Generation Of Farmers Research Articles

Advancing Thai Agriculture: Strategic Proposals for a Young Smart Farmer in Thailand

The study "Advancing Thai Agriculture: Strategic Proposals for a Young Smart Farmer in Thailand" addresses the critical role of agriculture in Thailand's economy and the challenges it faces, such as climate change, water scarcity, and market volatility. It emphasizes the importance of young smart farmers and innovative solutions like smart farming technologies, sustainable practices, and educational programs to ensure the sector's future sustainability and productivity. The research employs qualitative methods, including interviews and participant observations, to gather data on governmental policies and the preparedness of the next generation of farmers. The findings suggest a need for strategic planning and stakeholder engagement to foster a new generation of knowledgeable, technologically adept farmers. This effort aligns with national strategies to transform Thailand into a knowledge-driven economy, emphasizing sustainable and efficient agricultural practices.

Exploring social media usage among different generations of Thai farmers

Social media’s pervasive influence extends to the agricultural sector, driving transformative changes. The purpose of this study aims to comprehensively overview how different generations of Thai farmers utilize social media. It has two principal objectives: first, to explore farmers’ behavior in relation to the frequency of social media use, their preferred platforms, and engaging advertising formats; and second, to examine the correlation between different generations of farmers and their choice of social media platforms. The study employed purposive sampling and quantitative methodologies to survey Thai farmers, utilizing questionnaires for data collection and analyzing the data with descriptive statistics. A total of 150 participants took part, evenly distributed across rice cultivation, gardening, and arable crop cultivation. The findings of this study showed that social media platform usage among farmers was found to vary by generation, with each cohort demonstrating distinct preferences for different platforms. It was observed that older generations, such as Baby Boomers and Gen X, tended to concentrate their social media usage on a select few platforms, while younger generations, including Gen Y and Gen Z, exhibited more diversified usage patterns. Therefore, understanding generational differences in social media platform usage among farmers remains crucial for developing targeted communication strategies, facilitating knowledge dissemination, and enhancing market engagement within the agricultural sector. Encouraging the utilization of social media in agricultural promotion initiatives maximizes benefits for farmers and aids in adapting to the changing landscape of the agricultural industry in Thailand in the digital era.

The Organic Business of the New Generation Throughout the Agricultural Supply Chain

The objectives of this research were to investigate the way of being a farmer, the type of farmer, and the outcome on oneself and organic farming society of the new generation farmers. Twenty model farmers of the new generation accepted by organic farming community were studied using a qualitative research method with primary and secondary data collection. The results showed that there was a significant in growth rate of both area and number of agricultures during the years 2011-2021. These results are in line with the government policy of the Organic Agriculture Strategy 2017-2021 and the (draft) Organic Agriculture Action Plan 2023-2027. The factors that encourage the new generation to do more organic farming are push and pull factors. Nine patterns and two types of organic farming are in line with the way of life, needs, and goals of the new way of life, with the new generation of farmers having a way of farming throughout the supply chain based on organic farming business ecology, and upstream, middle, and downstream. The new generation involved in organic farming showed both concrete and symbolic effects. The concrete effects are: 1) The economic dimension is reducing expenditures and having income from both primary and supplementary sources. 2) The health dimension is physical health, mental health, and social health. The symbolic effects are: 1) There are a change and expansion of the meaning of the word farmers. 2) The image of farmers is promoted. 3) There is support from various sectors, both public and private sectors, and 4) raising awareness to consumers on living a good life with "food".

- Invited Review - Pig meat production in the European Union-27: current status, challenges, and future trends.

