Ex situ seed storage plays a critical role in conserving plant genetic resources threatened by climate change and habitat loss. Orthodox seeds, which comprise the majority of seed-producing plants, tolerate desiccation and freezing, allowing long-term storage. Their survival is attributed to metabolic quiescence and cellular stabilization during drying. In contrast, recalcitrant seeds are highly sensitive to drying and chilling, which limits their storage using conventional seed banking methods. Recent advances focus on overcoming these challenges through embryo excision, in vitro culture and cryopreservation including vitrification, and encapsulation-dehydration, although these techniques are labour-intensive and constrained in scale. Differences in desiccation sensitivity between tissues, such as embryonic axes and cotyledons, highlight the need for comprehensive preservation strategies. In recalcitrant seeds with epicotyl dormancy, the epicotyl elongates, sometimes forming a swollen tuber-like structure, then pauses growth while functioning independently of the seed, at which point it can be excised, dried and stored at about -20 °C or under cryogenic conditions. Integrating physiological, molecular and ecological knowledge is essential for developing innovative, tissue-specific protocols to improve seed longevity and conservation outcomes, thereby enhancing biodiversity preservation and agricultural resilience under rapidly changing environmental conditions.

The operationalization of climate services in developing countries often falters due to fragmented mandates, weak data-sharing, and limited user engagement. Under FAO-Cambodia’s Green Climate Fund-supported PEARL Project, we co-produced Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to institutionalize agrometeorological advisory delivery in the Northern Tonle Sap Basin. Between November 2024 and February 2025, 381 participants, including government agencies, extension officers, private actors, and farmers, jointly identified 15 actions across data generation, processing, dissemination, and feedback. Using a participatory framework adapted from Climate-Smart Agriculture prioritization and weighted through Principal Component Analysis, we show that that farmer-interactive and institutionally embedded mechanisms yield greater inclusivity and resilience than digital-only channels. The SOP process also produced national data-sharing agreements and a public-private partnership. These outcomes demonstrate how participatory SOPs can transform climate services from project-based initiatives into sustained, system-level practices, offering a replicable model for other countries pursuing climate-resilient agriculture.

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have matured across forests (carbon), watersheds (water quality and quantity), agricultural landscapes (biodiversity), and urban stormwater management. Most biodiversity assessments emphasize insects, fish, and birds. By contrast, schemes that directly measure and reward the microbial diversity, the foundations of ecosystem services in soils, aquatic systems, and urban green spaces, remain scarce. Meanwhile, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls for mobilizing at least USD 200 billion per year by 2030, and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund has launched; but current flows into PES are limited, and PES explicitly targeting microbes is largely uncharted. This Perspective argues that microbially focused PES is rare and, even when they exist, they tend to be biased toward specific pathogens or pollution indicators. However, measurement, reporting, and verification of various microorganisms are operationally feasible and methods to strengthen source attribution and contribution estimation are now mature; and channeling a share of Nature-Positive finance to microbial ecosystem assessments could jointly advance drinking-water safety, soil health, agricultural resilience, and urban public health. We discuss the importance of microbial-PES in conserving and enhancing ecosystem services.

Introduction Farmers in flood- and cyclone-prone regions of India face recurrent shocks from extreme climatic events, yet their adaptive capacity remains constrained by limited access to timely and context-specific knowledge. Digital climate education offers promising opportunities to strengthen rural resilience; however, evidence on pedagogy-driven e-learning interventions for farmers is limited. This study aimed to develop, validate, and evaluate an e-learning module to enhance farmers’ climate resilience in vulnerable regions of Assam and Odisha. Methods An e-learning module was developed using the ADDIE instructional design model and validated by 31 experts using structured rating scales. A 21-item knowledge test was constructed and refined through relevancy screening, pilot testing with 30 farmers, and item analysis (difficulty index, discrimination index, and point-biserial correlation), resulting in a final 10-item test. The effectiveness of the module was assessed using a pre-test/post-test design with 78 farmers, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired tests, and learning gain measures. Results The module received high expert ratings across content, format, presentation, and usefulness. The final knowledge test demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.857). Significant improvements in knowledge scores were observed across both states ( p < 0.001), with substantial mean gains (overall = 3.85) and large effect sizes. Normalized learning gains ranged from 0.599 to 0.672, indicating strong learning outcomes following exposure to the module. Discussion The findings demonstrate that a systematically designed, multimedia-based e-learning module can effectively enhance farmers’ climate-related knowledge in vulnerable regions. The study highlights the potential of scalable digital extension approaches to complement traditional advisory systems and strengthen climate resilience in agriculture.

