Agricultural Transformation Research Articles

Participation in land rental and labor markets and agricultural economic performance of banana farmers in China

The emerging marketization of agricultural factors allows farmers to expand agricultural production by renting in farmland from land rental market or purchasing services through labor market. Farmers’ transactions in the two markets can stimulate the agricultural transformation in developing countries, but may increase their financial burden in agriculture. Based on the primary data collected from banana farmers in China, this study attempts to clarify farmers categories based on their different choices regarding participation in land rental and labor markets for agricultural production, analyze the determinants of farmers’ simultaneous participation in the two markets, and explore heterogenous effects of farmers’ market participation on agricultural economic performances using the multinomial endogenous switching treatment regression model. The results show that farmer’s tie to retailers is highlighted as an important driving force behind farmers’ simultaneous participation in the two markets, while their participation choices are also varying due to different household head characteristics and family resource endowments. Farmers who participated in the two markets significantly reduce the cost of material input in agricultural production, but the total production cost of participants is higher than that of non-participants due to the high rent of land resource and cost of hired labor for production services. Interestingly, farmers’ participation in land rental market increases the yield of their farms, while participation in labor market has a negative impact on the yield. Farmers’ participation in both land rental and labor markets can significantly increase farm net income by nearly 67 %. In contrast, participation in labor market decreased farm net income by 22 %, whilst participation in land rental market increased farm net income by 186 %, though without statistical significance. The findings underscore the important role of land rental markets in boosting farm economic performance. Policymakers can facilitate land transfer among smallholder farmers in the land rental market and promote agricultural technologies to substitute labor force so as to reduce the adverse effect of labor market, thereby improving agricultural economic performances in developing regions.

Trade Union Organizations of Kyrgyzstan in the 1920-1930s of the 20th Century

In connection with the formation of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in August 1927, a reorganization of the structure of trade unions was carried out: regional departments were transformed into republican ones, district ones - into canton ones. Trade unions of Kyrgyzstan, under the leadership of the Kyrgyz regional committee of the CPSU (b), fought for the implementation of the decisions of the XIV and XV congresses of the CPSU (b), sought to increase the creative activity of workers in the reconstruction of old and construction of new industrial enterprises, in the transformation of agriculture. At the II Congress of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, held in November 1926, it was decided to reorganize their work with the slogan “Facing production”, about attracting workers to actively participate in production management; special attention was paid to the training of national workers.

Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Arable Land Green and Low-Carbon Utilization in the Yangtze River Delta from the Perspective of Carbon Neutrality

Arable land green and low-carbon utilization (ALGLU) is an important pathway to safeguard food safety and achieve the green transformation and progress of agriculture, playing a crucial role in promoting agricultural ecological protection and economic sustainability. This study takes the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD), where rapid urbanization is most typical, as the study area. On the basis of fully considering the carbon sink function of arable land, the study measures the green and low-carbon utilization level of arable land in the region using the Super-slack and based measure (Super-SBM) model, and analyzes its spatial and temporal evolution using the spatial autocorrelation model, the center of gravity, and the standard ellipsoid model, and then analyzes its impact with the help of the geographic detector and the geographically weighted regression model. We analyzed the multifactor interaction and spatial heterogeneity of the factors with the help of the geodetector and geographically weighted regression model. Results: (1) The ALGLU in the YRD has shown a fluctuating upward tendency, increasing from 0.7307 in 2012 to 0.8604 in 2022, with a growth rate of 17.75%. The phased changes correspond to national agricultural development policies and the stages of socio-economic development. (2) There are significant spatial differences in the level of ALGLU in the YRD, with high levels distributed in the southwest of Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, and northwest Anhui, while low levels are distributed in the southwest of the YRD. Positive spatial autocorrelation exists in the level of ALGLU in the YRD. The spatial transfer trends of the gravity and standard deviation ellipses essentially align with changes in the spatial pattern. (3) The level of ALGLU in the YRD is affected by many factors, with the intensity of interaction effects far exceeding that of individual factors. When considering single-factor effects, precipitation, topography, and farmers’ income levels are important factors influencing the level of ALGLU. In scenarios involving multiple-factor interactions, agricultural policies become the primary focus of interaction effects. Furthermore, the driving effects of influencing factors exhibit spatial heterogeneity, with significant differences in the direction and extent of driving effects of each factor in different cities. This study can provide valuable insights for future ALGLU in the YRD and regional sustainable development.

