Family Farms Research Articles

Livelihood security of farm youth practicing family farming in Parbhani, Maharashtra

Livelihood security of farm youth practicing family farming in Parbhani, Maharashtra

Socialization of Apis Cerana Honey Bee Cultivation to Improve the Economy of the Kanagarian Community Malai Iii Koto Sungai Geringging Padang Pariaman

The Apis cerana honey bee is a natural resource that may be developed for beekeeping in Nagari Malai III Koto, Sungai Geringging District, Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra. The potential of these bees is developed, either as a single business as a honey producer or integrated with various types of plants. The main supporting factors for Apis cerana beekeeping are the presence of bee colonies found in people's gardens and the availability of abundant food throughout the year produced by plantation, fruit, and forestry crops. In addition, there are human resources from academics and professionals scattered in various regions. The prospect of Apis cerana honey beekeeping needs to be socialized to the farming community through counseling so that the potential of Apis cerana bees can be maximized. The socialization was carried out by means of counseling and demonstration methods to farmers and their families as the target audience and accompanied by the government of Nagari Malai III Koto. The results obtained that socialization carried out by extension and demonstration methods could disseminate information, increase the knowledge and interest of farmers and farming families about Apis cerana honey beekeeping

Evaluating the adoption of irrigation technology in a well-irrigated winter wheat－summer maize cropping system

Determining suitable irrigation technology is of paramount for promoting water-saving agriculture, particularly for winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in well-irrigated regions. To optimize and assess the efficacy of various irrigation technologies (specifically, semi-fixed sprinkler irrigation, walking sprinkler, semi-automatic buried telescopic sprinkler irrigation, thin-soft spray tape irrigation, drip irrigation, self-driven winch sprinkler and manually moving spray gun irrigation, marked as A, B, C, D, E, F and G) applied in south central North China Plain, we first conducted an economic analysis for the winter wheat-summer maize rotation. Subsequently, employing a comprehensive set of 20 indicators spanning economic, societal, technological, ecological, and resource aspects, we employed a TOPSIS model with integrative weighting approach using “AHP + Entropy”. We also employed principal component analysis and the Sankey diagram method to explore characteristics of different irrigation techniques and indexes. Irrigation mode E, conserving energy by 63.19% compared to mode B and offering labor savings five times greater than the mode D. The highest economic benefit for the rotation system was observed with the mode C, resulting in a 25.26% increase compared to the mode G. The top three irrigation modes based on scores were D, G, and E, with scores of 0.532, 0.490, and 0.474, respectively. The Sankey diagram revealed distinct preferences among different agricultural entities for specific irrigation modes. For specific stakeholders, we recommend irrigation modes D, G, F, and B for small farmers, large and specialized family businesses, family farms, and farmer cooperatives, respectively. In conclusion, our findings provide valuable scientific support and recommendations for the practical application of irrigation technology in agricultural production.

Construction and Spatial-Temporal Characteristic Analysis of the Carbon Atlas of Low-Carbon Villages in the Yangtze River Delta

