ABSTRACT Previous studies have demonstrated that membership in farmer groups (MFGs) promotes the adoption of improved agricultural technologies, increases farm incomes, and alleviates poverty. However, these studies often neglect the variability in treatment effects, concentrating primarily on average treatment effects. They also typically rely on single technological components and unidimensional, income‐based outcome variables, failing to capture technology adoption and multidimensional poverty comprehensively. In contrast, this article evaluates the effects of MFGs among farmers indifferent to membership (marginal treatment effects, MTEs), distinguishing group membership effects based on observable and unobservable heterogeneity. It also incorporates integrated technological components and multidimensional poverty measures. Analyzing data from a survey of 579 households in Tanzania reveals that MFGs increase the adoption of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices by 31%, improve dietary diversity by 10%, and reduce multidimensional poverty by 5% among members. These effects vary due to differences in unobserved member characteristics. The results support MFGs as a valuable component of agricultural development strategies to enhance technology adoption, income growth, nutritional diversity, and poverty reduction. Given the heterogeneous effects, policymakers should tailor strategies to engage suitable households. Furthermore, the higher potential impact on non‐members suggests targeted outreach efforts to maximize the benefits of MFGs.

ABSTRACT Farmer households employ various coping strategies to address climate and non‐climate shocks, which are primarily categorized into production‐focused and consumption‐focused approaches. While the former has been extensively remarked on in recent studies, the latter has received little attention in the literature. In this study, we developed consumption‐focused coping strategies by balancing the likelihood of household shock exposure with welfare outcomes for 1369 farmer households in Senegal. The outcomes are estimated using a discrete choice model regression. We then modeled the challenges faced by Senegalese farmer households using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, enabling us to measure household efficiency in achieving balanced gains. The household shock exposure regression equation results confirmed the role of food and non‐food factors in controlling the probability of shock; however, outcomes may vary across households, particularly in expenditure items linked to lifestyle transformations. The DEA results revealed a non‐linear relationship between shock exposure probability and efficiency scores, explaining the variability observed in household expenditure outcomes. Excitingly, the nonlinear impact of shock efficiency was rarely observed for food expenditure items, highlighting an unexpected resilience in this crucial area. These results indicate that policies aimed at improving consumption‐based welfare should be differentiated rather than uniformly applied. The empirical findings show relatively consistent responses in food consumption across households, supporting the use of broadly implemented food‐related assistance and nutrition security programs. In contrast, nonfood consumption responses exhibit substantial heterogeneity, particularly for health, education, and mobility‐related expenditures. Accordingly, interventions targeting these domains should be tailored to household characteristics and efficiency levels to more effectively buffer welfare losses under economic and environmental shocks.

ABSTRACT Surface drip fertigation can accurately regulate nitrogen application, increase the suitable planting density and reduce the nitrogen input. However, there are few studies on the interaction between planting density and nitrogen fertilizer under drip fertigation. Compared with the local planting density and traditional irrigation and fertilization methods (CK), a two‐year field experiment was conducted using surface drip fertigation with two planting densities (60,000 plants ha −1 and 90,000 plants ha −1 ) and three nitrogen rates (180, 240 and 300 kg ha −1 ). We analyzed nitrogen uptake dynamics and evaluated the effects of density and nitrogen on material accumulation and yield. The results showed that the nitrogen daily accumulation in traditional irrigation and fertilization methods showed a single peak curve, and the nitrogen absorption of surface drip fertigation showed two peaks from the 12th leaf stage to the silking stage (V12‐R1) and from the milk stage to the dough stage (R3–R5). Optimized planting density (90,000 plants ha −1 ) and nitrogen application (240 kg ha −1 ) significantly enhanced population level performance, increasing leaf area duration (25.98%–71.58%), dry matter accumulation (11.19%–175.05%) and nitrogen accumulation (10.29%–131.56%) across growth stages compared to CK. Importantly, this approach maintained the individual plant biomass and the grain development, ultimately boosting the total nitrogen uptake (36.42%) and yield (48.49%) of the population. Our findings highlight the potential of dense planting and surface drip fertigation to optimize the nutrient use efficiency (balancing nutrient supply and population demand), enhance yield, and provide an efficient strategy for high‐yield and high‐efficiency maize planting.

