Yield Gap Research Articles

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) improvement: Challenges and prospects—A review

AbstractFinger millet is a climate‐resilient and highly nutritious small grain crop widely grown in the semi‐arid tropics. It has multiple uses, including for food, feed and beverage preparations. However, finger millet is an under‐utilized and under‐researched crop with a mean yield of <1.0 t/ha despite a potential productivity of up to 8 t/ha. The yield gap is attributed to several production constraints, such as biotic and abiotic stresses, a lack of access to improved seeds and production inputs and poor agronomic management practices. There are valuable genetic resources and genetic variability of finger millet in its centres of diversity and global gene banks for variety design, product development and commercialization. The genetic variability can be harnessed further to integrate essential traits into candidate varieties through conventional and modern breeding methods. Breeding and genetic innovations such as genomics‐assisted breeding, mutation breeding and genome editing would accelerate finger millet breeding and new variety design and deployment. The objective of this review was to document the opportunities, challenges and prospects of finger millet improvement as a guide for variety development and deployment with enhanced grain yield and nutritional contents. The first section describes global production status and yield gains, major production and productivity challenges in finger millet. This is followed by an in‐depth presentation on breeding and genetic progress on variety development with improved agronomic and nutritional quality traits, drought and salinity tolerance, and fungal diseases, weeds and insect pest resistance. Further, the review summarized finger millet's genetic and genomic resources, reference genomes, whole genome re‐sequencing and transcriptomics of finger millet technologies, genetic engineering and genome editing and their integration with conventional breeding methods for variety design with desired end‐use traits. The review provides foundational information to expedite the development of new‐generation finger millet cultivars with desirable product profiles, including high grain yield potential, early maturity, desirable seed colour, compact head type, food and feed nutrients quality and high marketability through modern breeding approaches.

The Effect of Crop Production Systems and Cultivars on Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Yield in a Long-Term Experiment

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of different crop production systems (organic, integrated, and conventional) on the yields of several spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. A field experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Experimental Station of the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Osiny (Poland) in three consecutive growing seasons (2014, 2015, and 2016). Two factors were included in the experiment: the crop production system (organic, integrated, and conventional) and spring wheat cultivars (Kandela, Izera, Ostka Smolicka, and Waluta). The crop production system significantly differentiated the yield, health, and weed infestation of the spring wheat. Wheat yield in the conventional system (6.12 t·ha−1) was higher than in the organic system (3.68 t·ha−1) by 67%, whereas, in the integrated system (7.61 t·ha−1), it was greater than in the organic system by 109%. The lower yields in the organic system were mainly due to fewer ears per m2 and a smaller 1000-grain weight. In the organic system, we also observed a higher infestation of wheat by foliar fungal pathogens and weeds compared with the conventional and integrated systems. The spring wheat cultivars differed in yield structure and resistance to infestation by fungal pathogens. The Waluta and Izera cultivars performed well in all systems but yielded the best in the integrated and conventional ones. The Kandela cultivar was the most suitable for the organic system, as it achieved the highest yield (4.16 t·ha−1). This was mainly due to its ability to form a compact canopy with relatively high ear density, a large 1000-grain weight, and the highest resistance to fungal pathogens. The results for cultivars’ performance in the organic system may be useful for farmers in decreasing yield gaps in relation to integrated and conventional systems.

Balancing economic and ecological functions in smallholder and industrial oil palm plantations

