Traditional Farming Systems Research Articles

Circular agro-economies (CAE): reducing waste and increasing profitability in agriculture

This paper explores the concept of Circular Agro-Economies (CAE), a sustainable agricultural model focused on recycling agricultural by-products to minimize waste and maximize profitability for farmers. In contrast to traditional linear agricultural systems, CAE promotes resource efficiency and the development of new value chains through the reuse of organic materials. The paper examines the environmental, economic, and social benefits of adopting CAE, including waste reduction, cost savings, rural development, and job creation. It also discusses the significant barriers to adoption, such as technological limitations, financial constraints, and policy-related challenges. Finally, practical recommendations for farmers, policymakers, and businesses are provided to support the successful implementation of CAE, highlighting the collaborative efforts needed to overcome existing challenges and realize the full potential of this model. Keywords: Circular Agro-Economies, Agricultural Waste Recycling, Sustainable Agriculture, Resource Efficiency, Rural Development, Profitability in Farming.

The milpa, from Mesoamerica to present days, a multicropping traditional agricultural system serving agroecology.

The milpa, from Mesoamerica to present days, a multicropping traditional agricultural system serving agroecology.

Cultural Heritage, Migration, and Land Use Transformation in San José Chiltepec, Oaxaca

Indigenous communities worldwide face increasing challenges from modernization, migration, and economic pressures, which threaten their traditional agricultural systems and cultural heritage. These dynamics often lead to shifts in land use, the erosion of ancestral knowledge, and the weakening of cultural identity. Understanding how these communities adapt to such changes is crucial for sustainable development. This research examines how indigenous communities, particularly San José Chiltepec in Oaxaca, balance the preservation of cultural heritage with adapting to evolving agricultural practices and land use transformations. It emphasizes the critical role of indigenous knowledge in sustainable land management and the importance of cultural identity amidst socio-economic pressures. A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating geostatistical data, spatial analysis, and qualitative insights from municipal development plans and community-based observations. This provided a detailed understanding of how local conditions and external forces shape land use and conservation. The findings reveal that, while irrigated agriculture and pasturelands have declined, the community has shown resilience through the preservation of seasonal farming and the expansion of secondary vegetation. San José Chiltepec serves as a model for how indigenous communities can maintain cultural and environmental heritage while adapting to modern economic challenges.

Climate and Land Use Change Pressures on Food Production in Social-Ecological Systems: Perceptions from Farmers in Village Tank Cascade Systems of Sri Lanka

Climate and land use change pressures are critical to food production in Social-Ecological Systems (SESs). This study assessed farmers’ perceptions of the pressures of climate and land use changes alongside their impacts on food production in Mhahakanumulla Village Tank Cascade System (MVTCS), a SES maintained by traditional agricultural land use systems in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. This study used both rating and ranking scale questions to quantify farmers’ perceptions. The tobit regression model was employed to evaluate how farmer perception was influenced by socio-economic factors. The results showed that most of the farmers had experienced that the climate of the MVTCS area had changed over time, and they perceived variability of rainfall patterns as the most prominent and influential climate change. The increased cost of production, wildlife damage, and land degradation were ranked by the farmers as the most impactful factors of food production due to climate change. The farmers rated deforestation and land clearing as the most influential and impactful changes in land use, while wildlife damage and land degradation ranked as the highest impacts on food production due to land use changes. Among the socio-economic determinants, training and income/profit positively influenced farmer perceptions of the severity of both climate and land use change. The level of farmer’s adaptation to climate change had a negative association with their perception of the severity of climate change. Household size negatively influenced the perceptions of the severity of climate change while positively influencing perceptions of land use change impacts. Among the spatial determinants, farm size and downstream locations of MVTCS positively influenced perceptions of the severity of both climate and land use change. Thus, the effectiveness of adaptation strategies towards climate and land use change pressures depends on how well they are understood by the farmers. The study findings provide helpful insights for formulating localized land use policies and climate change adaptation strategies in these globally important landscapes with a combination of both top-down and bottom-up approaches.

