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Farmers in developing countries are used to recycling and purchasing seeds of old and low-yielding varieties, leading to low seed and varietal replacement rates. Seed companies in Nepal have started to conduct traders' meetings (TMs) to promote new rice varieties. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of this approach in promoting new rice varieties.

The authors assess the effectiveness of TMs by surveying 238 agrodealers from 7 districts of Nepal. The authors used the binary logit model to study the determinants of participation in TM and an instrumental variable approach to estimate the impact of TMs on sales of the promoted rice varieties.

Results indicate that the TM significantly influences traders' knowledge and increases the probability of selling new rice varieties promoted. However, TMs did not significantly increase the overall sales of promoted rice varieties.

The study is based on cross-section data; thus, unobserved fixed effects could not be accounted for. The study finds only one relevant and valid instrumental variable and therefore could not conduct any exogeneity test.

Seed companies in Nepal started to conduct TMs to promote new rice varieties since 2019. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the usefulness of TMs and the impact of these events in changing traders' attitudes toward domestic rice seed varieties or in business performance (annual sales of the promoted varieties) have not been assessed. Therefore, the study findings will help to promote the market-driven seed system and increase the seed replacement rate.

Despite the abundance of small-scale farms in the USA and their importance for both rural economic development and food availability, the extensive research on small business management and entrepreneurship has mostly neglected the agricultural context, leaving many of these farms' business challenges unexplored. The authors focus on informing a specific decision faced by small farm managers: selling directly to consumers (i.e. farmer's markets) versus selling through aggregators. By collecting historical data and a series of interviews with industry experts, the authors employ simulation methodology to offer a framework that advises how small-scale farmers can allocate their product across these two channels to increase revenue in a given season. The results, which are relevant for operations management, small business management and entrepreneurship literature, can help small-scale farmers improve their performance and compete against their larger counterparts.

The authors rely on historical and interview data from key industry players (an aggregator and a small farm manager) to design a simulation analysis that determines which factors influence season-long farm revenue performance under varying strategies of channel allocation and commodity production.

The model suggests that farm managers should plan to evenly split their production between the two distribution channels, but if an even split is not possible, they should plan to keep a larger percentage in the nonaggregator (farmers' market/direct) channel. Further, the authors find that farmers can benefit significantly from a strong aggregator channel customer base, which suggests that farmers should promote and advertise the aggregator channel even if they only use it for a limited amount of their product.

The authors integrate small business management and operations management literature to study a widely understudied context and present practical implications for the performance of small-scale farms.

The agricultural sector is a critical component of global economic development, and its significance has grown significantly in recent years. The risks associated with agriculture and the behaviors of farmers in handling these risks are becoming increasingly important, given the sector’s increasing dependence worldwide. Various activities related to agriculture are vulnerable to multiple risks, which can have severe consequences for farmers’ livelihoods. The purpose of this systematic review is to present a comprehensive analysis of the sources of risk faced by farmers and their choices in adopting risk management strategies worldwide.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol was utilized to select relevant literature, and a total of 102 studies were analyzed. Through the use of Venn diagrams and graphical methods, the authors provide a transparent overview of the risks faced by farmers and the adoption of risk management strategies in developed and developing countries.

From the analysis, the authors found that, in terms of risk management strategies, diversification, reserve credit and accumulated assets are frequently used in developing countries, while developed countries tend to rely on future/forward contracts, crop insurance and hedging. Diversification is the most widely used risk management strategy across both developed and developing countries. Our study also highlights the different perceptions of weather-related risks among growers in developed and developing countries.

This systematic review provides valuable insights into the risks associated with agriculture and farmers' strategies in managing these risks, which could inform policy decisions and promote sustainable agricultural practices. For instance, understanding the individualistic nature of farmers' risk perception and the varying risk sources and management strategies depending on the locality and provide assistance to the farmers accordingly.

The paper explains how farmers behave during uncertainty in terms of risk perception and their decision to adopt risk management strategies in developed and developing countries.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the pandemic on sustainable agricultural practices (SAP) adoption such as: organic fertilizers, minimal use of tillage, crop rotation, soil burning and crop association in the frame of family farming systems in Ecuador.

The present research employed probit models' estimation with pooled data from 2018 to 2020. The study combined three sources of information with The Survey on Surface and Agricultural Continuous Production, as the main. This study also proposed the analysis of six regions: Coast, Coast Mountains, Northern Highlands, Central Highlands, Southern Highlands and the Amazon.