The expansion of the oil palm industry in Indonesia has improved livelihoods in rural communities, but comes at the cost of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation. Here, we investigated ways to balance ecological and economic outcomes of oil palm cultivation. We compared a wide range of production systems, including smallholder plantations, industrialized company estates, estates with improved agronomic management, and estates with native tree enrichment. Across all management types, we assessed multiple indicators of biodiversity, ecosystem functions, management, and landscape structure to identify factors that facilitate economic-ecological win-wins, using palm yields as measure of economic performance. Although, we found that yields in industrialized estates were, on average, twice as high as those in smallholder plantations, ecological indicators displayed substantial variability across systems, regardless of yield variations, highlighting potential for economic-ecological win-wins. Reducing management intensity (e.g., mechanical weeding instead of herbicide application) did not lower yields but improved ecological outcomes at moderate costs, making it a potential measure for balancing economic and ecological demands. Additionally, maintaining forest cover in the landscape generally enhanced local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning within plantations. Enriching plantations with native trees is also a promising strategy to increase ecological value without reducing productivity. Overall, we recommend closing yield gaps in smallholder cultivation through careful intensification, whereas conventional plantations could reduce management intensity without sacrificing yield. Our study highlights various pathways to reconcile the economics and ecology of palm oil production and identifies management practices for a more sustainable future of oil palm cultivation.

Enhancing Summer Soybean Yield through Evaluation of Herbicidal Weed Management Options

The farmers of Gujarat have turned to soybean cultivation as soybean demand is increasing promisingly. Improper weed management is one of the reasons for the large yield gap between the potential and the actual yield of soybean harvested by the farmers. So, the selection of different herbicides in soybean is necessary for effective management of complex weed flora. An experiment was plotted with an aim of enhancing summer soybean yield through evaluation of herbicidal weed management options on medium black calcareous soil at Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during summer season of 2021. The experiment comprised 12 treatments that were arranged in randomized block design with 3 replications. The outcomes of the results revealed that following to weed-free treatment, pre-mix pendimethalin + imazethapyr 750+50 g/ha as pre-emergence (PE) fb hand-weeding (HW) & inter-culturing (IC) at 30 days after sowing (DAS), HW at 15 DAS fb pre-mix propaquizafop + imazethapyr 50+75 g/ha as post-emergence (PoE) at 30 DAS, HW at 15 DAS fb pre-mix fluazifop-p-butyl + fomesafen 125+125 g/ha (PoE) at 30 DAS and pre-mix pendimethalin + imazethapyr 750+50 g/ha (PE) fb pre-mix fluazifop-p-butyl + fomesafen 125+125 g/ha (PoE) at 30 DAS enhanced growth parameters viz., plant height, branches per plant; yield attributes i.e., number of pods per plant and ultimately lead to greater seed yield and stover yield. These herbicidal weed management options also reduced population in addition to dry matter of weeds and had less reduction in yield due to better control of weeds, less crop-weed competition and higher weed control efficiency.

Unveiling constraints and cultivating potential: Optimizing spring sugar beet yield through boundary line analysis

To enhance crop yields, narrowing the gap between actual and achievable yields is crucial. One approach involves identifying yield-limiting factors and their optimal levels. Boundary line analysis (BLA), a statistical method, quantifies yield response to environmental or managerial factors while accounting for variable factors. In 2020, a study surveyed 180 spring sugar beet farms in Iran. The findings revealed a 50.7 % yield gap (11.13 t ha−1) between farmers’ average sugar yield (10.84 t ha−1) and potential yield (21.97 t ha−1). BLA implicated low plant density, soil organic content, lack of potassium (K)-containing fertilizers, and non-adherence to crop rotation principles in 81.3 %, 75.5 %, 53.4 %, and 51.1 % of farms, respectively. Optimal levels were estimated at 9.5 plants m−1, 1.15 % soil organic content, 100 kg ha−1 K fertilization rate, and 5–9.8 as the rotation numerical value. Other limiting factors included time from cultivation to thinning and sowing date. The optimal minimum time between planting and thinning stood at 38 days, with the latest sowing date estimated at 94 Julian days (May 5). Achieving attainable yield necessitates limiting root exposure to 4.9 days, keeping disease damage below 15.3 %, and increasing irrigation frequency to over 10 times. In the short term, increasing plant density to optimal levels, promoting K fertilizer use, and adjusting thinning and sowing dates can significantly boost sugar yield per unit area.