The main objective of this study was to present data on the current situation and future trends of pig meat production in the European Union-27 (EU). Pig production has played an important social and economic role for centuries in many states of the EU. In 2022, pig meat production in the EU reached 23 M tons, which represented 21% of total production worldwide. The two key reasons that justify such amount of pork produced, are the acceptance and high consumption of the meat by the local population and the high quality of the meat produced which facilitated pork export. However, current data show a reduction in pork production for the last three years, as a consequence of a series of events that include i) problems with the chain of ingredients supply, ii) uncontrolled increase in African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks, iii) fast recovery of pig production in China, iv) increasing concerns by the rural population on the high cost to meet future requirements of the EU legislation on farm management, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, v) increased cost of all inputs involved in pig production and vi) limited interest of the new farmer generation to work on the pig sector. Consequently, pork production is expected to decrease in the EU for the next years, although sales will be maintained at a relative high level because pork is the meat preferred by local consumers in most EU countries. In order to maintain the favourable position of the pork industry in the near future, strategies to implement include: i) maintain the quality of the meat destinated to export markets, ii) improve the control of outbreaks of ASF and other swine diseases, iii) implementation of technological innovations to improve working conditions making more attractive to work in the pork sector of the food chain to the new generation of farmers and workers.

Geographical trends for automatic milking systems research in non-pasture-based dairy farms: A scoping review

Automatic milking system (AMS) adoption in the United States is trending upward, with issues such as lower availability and increased cost of labor being factors frequently listed as motives for AMS implementation. In addition, more interest in precision dairy farming by the new generation of farmers may also help increase AMS adoption. The objective of this scoping review was to characterize the nature of the literature investigating non-pasture-based AMS and the opportunities and challenges for future research. The eligibility criteria included studies published in or after the year 2000, with full text in English, of at least 500 words, examining various outcomes related to AMS in non-pasture-based dairy farms. Six electronic databases were searched: Biosis (Web of Science), CAB Abstracts (CAB Direct), Medline (PubMed), PubAg, AGRIS (FAO), and Scopus (Elsevier). The review focused on studies with objectives, characteristics, farms, and AMS information. A total of 4,292 titles and abstracts were screened, and 536 studies were finally included. Most of the studies were conducted in Europe (73.5%), among commercial herds (67.9%), comprising Holstein cows (57.7%), using Lely and DeLaval brands (45.4% vs. 39.7%), with free-flow traffic (52.7%). The main research topics investigated were milk production, milk composition, and AMS efficiency, followed by behavior and welfare, health disorders (especially mastitis), and nutrition in Europe and other regions. At the same time, in the United States, trends were similar, except for nutrition. Since 2016 there has been an increased interest in studies on energy and water consumption, technological development, environment (enteric emissions), reproduction, genetics, and longevity or culling. However, the small number of studies and unclear characterization of what is optimum for reproductive management, other health disorders, economics, and water and energy consumption suggest a need for future research.

Smart Melon Farm System: Fertilizer IoT Solution

Embedded systems are increasingly being employed for a wide range of applications. Small and large enterprises can benefit from sensor networks and Internet of Things technologies. Farmers, particularly the next generation of farmers, are tremendously interested in the smart farm system. This is due to Thailand’s favorable geography, and young farmers are becoming more technologically literate. However, smart farm systems on the market are still too expensive and don’t meet small farms’ needs. Consequently, the study proposed a low-cost irrigation and fertilizer system for high-quality melon farms in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The system can properly carry out irrigation and fertilization operations on the melon farm, which require specific attention at various stages of production. As a result, the technique reduces human work while simultaneously supplying adequate water and nutrients to the entire plant. Moreover, farmers with Internet access can manually monitor or supervise the operation at any time, from any location, and on any device. The developed system may gather information from sensors and operational procedures for further analysis in order to increase output and reduce waste. The system is affordable since it was constructed primarily using open-source software and low-cost embedded components with an ergonomic architecture. The results of the comparison show that the automatic method outperforms the human approach in terms of quality and production yield.

Generic Paddy Plant Disease Detector (GP2D2)