ABSTRACT Continuous adoption of green control techniques (GCTs) represents an eco-friendly practice that enhances agricultural resilience by mitigating farmers’ misuse of and overreliance on chemical pesticides. The internet has penetrated rapidly in rural China. While farmers’ internet use is a novel form of human capital, its efficacy in promoting GCTs remains underexplored. This study investigates the impact of internet use on continuous GCT adoption and its subsequent effect on farm performance, using a dataset of 874 farmer surveys. To address endogeneity, we employ a control function approach and conditional mixed process model. We find that internet use raises the probability of physical and biological control techniques’ continuous adoption by 7.2% and 8.1%, respectively, and GCTs significantly improve crop yields and agricultural income. This study contributes to the literature by (1) redefining internet use as a novel form of agricultural human capital, expanding human capital theory’s scope and theoretical boundaries, and (2) constructing the ‘internet use → GCT adoption → farm performance’ analytical framework, offering new empirical evidence in green agricultural economics.

Background Vertical farming offers a promising solution to food production challenges in urban and climate-constrained regions, yet its high energy demand raises concerns about sustainability. Most existing studies assess energy demand and CO 2 emissions under static operational assumptions and lack a comprehensive framework linking seasonal renewable availability, crop cycle timing, and operational flexibility to system resilience and grid dependency. Methods This study evaluates the performance and carbon footprint of a fully enclosed pilot vertical farming unit in Northern Greece using TRNSYS 18 simulations and high-resolution environmental data. Forty-eight cultivation scenarios were generated by varying photoperiods, humidity levels, and HVAC setpoints to reflect seasonal Mediterranean conditions. Each scenario was analyzed for energy consumption, grid reliance, photovoltaic sufficiency, and life cycle CO 2 emissions. A dynamic crop cycle estimation model was applied to capture seasonal variability and align planting windows with solar energy availability. Performance benchmarking was implemented through a novel resilience-based multi-criteria framework combining energy-per-cycle metrics with two composite indices, the Grid Independence Index (GII) and the Seasonal Resilience Score (SRS), formulated in this study as a key methodological innovation. A Lighting Flexibility Classification System was further developed to determine the maximum safe reduction in artificial lighting without increasing total energy demand. Results The median carbon footprint across the 48 simulated scenarios was 3.67 kg CO 2 kg −1 of lettuce (Lactuca Sativa), with optimized configurations achieving substantially lower emissions compared to conventional greenhouse cultivation. Crop cycle duration varied between 34 and 52 days depending on photoperiod and temperature setpoints. Aligning cultivation cycles with high solar availability, combined with dynamic lighting adjustments, PV contribution to annual electricity coverage was significantly enhanced. In such configurations, lighting inputs were reduced by up to 10% without causing an increase in total system energy requirements. Conclusions The findings highlight the potential of simulation-based design for optimizing energy use and minimizing environmental impacts in control-environment agriculture. The proposed metrics and classification provide practical tools for improving the resilience and sustainability of vertical farming under Mediterranean conditions.