A Study on Yield and Value Sustainability in Groundnut (Arachis hypogea) Through Cluster Frontline Demonstrations Approach in Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu

Background: Groundnut is a prominent oilseed crop in India but its productivity is far below the potential yield due to lack of knowledge and adoption of improved varieties and technologies. Technology gap is a major problem in groundnut production in North Eastern zone of Tamil Nadu State in which Cuddalore district falls. A scientific and systematic effort was made to study the impact on yield by assessing technological gap existing in various components of groundnut cultivation through cluster frontline demonstrations (CFLDs) with scientific technologies. Methods: Cluster Frontline Demonstrations was implemented in groundnut to improve the production potential of improved varieties and new technologies through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). The study with one of its objective to assess yield and technology gap in groundnut was conducted with 175 demonstrations during the period from 2020-21 to 2022-23 covering seven blocks in an area of 70 hectares in Cuddalore district following cluster random sampling method. Two main varieties VRI 8 and VRI 10 along with improved technologies were demonstrated in farmer’s field by providing necessary critical inputs seed pods, bio control agents along with seed drill sowing, Result: There resulted 62.13 per cent increase in yield as observed in demonstration plots over farmers’ practices in groundnut. The study revealed that in groundnut, the average extension gap (difference of demo and farmer plot yield) is 16.26 q/ha, average technology gap (difference of potential and demo plot yield) is 12.21 q/ha and average technology index of demonstrations is 22.21 per cent. The higher average net returns (Rs. 149758/ha) were recorded in demonstration plot (BCR 2.3) compared to farmers’ plot. The Sustainability Yield Index (SYI) and Sustainability Value Index (SVI) in demo plot are higher consistently than farmers plot mainly due to the effect of cluster frontline demonstrations with proper application of inputs/technologies viz., VRI 8 and VRI 10 varieties, seed treatment with bio fertilizers, bio control agents, soil test based nutrient management, application of TNAU crop booster groundnut rich and gypsum application.

Ozone pollution contributes to the yield gap for beans in Uganda, East Africa, and is co-located with other agricultural stresses

Air quality negatively impacts agriculture, reducing the yield of staple food crops. While measured data on African ground-level ozone levels are scarce, experimental studies demonstrate the damaging impact of ozone on crops. Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), an ozone-sensitive crop, are widely grown in Uganda. Using modelled ozone flux, agricultural surveys, and a flux-effect relationship, this study estimates yield and production losses due to ozone for Ugandan beans in 2015. Analysis at this scale allows the use of localised data, and results can be presented at a sub-regional level. Soil nutrient stress, drought, flood risk, temperature and deprivation were also mapped to investigate where stresses may coincide. Average bean yield losses due to ozone were 17% and 14% (first and second growing season respectively), equating to 184 thousand tonnes production loss. However, for some sub-regions, losses were up to 27.5% and other crop stresses also coincided in these areas. This methodology could be applied widely, allowing estimates of ozone impact for countries lacking air quality and/or experimental data. As crop productivity is below its potential in many areas of the world, changing agricultural practices to mitigate against losses due to ozone could help to reduce the crop yield gap.

Farmers’ Adoption of Finger Millet Production Technologies and the Impact on Finger Millet Yields