Rice is the primary food for almost half of the world’s population, especially for the people of Asian countries. There is a demand to improve the quality and increase the quantity of rice production to meet the food requirements of the increasing population. Bulk cultivation and quality production of crops need appropriate technology assistance over manual traditional methods. In this work, six popular Deep-CNN architectures, namely AlexNet, VGG-19, VGG-16, InceptionV3, MobileNet, and ResNet-50, are exploited to identify the diseases in paddy plants since they outperform most of the image classification applications. These CNN models are trained and tested with Plant Village dataset for classifying the paddy plant images into one of the four classes namely, Healthy, Brown Spot, Hispa, or Leaf Blast, based on the disease condition. The performance of the chosen architectures is compared with different hyper parameter settings. AlexNet outperformed other convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in this multiclass classification task, achieving an accuracy of 89.4% at the expense of a substantial number of network parameters, indicating the large model size of AlexNet. For developing mobile applications, the ResNet-50 architecture was adopted over other CNNs, since it has a comparatively smaller number of network parameters and a comparable accuracy of 86.1%. A fine-tuned ResNet-50 architecture supported mobile app, “Generic Paddy Plant Disease Detector (GP2D2)” has been developed for the identification of most commonly occurring diseases in paddy plants. This tool will be more helpful for the new generation of farmers in bulk cultivation and increasing the productivity of paddy. This work will give insight into the performance of CNN architectures in rice plant disease detection task and can be extended to other plants too.

Assessing ethno-veterinary practices in Kashmir Himalayas: Traditional knowledge and its role in animal healthcare

This study was aimed at exploring the ethno-veterinary practices in the District of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory of India, by examining the traditional knowledge and its application in animal healthcare. The study included qualitative methods, such as interviews with local farmers (n=100) and traditional healers, as well as observation of their practices from February to April 2023. The results revealed a rich knowledge base among the local community regarding the use of medicinal plants for treating a range of animal ailments. 32 plants of pharmaceutical value representing 23 families have been assessed, with the Asteraceae family receiving the greatest attention. Eighty-eight percent of these ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species were herbs. Leaves of these plants were used most often (27%), followed by the entire plant (21%), seeds (21%), roots and fruits (9%), bulbs (6%), and stems and rhizomes (3%). Glycine max (0.91) and Allium sativum (UVi = 0.89) had the highest UVi values, whereas Oryza sativa (0.51), Allium sativum (0.49), and Zea mays (0.43) were the most cited and most often mentioned therapeutic plant species. Traditional veterinary practices were found to be deeply embedded in the local culture and were passed down through generations of farmers and traditional healers. These practices are still widely used today, in combination with modern veterinary medicine, to provide comprehensive care to livestock in the region. This study highlights the importance of preserving and promoting ethno-veterinary knowledge and practices as a valuable resource for animal healthcare in rural communities.

Research on the Impacts of Information Capacity on Farmers’ Green Prevention and Control Technology Adoption

Abstract This study was carried out to reveal the key factors affecting farmers’ green prevention and control technology adoption and to deeply analyse the influence of different generations of farmers’ information capacity on green prevention and control technology adoption. Based on the survey data of 509 farmers in Liaoning Province and the probit model and logit model, this paper conducted an empirical analysis of the farmers’ green prevention and control technology adoption, and analysed the differences in farmers’ adoption of green prevention and control technology from the perspective of intergenerational difference. The research results show as follows: First, information capacity has a significant positive impact on farmers’ green prevention and control technology adoption; Second, the influence of information capacity on the green prevention and control technology adoption of different generations of farmers is different. Information consciousness has more significant influences on farmers in the new and middle-generations; information needs have more significant influences on farmers in the new and old generations; information use only has significant influences on farmers in the middle-generation. Therefore, in order to increase the probability of farmers’ green prevention and control technology adoption, it is necessary to not only pay attention to the influence of farmers’ information capacity, but also fully consider the different stages of the life cycle of different generations of farmers and their own endowment differences.

Impact of environmental regulation perception on farmers' agricultural green production technology adoption: A new perspective of social capital