Application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Agricultural Transformation in Nepal

Application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Agricultural Transformation in Nepal

On the ambivalence of granivorous carabids: Weed seed bank regulators, potential crop pests or both?

Carabids have long been beloved by collectors and have recently gained much attention in research as beneficial natural enemies of pests and weeds. With agricultural transformation towards lower herbicide use, carabids are expected to help carry the burden of weed regulation. While there is good evidence to found these expectations on, relying on seed-consuming carabids for natural weed regulation also has clear limitations. One of these is the fact that many carabids can be crop pests themselves, often in addition to their beneficial roles as natural enemies of pests or weeds. In a qualitative review, we gathered the available evidence for 72 carabid species acting as crop pests in 27 crops by damaging crops or consuming their seeds. Based on selected examples from different crops, we portray the historical impact and current state of carabids as crop pests. Due to the scarcity of recent reports, we expect that most carabids acting as crop pests are not a currently relevant economic problem across regions and crops, with beneficial ecosystem services provided by carabids outweighing possible damages. Yet, given the abundance of historical evidence and the current trajectory of agriculture towards a more sustainable management that aims to decrease chemical crop protection and increase carabid populations, we see a need to consider that carabids can, under certain conditions, act as crop pests. In this context, it will be crucial to get a better understanding of potential carabid crop pests around the globe, to identify under which conditions carabids switch roles from ecosystem service provides to ecosystem disservice providers and to understand how this role switching will be affected by climate change and agricultural transformation.

AN ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

Agricultural transformation and its development are multidimensional, it includes a variety of aspects like agricultural land utilization, intensity of cropping, crop productivity, crop concentration, crop diversification, crop combination, commercialization of agriculture, nature of agrarian relationship, and maintenance of ecological balance and so on. Agriculture plays an essential role in the process of economic development of less developed nations like India and agricultural development is an integral part of overall economic development. This paper, intends to analyse the nature of structural transformation in agriculture in India, and to determine the factors responsible for the structural transformation of agriculture. KEYWORDS: Agriculture, agriculture transformation, structural transformation

Gender preferences for multiple attributes of soil and water conservation in Northern Rwanda

Despite the dominance of female labor in agricultural production, female-controlled farm plots have lower efficiency compared to plot managed by male-headed households, which indicates a huge gender disparity in agricultural productivity. Overlooking gender preferences when designing interventions that promote the conservation of soil and water resources might face challenges in adoption and could result in ineffective policies to close the gender gap. This study seeks to analyze gender-specific preferences regarding attributes of soil and water conservation (SWC) in northern Rwanda. A best-worst survey was conducted among 653 respondents, comprising 253 males and 400 females, representing 422 households surveyed between September and December 2019. The analysis of BWS data involved assessing attribute-level relative importance, Pearson correlation, and maximum difference scaling using multinomial logit (MNL). Findings from attribute-level importance analysis revealed significant gender-based disparities in preferences across three important SWC attribute scenarios: the high scenario (between 65 % and 100 %), the moderate scenario (between 50 % and 65 %), and the basic scenario (with <50 % relative importance). The study identified heterogeneity in preferences regarding the relative importance of SWC attribute levels. Pearson correlation analysis revealed substantial synergies among attribute levels linked to land consolidation, improved land tenure, and joint SWC decision-making between genders. Additionally, the study identified trade-offs among multiple levels of SWC attributes, including households' SWC decision-making and physical and structural measures. The results from MNL regression show that both males and females exhibit positive preferences for multiple levels of SWC attributes, but show negative preferences when it comes to household decisions involving multiple SWC strategies. The study highlights the importance of equal opportunities for males and females’ participation in agricultural transformation through the adoption of SWC technologies as a fundamental step towards sustainable agricultural intensification. It advocates for gender transformational approaches to incentivize the scaling up of SWC practices and promote packages with lower uptake rates. Additionally, the study suggests enhancing knowledge and extension education in SWC to better understand diverse needs and preferences of female farmers.

