Dataset Information

Experimental and empirical evidence shows that reducing weed control in winter cereal fields is a viable strategy for farmers.

ABSTRACT: Modern agriculture needs a paradigm shift to make the world's food production sustainable while mitigating social and environmental externalities. Although various policies to limit the use of agrochemicals have recently been implemented in the European Union, the use of both herbicides and fertilizers has remained fairly constant. Farmers are assumed to behave optimally, producing the best they can, given the agronomic constraints of their fields. Based on this assumption, reducing agrochemicals should inevitably have negative effects on food production, or reduce farmers' incomes. Coupling empirical analysis based on field surveys and experimental trials where weed management and nitrogen input were manipulated in the same production fields and under real farming conditions, we demonstrate that high use of N fertiliser or intense weed control slightly increase yields, but that this increase is not enough to offset the additional costs incurred by their use. Our experimental design allowed inputs to be varied in a two-factor design, along a gradient spanning from organic to highly intensive farming, while holding all other conditions constant and thus avoiding confounding effects. Quantification of crop yields and gross margins from winter cereal farming showed that reducing dependence on weed management may not hamper cereal production in this system, and is economically profitable at the field level on the short term. Our study thus contributes to addressing a key gap in our economic knowledge, and gives hope for implementing win-win strategies for farmers and the environment.

SUBMITTER: Catarino R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6588622 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Experimental and empirical evidence shows that reducing weed control in winter cereal fields is a viable strategy for farmers.

Catarino Rui R Gaba Sabrina S Bretagnolle Vincent V

Scientific reports 20190621 1

Modern agriculture needs a paradigm shift to make the world's food production sustainable while mitigating social and environmental externalities. Although various policies to limit the use of agrochemicals have recently been implemented in the European Union, the use of both herbicides and fertilizers has remained fairly constant. Farmers are assumed to behave optimally, producing the best they can, given the agronomic constraints of their fields. Based on this assumption, reducing agrochemical ...[more]

PMID: 31227731

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Project description:Since China's reform and opening-up in 1978, the income of rural residents has increased when compared with that of urban residents. However, the income growth rate of farmers is relatively low, and the income gap between urban and rural areas is widening. Using a sample of 1,325 large-scale farming households in Lin'an, this study constructs a theoretical path for how the level of vertical integration and an organization model affect farmers' income levels and empirically tests the path using a mediation effect analysis model. The results indicate that organization models and vertical integration are important factors that affect farmers' income levels. The total income and agricultural operation income of farmers who participate in agricultural operation organizations are greater than that of farmers who do not participate in an operation organization. In addition, the total income and agricultural operation income of farmers who produce and process and those who produce, process, and sell are higher than those of farmers who only produce. A farmers' organization model has both a direct and an indirect positive influence on their income level, with the indirect positive influence coming through the mediating variable of vertical integration. The application of the organizational model can promote the growth of rural households' total family income and agricultural income by 13.48% and 14.48% respectively, consisting of direct increases of 9.67% and 10.19%, and indirect increases of 3.81% and 4.29% through vertical integration. The results also show that access to credit, agricultural technology training, and the farmer's education level have significant positive impacts on farming income levels. The findings suggest ways to increase farmers' income by perfecting agricultural management organization systems, promoting agricultural industrialization, strengthening rural financial support, improving agricultural technical training for farmers, and increasing their level of education.

Dataset Information

Experimental and empirical evidence shows that reducing weed control in winter cereal fields is a viable strategy for farmers.

Publications

Experimental and empirical evidence shows that reducing weed control in winter cereal fields is a viable strategy for farmers.

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