Cultivation Of Food Crops Research Articles

Training on Fungal Biopesticide Preparation for Larval Pest on Food Crops for Young Farmer Group ‘PMS’ in Kalasan

Young farmer group Putra Mandiri Sejahtera (PMS) in Sambirejo Village, Selomartani, Kalasan, is actively involved in organic farming. Their vision is to advance agriculture through extension programs, training, mentoring, and cultivating food crops by implementing agricultural innovation technology. The challenges they often face are larval pests that attack many crops, which are difficult to overcome. Efforts that can be made are providing techniques for the identification of larval pests and their biological agent, preparing fungal biopesticides, and applying control methods by technical culture. Stages in these activities include (1) an extension program on the identification of pests and their biological agent, (2) training on fungal biopesticide preparation, and (3) mentoring and monitoring of the farmers’ activities by applying pre-and post-test. The community service results demonstrated that the extension program on larval pest identification had improved the farmers’ understanding by 72.22% and increased their willingness to learn further. The following training on fungal biopesticide preparation showed that the farmers’ skills improved by 95.24%, despite the fact that the remaining 4.76% of the farmers required more training to achieve more confidence. In addition, it was also found that 57.14% of the farmers stated they had mastered the biopesticide preparation, while the remaining 42.85% of the farmers required further training and mentoring. The output of this extension program was two types of fungal biopesticides, Beauveria sp. and Metarrhizium sp., produced by the young farmer group Putra Mandiri Sejahtera (PMS).

A historic review of deforestation and afforestation in North Korea

Forest cover loss in the DPRK is intrinsically related to food insecurity and energy insufficiency. This study used qualitative research methods to understand the deforestation and afforestation history of DPRK. Forest cover in the DPRK decreased during the period of Japanese ­colonisation, increased slightly after liberation, decreased again during the Korean War, increased because of socialist economic progress, and decreased, when Eastern European socialism collapsed after 1990. Between 1990 and 2010, the decrease amounted to 2.2 million ha, while the volume of growing stock continued to decrease by approximately 3% per year. This was due to the copious amounts of fuel wood harvested from forests. Slash-and-burn cultivation of food crops also increased during that time. The decline in forest quantity and quality required comprehensive measures, including favourable international relations, political and institutional reforms, the decentralisation of forest management, and proper technical support for local communities. The forestry issue in DPRK is complex and, therefore, is no longer solely the prerogative of the forestry sector, but is embodied in political, social, cultural, economic, environmental, and other broad development challenges to country faces. Solving the forestry crisis in DPRK requires addressing challenges related to international political engagement and domestic multi-sector coordination and collaboration.

First Report of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia' Related Strain (16SrII-D) Associated with Stunting, Little Leaf and Phyllody Disease of Pearl Millet from South India.

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L).R.Br.] also known as bajra, is one of the oldest millets and is cultivated in dry regions of arid and semi-arid tropics where no other cereal can be successfully grown. Pearl millet cultivation in India accounts for about two-thirds of millet production and is the fourth most cultivated food crop after rice, wheat and maize in India (Reddy et al. 2021a). In February 2021, the typical symptoms of stunting, phyllody and little leaf were observed after 25-30 days after sowing pearl millet seeds at Agricultural Research Station in Perumallapalle, Tirupati, India (Fig.1 A-C). The disease incidence was recorded up to 20% in the sampling regions. Total DNA was extracted from two symptomatic and two asymptomatic plant samples using CTAB DNA extraction method (Murray and Thompson, 1980). The extracted DNA was amplified in direct PCR and nested PCR assay using phytoplasma 16S rRNA universal primer pairs P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2 (Gundersen and Lee.1996) and secA gene with secAfor1/SecArev3 and SecAfor2/SecArev3 primer pairs (Hodgetts et al. 2008). 16SrRNA (1.25 kb) and secA (600 bp) gene amplicons were obtained from two symptomatic samples by nested PCR. No amplicons were produced with DNA from healthy leaf samples. Nested PCR amplified products (1.25 kb and 600 bp) from the symptomatic samples corresponding to the F2nR2 region of 16S rRNA and secA were directly sequenced at automated DNA sequencing facility (Eurofin Genomics India Pvt., Ltd Bangalore) and sequence data was deposited to NCBI GenBank with accession number ON005559 and ON067810. BLAST analysis revealed that pearl millet phytoplasma strain shared 100% sequence identity in 16Sr RNA and secA genes to 'Canditatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia' related strains (Acc. Nos. OM616883 and MT952965) from India. The subgroup was identified as 16SrII-D using the iPhyClassifier based on the virtual RFLP pattern derived from the query 16S rDNA F2nR2 fragment (Zhao et al. 2009). The virtual RFLP pattern is similar to the reference pattern of 16SrII-D (Y10096) with similarity coefficient 1.00. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and secA gene sequences using MEGA version 7.0 revealed that the pearl millet phytoplasma strain clustered with 'Ca. P. aurantifolia' isolates of 16SrII-D subgroup. (Fig.1D-E) Earlier, one of 16SrI-B-phytoplasma strain (HM 134245) associated with green ear disease of pearl millet was reported in North India (Kumar et al. 2010). In this study, we reported the association of 16SrII-D subgroup phytoplasma with little leaves and witches'-broom disease of pearl millet in South India. Phytoplasmas belonging to the 16SrII-D subgroup have a wide range of hosts, including the agricultural and horticultural crops (Reddy et al., 2021b). Hence, this is the first report of 'Ca. P aurantifolia' infection in bajra in South India. The increase in the spread of 16SrII-D sub group phytoplasma diseases and the expansion of the host range strongly suggest further studies on the epidemiology of the dynamic dissemination of this disease in India.