Harnessing the Potential of Living Labs in European Research Projects on Agriculture. The Case of Promoting Prudent Use of Antimicrobials in Livestock

SummaryThe urgency to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the livestock sector has become part of the European Farm‐to‐Fork agenda. To develop innovations and pave the way for prudent antimicrobial use (AMU), the H2020 four‐year‐long ROADMAP project implemented the approach of Living Labs (LL). It stands for a process that involves a heterogeneous group of stakeholders in co‐creation, testing and evaluating innovations in real‐world contexts. The use of LLs has gained momentum to accelerate transformation of European agriculture by developing innovations through end‐user (farmer) involvement. However, the LL‐approach is new in the livestock sector. During the project, 11 LLs were established in seven European countries, each with its own settings but linked to the project's overarching goals. Some LLs developed a common understanding of AMU within the sector or between farmers and veterinarians, while others focussed on policy development or better management practices. During the ROADMAP project, we learned about the potential and limitations of the LL approach in the livestock sector. Using the approach of social innovations, we developed recommendations on how to realise the potential of LLs in a research context to meet the goals of the EU Farm‐to‐Fork strategy of prudent AMU.

‘The Emperor of All Maladies, the King of Terrors’: The Violent Somatechnics of Cancer

This article considers the current worldwide cancer epidemic as shaped through complex somatechnical intra-actions between the intimately fleshy suffering of individual bodies and structural violence exerted through carcinogenic necrotechnologies such as pesticides. Additionally, it unpacks the epistemologies of ignorance that characterise contemporary cancer imaginaries in the west by reflecting on how they operate through the widespread deployment of warfare metaphors; metaphors that, in the twenty-first century, have morphed into ‘war against cancer-as-terror(ist)’- images. United States oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee’s bestselling book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (2011) – also the winner of the Guardian’s non-fiction book award – figures as a nodal point for the ways in which mainstream western cancer narratives and biomedical models obscure the links between cancer and what anthropologist-chemist Anastasia Karakasidou calls chemical modernity; that is, the global spread of carcinogens as a consequence of the worldwide racial capitalist transformations of agriculture and production through chemicalisation. Investigating how epistemologies of ignorance work at the levels of cancer biology, cancer treatment, and environmental carcinogenesis, this article at the same time also demonstrates how the somatechnical lens makes it possible to analyse the intertwined operations of violence, power, technologies, and bodies at all of these levels. This analysis is then complemented by a contemplation of the conative vitality of bodily matter that ontologically accounts for the chiasmatic two-way process between techné and soma that is central to a somatechnical understanding of cancerous embodiment. This article also uses autobiographical material to reflect upon the ways in which epistemologies of ignorance and their matching stories of cancer as natural pathology/enemy/doppelgänger/terrorist are nourished at the individual level of experience of cancer patients and their companions and carers.

Study on Carbon Emission Influencing Factors and carbon emission reduction potential in China's food production industry

Climate warming has become a global issue of close concern, and China, as a significant agricultural country, has an increasing demand for food, which requires China to increase carbon reduction in this industry. This paper accounts for carbon emissions from the food production industry (CEFI) using the input-output method, then screens the influencing factors of CEFI based on Random Forest (RF), analyzes the heterogeneous effects of the influencing factors on CEFI in different clusters through K-means-SHAP, and finally explores the potential of carbon emissions from this industry for the period 2024–2040. The study's findings are as follows: First, there are apparent inequalities in CEFI, especially between provinces, which are gradually increasing. Second, addressing people's consumption awareness and behaviors is not the fundamental solution to alleviate CEFI; instead, it should focus on sustainable agricultural production transformation and “food miles” in the transportation phase. In addition, attention needs to be paid to the impacts of fertilizer application, transport modes, and livestock management on the CEFI of each cluster. Finally, the study suggests that around 2028, 70% of China's provinces will be at the “carbon peak” and that less developed and more developed regions have more significant potential to reduce emissions. In this regard, this paper encourages a series of policies that are key to promoting the sustainable development of CEFI, such as reducing the volume and efficiency of traditional fertilizers, vigorously developing organic fertilizer inputs, strengthening technological innovation and R&D inputs in the transportation sector, and steadily supporting germplasm innovation in the livestock sector.

