Characterization of Small-Scale Farmers and Assessment of Their Access to Crop Production Information in Selected Counties of Kenya

Small-scale farming accounts for 78% of total agricultural production in Kenya and contributes to 23.5% of the country’s GDP. Their crop production activities are mostly rainfed subsistence with any surplus being sold to bring in some income. Timely decisions on farm practices such as farm preparation and planting are critical determinants of the seasonal outcomes. In Kenya, most small-scale farmers have no reliable source of information that would help them make timely and accurate decisions. County governments have extension officers who are mandated with giving farmers advisory services to farmers but they are not able to reach most farmers due to facilitation constraints. The mode and format of sharing information is also critical since it’s important to ensure that it’s timely, well-understood and usable. This study sought to assess access to geospatial derived and other crop production information by farmers in four selected counties of Kenya. Specific objectives were to determine the profile of small-scale farmers in terms of age, education and farm size;to determine the type of information that is made available to them by County and Sub-County extension officers including the format and mode of provision;and to determine if the information provided was useful in terms of accuracy, timeliness and adequacy. The results indicated that over 80% of the farmers were over 35 years of age and over 56% were male. Majority had attained primary education (34%) or secondary education (29%) and most farmers in all the counties grew maize (71%). Notably, fellow farmers were a source of information (71%) with the frequency of sharing information being mostly seasonal (37%) and when information was available (43%). Over 66% of interviewed farmers indicating that they faced challenges while using provided information. The results from the study are insightful and helpful in determining effective ways of providing farmers with useful information to ensure maximum benefits.

Cattle Production and Lumpy Skin Disease of Smallholder Farmers in Svay Rieng Province

The cattle production in Romeas Haek district,Svay Rieng province,was developed remarkably,since there were some households raising cattle in large number,more than 20 heads.The grazing method of cattle was tethering and free grassing in the commune grass,since the natural grass and rice straw were the main source of cattle feed,however some of them supplemented their cattle with crop-byproducts,planting grass or concentrated feed.For the majority,BCS(Body Condition Scoring)of the cattle in those areas was 3 accounting for 52%-73.33%,but it was found the thin cattle has low BCS of 2 accounting for 11.11%to 40.00%and also fat cattle has BCS of 4 up to 27.78%.However,the average BCS varied with village which ranged from 2.68 to 3.17,but is not different in term of commune and sex of cattle.Besides facing with shortage of feed,the experience with diseases was also another concern,since 85.71%to 95.83%of the households faced this problem last year.Among the clinical signs found,lumpy skin was 100%,i.e.no one escaped from this problem,thus making them aware of vaccinating their cattle against some diseases such as FMD(Foot and Mouth Disease),HS(Hemorrhagic Septicemia)and LSD(Lumpy Skin Disease),but mostly vaccination was used against FMD.Because the LSD has occurred in these areas since 2020,then the seroprevalence was found in high positive up to 72.62%by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA)test.This positive rate was also varying by villages,ranging from 53.3%to 94.44%.But there was no association between positive cattle with commune,BCS,sex and age of cattle.In conclusion,the cattle production in Romeas Haek district,Svay Rieng province had developed markedly,however the shortage of feed and disease occurrence are the main challenges for farmer cattle producers,especially LSD outbreak last year.However,most of the farmers have been aware of the benefit of vaccination and had vaccinated their cattle against those main disease,such as FMD,HS and LSD.

A transient production prediction method for tight condensate gas wells with multiphase flow

Considering the phase behaviors in condensate gas reservoirs and the oil-gas two-phase linear flow and boundary-dominated flow in the reservoir,a method for predicting the relationship between oil saturation and pressure in the full-path of tight condensate gas well is proposed,and a model for predicting the transient production from tight condensate gas wells with multiphase flow is established.The research indicates that the relationship curve between condensate oil saturation and pressure is crucial for calculating the pseudo-pressure.In the early stage of production or in areas far from the wellbore with high reservoir pressure,the condensate oil saturation can be calculated using early-stage production dynamic data through material balance models.In the late stage of production or in areas close to the wellbore with low reservoir pressure,the condensate oil saturation can be calculated using the data of constant composition expansion test.In the middle stages of production or when reservoir pressure is at an intermediate level,the data obtained from the previous two stages can be interpolated to form a complete full-path relationship curve between oil saturation and pressure.Through simulation and field application,the new method is verified to be reliable and practical.It can be applied for prediction of middle-stage and late-stage production of tight condensate gas wells and assessment of single-well recoverable reserves.

