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Agric Syst 2021 May;190:103096

Digital Green, East India Office, Patna, India.

Context: There is growing recognition that food systems must adapt to become more sustainable and equitable. Consequently, in developing country contexts, there is increasing momentum away from traditional producer-facing value chain upgrades towards efforts to increase both the availability and affordability of nutritious foods at the consumer level. However, such goals must navigate the inherent complexities of agricultural value chains, which involve multiple interactions, feedbacks and unintended consequences, including important but often surprising trade-offs between producers and consumers. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 Apr 19;189:103051. Epub 2021 Jan 19.

African Plant Nutrition Institute, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Benguérir, 43150, Morocco.

The shock of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted food systems worldwide. Such disruption, affecting multiple systems interfaces in smallholder agriculture, is unprecedented and needs to be understood from multi-stakeholder perspectives. The multiple loops of causality in the pathways of impact renders the system outcomes unpredictable. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 Mar;188:103034

International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Kenya.

Africa's agriculture and food systems were already grappling with challenges such as climate change and weather variability, pests and disease, and regional conflicts. With rising new cases of COVID 19 propelling various African governments to enforce strict restrictions of varying degrees to curb the spread. Thus, the pandemic posed unprecedented shocks on agriculture and food supply chains in Sub Saharan Africa. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 May 19;190:103107. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA.

Context: The rapid emergence of COVID-19 could have direct and indirect impacts on food production systems and livelihoods of farmers. From the farming perspective, disruption of critical input availability, supply chains and labor, influence crop management. Disruptions to food systems can affect (a) planting area; and (b) crop yields. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 May 13;190:103108. Epub 2021 Feb 13.

Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.

Context: The global COVID-19 pandemic has produced a variety of unanticipated shocks to farming and socio-economic systems around the world. In case of Senegal, the country was already facing number of challenges at the inception of the pandemic, including high rates of poverty, prevalence of food insecurity, combined with other biophysical and socioeconomic challenges faced generally in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: To understand farmer perceptions of the potential impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural systems and social well-being of smallholder farmers in Senegal. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 Mar 23;188:103039. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.

Agri-food supply chains in North America have become remarkably efficient, supplying an unprecedented variety of items at the lowest possible cost. However, the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the near-total temporary loss of the foodservice distribution channel, exposed a vulnerability that many found surprising. Instead of continued shortages, however, the agri-food sector has since moved back to near normal conditions with prices and production levels similar to those typically observed in years prior to the pandemic. Read More

Agric Syst 2021 Jan 7;186:102990. Epub 2020 Nov 7.

Institute of Study and Development Worldwide, Sydney, Australia.

The objective of this study was to understand the impacts of COVID-19 crisis in agriculture and food systems in Nepal and assess the effectiveness of measures to deal with this crisis. The study draws policy implications, especially for farming systems resilience and the achievement of SDGs 1 and 2. The findings are based on (i) three panel discussions over six months with policy makers and experts working at grassroots to understand and manage the crisis, (ii) key informants' interviews, and (iii) an extensive literature review. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Nov 21;185:102954. Epub 2020 Sep 21.

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641 06600, México, D.F., Mexico.

To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, India imposed a national lockdown at the end of March 2020, a decision that resulted in a massive reverse migration as many workers across economic sectors returned to their home regions. Migrants provide the foundations of the agricultural workforce in the 'breadbasket' states of Punjab and Haryana in Northwest India.There are mounting concerns that near and potentially longer-term reductions in labor availability may jeopardize agricultural production and consequently national food security. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Nov 11;185:102948. Epub 2020 Sep 11.

Leibniz-Centre for Agriculturald Landscape Research, Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.

Maize () is the essential staple in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania in particular; the crop accounts for over 30% of the food production, 20% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and over 75% of the cereal consumption. Maize is grown under a higher risk of failure due to the over-dependence rain-fed farming system resulting in low income and food insecurity among maize-based farmers. However, many practices, including conservation agriculture, soil and water conservation, resilient crop varieties, and soil fertility management, are suggested to increase cereal productivity in Tanzania. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Sep 5;184:102901. Epub 2020 Aug 5.

Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Agricultural innovation systems has become a popular approach to understand and facilitate agricultural innovation. However, there is often no explicit reflection on the role of agricultural innovation systems in food systems transformation and how they relate to transformative concepts and visions (e.g. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Aug;183:102865

Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Wentworth Way, Heslington, York, YO10 5NG, United Kingdom.

