Soil quality has important implications for sustainable agricultural development and food self-sufficiency in many developing countries. A decrease in soil nutrient stocks, one of the components of soil quality, necessitates more inputs and greater management skills in order to compensate for...

Farmers' decisions about conversion to organic farming are analyzed with a structural equation model. The Theory of Planned Behavior (ToPB), one of the prominent theories in the social psychology, is used as the theoretical basis of this study. Though ToPB is a well-defined theory, it is static...

There has been a decline in crop productivity in Kenya, a situation that has contributed to the raising food insecurity in the country. Communities in arid and semi-arid areas of the country, the landless, and female headed households are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. Given the...

Farm-level analysis of trade-offs between soil fertility management alternatives is required to improve understanding of complex biophysical and socio-economic factors influencing decision making in smallholder farming systems and to identify opportunities for improving resource use efficiency....

Over the last two decades, organic farming has been one of the few sectors of agriculture to increase exponentially across the world. This paper aims to analyse the relationship of market and agricultural policy signals on the share of organic farming, with a cross-country analysis in two key...

This paper analyzed Chinese small-scale farmer's response to agricultural risks by using MOTAD model. Based on the household's data from the two villages Wangjia and Damao in Zhejiang province, we established "representative rural household" for each of the sampling villages. The results show...

Diversification of consumers’ demand and environmental concerns are at the origin of a trend towards short marketing chains and towards direct links between consumers and farmers in developed countries. This paper explores farmers’ motivations for choosing these types of marketing chains...

Litchi is an important crop in the mountainous part of northern Thailand yet its profitability has declined during the last 15 years. The replacement of litchi fruit orchards for seasonal flowers and vegetables has external costs related to increased levels of soil erosion, pesticides, and...

The North China Plain (NCP) covers an area of around 328,000 km2 and is one of the most important regions of cereal crop production in China. Wheat and maize rotations and one season cotton are the most common cropping systems. The region contributes at an amount of about 50% to the countries...