Compatibility of Agriculture Development Policy of Nepal to Sustainable Agriculture Development Principles

The agricultural sector, on which the majority of Nepal's population depends, faces significant challenges due to global warming, climate change, and rising global food insecurity. This underscores the need for a carefully designed agricultural development policy focused on sustainable practices. This study aims to assess the compatibility of key policy interventions in agricultural development of Nepal with sustainable agriculture principles. These policies prioritize the conservation, promotion, and utilization of natural resources, environmental protection, and biological diversity to encompass economic, social, and environmental attributes of sustainable agriculture development in Nepal. This paper scrutinizes various aspects of Nepal's agricultural development policy, including governance systems, bureaucratic and institutional structures, supportive policies and programs, and regulatory frameworks, to evaluate their compatibility with sustainable agriculture principles. The findings indicate a strong orientation of Nepal's agricultural development policy towards sustainability. Legislative, policy, and governance provisions serve as a foundation for steering the agricultural sector towards sustainable practices. However, despite these positive aspects, significant challenges remain, including the prevalence of traditional agricultural systems and constraints such as limited financial resources, technical expertise, and knowledge among farmers and smallholders. Overcoming these obstacles will require considerable efforts to achieve the desired outcomes in sustainable agriculture.

Utilisation of Cow Faeces as a Base Material to Making Bokashi Fertiliser to Increase Farmers Income in Balai Hamlet, Taram Village, Harau District

The application of technology in agriculture aims to increase food production through the substitution of traditional farming systems with modern farming systems by utilising more advanced technology. This has an impact on the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which can cause environmental damage and ultimately reduce agricultural productivity. Processing cow dung into organic fertiliser for crops is an applied technology in the framework of implementing zero waste farming technology. One of the benefits that can be obtained is increased income by reducing the cost of artificial fertiliser needs. Cow faeces as cattle farming waste has not been optimally utilised. Cow faeces are usually piled up by farmers behind or near the cowshed, causing a strong smell (air pollution). The results of the activity of making cow feces bokashi organic fertiliser are very beneficial for farmers as a substitute for inorganic fertiliser; The creation of clean cowshed conditions, and environmentally friendly rice fields.

Climate Change Impact and Traditional Adaptation Practices in Northeast India: A Review

The review explores the intricate traditional knowledge (TK) nurtured by the diverse indigenous communities of Northeast (NE) India, emphasizing on their adaptive strategies amidst the region's evolving climate patterns. NE India faces a multitude of climate change-induced risks, including earthquakes, landslides, flash floods, and thunderstorms/lightning, highlighting the critical role of indigenous knowledge in mitigating these challenges. Through generations of experience, indigenous cultures have amassed a treasure trove of traditional ecological knowledge, particularly pertinent in NE India's context. Given the region's vulnerability to climate change impacts, these indigenous practices are indispensable. The review provides an in-depth analysis of these aspects, shedding light on recent climate change impacts, prevalent issues, and the indigenous adaptation strategies in NE India. Recognizing the significance of indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation, the review stresses the importance of integrating it with scientific knowledge to enhance adaptation effectiveness. It extensively covers various aspects of traditional farming systems, watershed governance, the preservation of biodiversity, and traditional medical practices in NE India. However, the region faces challenges from growing development, the industrial revolution, and devastation, emphasizing an urgent need to document, evaluate, and preserve indigenous cultures' traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).

Empowerment Pattern Based on Food Independence on the Indigenous Peoples of the Baduy Dalam Tribe

The farming system implemented by the Baduy Dalam community still applies the traditional farming system with the mechanism of the farmland system, which is to rest the land after being used for farming and then wait for the time to be used again for farming. With the increase in the population, the need for food increases, but this has an impact on the small area of land because it has been converted into residential land. The purpose of this research is to find alternative solutions from the empowerment model that can be applied to the Baduy Dalam community to support food security in the Baduy Dalam community. The research method uses a qualitative descriptive method using a phenomenological and ethnographic approach. The location of this research is in Cibeo, Cikartawana, and Cikeusik Villages which are included in the Baduy Dalam area. The number of informants was 7 people consisting of the Head of Kanekes Village, 3 Deputy Puun, and 3 representative residents from each village. The results of this study are recommendations for empowerment models that can be carried out by a companion must meet the following elements, namely: 1) Empowerment of soil nutrient improvement with orok-orok plants, 2) Making Organic Fertilizer to increase plant fertility, and 3) Empowerment of MOL production.