Strategies In Managing Horticultural Businesses In Indonesia (Article Review)

Indonesia is called an agrarian country because of its fertility, beauty, and natural wealth, the agricultural sector is one of the leading sectors in the economy where agriculture is a business activity that includes the cultivation of food crops, one of which is in the field of horticulture. This study aims to determine the strategy in the management, business development of horticultural products. In this review of the journal entitled "strategy in the management of horticultural businesses in Indonesia", several kinds of research methods were found, such as: (1) Descriptive analysis research method, namely, statistics used to analyze data by describing or describing the data used. has been collected as it is without intending to make generally accepted conclusions or generalizations, (2) Survey research methods, namely, data collection using questionnaires which are then carried out by respondents, (3) Location Quotien analysis research methods, namely, an analysis used as one of the basic economic model approaches, is relevant and can be used as a technique to identify the distribution of agricultural commodities.In general, horticultural commodities have a comparative advantage as well as a competitive advantage, but the comparative advantage parameter is lower than the competitive advantage. Competitive.

An Application of Artificial Neural Network for Predicting Threshing Performance in a Flexible Threshing Device

Rice is a widely cultivated food crop worldwide, and threshing is one of the most important operations of combine harvesters in grain production. It is a complex, nonlinear, multi-parameter physical process. The flexible threshing device has unique advantages in reducing the grain damage rate and has already been one of the major concerns in engineering design. Using the measured test database of the flexible threshing test bench, the rotation speed of the threshing cylinder (RS), threshing clearance of the concave sieve (TC), separation clearance of the concave sieve (SC), and feeding quantity (FQ) are used as the input layer. In contrast, the crushing rate (YP), impurity rate of the threshed material (YZ), and loss rate (YS) are used in the output layer. A 4-5-3-3 artificial neural network (ANN) model, with a backpropagation learning algorithm, was developed to predict the threshing performance of the flexible threshing device. Next, we explored the degree to which the inputs affect the outputs. The results showed that the R of the threshing performance model validation set in the hidden layer reached 0.980, and the root mean square error (RMSE) and the average absolute error (MAE) were less than 0.139 and 0.153, respectively. The built neural network model predicted the performance of the flexible threshing device, and the regression determination coefficient R2 between the prediction data and the experimental data was 0.953. The results showed revealed that the data combined with the ANN method is an effective approach for predicting the threshing performance of the flexible threshing device in rice. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis showed that RS, TC, and SC were crucial factors influencing the performance of the flexible threshing device, with an average relative importance of 15.00%, 14.89%, and 14.32%, respectively. FQ had the least effect on threshing performance, with an average threshing relative importance of 11.65%. Our findings can be leveraged to optimize the threshing performance of future flexible threshing devices.