Countryside is an integral part of China's social and economic systems. For a long time, the continuous growth of rural carbon emissions has led to a series of social, economic and ecological consequences. Carbon emission reduction has become a critical task for rural revitalization and sustainable development in China. Existing studies on low-carbon assessment mainly focus on urban areas, resulting in limited studies on rural areas. What's more, most of the planning strategies for low-carbon villages are also based on subjective evaluation and qualitative analysis, lacking support from quantitative simulation. Combining relevant theories, the concept of a rural "carbon atlas" was proposed in this study. The current rural carbon emissions and mathematics, graphics, and rationales of the temporal-spatial evolutionary characteristics were investigated using the GIS system as the technical platform for information storage and processing. The spatial domain of carbon emission units based on microscopic residential sites, factories and markets was defined and investigated. Carbon emissions of each unit were estimated according to energy consumptions for life, production and transportation. Later, carbon emissions were expressed and presented visually within the "atlas". Meanwhile, temporal and spatial distribution patterns of carbon emissions in various types of rural areas dominated by different industries were analyzed to provide resources and guidelines for building and planning low-carbon countryside and villages.An empirical study was undertaken on four different village types dominated by different industries in the Yangtze River Delta. Results show that the rural carbon atlas has apparent characteristics of tendentious distribution, periodical changes, and typified structures:(1) Different village types have different regional tendencies of high carbon emission. This phenomenon is most evident in industrial villages, where most of the carbon emissions happen in large factories or family workshops with large homestead areas. Traditional fishing and agricultural villages are the least representative in this regard because rural industries are mainly small fishing and agricultural families, and the industrial link among families is weak. (2) Due to the industry's cyclical nature, the fluctuation of carbon emissions in different types of villages is significantly different. Since the leisure tourism industry is greatly affected by festivals and seasons, the carbon emissions in leisure tourism villages fluctuate the most. Carbon emission of professional markets is the most stable, which is attributed to their immunity to seasonal and climatic changes. (3) The rural carbon emission map has prominent typified structural characteristics, including the scattered homogeneous pattern (traditional fishing and agricultural village), the group infiltration pattern (industrial production village), the dissipative fragmentation pattern (leisure tourism village), and the kernel domain recursive pattern (professional market village). Different industrial types lead to noticeable regional differences in the temporal-spatial characteristics and trends of carbon atlas. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop an overall optimization strategy and mechanism model. The outcomes from the current study explore the method and practical application of a rural carbon emission atlas, yet more extensive research exploring various facets of the atlas are still required.

Why Do Students Drop Out of High School?: The Case Study of Kasi District in Lao PDR

Purpose: This study explored why high school students decided to drop out in rural area of Lao PDR and further aimed to propose possible prevention to improve the drop out situation of the countries.
 Originality: Previous research that primarily focused on specific factors and dropout rate cannot explained why students decided to leave high school in early grade. Therefore, using comprehensive framework including individual and institutional factors, this study examined the dropout factors from individual perspective in qualitative way.
 Methodology: The study uses an explanatory sequential mixed method approach that employs both a questionnaire and interviews. Total 30 participants engaged in interviews including students and their parents, teachers and governmental officials. A thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis.
 Result: The results highlight that at the individual level, such as lack of motivation, peer pressure, early marriage, and cultural norms, pose barriers to high school attendance. Low household income and negative family dynamics also contribute significantly to dropout rates, with agricultural demands and family particular situations. Insufficient school resources, including materials and extracurricular activities, along with a shortage of qualified teachers, affect student engagement. Additionally, the community's low human and social capital increase dropout rates by limiting employment opportunities.
 Conclusions and Implication: The results indicated that both individual and institutional factors played a role in the dropout decision-making process. Furthermore, they suggested essential considerations such as examining job prospects for high school graduates in the local community, and evaluating the availability of resources within the school and community to assist students at risk of dropping out.

The Green Development in Saline–Alkali Lands: The Evolutionary Game Framework of Small Farmers, Family Farms, and Seed Industry Enterprises

Amid global climate change and population growth, the prevalence of saline–alkali lands significantly hampers sustainable agricultural development. This study employs theories of asymmetric information and bounded rationality to construct an evolutionary game model, analyzing the interactions among small farmers, family farms, and seed industry enterprises in the context of saline–alkali land management. It investigates the strategic choices and dynamics of these stakeholders under the influence of economic incentives and risk perceptions, with a focus on how government policies can foster green development. Utilizing Delay Differential Equations (DDEs) for simulations, this study highlights the risk of “market failure” without government intervention and underscores the need for government participation to stabilize and improve the efficiency of the green development process. The findings reveal that factors such as initial willingness to participate, the economic viability of salt-tolerant crops, seed pricing, research and development costs, and the design of incentive policies are crucial for sustainable land use. Accordingly, the paper proposes specific policy measures to enhance green development, including strengthening information dissemination and technical training, increasing the economic attractiveness of salt-tolerant crops, alleviating research and development pressures on seed companies, and optimizing economic incentives. This study provides a theoretical and policy framework for the sustainable management of saline–alkali lands, offering insights into the behavioral choices of agricultural stakeholders and supporting government strategies for agricultural and environmental protection.

