Sustainability evaluation of contrasting milpa systems in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Tania Carolina Camacho Villa (2023, [Artículo])

The milpa agroecosystem is an intercropping of maize, beans, squash and other crops, developed in Mesoamerica, and its adoption is widely variable across climates and regions. An example of particular interest is the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, which holds highly diverse milpas, drawing on ancestral Mayan knowledge. Traditional milpas have been described as sustainable resource management models, based on long rotations within a slash-and-burn cycle in forest areas. Nevertheless, due to modernization and intensification processes, new variants of the approach have appeared. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sustainability of three milpa systems (traditional, continuous, and mechanized) in four case studies across the Peninsula, with emphasis on food self-sufficiency, social inclusion and adoption of innovations promoted by a development project. The Framework for the Evaluation of Agroecosystems using Indicators (MESMIS, for its Spanish acronym) was used for its flexible, participatory approach. A common group of indicators was developed despite regional differences between study cases, with a high level of farmer participation throughout the iterative process. The results show lower crop yields in traditional systems, but with lower inputs costs and pesticide use. In contrast, continuous milpas had higher value in terms of crop diversity, food security, social inclusion, and innovation adoption. Mechanized milpas had lower weed control costs. Profitability of cash crops and the proportion of forest were high in all systems. Highly adopted innovations across milpa types and study cases included spatial crop arrangement and the use of residues as mulches. However, most innovations are not adapted to local conditions, and do not address climate change. Further, women and youth participation is low, especially in traditional systems.

Milpa Intensification Processes Women and Youth Participation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SUSTAINABILITY INTERCROPPING FOOD SECURITY INNOVATION SOCIAL INCLUSION AGROECOSYSTEMS CASE STUDIES

The contribution of strong and weak ties to resilience: The case of small-scale maize farming systems in Mexico

Tania Carolina Camacho Villa Ernesto Adair Zepeda Villarreal Julio Díaz-José Roberto Rendon-Medel Bram Govaerts (2023, [Artículo])

Social Network Analysis Farm Typologies Social Ties Strong Ties CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA INNOVATION NETWORKS PERSISTENCE SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS MAIZE FARMING SYSTEMS

Editorial: Social and institutional innovations for achieving sustainable agricultural transformation in the global south

Paswel Marenya Jeetendra Aryal Annet Mulema Dil Bahadur Rahut (2023, [Artículo])

Agrifood Systems Transformation Global South Institutional Innovations CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS GREEN REVOLUTION INNOVATION SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Risk aversion, impatience, and adoption of conservation agriculture practices among smallholders in Zambia

Hambulo Ngoma João Vasco Silva Frédéric Baudron Isaiah Nyagumbo Christian Thierfelder (2024, [Artículo])

Sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture have been promoted in southern Africa for nearly three decades, but their adoption remains low. It is of policy interest to unpack behavioural drivers of adoption to understand why adoption remains lower than anticipated. This paper assesses the effects of risk aversion and impatience on the extent and intensity of the adoption of conservation agriculture using panel data collected from 646 households in 2021 and 2022 in Zambia. We find that 12% and 18% of the smallholders were impatient and risk averse, respectively. There are two main empirical findings based on panel data Probit and Tobit models. First, on the extensive margin, being impatient is correlated with a decreased likelihood of adopting combined minimum-tillage (MT) and rotation by 2.9 percentage points and being risk averse is associated with a decreased propensity of adopting combined minimum tillage (MT) and mulching by 3.2 percentage points. Being risk averse is correlated with a decreased chance of adopting basins by 2.8 percentage points. Second, on the intensive margin, impatience and risk aversion are significantly correlated with reduced adoption intensity of basins, ripping, minimum tillage (MT), and combined MT and rotation by 0.02–0.22 ha. These findings imply a need to embed risk management (e.g., through crop yield insurance) in the scaling of sustainable agricultural practices to incentivise adoption. This can help to nudge initial adoption and to protect farmers from yield penalties that are common in experimentation stages.

Risk and Time Preferences CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION RISK SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION SMALLHOLDERS

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

Economics of crop residue management

Vijesh Krishna Maxwell Mkondiwa (2023, [Artículo])

More than five billion metric tons of agricultural residues are produced annually worldwide. Despite having multiple uses and significant potential to augment crop and livestock production, a large share of crop residues is burned, especially in Asian countries. This unsustainable practice causes tremendous air pollution and health hazards while restricting soil nutrient recycling. In this review, we examine the economic rationale for unsustainable residue management. The sustainability of residue utilization is determined by several economic factors, such as local demand for and quantity of residue production, development and dissemination of technologies to absorb excess residue, and market and policy instruments to internalize the social costs of residue burning. The intervention strategy to ensure sustainable residue management depends on public awareness of the private and societal costs of open residue burning.