Does Decentralized Food Crop Cultivation Threaten Water-Land-Food Nexus? A Spatial Econometric Analysis

The coordinated development of the Water-Land-Food (WLF) nexus is important for realizing sustainable food production and ensuring national food security. Based on the symbiosis system theory, this study used the Entropy weight TOPSIS method to calculate the WLF nexus of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China from 2003 to 2019. Taking the problem of decentralized food crop cultivation in China as the breakthrough point and using the Panel Tobit Model to empirically explore the threat of decentralized food crop cultivation to the WLF nexus. The results indicated that: (i) The average level of decentralized food crop cultivation index in China for the period 2003–2019 is 2.599 and the growth rate is −12.64%, while the WLF nexus index is 0.317, and the growth rate is 2.42%. Decentralized food crop cultivation showed a fluctuating downward trend in all regions of China, especially in the southwest and northwest regions. However, the WLF nexus index level belonging to the northeastern and Huang-Huai-Hai regions of China is higher, which presents a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. (ii) While the extent of decentralized food crop cultivation threatens the coordination of the WLF nexus in China, it has a time lag. (iii) The decentralized food crop cultivation in non-food producing areas (NFPA) rather than major food producing areas (MFPA) will threaten the WLF nexus. (iv) Compared with the higher WLF nexus index region, the negative effect of decentralized food crop cultivation is more obvious in the lower index region. (v) WFL nexus in the adjacent provinces of China showed regional clustering. Decentralized food crop cultivation will threaten the WLF nexus both in the inner province and adjacent regions. This study argues that the government can use financial subsidies to correct the problem of decentralized food crop cultivation, optimize the level of agricultural outsourcing services, and improve the market for water and land rights, thereby enhancing the WLF system coordination in China.

Pengaruh Residu Mulsa Jerami Padi dan Pupuk Organik Plus terhadap Produksi Tanaman Jagung Pulut (Zea mays ceratina Kulesh)

The use of organic matter, which has a long-term impact, increases soil fertility because it contains residue. The research examines how rice straw mulch and organic fertilizer residue affect glutinous corn yield. This study was carried out at the Faculty of Agriculture Field Laboratory, Halu Oleo University, from May to August 2022. This Experiment used a randomized block design with a split plot design. The main plot, i.e. residue of rice straw mulch (M): without the residue of rice straw mulch (M0), the residue of rice straw mulch 4 t ha-1 (M1), and 8 t ha-1 (M2). Subplot, i.e. residue of plus organic fertilizer (P): without the residue of plus organic fertilizer (P0), a residue of plus organic fertilizer 2,5 t ha-1 (P1), 5 t ha-1 (P2), and 7,5 t ha-1 (P3). The length of the cob measured without husk, fresh weight of the cob with husk and without husk, dry weight of the cob without husk, number of seeds per cob, seed weight per cob, the weight of 100 seeds, and yield. After conducting an ANOVA analysis of the data, proceed with DMRT at a significant level of 95% if the analysis yields a significant effect (Fhit> Ftab). The research results showed that rice straw mulch plus organic fertilizer residue significantly affected yield components and yield. The residue of rice straw mulch 8 t ha-1 (M2) and deposition of plus organic fertilizer 7,5 t ha-1 (P3) produce the highest glutinous corn yield, i.e. 2,38 t ha-1 and 2,34 t ha-1 or increasing 92% and 75% compared without treatment. For efficiency of costs and realizing sustainable agriculture, it is necessary to utilize residues of organic material in the cultivation of food crops.

Bee diversity on urban rooftop food gardens

Green infrastructure on rooftops in urban areas can enhance important ecosystem services. In addition to mitigating water runoff and regulating building temperatures, green roofs can provide food and nesting resources for wildlife. Rooftop gardens can also be utilized to cultivate food crops, giving them the potential to attenuate instances of food insecurity which are commonplace in many urban areas. Given that many crops depend on bee pollination, it is imperative to characterize the rooftop bee community. Therefore, we sampled three urban food roofs near downtown St. Louis, MO during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. We found 38 bee species utilizing the rooftop farms. We then compared the rooftop bee communities to those of two nearby ground-level community gardens. The roofs had lower abundances of Bombus species than the ground-level sites while non-native cavity nesters in the genus Megachile were overrepresented. These results indicate that the rooftop bee communities represent a nested subset of the species found at ground level. This has important implications for the management of green roofs for growing crops, as this shift in bee community structure may play a role in determining which crops can be adequately supported with pollination services.