Ora-Pro-Nobis (Pereskia aculeata) and its technological applications in foods: a review

Ora-pro-nóbis is an unconventional food plant, with edible leaves rich in nutrients, with great potential for application in the food industry. In this context, this review aims to critically analyze studies about the technological properties, and innovative food products containing ora-pro-nóbis to meet new consumer trends. The data search was performed using the Prisma guidelines and was conducted in the following databases: Pubmed, Scielo, Embase and Web of Science. The Rayyan was use for the selection of the 14 studies included in this review. The plant can add nutritional and functional value to food products and act as a thickening, gelling agent, emulsifier, stabilizer, and as a supplement in the food industry. Greater dissemination of the benefits associated with the consumption of ora-pro-nóbis, in addition to having an impact on consumers' health and nutritional enrichment of the diet, contributes to the sustainable development of agrifood systems, the valorization of Brazilian biodiversity, and family farming.

Food: God’s Gift to All People. Case Study from Croatia

In the light of the biblical message, food is God’s gift to all people. Church’s documents emphasize that food is a natural human need, and every human has a natural right to food. This, however, presents new challenges to humanity today, because market-oriented agriculture often prevails, which does not focus so much on the quality and availability of food for all people, especially the poor, but puts profit at the center. The first part of paper attempts to concisely present the attitude of the Holy Scriptures towards food, which contribute to today’s reflection on solving the problem of production and availability of healthy food. The second part presents church’s guidelines, aimed to overcome today’s injustices in the world and provide everyone with access to food, and highlights the importance of producing healthy food for the protection of health. The third part of the paper deals with certain decrees on food production and control and the promotion of ecological production in the Republic of Croatia. Nevertheless, adopting the legislation of the European Union and accepting its guidelines on the development of agriculture has brought a certain shift in recent years. This legislative framework will contribute to the strengthening of the Croatian rural community, the encouragement of small family farms, and the increase of food production, especially healthy, ecologically grown food.

Agroforestry: An Effective Potential Tool for Ensuring Quality Life for the Indian Farmers: A Review

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the succeeding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been at the heart of the global development agenda. Where half of the population is being employed in the agriculture sector in a rapidly growing demographics like India, the pressure is very tense on the natural resources in order to make harmony between economy and environment. Uplifting the majority of farming families from the poverty line (doubling farmer’s income by 2022 is a time frame set up by NITI Aayog) and ensuring a quality of life in the line of globally standardised development goals has been reflected in governments’ policies. The potential of tangible and intangible benefits referred to as an ecosystem service, delivered by agroforestry systems have been widely accepted all over the world. The need for a climate-resilient and sustainable system of land use for food security is the aim of the new world. The present review discusses the scope of agroforestry for food, environment and economic security that will be helpful for an all-round development of farmer’s life in a rapidly developing country like India, which has a diversified agricultural scenario throughout the length and breadth of the country. We referred peer-reviewed research papers and government publications to come into a conclusion regarding the status of agroforestry as a potential tool in Indian agricultural scenario to ensure a quality of life to the farmers and further suggestions. The potentiality of taking traditional agroforestry practices to a new level through contract tree farming, financing through banking institutions, integrating agroforestry farmers with industries and a tree insurance approach may be a way forward in the country to augment’s farm income and adaption of suitable agroforestry practices as compatible to agro-climatic zones.