Low remuneration and poor adoption of Finger millet [Eleusine coracana] production technologies were major constraints in yield gap in finger millet. Therefore, evaluation of production potential, adoption, economic and other benefits of the technologies in social perspectives of the farmers was undertaken. The study was conducted in two districts of Karnataka, India where the frontline demonstrations programme organized during the five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22 in 200 farmers’ fields. The knowledge, adoption and impact were measured by following before and after method, and data was collected through survey, focussed group discussion and personal interview methods. The demonstrated technologies resulted into increase in Knowledge over pre demo in use of high yielding variety (85%) followed by use of nitrogen (Urea) (62%), seed treatment (62%), use of FYM (56 %). Increase in adoption over pre demo was found in use of high yielding variety 82 % followed by use of nitrogen (62%), seed treatment (55%), use of FYM (48%). The higher adoption of the demonstrated technologies (71%) by the farmers in Karnataka led to higher grains production (33%) with better quality (65%) and fodder yield by 38% over pre-FLD stage. The increased yields not only enabled them to obtain higher net returns (55%) and incremental increase of benefit-cost ratio (25%) but also motivated to increase in area under finger millet (20%) significantly than the pre-FLD stage. Whereas, very low increase in cost of production (10%) over the pre-FLD stage was observed. Age, education, family size, annual income, institutional support, extension contact, herd size, and utility of grain and fodder were found to be significant in explaining the variation in their adoption level of demonstrated finger millet production technologies. Among the constraints, availability of labour, wild animals (deer and wild boar) and availability of seed are the major production constraints and price fluctuation, limited quantity purchases by government, delay in payment by government, and high commission from APMC are the major market constraints. To boost-up the adoption, large family size of the farmers, their dependency on farming and continuing newly selected farmers with field demonstration of location-specific low-cost technologies up to five years should be considered.

Are rice systems sustainable in Sri Lanka? - A case of Deduru Oya reservoir irrigation scheme

Sustainable rice systems play a crucial role in achieving sustainable development goals, particularly in countries like Sri Lanka that heavily rely on paddy production. The study aims to examine the economic, social, and environmental sustainability gaps of a rice production system at various spatial scales using the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) framework v2.1 and identify interventions that can address these gaps. Data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire, which incorporated the 12 performance indicators of the SRP framework, including profitability, labor productivity, grain yield, water productivity, nutrient use efficiency, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emission, food safety, health and safety, child labor and youth engagement, and women empowerment. The survey was conducted over two consecutive cropping seasons, in 2019 dry and 2019/2020 wet seasons, in selected paddy fields representing three topo-sequences within the Deduru Oya irrigation project in Sri Lanka. The study's findings revealed that the rice systems' profitability ranges from 475 ± 45 to 642 ± 59 USD/ha across seasons and topo-sequences, and a yield gap of approximately 33% was observed. Substantial exploitable gaps were observed in labor productivity (67%–77%) and water productivity (58%–68%). Additionally, there was significant variability in nutrient use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions due to variations in water management practices. The social sustainability of rice systems has received lower scores, particularly for health safety and women empowerment. The study attributed most of the economic and environmental sustainability gaps in the agricultural practices of cultivators, while various socio-political and cultural factors influenced the social sustainability gaps. This study offers valuable insights to policymakers and practitioners in countries with extensive rice systems, aiding their efforts toward achieving sustainable development goals.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) yield gap affected by soil physicochemical properties

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) yield gap affected by soil physicochemical properties

Mineral and organic fertilisation influence ammonia oxidisers and denitrifiers and nitrous oxide emissions in a long-term tillage experiment

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from different agricultural systems have been studied extensively to understand the mechanisms underlying their formation. While a number of long-term field experiments have focused on individual agricultural practices in relation to N2O emissions, studies on the combined effects of multiple practices are lacking. This study evaluated the effect of different tillage [no-till (NT) vs. conventional plough tillage (CT)] in combination with fertilisation [mineral (MIN), compost (ORG), and unfertilised control (CON)] on seasonal N2O emissions and the underlying N-cycling microbial community in one maize growing season. Rainfall events after fertilisation, which resulted in increased soil water content, were the main triggers of the observed N2O emission peaks. The highest cumulative emissions were measured in MIN fertilisation, followed by ORG and CON fertilisation. In the period after the first fertilisation CT resulted in higher cumulative emissions than NT, while no significant effect of tillage was observed cumulatively across the entire season. A higher genetic potential for N2O emissions was observed under NT than CT, as indicated by an increased (nirK + nirS)/(nosZI + nosZII) ratio. The mentioned ratio under NT decreased in the order CON > MIN > ORG, indicating a higher N2O consumption potential in the NT-ORG treatment, which was confirmed in terms of cumulative emissions. The AOB/16S ratio was strongly affected by fertilisation and was higher in the MIN than in the ORG and CON treatments, regardless of the tillage system. Multiple regression has revealed that this ratio is one of the most important variables explaining cumulative N2O emissions, possibly reflecting the role of bacterial ammonia oxidisers in minerally fertilised soil. Although the AOB/16S ratio aligned well with the measured N2O emissions in our experimental field, the higher genetic potential for denitrification expressed by the (nirK + nirS)/(nosZI + nosZII) ratio in NT than CT was not realized in the form of increased emissions. Our results suggest that organic fertilisation in combination with NT shows a promising combination for mitigating N2O emissions; however, addressing the yield gap is necessary before incorporating it in recommendations for farmers.