The Making of a Periphery: How Island Southeast Asia Became a Mass Exporter of Labor

The Making of a Periphery: How Island Southeast Asia Became a Mass Exporter of Labor

Pelatihan Usaha Budidaya Tanaman Sayuran Dengan Teknik Hidroponik

Food crop cultivation, such as vegetables, is one of methods to reach food security goals. There are lots of methods to cultivate vegetables, and one among them is hydroponic cultivation. Our activities aimed to introduce this hydroponic cultivation technology to the community in SMA Negeri 2 Skanto, District of Keerom, Jayapura. The methodology used this time was technology transfer by sharing information to the students as targeted community. The high enthusiasm from participants became an indicator for the successful of this program.Keyword: cultivation; food security; vegetables; hydroponic.Â

Agrivoltaics: The Environmental Impacts of Combining Food Crop Cultivation and Solar Energy Generation

The demand for food and renewable energy is increasing significantly, whereas the availability of land for agricultural use is declining. Agrivoltaic systems (AVS), which combine agricultural production with solar energy generation on the same area, are a promising opportunity with the potential to satisfy this demand while avoiding land-use conflicts. In the current study, a Consequential Life-Cycle Assessment (CLCA) was conducted to holistically assess the environmental consequences arising from a shift from single-use agriculture to AVS in Germany. The results of the study show that the environmental consequences of the installation of overhead AVS on agricultural land are positive and reduce the impacts in 15 of the 16 analysed impact categories especially for climate change, eutrophication and fossil resource use, as well as in the single score assessment, mainly due to the substitution of the marginal energy mix. It was demonstrated that, under certain conditions, AVS can contribute to the extension of renewable energy production resources without reducing food production resources. These include maintaining the agricultural yields underneath the photovoltaic (PV) modules, seeking synergies between solar energy generation and crop production and minimising the loss of good agricultural land.

Standardization of protocol for in vitro tuberization in potato (Solanum tuberosum) cultivar Kufri Sindhuri

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an economically important dicotyledonous and tuber crop which is ranked as the fourth most cultivated food crop after wheat, rice and maize. Asexual propagation of potato is done through tubers which are prone to large number of fungal and viral diseases. Microtubers produced through tissue culture serve as an essential component for production of disease-free quality potato seed. The present study was carried out during 2018 and 2019 at School of Biotechnology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology of Jammu, Jammu to standardize in vitro microtuber production protocol in potato variety Kufri Sindhuri using different explants. Nodal segments were the most suitable explants for culture establishment which resulted in maximum survival with least contamination and mortality. Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with BAP (1.5 mg/litre) and NAA (0.1 mg/litre) resulted in 100% shoot regeneration with 3.75 shoots per explant. Vigorous shoot proliferation was achieved by fortification of calcium pentothenate (2 mg/litre) and gibberellic acid (0.25 mg/litre) in establishment medium. Pre-tuberization was done by incubating cultures for 28 days in liquid multiplication medium supplemented with NAA (0.5 mg/litre). Maximum microtubers (24) per culture flask were obtained in 10 days when tuberization medium was fortified with 80 g/litre of sucrose while maximum diameter of 0.9 cm was recorded in the presence of growth retardant chlorocholine chloride (500 mg/litre). Complete darkness was an essential factor for microtuber induction. The harvested microtubers (G0) were stored at 4°C after treating them with fungicides.

Analyzing the Connection between Customary Land Rights and Land Grabbing: A Case Study of Zambia

Since the global crises in the 2000s, many foreign and domestic actors have acquired large tracts of land for food and biofuel crop cultivation and other purposes in Africa, often leading to the displacement of the African people living on customary land. The weak customary land rights of ordinary African people have been viewed as one of the main factors making it possible for various land-grabbers to exploit customary land with different purposes. However, it would be insufficient to conclude that the weak customary land rights are the only factor leading to land grabbing in Africa as such land rights give the inheritors the rights to use the land permanently. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to identify a more specific factor leading to land grabbing in Africa, which this article refers to as a ‘land-grabbing-friendly legal environment’. To achieve the main goal, by considering the case of Zambia, this research aims to: (1) analyze the main areas and regions where land grabbing occurs in Zambia and the land-grabbers involved; and (2) analyze the main uses of customary land and changes in tenure systems applied to customary land from the colonial era up to the present day, through a legal history research approach. The main findings of this research are as follows: (1) land-grabbing incidences have often been linked to the government-led agricultural program, involving both internal and external land-grabbers, and (2) the creation of the dual-tenure system during the colonial era and its continuation to the present day have led to the poor financial status of ordinary Zambians living on customary land, contributing to their weak customary land rights. By examining the main results, this research concludes that it is crucial for the Zambian government to bring about reasonable fees for land-titling registration for the ordinary Zambians living on customary land, as well as to separate development aspects from land laws. These steps will strengthen the land rights of the ordinary Zambians and prevent land grabbing.