Effect of dietary cold-pressed hempseed cake on the fatty acid profile of semi-hard cheese made from goat milk

Recently, many feedstuffs have been introduced to animal diets to increase the content of beneficial fatty acids in dairy products. Therefore, this study aimed to research the effect of including hempseed cake in dairy goats concentrate mixtures on the chemical composition and fatty acid profile of semi-hard goat cheese that is traditionally produced on family farm. The feeding of goats was based on meadow hay ad libitum and 1200 g/day/head of concentrate mixture. In the first experimental group, 60 g/kg DM of hempseed cake (HSC-60) was administered; meanwhile, in the second experimental group, 120 g/kg DM of hempseed cake (HSC-120) was included in the diet. The chemical composition of cheese was mostly unaffected by enriching the goats’ nutrition with hempseed cakes. Dietary HSC-120 increased C18:1 n-9 and C18:3 n-6 compared to the control, and increased C22:6 n-3 in cheese compared to HSC- 60, although both HSC-120 and HSC-60 lowered n-6/n-3 ratios in cheese. Feeding goats with HSC-120 may have contributed to the development of the functional properties of semi-hard goat cheese made on family farm, as compared to the cheese produced by goats fed with commercial concentrate mixtures.

Family farming in climate change: Strategies for resilient and sustainable food systems

Family farming plays a pivotal role in ensuring household food security and bolstering the resilience of food systems against climate change. Traditional agricultural practices are evolving into context-specific, climate-resilient systems such as family farming, homestead gardening, and urban agriculture. This study examines the ways in which family farming can foster climate-resilient food systems amidst climate vulnerabilities. A systematic literature review spanning the past 22 years was undertaken to develop a conceptual framework. From this review, 37 pertinent documents were identified, leading to the creation of a context-specific, climate-resilient food system framework. The research posits that family farming facilitates easy access to food and nutrition by capitalizing on family-sourced land, labor, and capital, and by securing access to technology and markets. Each facet of family farming is intricately linked with sustainability principles. Local adaptation strategies employed by climate-vulnerable households can diminish their vulnerability and augment their adaptive, absorptive, and transformative capacities, enabling them to establish a climate-resilient food system. The research further reveals that farming families employ a myriad of strategies to fortify their food systems. These include crop diversification, adjusting planting times, cultivating high-value crops and fish, planting fruit trees, rearing poultry and livestock, and leveraging their land, labor, and resources—including their homesteads—to access food and nutrition. This study endorses the climate-resilient family farming framework and offers multiple metrics for assessing the resilience of family farming in developing countries.

Exploring social indicators in smallholder food systems: modeling children’s educational outcomes on crop-livestock family farms in Madagascar

Promoting smallholders’ sustainable development in Africa means addressing agronomic and economic factors but also highly relevant social influences shaping farmers’ production and affecting household well-being. Holistic, integrated analyses can help to meet this need, informing more effective policies and interventions for smallholder farming systems. The authors apply a transdisciplinary, quantitative approach to analyzing social impacts in the smallholder context, using milk-producing crop-livestock family farms in central Madagascar as a test case. First, stochastic frontier analysis is leveraged to confirm education as a social indicator linked to production efficiency. Then, linear regression is used for exploratory modeling of children’s educational outcomes. Findings from the Malagasy case emphasize the influence of rural infrastructure, parental education, chronic poverty, family planning, and crop-livestock diversification on children’s educational outcomes among one region’s farming households. Taken together, results suggest that Madagascar’s policymakers should consider comprehensive territorial planning for simultaneously promoting agricultural development and human well-being. This study illustrates how a transdisciplinary approach to social impacts analysis can integrate agronomic, economic, and social dynamics and help anticipate potential outcomes in support of smallholders’ sustainable development.

Portrait of Child Labor in Small-Scale Oil Palm Plantations: Dillemma Between Education and Work.

Amid increasing economic prospects and government support for oil palm plantations, oil palm plantations still have many social problems. The emergence of child labor in small-scale oil palm plantations (smallholders) is a fact. This article analyzes the dilemma related to the child laborers’ choice of working or continuing education in small-scale oil palm plantations in Seberu Village, Silat Hilir District, Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan Province. We use an ethnographic approach to describe activities, behaviors, actions, conversations, and interpersonal interactions within social communities and small-scale farming family units. We found three main reasons why children consider education irrelevant to their daily needs and choose to work on small-scale oil palm plantations. The first factor is access, which is related to the distance to schools and inadequate road infrastructure. The second factor is the need for more imagination about the importance of going to school for the future. The third factor is lifestyle fulfillment rather than family economic difficulties.