Improved Maize Varieties: Enhancing Food Security in Rural Communities of Central River Region North

Maize production is widely grown by smallholder farmers in rural communities of the Gambia. Maize is an important component of food systems as it provides nutritional security, and income and reduces poverty at the household level. Primary and secondary data were collected to have a broader knowledge of maize varieties. The sample and sampling method was non-probability using the random sampling method. A sample size of twenty (20) farmers was randomly selected from a population of 117 from 5 agricultural districts of the Central River Region/ North. The objective of the study is to bridge the yield gap of 1.0 to 1.3 tons/ ha to > 5 tons/ ha of maize. The result in Table 1 shows that, out of the 4 varieties Kabamano obtained the highest yield data of 6,560 kg/ha followed by Obatamba at 5,440kg/ha while the lowest yield was obtained by early Thai at 3,200kg/ha. The production area was 113 ha with a total production of 340,800kg with an average yield of 3 tons/ha. The implication of the study is to ensure a comprehensive agricultural policy and strategies for better production and marketing of maize. The study recommends that the government, agricultural projects, the private sector, and CSOs create incentives, innovations, and agricultural financing for the coherent sustainability of maize production and marketing.

Yield gap analysis of Niger (Guizotia abyssinica L.) in north eastern Ghat zone of Odisha

Yield gap analysis of Niger (Guizotia abyssinica L.) in north eastern Ghat zone of Odisha

Developing automated machine learning approach for fast and robust crop yield prediction using a fusion of remote sensing, soil, and weather dataset

Estimating smallholder crop yields robustly and timely is crucial for improving agronomic practices, determining yield gaps, guiding investment, and policymaking to ensure food security. However, there is poor estimation of yield for most smallholders due to lack of technology, and field scale data, particularly in Egypt. Automated machine learning (AutoML) can be used to automate the machine learning workflow, including automatic training and optimization of multiple models within a user-specified time frame, but it has less attention so far. Here, we combined extensive field survey yield across wheat cultivated area in Egypt with diverse dataset of remote sensing, soil, and weather to predict field-level wheat yield using 22 Ml models in AutoML. The models showed robust accuracies for yield predictions, recording Willmott degree of agreement, (d > 0.80) with higher accuracy when super learner (stacked ensemble) was used (R2 = 0.51, d = 0.82). The trained AutoML was deployed to predict yield using remote sensing (RS) vegetative indices (VIs), demonstrating a good correlation with actual yield (R2 = 0.7). This is very important since it is considered a low-cost tool and could be used to explore early yield predictions. Since climate change has negative impacts on agricultural production and food security with some uncertainties, AutoML was deployed to predict wheat yield under recent climate scenarios from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). These scenarios included single downscaled General Circulation Model (GCM) as CanESM5 and two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) as SSP2-4.5and SSP5-8.5during the mid-term period (2050). The stacked ensemble model displayed declines in yield of 21% and 5% under SSP5-8.5 and SSP2-4.5 respectively during mid-century, with higher uncertainty under the highest emission scenario (SSP5-8.5). The developed approach could be used as a rapid, accurate and low-cost method to predict yield for stakeholder farms all over the world where ground data is scarce.