Amaranthaceae Pollen Trends in the Air

Understanding the trends of airborne pollen allergens is of great importance given the high prevalence and socioeconomic impact of pollen-related allergic diseases globally. To study the morphological features of Amaranthaceae pollen, assess its contribution to the aerobiological situation in the city of Karakol and identify periods of increased concentration in order to improve the diagnosis and prevention of pollinosis symptoms in patients. Aerobiological sampling using a Lanzoni pollen trap was carried out from April to October over a three-year period (2015–2017) in Karakol city. Pollen identification and differential counting were performed according to current standard methodology and specially developed guides and atlases. Pollen characteristics of 4 Amaranthaceae species were visualized using scanning electron microscopy (Hitachi) to provide a detailed understanding of the surface structure and ornamentation of pollen grains. The decadal curve of Amaranthaceae pollen concentration in Karakol is unimodal, with often overlapping quantitative characteristics: 6615 (2nd decade of August 2015), 1326 (1st decade of 2016), 444 pollen grains / m3 (1st decade of 2017). At the same time, strong interannual variability of atmospheric pollen levels was observed, depending both on the pollen production of the plants themselves and on meteorological parameters, especially temperature and precipitation, changes in the traditional farming system. The response of summer-flowering Amaranthaceae weeds to climate change was demonstrated, which consists in a decrease in the annual pollen index, which corresponds to the global trend. Peak concentrations of Amaranthaceae pollen many times exceeded clinical threshold values in the air. On the surface of the Bassia scopariapollen exine, the ultrastructure study revealed the smallest (1.5-2.0 μm) granules of sporopollenin or orbicules (Ubisch bodies), which play a role in the spread of allergens. The obtained data are important in terms of increasing public awareness of the dominant pollen of the Amaranthaceae family, optimizing diagnostics, treatment and prevention of pollinosis.

Capture-based hatchery of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in Vietnam: an analysis of resource utilisation and challenges

IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate the status, resource use, and challenges of the capture-based hatchery of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) (BTS).MethodsData was obtained through the investigation of 15 broodstock fishing boats and 60 capture-based BTS broodstock hatcheries. Resource use index (RUI) of the capture-based BTS hatchery, calculated from 1,000 female brooders to produce 15-day-old post-larvae (PL15) (production efficiency of PL15, or PE-PL15), was analysed.ResultsThe results indicated that the fishing boats captured an average of 5,900 brooders.boat-1.year-1, 20,856 kg of by catch.boat-1.year-1, and the PE-PL15 production of 937 million for 1,000 female brooders. In the hatchery stage, the use of larger body weight female brooders had benefits in terms of higher survival rate and better efficiency of labour use, Artemia cyst, and probiotic products, but it reduced the efficiency use of chemicals, pellets, and total tank volume of the hatchery.DiscussionThere is increasing use of domesticated brooder sources, but wild-caught brooders still play an important role in producing low-cost PL15 for traditional shrimp farming systems, accounting for most farmed BTS production. Therefore, the certification of good practices should be implemented to capture-based BTS hatcheries for the reasonable use of this brooder resource to sustain BTS farming in Vietnam.