Crop Biomass Residue Burning Environmental Effects CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CROPS BIOMASS RESIDUES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CLIMATE CHANGE SMALLHOLDERS TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

Avances en Agricultura Sustentable : Resultados de plataformas de investigación Hub Pacífico Norte 2010-2021

Simon Fonteyne Nele Verhulst (2022, [Libro])

Esta edición presenta los resultados de la red de plataformas en el Hub Pacífico Norte, misma que resulta de la colaboración entre el CIMMYT; el Patronato para la Investigación y Experimentación Agrícola del Estado de Sonora A.C. (PIEAES); el Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP); la Asociación de Agricultores del Río Sinaloa Poniente (AARSP); la Asociación de Agricultores del Río Fuerte Sur (AARFS); la Asociación de Agricultores del Río Culiacán (AARC); la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (UAS); Servicios Agrofinancieros del Norte S.A. de C.V. (SAFINSA); el Club de Labranza de Conservación del Valle del Évora; Granera del Noroeste S.A. de C.V; y el Instituto de Ciencias Agrícolas de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (ICA-UABC). Los lectores podrán encontrar en este libro los resultados de las plataformas con más tiempo de operación, en donde ya se han podido generar suficientes datos para sacar conclusiones basadas en evidencias sólidas. Esperamos que el libro pueda servir de inspiración a los productores para que busquen que sus actividades en el campo sean más productivas, rentables y sustentables.

Plataformas de Investigación Maíz Amarillo Pulgón Áreas de extensión Módulos demostrativos Autosuficiencia Alimentaria Uso de Insumos Ganancias para el Productor Nodos de Innovación CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN COSTOS DE PRODUCCIÓN EUTROFIZACIÓN MONOCULTIVO DEGRADACIÓN DEL SUELO CONTAMINACIÓN PLAGUICIDAS CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO PLATAFORMAS DE INNOVACIÓN EXTENSIÓN AGRÍCOLA AUTOSUFICIENCIA INSUMOS AGRÍCOLAS CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION COSTS EUTROPHICATION MONOCULTURE SOIL DEGRADATION CONTAMINATION PESTICIDES CLIMATE CHANGE INNOVATION PLATFORMS AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SELF-SUFFICIENCY FARM INPUTS

Una articulación fundamental: la emancipación

Nicolás Amoroso Boelcke (2023, [Capítulo de libro])

El concepto, la circunstancia de la enseñanza que aquí abordaremos, tiene el propósito de restituir ciertas situaciones que corresponden al propio ejercicio de la instrucción y a aquellas otras que hablan del acontecer, por ello el trabajo. Tiene las variables tanto de la experiencia real como de las otras sobre las que se han escrito, una de ellas, al final, plantea una situación paradójica que se refiere a la del maestro ignorante que, básicamente, tiene como propósito mostrar que el conocimiento es algo que está en el alumno y que el docente debe limitarse a tratar de que aflore y se exprese de la mejor manera posible. Nos habla de la independencia y de las características que puede tener una educación rigurosa y rígida, en contraposición con una más flexible. Lo mismo sucede con el pensamiento desde nuestra América, de la educación dependiente a una educación libertaria.

The concept, the circumstance of the teaching that we will address here has the purpose of restoring certain situations that correspond to the exercise itself as those others that speak of the happening for it the work. It has the variables of real experience as of the others about which they have been written, one of them, in the end, poses a paradoxical situation that refers to that of the ignorant teacher that, basically, has the purpose of showing that knowledge is something that is in the student and that the teacher must limit himself to trying to bring it out and express itself in the best possible way. It tells us about independence and the characteristics that a rigorous and rigid education can have with a more flexible one and the same happens with the thought from our America, from dependent education to a libertarian education.

Emancipación, docencia, alumnos, investigación, juego. Emancipation, teaching, students, research, play. Interaction analysis in education. Microteaching. Teacher-student relationships. Transformative learning. Educational innovations. Análisis de interacción en la educación. Relaciones maestro-estudiante. Aprendizaje transformador. Cambio educativo. LB1034 HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA CONDUCTA PEDAGOGÍA TEORÍA Y MÉTODOS EDUCATIVOS

Testing innovations for adoption of newer and more adapted maize varieties

Michael Ndegwa Pieter Rutsaert Jason Donovan Jordan Chamberlin (2023, [Objeto de congreso])

Changing Production Conditions Genetic Innovations Maize Hybrids CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TESTING MAIZE VARIETIES YIELDS FARMERS EXPERIMENTATION

The HUB Model: An evolving concept for knowlegde management among and between stakeholders towards integrated agri-food systems

Jelle Van Loon (2022, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA INNOVATION SYSTEMS FOOD SYSTEMS AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS DATA PROCESSING