The meaning of animal well-being for farmers and dairy farm employees

Dairy farms in Sweden have undergone a structural change. The number of family farms has decreased, while the number of large dairy farms with employees caring for the animals has increased. This changing situation has created a new farming landscape. From that perspective, it is crucial to gain insight into what factors contribute to the well-being of humans and animals on big dairy farms. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted on three farms. Farmers and employees were interviewed. The material was analysed using a qualitative approach inspired by qualitative content analysis. For the farmers and employees, animal well-being was central for various reasons and from different perspectives. Despite the differences, the impact of animal well-being was interlinked between the two groups. An increased and deeper understanding of the different perspectives and needs arising from the different roles of farmers and employees can provide new knowledge about factors important for improvinganimal well-being.

First detection of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia canis, and Anaplasma ovis in Rhipicephalus bursa ticks collected from sheep, Turkey.

Anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis are important tick-borne rickettsial diseases of medical and veterinary importance that cause economic losses in livestock. In this study, the prevalence of Anaplasma ovis, Ehrlichia canis and Ehrlichia chaffeensis was investigated in ticks collected from sheep in various farms in Van province, which is located in the Eastern Anatolian Region of Turkey. The ticks used in this study were collected by random sampling in 26 family farm business in 13 districts of Van province. A total of 688 ticks were collected from 88 sheep and 88 tick pools were created. All ticks identified morphologically as Rhipicephalus bursa. Phylogenetic analysis of Chaperonin and 16S rRNA gene sequences confirmed A. ovis, E. canis and E. chaffeensis in this study. Of the 88 tick pools tested, 28.41% (25/88) were positive for at least one pathogen. Anaplasma DNA was detected in five of the 88 pools (5.68%), E. canis DNA was detected in 19 of the 88 pools (21.59%), and E. chaffeensis DNA was detected in one of the 88 pools (1.14%) of R. bursa ticks. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the presence of A. ovis, E. canis, and E. chaffeensis in R. bursa ticks collected from sheep in Turkey. Further studies are needed to investigate other co-infections in sheep in Turkey.

Land Security and Mobility Frictions

Abstract Frictions that impede the mobility of workers across occupations and space are a prominent feature of developing countries. We disentangle the role of insecure property rights from other labor-mobility frictions for the reallocation of labor from agriculture to nonagriculture and from rural to urban areas. We combine rich household and individual-level panel data from China and an equilibrium quantitative framework featuring sorting of workers across locations and occupations. We explicitly model the farming household and the endogenous decisions of who operates the family farm and who potentially migrates, capturing an additional channel of selection in the household. We find that land insecurity has substantial negative effects on agricultural productivity and structural change, raising the share of rural households operating farms by over 40 percentage points and depressing agricultural productivity by more than 20%. Comparatively, these quantitative effects are as large as those from all residual labor-mobility frictions. We measure a sharp reduction in overall labor-mobility barriers over 2004–2018 in the Chinese economy, all accounted for by improved land security, consistent with reforms covering rural land in China during the period. JEL Codes: O11, O14, O4, E02, Q1.

Structure and performance of cassava markets: challenges of food security and connecting small farmers to markets in Cameroon

Agrifood markets play a pivotal role in assuring national food security and improved welfare for smallholder farm families. However, the extent to which this is possible depends on the structure and performance of these markets. This study utilizes primary data collected from 326 cassava marketers operating in 15 markets to examine the structure and performance of the cassava market in Cameroon. We employ parametric and non-parametric techniques to determine the degree of market concentration and marketing performance of these cassava marketers. Our findings highlight a high market concentration with a Gini coefficient (GC) of 0.76 and 0.79 for wholesalers and retailers, respectively. This indicates that the cassava market is probably oligopolistic in structure. In addition, we reveal that average marketing efficiency is 14.20% and 87% for retailers and wholesalers, respectively. This indicates that retailers are relatively inefficient as compared to wholesalers. Furthermore, we observed that prices are set up in the markets according to the place of sale and the type of marketers. However, prices are influenced by factors such as transport, the quantity sold in on-spot markets, and the need for liquidity. In general, our results highlight that the region, type of marketer (wholesaler or retailer), and socio-economic factors account significantly for the variation of odds to participate in markets. Hence, to influence the dynamics of price on the consumers, it might be necessary to promulgate policies that could improve retailers' efficiency. This might be through the restructuring of retailers into cooperatives and associations which may permit retailers to access other critical resources.