Advancing sustainable rice production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta insights from ecological farming systems in An Giang Province

Rice serves as a crucial staple food crop for half of the world's population. In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), rice production plays a vital role in national food security. However, the majority of the existing intensified rice cultivation schemes in the VMD, which are typically traditional, have rendered many farmers' livelihoods unsustainable due to issues such as land degradation, water pollution, health risks, and low profitability. Therefore, it is imperative to explore alternative sustainable farming systems. This study investigates the benefits of two ecological farming systems, specifically organic rice and rice mixed with lotus, as alternatives to conventional rice farming in the upper VMD floodplain province of An Giang. These two farming systems have demonstrated long-term socioecological and economic advantages. On the one hand, they allow the introduction of rice products to the market at more affordable prices. Additionally, they contribute to improved water quality, improved soil fertility, and increased biodiversity such as bird, fish, and plant species compared to traditional rice farming systems. Although we acknowledge that the availability of floodwater poses a significant constraint for alternative farming systems, the business opportunities and socioecological benefits associated with these systems outweigh the limitations. Our findings provide evidence that ecological farming practices that support rice cultivation represent promising alternatives to sustainable rice production, which can help mitigate vulnerabilities in intensified rice farming systems and can be scaled up for other floodplain provinces in the VMD and beyond.

The Role of Islam in Affecting the Transformation of Traditional Agriculture Knowledge: A Systematic Review of Dewi Sri Literature

This research aims to comprehensively understand how Islam has influenced the fundamental discussions within the Islamic Environmentalism movement, explicitly concerning agriculture and traditional knowledge systems. The study analyzed 103 scholarly articles and publications from Google Scholar, covering the period from 2011 to 2023. The search was conducted on December 14, 2023, using the keyword 'Dewi Sri.' The results show that cultural and agricultural factors specific to the region influence the Javanese agroecological perspective. In contrast, Islamic agroecological methods are shaped by the integration of Islamic teachings, particularly the concept of Green Islam, to create food systems that are both sustainable and self-regulating. However, the specific mechanism by which Islam affected alterations in traditional agricultural knowledge systems cannot be well elucidated using broad terms. It is essential to acknowledge that understanding the role of Islam in influencing the transformation of traditional agriculture knowledge in the Islamic environmentalism movement can facilitate collaboration within the Muslim community. This fact can serve as a valuable resource for integrating Javanese values without posing a threat to the integrity of Islam but instead as an opportunity to demonstrate that Islam also shares the same commitment to environmental preservation.

Achieving SOC Conservation without Land-Use Changes between Agriculture and Forests

Global land-use changes impact soil’s ability to perform essential functions. This study investigates whether soil organic carbon (SOC) can be conserved without altering land use in traditional farming systems and degraded natural forests, focusing on ‘disturbed’ agricultural soils and ‘undisturbed’ forest soils. We also examine the influence of dominant crops on SOC within the top 30 cm of soil in data-deficient regions of Nepal. Using a multi-stage cluster sampling design, we tested 12 regression models to identify the best relationships among variables such as SOC, soil bulk density (BD), pH, dominant crops, climate, topography, and management practices. Our analysis revealed similar SOC levels in both disturbed and undisturbed soils, indicating significant degradation in forested areas, whereas traditional farming systems could support SOC and preserve farm-based indigenous knowledge alongside food security. Further, SOC stocks varied significantly (p < 0.05) across different cropping systems, suggesting that managing dominant crops could be a strategy to optimize SOC, with these crops serving as indicators. Additionally, our results show that the weak linear correlation between SOC and BD in regularly disturbed soils, such as farmlands, where anthropogenic activities frequently alter soil bulk density, may be misleading when estimating bulk density-dependent SOC. This finding suggests the need for further research into varying degrees of anthropogenic disturbance in soil to confirm these results. While the site-specific nature of the findings warrants caution with respect to generalization, they provide valuable insights for carbon monitoring, climate actions, ecosystem health, and land-use management in similar traditional farming systems and degraded forests, particularly in data-poor regions.

