Integrating value-chain approach with participatory multicriteria analysis for sustainable planning of a niche crop in Indian Himalayas

The value-chain approach(VCA)was used for exploring how a niche crop,namely large cardamom(Amomum subulatum Roxb.),can be developed sustainably to increase incomes and enhance rural livelihoods in the mountains.Large cardamom is a high-value,agro-climatically suitable,and non-perishable spice crop grown in the Himalayan region.Originating in Sikkim,the crop is important to the local economy and is sold in both domestic and international markets;however,its production in India has been declining significantly in recent years.Using VCA and participatory methods of data collection the study helped elicit value chain actors’perspectives on various reasons for the decline as well as potential strategies to improve the cardamom value chain.The results present the multiple environmental and climatic(e.g.water stress),social(e.g.women participation)and institutional(e.g.lack of trust between actors)challenges and corresponding upgrading strategies.Through participatory multi-criteria analysis(MCA),the strategies were prioritized based on the overall preferences of multiple stakeholders.The analysis considered eight criteria and 25 options,or strategies,and found that that marketability and profitability were the most important criteria,and increasing cardamom production,the most important optiontrait.Stakeholder discussions along with sensitivity analysis also showed how these options could be implemented and revealed how criteria preferences can change with expert inputs.This combination of VCA and MCA,because it supports participatory decision-making and balances multiple dimensions of sustainable development,can be effectively deployed in planning for agricultural development in the mountains.

Temporary Crops in the Brazilian Agricultural Frontier

Food production remains one of the main challenges for humankind in this century, and Brazil is one of the largest food-producing countries that have yet some land for economically or technically profitable farming expansion. Moreover, knowing which areas constitute the Brazilian agricultural frontier is crucial for improving public policies and logistics infrastructure decisions. Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics from 1995 to 2019 were used in this study. We aimed to map and measure the expansion of agricultural areas in Brazil from 1995 to 2019 for temporary crops according to their mesoregions. We used a four-stage methodology, compared the results of two agglomerative clustering methods, and identified similar mesoregions based on their share trends in the Brazilian agricultural seeded area. Some mesoregions had higher positive trend values for their share of the Brazilian agricultural seeded area: Mato-grossense North (MT), Mato-grossense Northeast (MT), Mato Grosso do Sul Southwest (MS), Goiano South (GO), Extreme West Bahia (BA), Maranhense South (MA), Piauiense Southwest (PI), and Tocantins Eastern (TO). As a second leading group, the Paranaíba Upstream (MG), São José do Rio Preto (SP), Mato-grossense Southeast (MT), and Goiano East (GO), must be emphasized. Further research is recommended, including extending the study to permanent crops and applying top-down analysis targeting microregions or municipalities in the identified mesoregions.