Chemical control of insect pests remains vital to agricultural productivity, but limited mechanistic understanding of the interactions between crop, pest and chemical control agent have restricted our capacity to respond to challenges such as the emergence of resistance and demands for tighter environmental regulation. Formulating effective control strategies that integrate chemical and non-chemical management for soil-dwelling pests is particularly problematic owing to the complexity of the soil-root-pest system and the variability that occurs between sites and between seasons. Here, we present a new concept, termed COMPASS, that integrates ecological knowledge on pest development and behaviour together with crop physiology and mechanistic understanding of chemical distribution and toxic action within the rhizosphere. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Aug 20;183:102873. Epub 2020 May 20.

AgResearch - Lincoln Research Centre, PB 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.

Agric Syst 2020 Apr;180:102792

CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), Carretera México-Veracruz km. 45, El Batán, Texcoco, C.P. 56237, Estado de México, Mexico.

There is great untapped potential for farm mechanization to support rural development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. As technology transfer of large machinery from high-income countries was ineffective during the 1980s and 90s, mechanization options were developed appropriate to resource poor farmers cultivating small and scattered plots. More recently, projects that aim to increase the adoption of farm machinery have tended to target service providers rather than individual farmers. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Apr;180:102790

CIMMYT South Asia Regional Office, NARC Research Station, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Nepal.

In sub-Saharan Africa, there is considerable spatial and temporal variability in relations between nutrient application and crop yield, due to varying inherent soil nutrients supply, soil moisture, crop management and germplasm. This variability affects fertilizer use efficiency and crop productivity. Therefore, development of decision systems that support formulation and delivery of site-specific fertilizer recommendations is important for increased crop yield and environmental protection. Read More

Agric Syst 2020 Mar;179:102770

International Potato Center, CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas, C. Postal 1558, Lima 12, Peru.

The development and scaling of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) during the past 25 years is a case study of a disruptive innovation to address a pressing need - the high levels of vitamin A deficiency among children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. When the innovation was introduced consumers strongly preferred white or yellow-fleshed sweetpotato, so it was necessary to create a demand to respond to that need. This was at odds with the breeding strategy of responding to consumers' demands. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Jul;173:12-26

Division of Bio-economics, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E-box 2411, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.

Agricultural extension to improve yields of staple food crops and close the yield gap in Sub-Saharan Africa often entails general recommendations on soil fertility management that are distributed to farmers in a large growing area. Site-specific extension recommendations that are better tailored to the needs of individual farmers and fields, and enabled by digital technologies, could potentially bring about yield and productivity improvements. In this paper, we analyze farmers' preferences for high-input maize production supported by site-specific nutrient management recommendations provided by an ICT-based extension tool that is being developed for extension services in the maize belt of Nigeria. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Oct;175:1-12

Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

We evaluated the usefulness of a co-design process to generate a relevant basket of options for climbing bean cultivation in the context of a large-scale project. The aim was to identify a range of options sufficiently diverse to be of interest for farmers of widely-different resource endowment. The co-design process consisted of three cycles of demonstration, evaluation and re-design in the eastern and southwestern highlands of Uganda in 2014-2015. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 May;171:89-99

Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States.

Perennial crops offer the opportunity to harvest from the same plant many times over several years while reducing labor and seed costs, reducing emissions and increasing biomass input into the soil. We use system dynamics modeling to combine data from field experiments, crop modeling and choice experiments to explore the potential for adoption and diffusion of a sustainable agriculture technology in a risky environment with high variability in annual rainfall: the perennial management of pigeonpea in maize-based systems of Malawi. Production estimates from a crop model for the annual intercrop system and data from field experiments on ratooning for the perennial system provided the information to create a stochastic production model. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 ;171:1-12

USEPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, United States of America.

In a farm, commonly found in the South Portugal, human activities benefit from important fluxes of renewable resources. In this study, traditional economic and emergy evaluations are compared to determine their potential contributions to understanding this complex system and applied to a case study of a farm. This allows us to determine how each method values local natural resources and purchased factors of production and services in an empirical context. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Jan;168:247-257

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate D - Sustainable Resources, Via E. Fermi 2749, I-21027 Ispra, VA, Italy.