The Formal Seed System of Maize in Ethiopia: Implications for Reducing the Yield Gap

Smallholder farmers’ access to and use of quality seeds of improved varieties and hybrids is an integral component of sustainable maize production and the reduction of the yield gap in Ethiopia. Formal seed supply systems play a pivotal role in ensuring farmers’ access to good quality seed and increasing the productivity of maize. However, the contribution of the formal seed system to the increase in the average national maize yield in the country is not well documented. This paper specifically analyzes the formal seed supply systems and contributions of improved seed to maize productivity increase in Ethiopia. Secondary sources of information, including published and unpublished data, were used. Analysis of the seed value chain from research to commercial seed producers indicated that public and private maize hybrids dominate the formal seed system. Increased use of improved seed and associated management practices has contributed to the yield increase at the national level. For every 10,000 MT of additional maize-improved seed used by smallholder farmers, the national average maize yield increased by 400 kg per hectare (R sq. = 0.59). Hence, in addition to other yield-increasing technologies and extension support, ensuring the availability of improved seed to farmers can significantly contribute to reducing the maize yield gap between the national average yield and the average yield from on-farm demonstrations already attained by farmers in Ethiopia. Various policy interventions are suggested to improve the maize seed system performance and increase the supply of maize improved seeds.

Performance Gap between Best-bet System of Rice Intensification and Farmers’ Practices in Zamfara State, Nigeria: An Additive-Multiplicative Translog Stochastic Frontier Profit Function

Inadequate information about the performance of a technology can hinder its uptake. The aim of this paper was to provide a thorough examination of the performance gap between the best bet system of rice intensification (BB-SRI) and farmers’ practices (FP) in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, a sample of 300 rice farmers were selected from the Bakolori Irrigation Scheme, Zamfara State, among which 40 farmers (13%) used the BB-SRI while the remaining 260 farmers (87%) used FP. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, farm budget technique, additive-multiplicative stochastic frontier translog profit function and propensity score matching (PSM) estimator. The findings revealed that yield increased from 5,285 kg/ha with FP to 12,735 kg/ha with BB-SRI, an increase of 141%. Rice production was profitable under both FP and BB-SRI with return on investment (ROI) increasing from 2.64 using FP to 6.66 under BB-SRI, an increase of 152%. There was evidence of profit inefficiency in rice farming since the profit could still be raised by 7% and 21% using FP and BB-SRI, respectively. The yield, ROI and profit efficiency gaps between the BB-SRI and FP ranged from 7,452 kg/ha to 7,510 kg/ha, 4.02 to 4.05, and from 0.08 to 0.09, respectively. We recommend therefore that important investments and training in SRI should be considered as a top priority for the transformation and sustainability of the rice sector in order to ensure its successful promotion, uptake and diffusion across other rice producing States in Nigeria.

Evaluation of Integrated Pest Management Module against Pests of Ground Nut and Productivity, Profitability Analysis under Open Field Conditions

Background: Groundnut is an annual oilseed crop that is cultivated in many tropical and sub-tropical countries for its seed purpose. The productivity of groundnut has drastically reduced since 2015 due to an array of insect pests especially sucking pests have emerged as a prominent factor contributing to decreased yields in groundnut by direct damage as well as vectors of virus diseases. Methods: The integrated package of practices including seed treatment with fungicide (mancozeb @ 3 g/kg seed) followed by insecticide (imidacloprid @ 2 mL/kg seed) and new generation insecticides (imidacloprid, chlorpyriphos and flubendiamide) were evaluated against sucking pests (aphid, leaf hopper and thrips) and leaf feeders (Spodoptera litura) under open field conditions in scarce rainfall zone of Andhra Pradesh, India during 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. The parameters regarding incidence of pests, population reduction after treatment imposition, safety to natural enemies, phytotoxicity effects, extension gap, technology gap and technology index, were worked out in farmer’s field and demonstration field. Result: In this present study imidacloprid 17.8 SL was performed well in controlling aphids, leaf hoppers and thrips in all the three seasons and flubendiamide 39.35 SC was concluded as best treatment against Spodoptera litura in all seasons. During all the study years, the benefic cost ratio of demo practice indicates (1.26, 1.01 and 1.04) when compared to farmers practice (0.71, 0.69 and 0.76), respectively for 2020, 2021 and 2022. Similarly, the average extension gap, technology gap and yield gap were worked out and ranged from (3.4, 3.1 and 5.3), (1.82, 4.23 and 1.82), (12.72, 11.36 and 19.46) for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Vulnerability of maize, barley, and wheat yields to growing season temperature and socioeconomic indicators in Morocco