Ecosystem-based adaptation practices among smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas provides a positive response strategy to the increasing challenges posed by climate change, particularly declining crop yield under dry spells condition. Despite increasing acknowledgement of the role ecosystem-based adaptation practices play in enhancing agricultural resilience, very little studies have been done on the perception of smallholder farmers of the effectiveness of these practices. The objective of this study was to assess the perceived effectiveness of ecosystem-based adaptation practices adopted by smallholder farmers and the co-benefits importance in enhancing climate resilience. The study used a mixed-method approach involving a one-time household survey conducted from 11 September to 11 October 2025, lasting one month, with 360 smallholder farmers targeting household heads in Mabalane district in centre of Gaza Province of Mozambique. Purposive sampling, focus group discussions and key informants’ interviews were used for data collection. The results of the study revealed three key ecosystem-based adaptation practices namely mixed cropping (83.9%), integrated crop-livestock management (57.2%) and mulch-tillage (51.1%) as the most widely adapted practices among smallholder farmers. Perceived effectiveness was highest for practices that visibly improved soil fertility and quality, crop productivity and food security. Furthermore, the study revealed that smallholder farmers prioritize soil fertility improvement, increased crop productivity, enhanced soil moisture retention, and food security improvement. It is concluded that the predominance of the key ecosystem-based adaptation practices in the study area is attributed to their perceived effectiveness and their direct and synergistic contributions to climate resilience within the community’s traditional farming system, and in the context of locally important staple food crops.

How livelihood capital synergies and trade-offs shape farmer's resilience in underdeveloped mountainous areas, China

The agroecological transition offer opportunities to reduce agriculture's environmental impacts by reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Crop diversification, in both time and space, is a key strategy including extended crop rotations, intercropping, and cover crops. Yet, relationships between reduced input use and associated environmental impacts remain insufficiently quantified. We assessed the environmental performance of six innovative low-input cropping systems that used cover crops, cultivar mixture and intercropping in term of nitrogen fertiliser and pesticide use, as well as nitrate and pesticide losses. From 2010 to 2016, cropping systems were monitored for input use and drainage water was collected with tension plate lysimeters at 1 m depth. Nitrate and up to 44 pesticide compounds were analysed annually. Nitrogen fertiliser application varied across systems, with more diversified systems applying less thanks to legumes. Pesticide use remained similar among systems but reduced by over 50% compared to conventional rates. Cover crops played a key role in reducing pollution. Nitrate leaching reduced by 42–56% in systems with cover crops. More originally, pesticide leaching decreased by 53–82% for these systems with S-metolachlor representing more than 50% of the quantity of pesticide losses. These results demonstrate that diversifying cropping systems, particularly through cover cropping, can reduce agriculture's environmental footprint greatly. When combined with reducing input use, such strategies provide a promising pathway towards more sustainable and resilient farming systems, with clear benefits for water quality and agroecosystem functioning. • Six low-input diversified arable cropping systems were tested for six years. • Nitrate and pesticide leaching were collected over the six years of monitoring. • Cover crops cut nitrate leaching by 42–56% under field conditions. • First evidence that cover crops reduce pesticide leaching by 53–82%. • S-metolachlor loss is the main driver of the pesticide leaching pattern observed.

Millet specialization and secondary settlements: How social inequality shaped agricultural resilience under late Holocene climatic stress in Neolithic China