Analysis of Factors of Production for Rice Farmers and Research of Development Countermeasures——A Survey of 565 Farm Households in Hunan Province and Zhejiang Province

[Objective] The aim was to analyze economic benefits of rice farmers and influential factors in China. [Method] Based on data of rice production in 565 farm households in 2009, correlation analysis was conducted on characters of households, input/output of rice production, condition and environment of rice production, related policies and activities with SPSS. [Result] Yield per mu, production cost, and rice price were dominant factors influencing economic benefits of rice farmers; labor force in a household, training of rice cultivation, machine rice production and rice cropping had significant effects on benefits from rice production; area of rice, family educa- tion, on-time field management, site instruction, and demonstration fields all had in- significant effects on economic benefits of rice. In addition, suggestions were pro- posed about choice of production scale, implementation of rice policies, measures of subsidy, and purchase price of rice. [Conclusion] The research provides references for rice production and improvement of economic benefits of rice farmers.

Developing sustainable summer maize production for smallholder farmers in the North China Plain: An agronomic diagnosis method

With an increasing population and changing diet structure, summer maize is increasingly becoming an important energy crop in China. However, traditional farmer practices for maize production are inefficient and unsustainable. To ensure food security and sustainable development of summer maize production in China, an improved, more sustainable farmer management system is needed. Establishing this system requires a comprehensive understanding of the limitations of current farming practice and the ways it could be improved. In our study, 235 plots from three villages in the North China Plain(NCP) were monitored. Maize production on farms was evaluated;our results showed that the maize yield and nitrogen partial factor productivity(PFPN) were variable on smallholder farms at 6.6–13.7 t ha^–1 and 15.4–88.7 kg kg^–1, respectively.Traditional farming practices also have a large environmental impact(nitrogen surplus:–64.2–323.78 kg ha^–1). Key yield components were identified by agronomic diagnosis. Grain yield depend heavily on grain numbers per hectare rather than on the 1 000-grain weight. A set of improved management practices(IP) for maize production was designed by employing a boundary line(BL) approach and tested on farms. Results showed that the IP could increase yield by 18.4% and PFPN by 31.1%, compared with traditional farmer practices(FP), and reduce the nitrogen(N) surplus by 57.9 kg ha^–1. However,in terms of IP effect, there was a large heterogeneity among different smallholder farmers’ fields, meaning that, precise technologies were needed in different sites especially for N fertilizer management. Our results are valuable for policymakers and smallholder farmers for meeting the objectives of green development in agricultural production.

Determinants of cooperative pig farmers' safe production behaviour in China——Evidences from perspective of cooperatives' services

Farmers＇ production behaviour is a key to ensuring the safety and quality of their final products, and cooperatives play an important role in shaping that behaviour. This paper aims to explore the determinants of pig farmers＇ safe production behaviour, giving special focus from the perspective of cooperatives＇ services. This study adopted cross sectional survey data from 27 pig cooperatives and their 540 farmers in China to test the influence of cooperatives＇ services on farmers＇ safe production behaviour. The hypotheses were tested using a logit regression model. The findings indicated that although the number of services is not a key determinant of farmers＇ safe production behaviour, service quality matters. When a cooperative is strongly capable of involving more farmers in certain services, and provides certain services in more frequency, member farmers behave more safely. The results also show that veterinarian and pig-selling services play an important role in ensuring farmers＇ safe production behaviour. For this study, the quality of cooperatives＇ services is implied to have a positive impact on farmers＇ safe production behaviour. Leaders/managers of cooperatives must try to improve the quality of their services instead of merely attempting to provide a large number of services. For government officials and policy makers, designing policies that encourage cooperatives to improve their service quality is important. This research contributes to the scant literature on how cooperative services could help farmers engage in safer production behaviour, which would improve the safety of pork products in the future.

Agricultural production structure,market conditions and farmers’nutritional intake in rural China

Nutrition poverty alleviation is an effective measure to improve the nutritional status of economically disadvantaged individuals,fundamentally improving their health and reducing poverty.Based on the Entitlement Theory and using the China Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS)data,this paper examines the relationship between farmers’nutritional intake,production structure and regional market conditions.Results show that farmers with diversified production have better nutritional intake than those who specialize.Furthermore,the correlation between regional market conditions and nutritional intake varies between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged households.Market conditions significantly influence the carbohydrate and fat intake of economically disadvantaged households and are positively associated with the dietary structure and nutritional intake of non-economically disadvantaged ones.Moreover,income is positively correlated with the nutritional intake of non-economically disadvantaged households but not with economically disadvantaged ones.

