge and teacher resilience

Evangelina Cervantes Holguín Pavel Roel Gutiérrez Sandoval Cely Celene Ronquillo Chávez (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The article proposes to recover the response of the Teacher Training and Updating Institutions in the state of Chihuahua regarding the various challenges imposed by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The qualitative exercise analyzes the experience of 10 institutions based on the voice of their students, teachers, and principals regarding changes in academic, administrative, and organizational processes. It is concluded that the pandemic has affected each institution in different ways and with diverse intensity. Despite the achievements, the experience analyzed reveals the relative success of the using virtual platforms in the face of three basic conditions: connectivity, technological competencies, and socio-emotional skills of the teaching staff. It highlights the importance of implementing tutoring, resilience, or awareness actions of teachers and students' needs, feelings, and sufferings. It is opportune to recover the experiences of other institutions and to question especially students, thesis students and graduates.

Acceso a la educación Aprendizaje en línea Educación a distancia Formación de docentes Tecnología educacional HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA Access to education online learning distance education teacher education educational technology