The authors see a lower adoption in the year 2020, where the pandemic was one of the causes. The only exception was the use of organic fertilizer. The adoption of these sustainable practices differed across the six regions. The findings also reveal that the employment generated by agricultural enterprises had a negative influence on the adoption of three sustainable practices, and that for the remaining practices the effect was positive.

The data set lacks information on the acceptance and the application of the practices promoted by agricultural technical assistance, which could provide insights into the effectiveness of the learning process. The limited observation period does not allow for investigating long-term effects on sustainable practices adoption.

This study helps to understand the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in the adoption of SAP. Additionally, this research can help with the scalability of the practices starting from the regions that are most likely to adopt each of them.

Nonfamily farms are responsible for a disproportionate amount of US agriculture production. The importance of these operations to the volume of agriculture production in the United States has led researchers and policymakers to understand nonfamily farms as large commercial operations. This paper examines whether the distinction between family and nonfamily helps explain the financial outcomes of farm operations and households.

We test for differences in financial outcomes of the household and operations of family and nonfamily farms using an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. We compare these results to a decomposition of other possible typologies.

We present evidence that nonfamily farms are a heterogeneous group with a majority of small operations that are dominated by a small number of large operations. We discover that differences associated with the family-nonfamily distinction are largely explained by observable farm and operator characteristics that arise mechanically from the definition. However, we find suggestive evidence that family-nonfamily classification captures differences in economic behavior that lead to higher profitability measures to nonfamily farms. We find little evidence of any inherent structural differences between family and nonfamily farms that helps explain financial outcomes related to leverage or household finances.

We conclude that including nonfamily farms in official statistics of farm households may provide a more comprehensive overview of the farm sector, as our results suggest that family and nonfamily farms do not have innate differences that help explain many of their financial outcomes.

We incorporate previously unused data on nonfamily farm households and test the difference in mean financial outcomes between family and nonfamily farms.

This study aims to investigate the landscape of family-based organic farm businesses in the Kashmir Valley, India, analyzing the factors that either facilitate or hinder their adoption. The research also intends to uncover sources of information seeking. The primary purpose is to provide qualitative evidence to address existing knowledge gaps and offer insights for promoting sustainable farm practices in the region.

The research employs a qualitative approach, drawing on focus group interviews. The study thoroughly explores the background and relevant literature, utilizing a comprehensive research framework. Data is collected from family based farmers engaged in organic farming practices in the Kashmir Valley. The data is analyzed using content analysis ensuring a robust and thorough exploration of the subject matter.

This study reveals a notable transition in the agricultural landscape of the Kashmir Valley, showcasing a widespread adoption of organic farming on considerable land. The study reveals that key facilitators for organic farming among family-based farms are farm productivity, entrepreneurial intention, governance, environmental consciousness, and health concerns. The exchange of information, both through formal and informal channels, is found to be a crucial factor influencing the adoption of organic farming. The study also unveiled significant inhibitors that hinder the adoption of organic farming on commercial scales, including on-farm challenges such as difficulties in acquiring inputs and facing reduced yields, market-related concerns, and a lack of support and assistance from government agencies.

This research contributes significantly to the existing literature by advancing the understanding of organic farm business and agri-entrepreneurship. It unveils key factors that either support or hinder family-based organic farms, identifying crucial information sources and presenting valuable insights for policymakers. Furthermore, this study provides practical guidance for overcoming obstacles, enhancing infrastructure, and translating identified facilitators into successful agri-ventures in the Kashmir region.

To combat climate change, protect biodiversity, maintain water quality, facilitate a just transition for workers and engage citizens and communities, a diversity of stakeholders across multiple levels work together and collaborate to co-create mutually beneficial solutions. This paper aims to illustrate how a 7.5-year collaboration between local communities, researchers, academics, companies, state agencies and policymakers is contributing to the reframing of industrial harvested peatlands to regenerative ecosystems and carbon sinks with impacts on ecological, economic, social and cultural systems.

The European Union LIFE Integrated Project, Peatlands and People, responding to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, represents Europe’s largest rehabilitation of industrially harvested peatlands. It makes extensive use of marketing research for reframing strategies and actions by partners, collaborators and communities in the evolving context of a just transition to a carbon-neutral future.