Abstract In Morocco, the historical record depicts a situation characterized by increasing temperatures and diminishing precipitation, which often ends up in severe drought episodes. This research examines the vulnerability of wheat, barley, and maize to growing season temperature changes as well as socio-economic adaptive capacity proxies. This work uses a composite index of vulnerability that posits that the vulnerability index is a function of the exposure, sensitivity, and the adaptive capacity indexes. FAOSTAT and Yield Gap Atlas data were used for the period 1991-2016 to calculate the sensitivity index. The World Bank Climate Portal provided the mean annual growing season temperature data used to compute the exposure index. The World Bank, figshare, and MPR archives were used to capture the proxies of adaptive capacity such as literacy and poverty rates. These findings indicate that wheat has the lowest vulnerability index and the greatest adaptive capacity index, while barley has the strongest vulnerability and lowest adaptive capacity indexes. Sub-nationally, the indices of vulnerability and the standardized growing season's temperature decreased northwards. Northwards, wheat records the lowest vulnerability and highest adaptive capacity, and the second highest standard growing season temperature. In perspective, enhance adaptive capacity for climate resilience in policies, reduce vulnerability.

Impact of integrated soil fertility management on maize yield, yield gap and income in northern Ghana

This paper analyzes the impact of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) on maize yield, yield gap and net income in northern Ghana using an inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA). In this study, ISFM is restricted to the adoption of crop rotation (CR), inorganic fertilizer (FT), and farmyard manure (MN) either in isolation or in combination. We find a synergy in yield gain (86.52 % increase in yield) and a decrease in yield gap (of 10.22 %) with the adoption of all three technologies as a package (CR+FT+MN). The joint adoption of all three technologies is also associated with a 51.29 % increase in net income from maize production and has a Benefit-Cost Ratio of 3.23.

Yield gap analysis and the relative importance of factors explaining yield variability in paddy fields

Closing the yield gap of strategic crops can facilitate achieving sustainable solutions to alleviate hunger, ensure food security, and enhance nutrition. This study aimed to quantify factors affecting rice yield gap in northern Iran using experimental and survey data on yields and management practices. The CERES-Rice model, calibrated with data (2011, 2016, 2019) from two regions, was used to estimate potential yield (Yp) of different rice cultivars. Yield gaps were calculated as the difference between economic yield potential and the average yield attained by farmers. The calibration process showed that cultivar coefficients varied across rice varieties. The simulated yields (2012–2021) showed that the mean potential yields were 13362 kg ha−1 and 8818 kg ha−1 for the late and early-maturing cultivars, respectively. High temperature was the most important yield defining factor across the rice growing areas. The yield gap was 3751 kg ha−1 and 2830 kg ha−1 in the late- and early-maturing cultivars, respectively. Nitrogen fertilizer rate, number of fertilizer applications, phosphorus fertilizer rate, transplanting date, potassium fertilizer rate, and seedling age were the top factors influencing the yield gap. Among the management factors, rice fertilizer management explained about 65% of the yield variability. Together, transplanting date and seedling age explained 15.3% of the variability in rice production, while pest, disease, and weed damage accounted for 9.6%. Breaking down the yield gap into affecting factors allows growers to improve the production system by providing the best crop management according to their facilities and capabilities. This approach is essential for optimizing agricultural productivity and achieving sustainable food production goals.