Analysis of agricultural development in Ngringo Village, Kecamatan Jaten, Karanganyar District

Background: Agricultural development is crucial for rural economic growth and food security. This study analyzes agricultural development in Ngringo Village, Indonesia, examining potentials, challenges, structural and institutional transformations, technology transfer, and appropriate development models. Previous research has focused on broader regional agricultural trends, while this study provides an in-depth analysis of a specific village undergoing rapid change. Method: The study employed purposive sampling to select Ngringo Village. Data collection involved observations, structured interviews with key informants, and document analysis. Both primary data from village officials and secondary data from government sources were utilized. Findings: Ngringo Village exhibits both physical potential (strategic location, affordable land) and non-physical potential (socio-cultural life, efficient administration). Challenges include limited farmer knowledge of marketing and post-harvest processing. Structural transformation is evident in the shift from agriculture to industrial and service sectors due to urbanization pressures. Institutional transformation has led to the establishment of farmer groups and associations. Technology transfer is occurring, with the adoption of mechanized farming equipment, though digital technologies are not yet fully embraced. Conclusion: The agricultural development model in Ngringo Village aligns with the location model, influenced by its proximity to urban areas. Ngringo Village is undergoing significant agricultural transformations driven by urbanization and industrialization. While facing challenges in land conversion and marketing, the village demonstrates resilience through institutional adaptations and selective technology adoption. Future agricultural development strategies should focus on enhancing digital marketing skills, strengthening farmer institutions, and balancing agricultural preservation with urban expansion. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study proposes an integrated digital platform for sustainable agricultural development. The platform connects farmers to markets, provides online training, and facilitates stakeholder collaboration, adaptable to different peri-urban contexts across the country.

Dynamics of Local Communities Through the Transformation of Agriculture to The Camping Sector in Pancasari Village, Buleleng, Bali

This study explores the dynamics of local communities in Pancasari Village, Buleleng, Bali, as they transition from traditional agriculture to the emerging camping sector. This transformation has led to significant economic, social, and environmental changes within the community. Economically, the shift has generated new employment opportunities, increased household incomes, and stimulated local businesses, thereby enhancing the village’s economic resilience. However, challenges such as potential inflation, uneven distribution of benefits, and increased vulnerability to external economic shocks have also arisen. Socially and culturally, the move to camping has altered traditional roles and lifestyles, facilitated cultural exchange and the introduction of new ideas but also posing risks of cultural dilution and commodification. Environmentally, the camping sector promotes sustainable tourism practices, yet it also brings negative impacts like habitat loss and increased waste. This study employs a qualitative research methodology, including interviews, observations, and document analysis, to understand these dynamics comprehensively. The findings highlight the need for sustainable planning and inclusive development strategies to address economic challenges, robust environmental management to mitigate negative impacts, and effective policy and governance frameworks to ensure equitable benefit distribution and stakeholder coordination. The study concludes that while the transformation to the camping sector presents significant opportunities for economic growth and cultural exchange, it also requires careful management to ensure long-term community well-being and sustainability. By understanding these dynamics, policymakers and stakeholders can better support the community through this transition, promoting balanced and sustainable development in Pancasari Village.

Unveiling the impact and mechanism of digital technology on agricultural economic resilience

Enhancing the economic resilience of agriculture is essential for promoting sustainable and high-quality agricultural development. The emergence of digital technology has created new opportunities in this field. However, existing research predominantly focuses on traditional agricultural factors and technologies. Therefore, the impact of digital technology on agricultural economic resilience within the broader context of the “production–operation–industry” system in agriculture has not been comprehensively explored. To bridge this gap, this study analyzes panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. It employs the static Van Dorn’s law and a dynamic spatial panel model to examine how digital technology empowers agricultural resilience. The findings indicate a continuous strengthening of digital technology development in China, albeit with significant polarization and spatial imbalances. Moreover, the resilience of the agricultural economy undergoes notable fluctuations, initially narrowing and subsequently displaying an upward trend. Digital technology clearly plays a pivotal role in empowering resilience through agricultural scale operation, industrial transformation, and technological progress. Its impact, particularly on the promotion of resilience in the eastern region and non-grain-producing areas and on high-level agricultural economies, also shows regional and technological variations.