Monitoring crop and rangeland conditions is highly relevant for early warning and response planning in food insecure areas of the world. Satellite remote sensing can obtain relevant and timely information in such areas where ground data are scattered, non-homogenous, or frequently unavailable. Rainfall estimates provide an outlook of the drivers of vegetation growth, whereas time series of satellite-based biophysical indicators at high temporal resolution provide key information about vegetation status in near real-time and over large areas. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Jan;168:213-223

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Italy.

Each month the JRC issues the MARS Bulletin detailing the agro-meteorological and expert analysis underpinning the assessment of European crops' status and yield forecasts. In this context a resume is provided to give an overview on the geographical distribution of eventual crop damages. The MARS Bulletin provides such information in a set of synthetic maps (Areas of Concern), produced in each Bulletin, depicting extreme weather events and their impact on crops that have occurred in Europe during the analysis period. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Jan;168:203-212

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra 21027, Italy.

19,980 crop yield forecasts have been published for the European Union (EU) Member States (MS) during 1993-2015 using the MARS-Crop Yield Forecasting System (MCYFS). We assess the performance of these forecasts for soft wheat, durum wheat, grain maize, rapeseed, sunflower, potato and sugar beet, and sought to answer three questions. First, how good has the system performed? This was investigated by calculating several accuracy indicators (e. Read More

Agric Syst 2019 Jan;168:144-153

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Italy.

Weather observations are essential for crop monitoring and forecasting but they are not always available and in some cases they have limited spatial representativeness. Thus, reanalyses represent an alternative source of information to be explored. In this study, we assess the feasibility of reanalysis-based crop monitoring and forecasting by using the system developed and maintained by the European Commission- Joint Research Centre, its gridded daily meteorological observations, the biased-corrected reanalysis AgMERRA and the ERA-Interim reanalysis. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Nov;167:47-60

International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

Demand for dairy products in sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to triple by 2050, while limited increase in supply is predicted. This poses significant food security risk to low income households. Understanding how the dairy food system operates is essential to identify mitigation measures to food insecurity impact. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Sep 16;165:344-353. Epub 2018 May 16.

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana 502324, India.

Food insecurity persists in many parts of Africa and Asia, despite ongoing agricultural research for development (AR4D) interventions. This is resulting in a growing demand for alternative approaches to designing and evaluating interventions in complex systems. Theory of Change (ToC) is an approach which may be useful because it enables stakeholders to present and test their theories and assumptions about why and how impact may occur, ideally within an environment conducive to iterative reflection and learning. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Jun;163:36-44

Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, Netherlands.

Bangladesh faces huge challenges in achieving food security due to its high population, diet changes, and limited room for expanding cropland and cropping intensity. The objective of this study is to assess the degree to which Bangladesh can be self-sufficient in terms of domestic maize, rice and wheat production by the years 2030 and 2050 by closing the existing gap (Yg) between yield potential (Yp) and actual farm yield (Ya), accounting for possible changes in cropland area. Yield potential and yield gaps were calculated for the three crops using well-validated crop models and site-specific weather, management and soil data, and upscaled to the whole country. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Jan;159:296-306

Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.

Crop models are used for an increasingly broad range of applications, with a commensurate proliferation of methods. Careful framing of research questions and development of targeted and appropriate methods are therefore increasingly important. In conjunction with the other authors in this special issue, we have developed a set of criteria for use of crop models in assessments of impacts, adaptation and risk. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Jan;159:57-68

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Sustainable Intensification Program and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), NASC Complex, DPS Marg, New Delhi 110012. India.

One of the great challenges in agricultural development and sustainable intensification is the assurance of social equity in food security oriented interventions. Development practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike could benefit from prior insight into what interventions or environmental shocks might differentially affect farmers' food security status, in order to move towards more informed and equitable development. We examined the food security status and livelihood activities of 269 smallholder farm households (HHs) in Bihar, India. Read More

Agric Syst 2018 Jan;159:1-8

Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research in Agriculture and Health, London, United Kingdom.

Commercial layer and indigenous chicken farming in Nairobi and associated activities in the egg value chains are a source of livelihood for urban families. A value chain mapping framework was used to describe types of inputs and outputs from chicken farms, challenges faced by producers and their disease control strategies. Commercial layer farms were defined as farms keeping exotic breeds of chicken, whereas indigenous chicken farms kept different cross breeds of indigenous chicken. Read More

Agric Syst 2017 Sep;156:76-84

Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.

Global warming is predicted to increase in the future, with detrimental consequences for rainfed crops that are dependent on natural rainfall (i.e. non-irrigated). Read More