Competitiveness and Policy Analysis of Potato Production in Different Agro-ecological Zones of Northern Areas: Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

Potato (L. Solanum tuberosum) belongs to Solanaceae family. It is the most important dicotyledonous tuber crop and possesses major socio-economic importance worldwide. It is the fourth most cultivated food crop after wheat, rice and maize in world. Potato is a good and cheaper source of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and proteins and also provides most of the trace elements, which can meet the energy requirement of the people living in the developing countries like Pakistan [Rahman (1986)]. About 325 million metric ton of potato is produced annually throughout the world [World Book (2001)]. This crop is financially more remunerative than cereals from food security and can be recommended as a partial replacement of cereals.

Nutrients deficiency diagnosis of rice crop by weighted average ensemble learning

Rice is one of the most extensively cultivated food crops on the planet, especially in Bangladesh, China, and India. However, rice production is frequently hampered by nutrient imbalances. The leaves of rice plants often show signs of nutritional shortages. As a result, rice leaf color and shape can be utilized to detect nutrient deficits. Computer vision-based automatic nutrient deficiency detection by image processing has become prevalent in agriculture. In this research, we have proposed a robust Deep Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network (DECNN) model that can diagnose rice nutrient deficiency with high accuracy. Different pre-trained models named InceptionV3, InceptionResNetV2, DenseNet121, DenseNet169, and DenseNet201 are reformed by adding various layers, and their diagnostic accuracy is observed on the Kaggle dataset. Using appropriate data augmentation, a proper dense layer, a pooling layer, and a dropout layer, each of the models improves its prediction accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Among the five modified pretrained models, the modified DensNet169 model provides the highest test accuracy, which has improved from 92% to 96.66%. Finally, we ensembled the modified DenseNet169, DenseNet201, and InceptionV3 models based on their performance in detecting rice nutrient deficiency diagnosis via weighted averaging. This proposed DECNN model improves testing accuracy by 98.33%.

Re-thinking water use in pig diets while accounting for food-feed competition

Livestock feed production is one of the primary users of freshwater and arable land, and it is also in competition with human food production. Therefore, we require reconsideration of the way we use freshwater in livestock feed production. The objective of this study is to assess the impact on freshwater use of pork production by using alternative pig diets based on local feed ingredients, or by-products. We used a lifecycle approach to analyse the freshwater use associated with feed production to produce one kg of pork. We explored three feeding scenarios (STANDARD: diets commercially used in Ireland; LOCAL: diets based on ingredients grown in Ireland; and BY-PRODUCT: diets based on by-products only). We calculated the freshwater use, using the water footprint (WFP) method, and the competition for water use between food and feed production using the water use ratio (WUR) for each scenario. The WUR quantifies the maximum amount of human digestible protein (HDP) derived from food crops that could be produced on the same land, and using the same water resources, that were used to grow the feed ingredients needed to produce 1 kg of pork.The WFP of the scenarios was 2,470 L/kg pork for STANDARD, 2,492 L/kg pork for LOCAL, and 2,205 L/kg pork for BY-PRODUCT. When we considered the WUR, none of the scenarios had a value < 1 (i.e. in all scenarios, more HDP can be produced from direct cultivation of food crops rather than pork). However, the BY-PRODUCT scenario (1.4) performed better than STANDARD (1.9) and LOCAL (2.9). Beet pulp and bakery by-products had zero WFP and no edibility and were thus considered promising ingredients. Moreover, rapeseed meal had a low WFP and rapeseed meal and sunflower seed meal are not considered human edible and were considered fit for future inclusion in diets. We also concluded that both the WFP and WUR methods have separate strengths and limitations, and should thus be used in conjunction; the ideal diet is one with the minimum WFP and WUR. Consideration of human edibility of feed ingredients is an important approach which should be included in future studies. Moreover, the entire food system including dairy, beef, poultry and other competitive uses should be taken into account when considering which feed ingredients to use in pig diets.