Perceptions of Rice Farmers towards Production Constraints: Case Study of Niger State of Nigeria and Hainan of China

Rice yield is still low in Nigeria despite the ecological advantages. Several challenges has been traced it production. The study intend to investigate if other rice producing nations are faced with similar challenges and at what magnitude and more importantly, what can be learn to improve the rice yield in Nigeria. Based on 2013/2014 survey, a total sample of 400 famers were randomly interviewed;164 from Niger State of Nigeria and 236 from Hainan province of China. The study collate the perception of farmers to rice production constraints categorized into biotic, abiotic and socioeconomics. Biplot analysis was employed to examine multivariate pattern of their perceptions towards production constraints. The multivariate technique simultaneously displaying different yield levels and factor constraints in data matrix providing the inter-unit distances, variance and correlations of variables. According to the study, Niger state farmers identified socioeconomic constraint as the major factors to production and attributed it to lack of or insufficient investment while the Hainan farmers majorly identified abiotic constraints. The study also indicated that great potential remain to further improve rice yield in both regions especially in Nigeria given the appropriate investment on essential inputs. This study is of great use to extension officers more so, given the investment in Africa, policy makers take advantage of the bilateral and multilateral relationship to invest ease transfer of agricultural information and technologies between or among partners.

The Impact of Quality of Labor on Farmers' Agricultural Production Benefits:A Case Study of Anyang City

In recent years,the Central Document No.1 has been all about the issues concerning agriculture,countryside and farmers,and especially the Central Document No.1 in 2013 highlighted the improvement of quality of the rural labor force to develop modern agriculture.The quality of labor is related to the improvement of production efficiency,and farmers' agricultural production benefits are related to the issues concerning agriculture,countryside and farmers,ultimately affecting the development process of modern agriculture.On the theoretical basis of human capital,this article carries out empirical analysis,calculates the farmers' agricultural production benefits,and analyzes the specific impact of quality of labor on farmers' agricultural production benefits.Finally,some recommendations are put forth to increase farmers' income.

Farmers' State of Mind and the Policy Thinking for the Cotton Production in Shandong Province

Affected by the meteorological disasters and market fluctuations,the growing area,yield and quality of cotton in Shandong Province have been reduced to varying degrees in recent years.The majority of farmers are regarded as the main body of agricultural production,whose enthusiasm for growing cotton and confidence in the cotton market play a significant role in stabilizing the growing area and improving the quality of cotton.We randomly select the cotton farmers for in-depth interview,to understand the situation of cotton cultivation and their state of mind for growing,aimed at deriving the factors influencing farmers'willingness to grow cotton.In the future,it is necessary to make the best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages,and in a timely manner curb the decline of cotton cultivation in the process of guiding and encouraging the cotton cultivation,in order to solve the problems of low farmers'willingness to grow cotton and sluggish cotton industry from the root.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Farmer and Herdsman's Operating Behavior in Crop Production--A Case Study of the Typical Tibetan Counties(Cities)

We select 204 panel data samples from fixed observation spots in China's rural areas(Nagqu County,Duilongdeqing County and Xigaze City in Tibet),and conduct systematic analysis of factors influencing farmer and herdsman's operating behavior in crop production,using regression estimation method of the linear model,mixed OLS model and the random effects model.The research shows that "the number of migrant workers","the amount of household labor forces","original value of fixed assets for production purpose at the end of year","whether having agricultural machinery or not" and other household endowment factors,have a positive impact on total planting area of households,and theoretically,the endowment effect of internal factors predicted is valid;the product of "average food price" and "whether selling or not" has conspicuous impact,and the empirical results confirm that in external factors,the substitution effect of price is greater than the income effect.

Sustainable Potato Production in the Mountain Area of Ecuador, an Approach to Increase Productivity with Small Scale Farmers

Ecuador potato crop is family based production system. Potato production has two roles in their economy, the first is providing food for their families and the second is a source of income for the household. However small scale farmers have limited access to local markets and most of the sales are through intermediates’ who purchase directly in the field at the lowest price possible. Potato production challenges for the small-scale farmers are among others availability of quality potato seed, direct sales, purchase of agrochemical inputs to maintain their crops and lack of education. In 2021, only 4% of potato farmers used certified seed. Potato yield is still low around 16.1 t·ha-1, in the last 10 years the total potato cultivated area was reduced by at least 50%. The farmers produce “Bokashi” and other organic fertilizer and these are effective to improve soil fertility and plant health. Homemade bio-pesticides reduce agrochemical pesticides. The Decision Support System (DSS) is a handheld device to control late blight, minimizes fungicide applications and improve fungicide rotation. In 2018 Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso), the causal agent of zebra chip, and its vector, the potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli, together created havoc for farmers and researchers. Promotion of early potato varieties INIAP—Libertad is an alternative to lower the impact of this newest pest.