Identities of Farming Culture in Jiangnan: The Creation of Animation to Inherit Folk Customs of Polder Rice Farming in Water Towns

Background and Aim: Jiangnan farming culture, a custom culture formed by Jiangnan people in their long history of agricultural production and life, highlights the features and connotations of the region. Recent years have witnessed a shift from a traditional agricultural society to a modernized and urbanized one, which is influencing the traditional agricultural cultural system deeply. In the context of increasingly globalized and intelligentized economic development, factors such as differences in survival and consciousness caused by the special geographical environment in Jiangnan (southern Yangtze River) have accelerated the modernization of farming civilization in the region. Confronting such a crisis, this study adopts an interdisciplinary research thinking pattern to protect, inherit, and spread Jiangnan farming culture in animation works by establishing a connection between the culture and animation art as well as combining theories such as semiotics, design, and communication. Materials and Methods: Data was collected through literature research, field investigation, and expert interviews to analyze the value, connotation, and characteristics of Jiangnan farming culture, as well as extract its symbolic and animation elements. Results: The research found that Jiangnan farming culture as a typical polder rice farming culture in China is featured by its unique Jiangnan water town characteristics, which serve as a foundation for creating animation works in this article with polder rice farming as the theme to inherit and spread Jiangnan farming culture. Conclusion: 1. As an independent art category, the animation plays a key role in building a farming cultural space and shaping the image of farming culture in cross-cultural communication. 2. Through the narrative expression of animation art, farming ideas are spread and passed on through animation lenses, allowing people to further understand the origin of Jiangnan farming culture. 3. Animation brings unlimited creative space to Jiangnan farming culture, which can promote its future innovation and sustainable development.

Yield and growth duration of Maroon rice landraces measured in traditional settings

AbstractRice, the most consumed cereal worldwide, has two domesticated species: Asian and African rice. Commercial cultivars, almost all Asian rice, are mostly selected for high yields. Traditional landraces are often selected for different traits, such as time to maturity or resistance against common stress factors, including bird attacks and poor soils. Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans in Suriname and French Guiana, cultivate a rich diversity of rice landraces. They categorize landraces into short, medium, and long-maturation and maintain that fast-ripening crops with moderate yields facilitated their flight from enslavement, while once settled in a safe place, there was time for landraces with longer ripening periods and higher yields. Previous authors assumed that all Maroon landraces had low yields (700–1000 kg/ha), but their performance in traditional farming systems had never been investigated. We followed the growth and harvest of 28 Maroon rice landraces and two commercial cultivars in Maroon farmer fields, using traditional farming methods, at three locations. We show that, in farmer-managed fields, Maroon rice can yield 2600 kg/ha (average 1665 kg/ha), without any agrochemicals or machinery. Contrastingly, the commercial cultivars in Maroon farmer fields had a low yield (625–1205 kg/ha), partly due to bird predation. The maturation time varied between 110 and 183 days, but the three Maroon maturation categories showed significant overlap. Our study indicates that Maroon rice performance can only be fairly evaluated if measurements are taken in traditional Maroon farming systems, since this is the environment in which these landraces were originally selected.

THE RIGHTS TO LAND, FOOD AND TOURISM RELATED TO AGRICULTURAL LAND CONVERSION IN BALI: HOW SUBAK PLAY A ROLE?

Bali, one of the world’s tourism destinations, is now facing a paradoxical situation because the increasing number of tourists visiting Bali is going hand in hand with the gradual reduction in productive agricultural land due to land conversion. This paper analyzes the massive practice of converting productive farmland for tourism in Bali. It offers a human rights law lens, particularly the rights to land, food, and tourism, to view the problem discussed in the paper. Legal research primarily reads international legal instruments, Indonesia’s laws and regulations, and some secondary materials. The paper suggested that although the Bali provincial government has issued rules and policies to prevent the practice of land conversion, the government cannot fully control it because many agricultural lands have ownership status. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase awareness of local communities as landowners to prevent such a practice. This paper also proposes using subak, a traditional farming system, as the basis for ecotourism and agrotourism activities to tackle the problem of land conversion in Bali.