At present, how to promote agricultural green production technology (AGPT) to achieve agricultural green production is one of the hot issues discussed by various countries and academia. From the perspective of farmers' environmental regulation perception and social capital, there is still a lack of research on the farmers' AGPT adoption behavior. Therefore, based on the survey data of kiwifruit growers in Mei and Zhouzhi counties of Shaanxi Province, China, this study applies Poisson model to empirically analyze the impact of farmers' environmental regulation perception and social capital and interaction on their AGPT adoption behavior and further reveals the intergenerational differences in AGPT adoption behavior between the new and old generation farmers. After dealing with endogenous problems, the conclusion is still robust. The study found that farmers' AGPT adoption rate was 71.7%, but the degree of AGPT adoption was only 1.46, and most of AGPT had not been popularized. Secondly, farmers' environmental regulation perception and social capital can significantly promote their AGPT adoption, and the promotion of incentive environmental regulation perception and disembedded social capital is more obvious. Thirdly, environmental regulation perception and social capital have interactive effect on farmers' AGPT adoption. At the same time, social capital can strengthen environmental regulation perception on farmers' AGPT adoption. Finally, the intergenerational difference analysis shows that old generation of farmers' AGPT adoption is generally affected by environmental perception regulation and social capital, while new generation of farmers is mainly affected by guiding environmental regulation perception. Based on the above conclusions, we provide policy suggestions for promoting farmers to adopt AGPT.

Mountain sheep grazing systems provide multiple ecological, socio-economic, and food quality benefits

Pastoral systems face increasing pressure from competing global markets, food sector industrialization, and new policies such as Europe’s post-2020 Common Agriculture Policy. This pressure threatens the use of extensive sheep-grazing systems in mountain areas of low productivity but high natural value. Using information gathered at a long-term research setting in a mountainous area of the Basque Country (northern Spain), we assessed the multiple benefits of extensive dairy sheep grazing systems from multiple perspectives using indicators pertaining to ecological, socio-economic, and food quality domains. In this way, we address the benefits that would be lost if sheep grazing abandonment persists in mountain regions. Our results show that the benefits of extensive dairy sheep grazing in the research area include the production of healthy and high-quality foods and multiple ecological benefits including biodiversity conservation. Extensive dairy sheep grazing also contributes to rural development by generating employment and income in marginal, low-productivity lands that can support few economic alternatives. In particular, we found that sheep farmers who produce high-value products, such as cheese, have enhanced their economic profitability and are less dependent on public subsidies. However, careful attention to sustainable practices, support for new generations of farmers, and streamlined supply chains are required. These would contribute to ensure socio-economic benefits for farmers, avoid the ecological costs associated with grazing abandonment, and enhance ecosystem services for the whole society.

Adjusting the N fertilizer factor based on soil health as indicated by soil‐test biological activity

AbstractAgriculture faces a dilemma with nitrogen (N)—it is often the most necessary external input to optimize production, several generations of farmers became accustomed to its relatively inexpensive cost, and it contributes to widespread pollution due to numerous loss pathways to the environment. However, standard N fertilizer recommendations have not accounted well enough for a key source via mineralizable soil N. Soil‐test biological activity (STBA) is strongly associated with mineralizable soil N, both of which become surface‐enriched with conservation agricultural management using soil health principles. A series of field experiments assessed the contribution of mineralizable soil N to the N supply needed to optimize corn (Zea mays L.) grain and fall‐stockpiled tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.] production. This essay synthesizes how STBA along with cost‐to‐value threshold can be used to modify the N fertilizer factor to optimize economic return and avoid environmental degradation.

Analisis Efisiensi Teknis Multi-Stage Menggunakan Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) dan Regresi Tobit pada Usahatani Bawang Merah, Studi Kasus di Desa Torongrejo, Kecamatan Junrejo, Kota Batu, Jawa Timur

Shallot has the highest production value in Indonesia. High production value indicates that shallot is an important commodity, therefore, its potential must be improved. Technical efficiency analysis can be used to measure production efficiency and possible input reduction to maximize the production potential of shallot. The chosen location for this research is Torongrejo Village Batu City, East Java. Shallot productivity value of Batu City is comparable to other central shallot production areas in East Java. The purpose of this research is to understand the farming system and production efficiency of shallot alongside with socio-economics factors affecting its efficiency level. Research method used in this research consists of: profitability analysis of shallot farming, analysis using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyze the technical efficiency of shallot production, and Tobit regression to analyze socio-economics factors affecting technical efficiency level. The results from the analyses shows that shallot farming in Torongrejo Village has the R/C ratio of 2,09, with the DEA-CRS technical qfficiency value of 87,7 percent, DEA-VRS technical efficiency value of 99 percent and scale efficiency value of 88,6 percent. The result from Tobit regression using DEA-VRS as dependent variable shows that farming experience and formal education has positive and significant effect on technical efficiency (TE) level, and land ownership status has negative and significant effect on TE level. Shallot production efficiency can be increased by using reduced inputs therefore able to increase farming profit while keep improving farmers’ education and agriculture extension programs for the next generation of farmers.