ABSTRACT The design and performance analysis of agrivoltaics installations for a tomato farm in the hot and dry climate of Botswana is presented. The study investigates unique agrivoltaics solutions to solve some energy, food and water issues in rural Southern Africa. Two agrivoltaics scenarios, the low PV density and high PV density, were mapped out together with the research control scenario, which was just ordinary tomato farming. The three study cases were then modelled and simulated using the STICS (Simulateur mulTIdisciplinaire pour les Cultures Standard) crop model and PV*SOL software to deduce the tomato growth and energy output of the PV installations, respectively. The results from the crop growth simulations showed that tomato harvest is reduced when cultivated in agrivoltaics settings, and that worsens as the PV density is increased. Validation of the aforementioned results by comparing with other similar studies highlighted some possible limitations of crop modelling, since in practice, shade‐tolerant plants tend to thrive in low‐density agrivoltaics. The generation of PV electricity improved the land use efficiency of the farm by 15% and 8% in the low‐density and high‐density agrivoltaics, respectively. This means that the farmer or landowner extracts more value from their land by implementing agrivoltaics instead of persisting with conventional tomato farming. Therefore, it is concluded that agrivoltaics technology can be successfully implemented in the hot and dry climate of Botswana to enjoy some synergetic benefits between crops and PV systems, as well as improve the overall efficiency of the land use.

ABSTRACT The development of cropping systems that simultaneously enhanced farm profitability, reduce energy dependence and limit greenhouse gas emissions is central to climate smart agriculture in south Asia. The study evaluated the energy balance, carbon footprint; carbon budgeting and economic performance of no‐till maize legume cropping systems under different residue based mulching practices in the lower Indo‐Gangetic plains of eastern India. A 2‐year field experiment (2017–2019) was conducted at Sriniketan, West Bengal; India, involving three maize based cropping systems (maize‐chickpea, maize‐lentil, and maize‐lathyrus) combined with five biomass mulching treatments. System productivity, energy input–output relationships, carbon efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic returns were quantified using standardized energy and emission coefficients. Among the cropping systems, maize‐chickpea consistently recorded higher system productivity, energy output, net energy gain, and profitability than maize‐lentil and maize‐lathyrus systems. Residue‐based mulching significantly influenced system performance; the combination of in situ maize stalk mulch with paddy straw applied at 5 t ha −1 produced the highest energy use efficiency, energy productivity, gross returns, and benefit–cost ratio. Although biomass mulching increased carbon inputs and associated emissions related to no mulch treatments, higher crop biomass production under mulched plots improved carbon efficiency and the carbon sustainability index. The no mulch treatment exhibited the lowest carbon footprint due to reduced external carbon inputs, but at the expense of lower productivity and farm income. The results demonstrated the residue‐based no‐till maize‐legume systems can achieve a favourable balance between energy efficiency, economic viability, and carbon sustainability. Despite higher carbon inputs under biomass mulching increased biomass production improved carbon efficiency and carbon sustainability indices. The results indicate that optimized residue based no till maize‐legume systems can enhance productivity and farm income while maintaining acceptable productivity scaled environmental performance, supporting climate smart agriculture in the Indo‐Gangetic plains.

ABSTRACT Hybrid fixation is an emerging breeding tool that eliminates the need to purchase costly hybrid seeds on an annual basis. However, this technique is limited to Arabidopsis, rice, and soybean with a severe issue of seed setting. Seed setting rate is affected due to targeting of cell division‐related genes and an increase in ploidy in each successive generation. These types of issues can be sorted out by identifying self‐haploid indication lines. Egg cell‐specific endopeptidases ( ECS ) play a role during gamete fusion/fertilization by avoiding polytuby and along with gamete fusion work as a haploid inducer in many crops. Here, we knock out Bn ECS1 , BnECS2 , and both together in Brassica napus ( B. napus ) by using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR‐Cas9) gene editing system. Mutant population causes maternal/self‐haploid induction in B. napus . Self‐haploid induction will play a significant role in hybrid fixation, allowing hybrid plants to maintain their ploidy level without requiring additional hybridization with other haploid induction lines. Hence, our study provides a baseline for the development of hybrid fix plants in B. napus without an increase of ploidy in each successive generation.

