Rainfed agriculture with nearly 58% of the cultivated area is home to about 40% of human and 60% of livestock population in India and contributes 40% of the country's food production. Even after full realizing the full irrigation potential of the country, half of the cultivated area will continue to be under rainfed farming which highly dependent on monsoon rainfall. It is widely believed that increasing rainfall variability is likely to affect the livelihoods of millions of small and marginal farmers in the years to come.
The Farmer Business School (FBS) is a participatory, action learning process focused on product and business development, and like the Farmer Field School, is a complex, multi-dimensional innovation with the potential to benefit large numbers of farming households economically, socially and institutionally. Scaling this approach requires rethinking both innovation and scaling.
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.
gricultural innovation is essential for improving the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Within an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy for agricultural development, social media is considered a means of networking, collaboration and co-learning, and thereby supporting innovation processes. However, it is not known how extension agents of the Department of Agricultural Extension ‒ the largest public sector organisation ‒ have been utilising social media to strengthen agricultural innovation.
Adoptions of improved technologies and production practices are important drivers of agricultural development in low-income countries like Nepal. Adopting a broad class of such technologies and practices is often critical for meeting the multifaceted goals of efficiency, profitability, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience.
In the context of an exponential rise in access to information in the last two decades, this special issue explores when and how information might be harnessed to improve governance and public service delivery in rural areas. Information is a critical component of government and citizens’ decision-making; therefore, improvements in its availability and reliability stand to benefit many dimensions of governance, including service delivery.
Building on previous research, the purpose of this study was to describe the needs of the extension agents, in the Riyadh Region of Saudi Arabia, for training on Organic Agriculture (OA). This knowledge will be used to develop organic educational programs for extension agents. The specific objectives were to:
An analysis of the impact of simulation modelling in three diverse crop-livestock improvement projects in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) reveals benefits across a range of aspects including identification of objectives, design and implementation of experimental programs, effectiveness of participatory research with smallholder farmers, implementation of system change and scaling-out of results. In planning change, farmers must consider complex interactions within both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of their crop and animal production activities.
In Vietnam, while glutinous rice farming represents a very small sub-sector of rice production, it plays an important role in the food and cultural security of farming households in many remote areas. This paper examined glutinous rice farming in households, as a food and for cultural security, and the extension services in areas producing glutinous rice. Data were collected from 400 local farmers based on interview schedules and statistical analysis using the percentage, arithmetic mean, and hypothesis testing with logistic regression
'AgTech' is the latest discourse about introducing new technologies to agricultural production. Researchers, corporations, and governments around the world are investing heavily in supporting its development. Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest emirate in the UAE, has been among these supporters, recently announcing a massive scheme to support AgTech companies. Given the extreme temperatures and aridity of the Arabian Peninsula, several new start-ups have focused on 'controlled environment' facilities – hydroponics and aeroponics in various kinds of greenhouses.