Farmers’ perceptions of pollinators’ importance in coffee production in Uganda

Coffee (Coffea canephora) is the principal cash crop and the country’s largest agricultural foreign revenue earner in Uganda. Previous surveys confirmed that coffee grown in central Uganda was largely depending on bee pollination to set fruit set. Despite its high contribution to the economics of agricultural sector in Uganda and despite its great dependency to bees for fruit set, it is not clear if small-scale farmers are aware of the importance of managing farm-landscapes for pollination services conservation to increase coffee yield. The aim of this study was to assess farmers’ perceptions and knowledge of the importance of pollinators and pollination services conservation for coffee production enhancement. The main hypothesis was that small-scale coffee growers were not aware of the relevance of pollination services for coffee production. Farmers’ surveys were conducted in coffee-banana farming systems in central Uganda. It was found in this study that more than 90% of interviewed farmers were not aware of the role played by bees in coffee yield increase. Farmers were not willing to manage their lands to protect pollination services, particularly because they considered pollination service as an unsolicited “free service”, or as a “public good”. Farmers were not aware of the role of semi- natural habitats serving as reservoir (hiding points) for pollinators in the surrounding of coffee fields. However, they were aware of some ecosystem services delivered in the coffee- banana farming system such as planting shading trees. Only 3.3% of respondents believed that placing beehives in coffee farms could increase the yield. The study recommended the increase of the awareness of small-scale coffee growers on the importance of pollinators to increase coffee production. It is recommended that future management of pollination services are built on improving farmers’ indigenous knowledge and on adequate understanding of the ecology of the local pollinator species. There is a need to broadly scale-up best field, habitat and landscape management strategies and practices that are friendly to coffee pollinators in rural landscapes of

Analysis on Consumption Behavior of Zhejiang Province's Farmers from the Perspective of Their Income Increase

With rapid development of industrialization in Zhejiang Province, surplus rural labor forces move to the secondary and tertiary industries. Farmers of Zhejiang Province are no exception. They turn to industrial workers and their income source has great changes. Wage income becomes their major source of income. Accordingly, farmers' consumption behavior has great changes. Apart from satisfying basic production and living demands, farmers start to pursue living quality and their life style tends to urbanization. Nevertheless, under the influence of rural physical environment, policies and systems, the existing consumption environment fails to follow farmers' urban lifestyle any more. In line with how to optimize rural consumption environment, improve farmers' consuming capacity, continue to expand farmers' consumption and promote urbanization development of rural areas, this paper presents pertinent countermeasures and recommendations.

Aggregation behavior of juvenile Neptunea cumingii and eff ects on seed production

Neptunea cumingii is an important nutrition-rich economic species in China.Juveniles of N.cumingii suff er from high mortality at low temperatures,which has proved a limiting factor in raising seedlings in artifi cial habitats.Previous research has shown that N.cumingii displays aggregation behavior in response to adverse environmental changes.Therefore,we determined the eff ects of temperature,food,size of juvenile snails,substratum type,and density of juvenile snails on the aggregation behavior of N.cumingii.Results show that,at a low(4°C)or a high(22°C)temperature,juvenile snails adjusted to the inhospitable environment by exhibiting increased aggregation behavior.However,their aggregation behaviors diff ered at these two temperatures.There was no signifi cant diff erence in the aggregation rate,but the typical aggregation size was larger at 4°C than at 22°C.At 10°C or 16°C,aggregation behavior of juvenile snails reduced.Aggregation increased in the satiation treatment at 10°C and 16°C.Small-sized juveniles tended to have higher aggregation rates(92.22%)and a larger typical aggregation size.More juveniles were distributed in the bottom of shaded substrata.A larger typical aggregation size or higher density signifi cantly reduced the mortality of juvenile snails at a low temperature(4°C).These results broaden our understanding of gastropod aggregation behavior and can be used to develop and improve commercial breeding strategies and resource recovery for N.cumingii.