ABSTRACT Diversified cropping systems (e.g., intercropping) can enhance soil health and crop productivity via the integrate utilization of resources, and thus have been recognized as a core strategy for advancing sustainable agriculture and safeguarding long‐term security. However, varying row configurations in intercropping systems can directly alter soil properties and crop productivity, and existing research findings remain inconsistent due to differences in experimental sites and agronomic management practices. To address this, a split‐plot field experiment was conducted at two sites (Pingdu and Changyi in Shandong, China) to evaluate row configuration effects on soil properties and crop productivity. Treatments included cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L) monocropping (MC), peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) monocropping (MP), and three intercropping configurations, namely C2P4 (2 rows of cotton intercropped with 4 rows of peanuts), C4P4 (4 rows of cotton intercropped with 4 rows of peanuts), and C4P6 (4 rows of cotton intercropped with 6 rows of peanuts). The results revealed that, on average, compared with monocropping, cotton‐peanut intercropping systems demonstrated comprehensive improvements, reducing soil bulk density by 4.2%–15.5%, increasing soil organic matter (5.2%–15.5%), available nitrogen (4.4%–14.1%), and phosphorus (4.7%–12.0%), while enhancing microbial abundance (bacteria: 14.5%–17.4%; fungi: 27.0%–35.7%; actinomycetes: 24.7%–27.3%). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that humus fractions, microbial abundance, and soil nutrient availability are all key determinants of crop yield. These benefits increased progressively with the peanut‐to‐cotton row ratio. Specifically, the C4P6 configuration (4 rows of cotton intercropped with 6 rows of peanuts) delivered peak performance: cotton and peanut yields reached 4741.65 kg·ha −1 and 5484.75 kg·ha −1 , respectively, while the soil quality index (SQI) hit a maximum of 1335—an increase of 82.4% compared with monocropping systems. In conclusion, cotton‐peanut intercropping enhances crop productivity through optimized root‐soil interactions that improve soil structure, nutrient availability, and microbial functionality, with the C4P6 configuration exhibiting superior performance by synchronizing interspecific facilitation. This study provides a practical measure for sustainable agricultural intensification in the Yellow River Basin of China and semiarid regions with analogous soil constraints.

ABSTRACT Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for plant photosynthesis and human health. Pear represents a widely consumed fruit for human Fe intake, yet its yield and quality are frequently challenged by Fe deficiency (FD) stress. Despite the prevalence of FD stress in agricultural production under generally alkaline and calcareous conditions, pear plants implement a series of adaptive responses to maintain Fe homeostasis, which remains poorly understood. In this study, key time points for RNA‐seq analysis were determined by examining FD‐related physiological indicators in pear seedlings ( Pyrus betulaefolia ) under short‐term FD stress. The results revealed that FD stress enhanced root rhizosphere acidification (peaking at 24 h post‐treatment) and caused a gradual decrease in leaf SPAD value and Fe content, while no obvious aboveground chlorosis phenotype was observed. By comparing RNA‐seq data of root samples at 3, 6, 12, and 24 h post‐FD stress with the control (0 h), a total of 8369 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were generated, and 1423 DEGs were identified throughout the stress period. Functional annotation indicated that DEGs were enriched in transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, and secondary metabolism, while KEGG enrichment implied that DEGs are involved in sugar, proline, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), galactose, raffinose, and polyamines metabolism, as well as hormone signaling. In addition, 18 PbHAs , 18 PbFROs , and 19 PbIRTs were identified, where Chr13.g22071 ( PbHA ), Chr7.g31823 ( PbFRO ), and Chr11.g10287 and Chr11.g10606 ( PbIRTs ) may be responsible for Fe homeostasis in FD‐stressed pear plants. Moreover, 490 transcription factors (TFs) were screened from the DEGs, with ERF, MYB, WRKY, bHLH, and NAC TFs accounting for the majority. Notably, 21 from 36 bHLHs were FD‐induced, among which Chr3.g19682 , Chr5.g08031 , Chr2.g44023 , and Chr8.g558833 might be the core FD regulators. Furthermore, based on the results of the gene coexpression analysis, an intricate regulatory network showing synergistic or antagonistic interactions between these TFs and core Fe uptake‐related genes has been established. Overall, this study identifies prospective genes for maintaining Fe homeostasis under FD stress, offering a theoretical foundation for further research into the molecular mechanisms of pear adaptation to FD stress, and potentially guiding the development of FD‐tolerant pear varieties.