Young Farmers’ Perceptions of Sustainability in a Wine Region in Hungary

Emerging evidence has shown that a sustainable mode of farming contributes to the sustainability of societies. However, agricultural modernization and land concentration have resulted in a decreasing role of agriculture in rural societies everywhere in Europe and also in Hungary. Governmental funds and agendas increasingly focus on the regeneration of rural areas with a special interest in the new generations of farmers. This paper analyses a small wine region in Hungary to explore the perceptions and activities of young farmers regarding sustainability. The paper is based on qualitative sociological research, including 20 semi-structured interviews with wine producers and other key actors of rural development in the region. The analysis focuses on generational change both in wine producer farms and in the wine region. How do farmers approach sustainability, and how does the concept of sustainability contribute to family wine production? How can generational change affect farming approaches and activities, especially changes toward a more sustainable way of farming? Our results show that rural regeneration can be understood not only as a generational renewal; it also includes endogenous development processes and new approaches targeting a more sustainable rural milieu.

“You have to focus all your energy on being a parent”: Barriers and opportunities for Swedish farmers to be involved fathers

Swedish farming fathers are facing new expectations about their level of involvement in their children's upbringing – expectations of their own, but also arising from gender equality policy and shifting societal norms. A gender-neutral parental leave scheme has been in place in Sweden since 1974 and gives parents a generous opportunity to take paid time off work to stay at home with their children. Generally, however, fathers tend to take only a small share of the days allotted for parental leave, with farming farmers among those making least use of this opportunity. In this paper we explore farmers' expectations of fatherhood and how different types of farm management can be combined with parenting. The paper draws on qualitative interviews conducted with three generations of farmers. Our results indicate that the notion of involved fatherhood, i.e. being emotionally present and nurturing, is identified by farmers as a societal norm laid on farming fathers today, and that farmers indeed want to pursue involved fatherhood. We conclude that farm operators face several barriers to fulfilling the ideal of involved fatherhood, especially related to the difficulties of being able to afford and find a competent replacement during long periods of parental leave. However, two types of farms stand out as offering opportunities to overcome these issues: farms run as corporations where the farm operator is employed, and small farms with a high degree of flexibility in how time is spent during the day or over the year.

Establishing a Graduate Agropreneur Business Model for Food Security: A Case Study of the Melon Manis Terengganu (MMT) Fertigation Project

Revitalizing Malaysia’s agriculture, to cater to food security issues, has become a priority, given the current economic conditions faced by the government, due to the worldwide COVID19 pandemic. There are, however, a set of complex issues, which involve human capital development, trade agreements, domestic structural problems, and the appropriateness of techniques that must be tackled. Graduate agropreneurs, though, seem to be the future of the nation; while they, continue to struggle with profitability in these difficult economic times. The agricultural industry, however, supports the view that through business model innovation, farms can increase their competitive advantage. This paper identifies and describes some of the elements needed for these graduate agropreneurs when they consider business model innovation. A qualitative approach was used in this study to interview successful graduate agropreneurs involved in Melon Manis Terengganu (MMT) fertigation farming. The paper concludes that the relevance of a business model, in agriculture, relies on the fact that global competition and technological advances urge agropreneurs to look for new business structures and new ways to interact within the business environment. On the other hand, the agropreneur projects should take into consideration the viability of the agriculture projects to encourage a new generation of farmers; the young, energetic, and knowledgeable agropreneurs, to venture into high technology farming which also has substantial income potential. All factors, however, merit attention when graduate agropreneurs develop new business models for their farms.