Coupling Relationship Analysis on Households′ Production Behaviors and Their Influencing Factors in Nature Reserves:A Structural Equation Model

A households′production behavior directly influences the quality of the environment and determines the successful development of nature reserves.Meanwhile,the households′production behaviors are complicated by interrelated factors,such as protection attitudes,resource endowment,and family wealth.This research evaluated households near the Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi Province,acquiring data from 436 households around Yang County and Ningshan County in the south slope of Qinling Mountains,China.Based on the collected data,we developed a structural equation model to evaluate the coupling relationships among households′ protection attitudes,production behaviors,resource endowment,and family wealth.The results showed that:1) households with great resource endowment had more negative attitudes,probably due to their greater protection costs;2) the households with higher education levels had worse protection attitudes;3) the households with more family wealth were likely to use fewer fertilizers,pesticides,and firewood;4) the households with more resource endowment showed less production and management behaviors;5) the enhancement of households' attitudes improved production behaviors to protection the environment,but the effects were not statistically significant.Our results provide a basis for the government's protection policy making,exploring the effective management measures that are beneficial for both nature reserve management and community development.

Link-up between Farmers and Supermarket based on China's Fresh Agricultural Products

Link-up between farmers and supermarket is a new move adopted actively by the current government, conducive to consumers, farmers and circulation enterprises. At present, link-up between farmers and supermarket is launched in China's 15 provinces and cities, which will set off the revolution in the field of agricultural circulation. Based on the current situation of link-up between farmers and supermarket and the existing problems, we put forth the following recommendations: promoting the quality of farmers' cooperative organizations; establishing the logistics center of fresh agricultural products; using economies of scale to reduce the fresh logistics costs; improving the operation and management level of fresh agricultural products in supermarket.

Kenyan Counties Geospatial Data Knowledge to Monitor Crop Production

Climate change effects have had negative effects on most farmers, both small and large-scale, with weather patterns increasingly becoming unpredictable, such that farmers are unable to plan well for their farming, resulting in reduced harvests and sometimes losses for farmers. Better availability of information such as weather patterns, suitable crops, nutrient requirements based on soil types and conditions would greatly alleviate these challenges. While geospatial information is being developed and improved continuously by researchers, its accessibility and use by the counties has not been established and cannot be identified as contributing to better crop production outcomes. The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess the awareness and status of geospatial data availability and use for crop production, and the level of the relevant capacities, both human and infrastructural, in selected Counties of Kenya. A survey was conducted in the four counties of Vihiga, Kilifi, Wajir and Nyeri and key informant interviews were conducted with both management and technical County Agricultural Officers, as well as sub-county agricultural extension officers. From the results of the survey, out of the four counties, only one has adequate infrastructure in terms of hard-ware, software and connectivity to conduct useful geospatial data acquisition and processing. While most indicated awareness of the existence of geospatial data, limited resources, low skills and knowledge have restricted any meaningful sourcing of and access to data, with only 38% moderately or highly skilled in acquisition, 48% in processing and 57% in interpretation and use of geospatial data. The study concludes that moderate skills and capacities available within the counties have considerable potential to make use the available geospatial data to inform farmers accordingly and improve their farming outcomes.

An Empirical Study of Farmers' Perception and Behavior on Farmland Abandonment in Yunnan Province

In this study,using the PRA method,we conduct a questionnaire survey on 525 farmers in 10 typical villages in Yunnan Province,and study the farmers' farmland abandonment behavior as well as their perception. Studies have shown that there are some common problems for the villages in the inner suburbs and the villages in the outer suburbs such as small scale of rural land,dispersed plots and land fragmentation,and the scale and fragmentation problems are more prominent in the villages in the inner suburbs while the dispersed plot problems are more obvious in the villages in the outer suburbs; the levels of farmland abandonment vary in different sample villages,the farmland abandonment is more prevalent in the villages in the outer suburbs,the abandonment behavior involves more farmers,and farmers tend to abandon small plots of farmland; the proportion of the abandoned farmland perceived by the farmers in the villages in the inner and outer suburbs( especially in the inner suburbs) is significantly lower than the actual proportion,and farmers' perception greatly deviates from the actual reality; some farmers have wrong perception of farmland abandonment behavior,and even if there are farmers with correct perception,they also abandon farmland.

Operation Mechanism of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives from the Point of Low-Carbon Agricultural Products

We firstly take a look at internal logic of cluster development of low-carbon agricultural products.In combination with operation features of farmers' professional cooperatives and actual requirements for cluster development of low-carbon agricultural products;we elaborate establishing benefit allocation mechanism,bearing education and training functions,forming low-carbon value,building low-carbon identification system,as well as realizing low-carbon value.According to these situations,we systematically analyze operation mechanism of farmers' professional cooperatives suitable for cluster development of low-carbon agricultural products.To promote cluster development of low-carbon agricultural products,we put forward following suggestions,including government guidance and encouragement,social acceptance and active cooperation,and integration into global low-carbon development system to share benefit of low-carbon development.