CHANGING SCENARIO OF AGRICULTURE IN PALI DISTRICT OF PALI: A GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

The agriculture in Rajasthan's Pali District has a number of challenges, including limited access to loans and agricultural inputs, uneven rainfall patterns, soil erosion and degradation, low productivity, and the need for crop diversification. Effective water management, climate-resilient strategies, soil conservation measures, credit and input availability, information sharing, and skill development are all necessary components of a multidimensional approach to addressing these concerns. Realizing Pali's agricultural potential and putting sustainable solutions into practice require cooperation between farmers, legislators, scholars, and agricultural extension groups. By giving priority to these concerns and investigating the opportunities they present, Pali may modernize its agriculture sector and forge the path towards a sustainable and successful future. Compared to traditional agricultural and fodder production systems, agro forestry systems can have advantages. A land use strategy called silvipasture provides animals with year-round feed by growing fodder trees alongside pasture. Although the exact amount of the territories occupied by these systems and activities is unknown, they are substantial.

Pollination knowledge among local farmers in northern Tanzania and the role of traditional agroforestry practices in promoting pollinator forage plants

Pollination services by insects contribute strongly to food security and ecosystem stability. However, especially in Africa, little is known about farmer's knowledge and awareness of pollination services. Here, we first surveyed home garden farmers about their knowledge on pollination services, and their ability to recognize insect pollinators. Then we evaluated their home gardens for the availability of pollinator forage resources. We found that a majority of the farmers (89.1%) were not aware of pollination services and that awareness was higher for males and those with higher education levels. All farmers were able to recognize at least one insect species (especially, Apis mellifera) but most farmers did not know them as pollinators. We also found that 293 woody plant species from 62 families in Chagga home gardens (CHGs), provided insect pollinator forage. There was higher alpha diversity for exotic forage plants but higher gamma diversity for natives. The increase in diversity of pollinator forage plants reduced the temporal variability of flower richness. Our findings suggest that farmers should be made more aware of pollination services as well as insect pollinators specifically regarding their benefits to increase willingness to conserve them. Awareness programs should be accessible to women and those with little formal education as they exhibit the least knowledge. Also, various media tools should be used for effective dissemination to the different target audiences. Our findings also provide evidence that if managed properly some traditional agricultural land use systems can enhance pollination services by providing diverse forage resources for insect pollinators.

The Application of IoT Technology and Deep Learning in Automated Intelligent Control Systems

In order to accurately monitor the environmental information of agricultural greenhouses, achieve remote automatic control, and improve crop yield, the author proposes an application method of Internet of Things technology in automatic intelligent control systems. This method utilizes IoT technologies such as WSN, Android, and cloud platforms to design an intelligent agricultural greenhouse monitoring system, taking sensors such as soil moisture, lighting, temperature and humidity as examples, and using shading, water spraying, fans, and fill lights as control devices. Design from aspects such as system architecture, perception control system, cloud database, and mobile terminal management system to achieve automatic monitoring of agricultural greenhouse environmental information.Experimental results show that: The data collected by the sensor is compared with the actual monitoring data of the instrument, taking temperature as an example, the errors are all within ±0.5◦C of multiple measurements. Conclusion: The system has the advantages of good scalability, convenient networking, and high cost performance, which makes up for the difficulties in wiring and inconvenient use of the traditional agricultural greenhouse monitoring system, and has high practical value.

Inefficiency of laying hens farms in Benin: an input directional distance function approach

BackgroundIn Benin, the productivity of poultry production systems is a major concern. This paper aims first to estimate the cost, technical and allocative inefficiencies of modern and traditional poultry production systems, and then to determine the factors that influence these types of inefficiencies.ResultsThe study reveals significant cost inefficiencies, with just 9% and 18% of traditional and modern systems, respectively, being cost-efficient, highlighting the necessity of distinguishing production systems due to different operational requirements, particularly for modern systems. Addressing these inefficiencies requires crucial measures such as providing training, accessible credit, and mortality rate reduction to boost local production, with tailored support for small-scale farmers.ConclusionsThe poultry sector’s intense competition and the decline in local production, particularly among small-scale farmers, are primarily linked to high domestic production costs and local farmers' poor performance. Our study unveils substantial cost inefficiencies in both traditional and modern poultry farming systems, emphasizing the imperative to differentiate interventions based on their distinct operational requirements.