This case study evaluates the potential of the system of rice intensification (SRI) to increase rice yields while reducing water consumption on subsistence farms in the province Veraguas in Panama. The aim of this project was to provide practical information on SRI to farmers in this province of Panama and to develop agronomic recommendations for SRI based on both farmers’ experiences and scien...

The African species of rice (Oryza glaberrima) was cultivated long before Europeans arrived in the continent. At present, O. glaberrima is being replaced by the introduced Asian species of rice, Oryza sativa. Some West African farmers, including the Jola of southern Senegal, still grow African rice for use in ritual contexts. The two species of rice have recently been crossed, producing a promi...

Intensified use of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, is a possible route to improved agricultural productivity. Field trials of these technologies show substantial increases in yields, but typically are done on highly monitored experimental plots rather than by farmers themselves. Returns to a certain technology might be quite different on real-world farms than on experimental farms...

The study aimed at examining the effect of loan utilization on the output of youth rice farmers in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The specific objectives are to determine the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, determine whether there is significant difference in output of the beneficiaries and non beneficiaries and compare the mean output of the youth farmers with...

This study endeavors to evaluate the effects of farmers’ training program on the adoption of improved farming practices, the output of rice farming, and the income as well as the profit from rice farming by employing an ex-post non-experimental data in Sierra Leone. It was established that participating in farmers’ training program increased the possibility of adoption of the improved farming a...

Japan's rice sector is supported by high prices paid by consumers that allow many farm households to maintain small rice farms. Japan's government controls trade within a tariff-rate quota and imposes a prohibitively high tariff on imports outside the quota. Within Japan, diversion programs pay farmers to substitute other crops for rice since, without government-mandated diversion, supply would...

Heritage conservation is an important recurring research theme on agricultural heritage systems. Improving the income of farmers from agriculture is regarded as an effective conservation approach. This study examined how the improved rice-fish-duck coculture (IRFDC) promotes the protection of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System (HHRTS) by keeping farmers farming in their hometowns. A semi-stru...

Significant increases in rice production can be obtained in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by increasing rice grain yield in existing production systems, expanding rice harvested area, and reducing harvest and postharvest losses. However, availability of labour at critical times is often a major constraint, and this situation is aggravated by the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Delays during harves...

Rainfed lowland rice production in lower Northeast Thailand is a complex and adaptive farming activity. Complexity arises from interconnections between multiple and intertwined processes, affected by harsh climatic and soil conditions, cropping practices and labor migrations. Having faced a spatially heterogeneous and dynamic environment for centuries, local rice farmers are very adaptive and a...

This article provides an overview of China’ plant biotechnology development and its impacts on farmers. Our study shows that while Chinese policymakers have considered agricultural biotechnology as a strategically significant tool for improving national food security and raising agricultural productivity, they have been hesitant to approve the commercialisation of new genetically modified (GM) ...