Drought stress alters iron accumulation in Sorghum bicolor seeds

Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L.) is a cultivated food crop with iron-rich seeds that thrives in semi-arid areas. Although the mechanism of iron transport has been investigated in detail at the molecular level, the effects of drought stress on its regulation remain unclear. We cultivated sorghum in a chamber without (control) and with drought stress to determine iron accumulation in seeds. The drought stress treatment significantly increased the iron content by approximately 2-fold in seeds and decreased it by 0.6-fold in leaves. The results of RNA-sequencing leaves indicated that drought stress impaired the expression of genes involved in photosynthesis. This agreed with the finding that drought stress significantly reduced plant biomass. The expression of genes encoding vacuole iron transporter and ferritin were increased under drought stress. These expression profiles were confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, which indicated that expression of genes encoding the vacuole iron transporter and ferritin was significantly increased in leaves and seeds under drought stress. Furthermore, photosynthesis impaired by drought stress might trigger a disturbance in iron homeostasis. Therefore, increased vacuolar transporters and ferritin transcription might be important for safely storing excess iron. Our data suggested that maintaining iron homeostasis via vacuole iron transporters and ferritin enhances iron accumulation in seeds under drought stress. • Sorghum bicolor is drought stress-tolerant and has iron-enriched seeds • Drought stress enhanced iron accumulation in seeds • Drought stress affected genes associated with iron transport/homeostasis • Drought stress increased vacuole iron transporter and ferritin gene expression • Iron homeostasis might involve iron accumulation in drought-stressed seeds

Penyuluhan dan Pemanfaatan Lahan Bengkok Untuk Budidaya Tanaman Cabai Rawit di Desa Cipinang

One area with a large enough land area is Cipinang Village, Beber District, Cirebon Regency. However, as development progresses, Cipinang Village is getting denser over time, and less area will be used for agricultural land. The more the population increases, the greater the demand for food. In order to meet the growing family food supply, every household should have one or more food crops or vegetables for consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to hold outreach activities to the community about the use of narrow land for the cultivation of food crops and vegetables. The purpose of this service is to provide awareness to the community about the importance of utilizing land as well as good cultivation practices based on lectures. The method used is socialization and demonstration plots starting from nurseries to transplanting. The targets of this counseling are housewives and the Cipinang village community. The extension workers in this case are KKN students who carry out counseling and chili planting practices by utilizing village land (Bengkok). The output of this activity is expected that the community can absorb knowledge and practice cayenne pepper planting activities in their yards in order to create food self-sufficiency.

Gendered dynamics of state‐led smallholder commercialisation in Ghana. The case of Nkoranza traditional area

AbstractCommercial smallholder production is touted as a mechanism for reducing rural poverty and transforming African agriculture. In line with this ideology, the Ghanaian state introduced two policies to provide incentives for commercial food and tree crop cultivation among smallholder farmers. Policy implementation is done in a blanket manner without considerations of gendered differences in agricultural asset distribution, such as land, and the particular sociocultural opportunities and constraints men and women face in undertaking commercial production. The paper investigates these gendered trajectories using a qualitative methodology. Results reveal the varied nature of women's constraints and related levels of vulnerability. Although native women are structurally disadvantaged in commercial food crop production, tree crop commercialisation presents an opportunity for them to reclaim dormant land rights safeguarded by their male kin. These results provide perspective for considering gender‐sensitive agricultural incentives as well as potential for leveraging on the tree crop sector for attaining gender neutrality.

Effect of agricultural subsidies on heterogeneous farmers’ fertilizer application intensity and its mediating mechanism: Based on China household finance survey database

Agricultural subsidies have an important effect on the farmer’s fertilizer application behavior, but the differences in the effect on different farmers and its mediating mechanism have not been sufficiently studied. Using relevant data from the CFHS database in 2015, this paper focused on the differences in the effect of agricultural subsidies on fertilizer application intensity among farmers with different operation scales and planting structures, as well as the mediating mechanism of the effect of agricultural subsidies on farmers’ fertilizer application intensity. It was found that agricultural subsidies in general helped farmers reduce fertilizer application. This finding still held after replacing the explanatory variables. However, the effect of agricultural subsidies on fertilizer application intensity varied significantly across farmers with different operation scales and planting structures. The fertilizer reduction effect of agricultural subsidies was weakened by the increase in the operation scale and the share of food crop cultivation, i.e., the fertilizer reduction effect of agricultural subsidies on smaller farmers and cash crop cultivation was greater relative to larger farmers and food crop cultivation. Farmers’ operation scale, planting structure and farm machinery inputs are important mediating variables of the effect of agricultural subsidies on farmers’ fertilizer application intensity. The agricultural subsidies played a role in reducing fertilizer application intensity by encouraging farmers to expand their operation scale and increase food crop cultivation, and increased fertilizer application intensity by incentivizing farmers to purchase farm machinery and adopt mechanical farming. Finally, some suggestions were put forward to play the fertilizer reduction effect of agricultural subsidies based on the findings of the study.