Ethno-knowledge of family farmers associated with the control of Plutella xylostella L. 1758 (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in kale production

The species Brassica oleracea L. covers the varieties of kale, broccoli, and cabbage, being these crops mainly commercially exploited and cultivated by family farming in Brazil. Over the years, farmers adapt and better understand the problems related to pests and their life cycles, they gain knowledge from their daily work, which becomes important in the decision-making process regarding crops. Plutella xylostella L. is the main pest that attacks crucifers; when poorly controlled, it can compromise the entire production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the ethno-knowledge associated with the control of P. xylostella among family farmers who grow kale. 42 producers were selected by the snowball sampling technique, in the municipalities of Lucas do Rio Verde, Sorriso, and Sinop, Brazil, who answered a semi-structured questionnaire about their social profile, production and ethno-knowledge associated with the control of P. xylostella. It was found that there are several difficulties concerning the production of kale and pest recognition, the production techniques used, and access to information; in many of these factors, technical assistance has contributed to minimizing them through the dissemination of modern and effective techniques. Thus, knowing the role of ethno-knowledge of cabbage producers can contribute to the correct identification of damages in the crop and the pests that causes them, and can prevent the improper use of pesticides by farmers, leading to an efficient control. Furthermore, it can contribute to the valorization of dialogue, the exchange of knowledge and the resolution of problems.

Does E-Commerce Participation among Farming Households Affect Farmland Abandonment? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in China

Reducing farmland abandonment is crucial for food security. While the association between e-commerce proliferation and farmland abandonment at the village level has been discussed, the correlation at the farming household level remains unexplored. Utilizing 2020 survey data from 3831 rural households across 10 Chinese provinces, this study develops an “e-commerce–household–farmland abandonment” framework to explore the co-occurrence of e-commerce engagement with farmland abandonment, using econometric models. The findings reveal that e-commerce engagement significantly increases farmland abandonment, with implicit and explicit rates rising by 10.3% and 28.5%, respectively. It also shifts household incomes from planting to forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries, leading households to reallocate labor away from agriculture, thereby intensifying abandonment. However, land transfer can alleviate this co-occurrence. This study also explores the variation in the association between e-commerce participation and farmland abandonment in relation to agricultural subsidies, economic development, and the presence of family farms. By elucidating the dynamics at the household level, this research offers fresh perspectives for developing countries to safeguard food security by curbing farmland abandonment.

Can crop insurance help optimize farmers’ decisions on pesticides use? Evidence from family farms in East China

Pesticides are important agricultural inputs, which can effectively reduce crop growth risk, but irrational use of pesticides also brings major challenges to the green development of agriculture. This paper constructs a theoretical framework of the effect of crop insurance on pesticides usage. Then using family farm survey data in East China, we measure the marginal value cost ratio (MVCR) of pesticides use through the improved damage abatement production function (DAPF), and empirically analyze the impact of crop insurance on MVCR of pesticides use by employing the endogenous treatment effect model (ETEM). The results show that 42.6% of family farms in the sample area purchased crop insurance, and almost all family farms overused pesticides, but the degree was relatively lower among the family farms with crop insurance. Crop insurance has a significantly positive effect on the MVCR of pesticides use, which indicates that it can optimize farmers’ pesticides use behavior. This conclusion is also confirmed by several robustness checks. Thus, the promotion of agricultural insurance can play the role of promoting the green development of agriculture to a certain extent.