Agricultural systems in the European Union face simultaneous pressures from demographic decline, economic fragility, and biodiversity loss. The shrinking share of young farmers raises concerns about the long-term viability of rural areas, while monoculture and production intensification continue to erode crop diversity and ecosystem resilience. Although generational renewal policies aim to address demographic challenges, their potential to intersect with environmental or resilience-related dimensions remains insufficiently explored, particularly in structurally constrained agricultural contexts such as Greece. This study investigates how the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Young Farmers Measure, designed primarily to support generational renewal, relates to crop diversification and resilience-related characteristics among young farmers. The analysis addresses three questions: whether young farmers who intend to remain in agriculture beyond the mandatory support period exhibit different diversification trajectories; whether distinct socio-economic and agronomic profiles are associated with heterogeneous diversification behaviours; and how resilience-related attributes vary across diversification levels and across the farmer profiles identified through clustering. Farm level and socio-economic data from young farmers in Greece were used to quantify crop diversification through a standardized Crop Diversification Index (CDI). K-means clustering was applied to identify heterogeneous farmer profiles based on structural, socio-economic, and diversification characteristics. A multidimensional Young Farmers Resilience Index (YFRI) was constructed using Min–Max normalization across ten economic, social, and environmental indicators, providing a composite description of resilience-related attributes. The methodological approach is descriptive and exploratory, focusing on variation within the beneficiary population rather than on causal inference. Young farmers intending to remain in agriculture beyond the mandatory support period displayed higher and more variable CDI values than non-continuing farmers, indicating distinct diversification trajectories associated with long-term engagement. The cluster analysis revealed three structurally and behaviourally differentiated farmer profiles, each exhibiting characteristic diversification patterns shaped by farm size, production orientation, and household composition. YFRI scores also varied across clusters, reflecting the interaction of structural capacity, socio-economic conditions, and diversification profiles. These findings highlight substantial heterogeneity within the beneficiary population and illustrate how generational-renewal policies intersect with diversification and resilience-related attributes under the structural conditions of Greek agriculture. The study provides a replicable framework for examining how socio-economic context measures within the CAP relate to environmental and resilience-relevant characteristics. By demonstrating the diversity of pathways through which young farmers combine structural conditions, behavioural orientations, and crop portfolios, the findings support more integrated policy design capable of jointly addressing demographic, environmental, and structural challenges. • Generational renewal, biodiversity and social resilience challenge agricultural systems. • Young farmers with long-term engagement intentions exhibit higher diversification levels. • Young farmers' socio-economic and agronomic profiles co-shape diversification. • Generational renewal policy should be linked with environmental and resilience dimensions.

Plants and livestock exist within complex ecological systems where their physiological processes are closely linked to environmental conditions. Understanding these interactions is essential for sustainable agriculture, food security, and environmental management. This paper examines the relationship between ecological factors and physiological mechanisms in plants and livestock, focusing on key processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, metabolism, and reproduction. Using a literature-based review approach, this study synthesizes current scientific knowledge on plant and animal ecophysiology, highlighting how biotic and abiotic factors such as temperature, water availability, soil quality, and species interactions affect biological performance. The analysis shows that environmental stressors significantly influence productivity, survival, and adaptation in both plants and livestock. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating ecological and physiological perspectives to improve agricultural resilience under climate change. The paper concludes that better understanding of ecophysiological mechanisms can support more sustainable farming systems, optimize resource use, and enhance productivity while reducing environmental degradation.

The past 25 years have seen remarkable progress in plant circadian biology. This perspective highlights major advances in our understanding of the oscillator network, the processes it regulates, and circadian variation across tissues and cell types. Genomic and systems approaches uncovered pervasive circadian control of physiology, development, and fitness, including photoperiodic and domestication traits. Emerging tools now position the field to engineer clocks for agricultural resilience in a changing climate.

Rice production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) faces rising climate and ecological challenges, prompting national policies to reduce cropping intensity and restore floodplain functions. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an effective tool for continuous rice production monitoring, as it is less affected by cloud cover. As such, it can capture complete phenological cycles of rice growth and enable differentiation of rice typologies. This research developed an object-based classification framework using SAR backscatter time series data and Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to map the Triple Rice and Double Rice production typologies. Landscape segmentation was implemented to delineate homogeneous units for object-based analysis. Sentinel-1 backscatter time series were generated for each unit to capture annual temporal dynamics. Using t-SNE and HDBSCAN clustering, the predominant temporal patterns within the VMD were identified. By associating these with field survey labels, reference temporal profiles for Double and Triple Rice were defined. Finally, landscape units were assigned to rice typologies with the most similar temporal profiles, and the similarity was measured using DTW. This framework was implemented for two years (2019 and 2022). Its accuracy exceeded 83% for 2022. A comparison between 2019 and 2022 indicates a clear transition toward lower cropping intensity.

The Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK) buffer zone in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, has a dryland farming system that supports tourism activities. This study aims to examine the existing conditions of the role of dryland farming systems in the area around the Mandalika SEZ as a buffer zone and develop strategies for developing dryland farming systems in the buffer zone to ensure sustainability. The analytical tools used in the study include descriptive analysis, SWOT analysis, and AHP analysis. The results show that the existing conditions of the Mandalika SEZ buffer zone related to sustainable dryland farming systems play a significant social and economic role. Meanwhile, the AHP results prioritize the SWOT groups as follows: strengths (54.3%), opportunities (26.2%), weaknesses (12.7%), and threats (6.8%); with the most important factor being farmer resilience in dryland farming. The recommended Grand Strategy is to optimize farmer potential through agricultural land expansion, diversification, and mixed farming, support from Village Cooperatives, and increasing the role of agricultural extension.

Land degradation driven by unsustainable land use practices is a serious concern, especially in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands, and it has led to soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, and reduced agricultural productivity. The consequences include declining crop yields and increased vulnerability to climate change impacts like droughts and floods. Famer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is one of the low-cost agroforestry practices being promoted in land restoration. Data collected from a cross-sectional baseline study conducted by World Vision Kenya in July 2024 in the counties of Makueni, Kajiado and Narok was used to demonstrate the economic benefits of FMNR to farmers practising it. The study analyses (1) FMNR’s association with crop and livestock yield improvements and resulting income changes; (2) its contribution to enhanced soil fertility and water retention, which bolster agricultural resilience and reduce the cost of regeneration. A total of 1628 farmers from four areas within the three counties were sampled for the study and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. This information was complemented by focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The benefits of FMNR accruing to farmers were categorised into increased crop yields, increased pasture yields, improved soil fertility and reduced costs of regenerating land. The benefits were compared between FMNR and non-FMNR farmers. The data was then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that more than 50% of the farmers reported high crop yield, indicating the potential of FMNR to increase crop productivity. Furthermore, there are significant differences in pasture yields (χ² = 72.05, p0.05 < 0.05), soil fertility (χ² = 237.76, p0.05 < 0.05) and cost of land regeneration (χ² = 20.72, p0.05 < 0.05) between FNMR and non-FMNR farmers. There were significant differences in soil fertility perceptions across the study sites (p 0.05 = 0.029568), with Kajiado farmers perceiving the highest soil fertility attributed to the practice of FMNR. It was concluded that tangible economic benefits in terms of increased crop yield, pasture yields and soil fertility are realised by farmers who have embraced FMNR at the onset of the project. These benefits are attributed to increased environmental services associated with complex interactions between trees, crops, animals and the abiotic environment. It was recommended that longitudinal data over the life of the project should be collected in order to quantify the actual benefits accruing to farmers adopting FMNR practice.

Agrivoltaics (AV) has emerged as an integrated land-use innovation capable of simultaneously addressing food, energy, and water challenges, yet its systemic implications for farming system sustainability remain insufficiently synthesized. This review adopts a farming system dynamics perspective to examine how AV systems reorganize biophysical, ecological, and socio-economic interactions across agroecosystems. Drawing upon agroecological principles, pathways of sustainable intensification and ecological intensification, and resource-loop strategies in circular economy, we identify the key elements and cause-and-effect relationships that shape AV system performance. Evidence indicates that the co-location of photovoltaics (PV) structures and crop cultivation generates new system properties, altered light distribution, moderated microclimates, redistributed soil moisture, and diversified production functions that influence productivity, resource-use efficiency, ecological services, and farm resilience. Using causal loop analysis, we conceptualize four central feedback dynamics: (i) PV–crop trade-offs and spatial-sharing relationships; (ii) microclimate modifications and crop physiological responses; (iii) ecological performance and landscape-level interactions; and (iv) circularity loops connecting resource conservation, renewable-energy substitution, soil processes, and material flows. This feedback collectively determines eco-efficiency outcomes, including enhanced land-equivalent productivity, improved water-use efficiency, strengthened regulating services, and reductions in external energy dependence. At the farming-system scale, AV diversifies income streams and stabilizes yields under climatic variability, whereas at the landscape scale, it fosters multifunctionality by supporting regenerative resource flows and ecological resilience. Building on these insights, we propose an integrated framework that links agroecological elements with dynamic feedback structures to guide context-specific AV design, management, and governance. This system-oriented synthesis provides a foundation for future research and policy efforts aimed at optimizing AV as a circular, resilient, and sustainable farming system innovation.