From neolithic to late modern period: Brief history of wheat

History of wheat cultivation is as long as history of civilization. Adaptation of nature, animal domestication and plant cultivation, enabled transition from nomadism to sedentism 12,000 years ago, portraying the rise of Homo sapiens of today. First civilization, Mesopotamia aroused around 4000 B.C.E, in the riverbanks of Tiger and Euphrates, where carbon-14 dating revealed that tetraploid wild emmer (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccoides) was grown. Due to modest cultivation requirements and high nutritional value, wheat quickly spread from its centre of origin throughout the world. Generations of farmers have chosen seeds from plants with best architecture, adapted to local conditions for sowing, striving toward constant improvement of yields. For centuries agricultural production was based on locally adapted wheat varieties of great genetic diversity. Agriculture completely changed its course in mid-XX century as a result of Green Revolution, introduction of high-yielding cereal varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation and mechanization replacing traditional techniques. The flourishing of agriculture has drastically changed the course of agricultural development and global society. Improvement of agricultural techniques by integrating scientific advancements and knowledge to assimilate environmental factors has tripled wheat yields in last 50 years. Today, wheat, maize and rice, represent staple food for humanity.

The Model of Rural Youth Empowerment through Red Chili Farming in Sindangkasih Sub-district of Ciamis, Indonesia

Number of farmers massively decreased over years. In fact, BPS data shows an average decreasing value of 1.1 percent per year during the period 2010-2017. This study was intended to grow a new generation of farmers and was conducted in several villages that also became red chili production centers in Sindang Kasih Subdistrict of Ciamis. This survey research was aimed to: (1) Describe youth empowerment level in red chili farmer community, (2) Determine factors affecting youth empowerment, and (3) Formulate the strategy of youth empowerment. A total of 91 respondents in this study were selected from a population of 91 people according to Slovin formula. Data collection was done through closed-ended questionnaire that has been tested for its validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were applied to analyze the data. Results of this study were included: (1) Youth empowerment level was categorized as moderate, (2) Factor that affected empowerment was youth involvement in agricultural program (X3) with coefficient of 0.581 (p≤ 0.01), while internal characteristic (X1) and external characteristic (X2) did not significantly affect empowerment, (3) Empowerment strategy could be started by increasing youth involvement in the existing agricultural development program.

Willingness of the New Generation of Farmers to Participate in Rural Tourism: The Role of Perceived Impacts and Sense of Place

This study aims to assess the willingness of the new generation of farmers in China to return to their hometowns for the purpose of contributing to rural tourism. Based on the hierarchy of effects models (HOE) and the social representation theory (SRT), this study utilized an analysis model of perceived rural tourism impacts (P), sense of place (SoP), and willingness to participate (WTP) by the new generation of farmers, where sense of place was deconstructed into the two independent dimensions of place identification (PI) and place attachment (PA). A total of 263 valid questionnaire surveys were collected in Yanling County, a demonstration county for leisure agriculture and rural tourism in China. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze the data. The results show that the perceived impacts of rural tourism on the new generation of farmers had a significant positive impact on their willingness to participate in the development of rural tourism. It was also found that sense of place played a mediating role in the perceived impacts of rural tourism and willingness to participate. Additionally, perceived impacts of rural tourism had a significant positive effect on place identity, where place identity played a mediating role between perceived impacts of rural tourism and place attachment. Place identity had a significant positive effect on place attachment, and place attachment played a mediating role between place identity and willingness to participate. The practical implications of these findings for future research and rural tourism development are also discussed.

Climate Change Responsive Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Crop Farming in Albay Province, Philippines

Identifying, documenting and analyzing indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in crop farming can help develop sustainable technologies since those IKS have evolved through the test of time involving several generations of farmers that made the communities survive. This study was conceptualized and conducted under such context. This qualitative and descriptive study involved the most senior and longtime farmers in the study sites as sources of information. Focus group discussion (FGD) was the method used in data and information gathering. Participants were purposively sampled from farming communities in Albay where indigenous practices still exist to some extent. Indigenous practices in farming that are responsive to climate change adaptation have been identified. Mulching, coconut leaf pruning in coco-based vegetable farms, use of coconut fronds as windbreaks, collapsing of trellis and bending of young plants towards the ground as protection from typhoon, rainwater harvesting and use of plant sap to water crops during rainless months and minimum tillage were the climate change adaptive IKS identified. These indigenous practices can be studied for possible adoption as climate change adaptation mechanisms.