Digital transformation as a factor in reducing labor shortages in Russian agriculture

This article examines the dynamics of the number of employees of agricultural organizations, the dynamics of energy availability, electrical equipment, the level of mechanization and technical equipment as key conditions for the introduction of digital solutions and the reduction of labor shortages in the industry. In addition, an analysis of the dynamics of labor costs in the sectoral and product context was carried out, which allows us to identify the most labor-intensive and requiring the introduction of digital solutions in the agricultural sub-sector. The key digital technologies that contribute to reducing the shortage of labor resources have been studied. A factorial regression model is proposed that allows us to study the impact of digital transformation on reducing the labor costs of producing a unit of production. The results of the study allowed us to propose an approach to assessing the impact of the digital transformation of agriculture on labor costs and reducing the shortage of labor resources of an industry or an individual enterprise (group of enterprises), consisting in analyzing the dynamics of the need for workers, the conditions of technical equipment of production, labor costs and approximation based on a regression model of the impact of digital transformation technologies on labor cost reduction.

How Does Agricultural Green Transformation Improve Residents’ Health? Empirical Evidence from China

Promoting green and sustainable agriculture is of great significance for ensuring food security and addressing global challenges. Meanwhile, health has increasingly become a global concern. Nutrition and health are the purpose of agricultural production. As two major global issues, how agriculture empowers human health has long been discussed. Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2003 to 2021, this paper studies the impact of agricultural green transformation (AGT) on residents’ health and explores its impact mechanism. The empirical results show that: (1) AGT in China has significantly reduced the average mortality rate and maternal mortality rate and significantly increased the average life expectancy, indicating that AGT in China has significantly improved the health level. The conclusions of robustness testing methods such as replacing AGT indicators and controlling endogeneity are still valid; and (2) The impact of AGT on residents’ health depends on the regional economic level, and there is a threshold effect. Compared with low-income areas, the positive effects of AGT in high-income areas on residents’ health are more pronounced; and (3) Agricultural carbon emissions play an intermediary effect between AGT and residents’ health, and AGT can improve residents’ health by reducing carbon emissions. The level of local education development plays a moderating role in the relationship between AGT and residents’ health. Agricultural policy implications include enhancing the ability to protect and utilize agricultural resources, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of agriculture, and taking a more scientific and systematic approach towards the complex diversity of health risk factors.

Production and Dietary Diversities with Seasonality in Rural Agricultural Context in Sri Lanka: A Case of &lt;em&gt;Mahakanumulla&lt;/em&gt; Village Tank Cascade System

Dietary diversity is considered a characteristic of a healthy diet. Improving production diversity is a way to increase dietary diversity in subsistence farming contexts. However, with the agricultural transformation, this association must be revisited. The study aimed to investigate the association between production diversity and dietary diversity in rural agricultural households in Sri Lanka taking seasonality into account. The study site was the Mahakanumulla Village Tank Cascade System in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Pooled Ordinary Least Squares regression was used in the estimation. The results indicated that production diversity and dietary diversity have a positive and statistically significant relationship. The education level of the household head, income and household size were also identified as factors affecting household dietary diversity. The households seem to smoothen dietary diversity levels across months; hence, there is no significant difference in dietary diversity between Yala/Maha seasons or pre- and post-harvesting periods. Cultivating some specific crop types such as cereals, involvement of livestock farming, and the season affected the frequency of consumption of some food groups such as dairy and meat. This study concludes that increasing production diversity could improve the nutrition of rural agricultural households in Sri Lanka. Hence, nutrition development programmes may benefit from encouraging production diversity in rural agricultural contexts.

Behavioral Intention of Paddy Farmers Towards Adoption of Organic Sources for Soil Nutrient Management Consequent to Policy Decision to Ban Agro-chemicals in Sri Lanka: A Case Study

This stu dy was aimed at investigating the behavioral intention towards and factors influencing adoption of organic soil nutrient management by paddy farmers, consequent to the banning of agro-chemicals in April 2021 in Sri Lank a. A questionnaire survey, supplemented by key informant discussions was used to collect the primary data after six months of the banning when farmers were preparing for the next Maha season (starting from Novemb er 2021). Paddy farmers (N=120) from the Mahaillu ppallama irrigation block of the Mahaweli system H in Anuradhapura district were randomly selected as the respond ents. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used as the conceptual framework of the study. The study revealed that the majority (85%) of farmers did not agree with the sudden decision of the government to ban agro-chemicals to enable a complete transformation of agriculture to one that is totally organic. Only 11% of the farmers preferred a fully organic paddy production system. The majority (58%) preferred to use both organic and inorganic fertilizers. However, 31% of the farmers preferred conventional farming as usual. Perceived difficulties were the major barriers for farmers to use organic f ertilizers. Attitude on production, age, perceived knowledge of organic agriculture, and farming income significant ly affected (P &lt; 0.1) paddy farmers’ intention to adopt organic fertilizers. It is concluded that a scientifically designed gradual transition would be more appropriate for nutrient management in paddy cultivation.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINE

The agricultural sector in Ukraine plays a pivotal role in the country's socio-economic stability and food security. However, the full-scale war with Russia has significantly impacted this sector, necessitating comprehensive organizational and economic transformations to restore and enhance its functionality in the post-war period. This study aims to propose practical recommendations for the organizational and economic transformations required in the agricultural sector of Ukraine during the post-war economic revival period. The research employs a combination of general scientific methods, including abstract-logical reasoning, monographic and terminological analysis, theoretical generalization, economic and statistical analysis, abstraction, and formalization. These methods facilitate the substantiation of theoretical approaches, formation of conceptual frameworks, identification of development trends, and justification of strategic directions for the agricultural sector's transformation. Despite the crisis induced by the war, the agricultural sector in Ukraine has demonstrated financial stability and adaptability. In 2022, agriculture contributed 8.6% to GDP, though this was a decline from previous years. The sector's share in export structure increased, becoming a crucial source of foreign currency inflows despite logistical challenges. The study identifies structural issues such as over-reliance on low-value-added exports, technological dependencies, and economic vulnerabilities tied to the raw material orientation. Recommendations include diversifying production, enhancing value-added processing, fostering technological advancements, and creating investment funds for structural economic reforms. Further research should explore the long-term impacts of proposed transformations, the role of technological integration in agriculture, and the development of policies that balance agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability. Additionally, investigating the effectiveness of investment funds and economic incentives in achieving structural changes will be critical to ensuring the resilience and growth of Ukraine's agricultural sector.

Towards Sustainable Development: The Impact of Agricultural Productive Services on China’s Low-Carbon Agricultural Transformation

In the context of carbon neutrality, the low-carbon transition in agriculture is crucial to achieving carbon mitigation through clean production. The provision of agricultural productive services (APS) is pivotal for modernizing farming practices in China. However, the impact of this on the low-carbon transformation has received limited attention. This research examined the non-linear relationship between agricultural productive services and low-carbon development, including verifying a threshold effect with APS as the threshold variable, employing panel data for 31 provinces in China from 2010 to 2021. The results of the study suggested that the effect of services associated with agricultural productivity on the transition of the agricultural sector to low-carbon practices varied across threshold ranges. Specifically, when the APS exceeded the threshold of 2.4396, a significant suppressive effect was observed on carbon emission intensity. Further analysis revealed that APS indirectly influenced the farmland scale and agricultural technological advancements, thereby promoting the low-carbon transition of China’s agriculture. Based on these results, it is recommended to intensify the development of APS in key cereal-producing regions, while emphasizing the harmonious progress of these services in conjunction with large-scale farmland management.

Colonial policy, ecological transformations, and agricultural “improvement”: comparing agricultural yields and expansion in the Spanish and U.S. Philippines, 1870–1925 CE

Burgeoning global trade and colonial policies promoted transformations in land use and agriculture throughout tropical regions in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the local and regional ecological consequences of landscape changes are still being identified and analysed. The Philippine Archipelago, which experienced successive colonial regimes across more than 7100 islands, exemplifies the multiplicity of ecological outcomes produced by these transformations. To better characterise diverse landscape change, we use colonial censuses and datasets to assess land use, production and agricultural yields in the Philippines during the late Spanish and early U.S. colonial periods (ca. 1870–1925). Our novel digital, quantitative analysis indicates that, at the national and provincial scales, agricultural production and land use increased for all major crops in both periods, while agricultural yields were mostly constant. Our results suggest that colonial investments to “improve” Philippine agriculture, specifically their efforts to increase production per hectare, were not effective. Our provincial-scale analysis also confirms the importance of distinct labour patterns, geographies and socio-political arrangements in defining this period’s ecological consequences, and we provide quantified and historically contextualised data in a format amenable to ecologists to promote future, localised historic ecological research.