New innovations have the potential to improve agricultural resilience, profitability, sustainability and regenerative potential. However, new technologies and approaches emerge in a complex sociocultural context, with farmer decisions based on a range of interacting social, economic and environmental factors. Traditional approaches to research and development within agri-food systems often assume continuity and/or linearity in change processes, which is rarely the case in practice. There are calls for approaches and methods to research and development that can apply deliberative and participatory processes to enable social learning and innovation while embracing inherent complexities. Through a reflection process relating to two multi-stakeholder, collaborative, soils-focused agri-food research projects in Australia, this paper explores how agricultural research projects can navigate and work with complexity. The first project is a national Rural Landholder Social Benchmarking Study, aimed at collecting and drawing together complex data on farmer decision-making around adoption of innovations; and the second is a Knowledge-Sharing Project aimed at improving farmer engagement in new technologies and innovation across Australian farming regions. Our reflective analysis, based on exploring how complexity principles are enacted in these two projects, illustrates how projects can be developed along self-organising principles, developing team capacity to continually learn together and respond to the unexpected. Considering the complex elements of these projects, and how they have operated, opens a pathway for deliberative design that embraces complexity, which may assist the agricultural sector in the development of future research and project management.

To combat climate change, farmers want to develop sustainable agriculture that enhances food production while strengthening their capacity to cope with extreme weather events and pest and disease pressures. Promoting agroecological farming practices is a promising approach in enhancing sustainability and strengthening the climate-resilient farming systems. Recent research often overlooks to what extent the agroecological farming practices (AFP) provide a measurable advantage over non-AFP methods under increasing environmental challenges. In this regard, this study compares the extent of climate resilience between AFP mango-based farming systems and non-AFP mango-based farming systems in southern Ethiopia. AFP adopters applied ecological principles like intercropping, integrated pest management, agroforestry, canopy management, varietal diversity, and water and soil preservation to enhance biodiversity and soil health, and boost productivity and ecosystem services. The study employed a mixed-method design, drawing on the data from 395 selected households. The resilience of AFP and non-AFP farming systems was assessed by computing the 13 agroecosystem indicators of climate resilience using the Self-evaluation and Holistic Assessment of Climate Resilience of Farmers and Pastoralists (SHARP+) tool. Households in AFP mango-based farming system demonstrated greater diversification in agricultural production system compared to those in non-AFP mango farming system. The analysis of climate resilience indicators showed that the mango production systems under the AFP were more climate-robust than their conventional systems. Both the compound resilience score and the household resilience index showed that the mango farming systems under AFP substantially enhanced climate resilience. Hence, coordinated supports from the extension services, NGOs, and researchers are needed to scale up these benefits of AFP. Strengthening the AFP mango farming requires addressing the key barriers such as market access, input availability, and crop diversification strategies. This paper identifies important avenues for further AFP research in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Soil microbiomes are foundational to climate-smart agriculture, driving both climate mitigation and adaptation. Microbes contribute to carbon sequestration through necromass formation and glomalin production, while methanotrophs and nosZ-harboring bacteria reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions with inoculants achieving up to 81% N₂O reduction. For adaptation, microbial mechanisms including ACC deaminase, exopolysaccharides, and phytohormones enhance drought tolerance and nutrient efficiency under climate stress. Key management strategies; conservation agriculture, organic amendments, and stress-adapted native consortia preserve microbial habitats, build soil carbon, and improve crop resilience. Field applications across sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, and temperate regions demonstrate yield increases up to 43% under drought, fertilizer replacement, and enhanced carbon sequestration. Realizing this potential requires integrated research, supportive policies, harmonized regulations, and farmer engagement to transition toward microbiome-aware farming systems that ensure long-term agricultural resilience and sustainability.