The results highlight the ecological, economic, social and cultural reframing of peatlands from fossil fuel and waste lands to regenerative ecosystems bursting with biodiversity and climate solution opportunities. Reframing impacts requires muddling through the ebbs and flows of planned, possible and unanticipated change that can deliver benefits for peatlands and people over time.

At 3 of 7.5 years into a project, the authors are muddling through how ecological reframing impacts economic and social/cultural reframing. Further impacts, planned and unplanned, can be expected.

This paper shows how an impact planning canvas tool and impact taxonomy can be applied for social and systems change. The tools can be used throughout a project to understand, respond to and manage for unplanned events. There is constant learning, constantly going back to the impact planning canvas and checking where we are, what is needed. There is action and reaction to each other and to the diversity of stakeholders affected and being affected by the reframing work.

This paper considers how systemic change through ecological, economic, social and cultural reframing is a perfectly imperfect process of muddling through which holds the promise of environmental, economic, technological, political, social and educational impacts to benefit nature, individuals, communities, organisations and society.

The objective of the study is to systematically review the existing research in the topical domain of farmers’ direct link with supermarkets. The authors present a state-of-the-art structure of the field and provide directions for future research in the domain. The major aim of this study is to synthesize the research field and answer some specific questions, like what do we know about this field and where should we be heading.

A pool of 275 articles published from 2002 to 2022 were retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed using the R-based Biblioshiny and visualized using VOSviewer. The research design is a mix of quantitative bibliometric technique and qualitative content analysis. Bibliometric method ensures the objectivity while content analysis ensures the scholarly evaluation.

Major findings include production trend, dominant keywords, leading publication outlets and country-wise analysis of the selected articles. The authors found that sub-domains like economic aspects, participation hurdles and the rise of supermarkets are the most researched topics while operational issues, their pragmatic solutions, sustainability and innovation are the emerging sub-fields that need more academic attention.

The major limitation is the use of single data source, i.e. Scopus, and it is quite possible that useful studies that are not covered by Scopus remain excluded.

This study is one of the first attempts to systematically review the previous research on the selected topic. It will help researchers to understand the present status, identify future research directions, and pursue more reasonable and relevant topics of research.

As climate change increasingly affects rural food production, there is an urgent need to adopt agricultural adaptation strategies. Because the agricultural sector in Nepal is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the adaptation strategies of household farmers in rural areas are crucial. This study aims to address the impacts of agricultural climate change adaptation strategies in Nepal. The research empirically analyzed climate hazards, adaptation strategies and local adaptation plans in Mangalsen Municipality, Achham District, Sudurpashchim Province, Nepal.

This study used a purposive sampling of household lists, categorized as resource-rich, resource-poor and intermediate households. The analysis used primary data from 110 household surveys conducted among six focus groups and 30 informants were selected for interviews through purposive random sampling.

Climate change significantly impacts rainfall patterns and temperature, decreasing agriculture productivity and increasing household vulnerability. To overcome these negative impacts, it is crucial to implement measures such as efficient management of farms and livestock. A comprehensive analysis of Nepalese farmers' adaptation strategies to climate change has been conducted, revealing important insights into their coping mechanisms. By examining the correlation between farmers' strategies and the role of the local government, practical policies can be developed for farmers at the local level.

This study represents a significant breakthrough in the authors' understanding of this issue within the context of Nepal. It has been conclusively demonstrated that securing land tenure or land security and adopting appropriate agricultural methods, such as agroforestry, can be instrumental in enabling Nepalese households to cope with the effects of climate change effectively.

This research aims to explore the role of banks in supporting women agriculture entrepreneurs (WAEs) to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It focusses on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector, recognising their vital role in driving economic growth and achieving the SDGs.

The study utilises the role congruity theory and the feminist agri-food systems model as its theoretical framework. Qualitative data from 35 WAEs and 7 bank managers (BMs) responsible for agricultural financial services and business development are collected and thematically analysed to achieve the research objectives.

Although BMs claim they offer specialised financial products with dedicated support teams, WAEs express scepticism due to fears of unfavourable deals and excessive requirements. WAEs need more understanding of SDGs but recognise their substantial contributions. BMs acknowledge the need to enhance efforts, improve communication of offers and integrate SDGs across all business operations beyond agriculture and women-centric initiatives.

Banks must prioritise gender sensitivity and inclusivity for WAEs, offering tailored financial products and flexible loan structures. Microfinance and strategic marketing can enhance outreach. WAEs benefit from forming associations, accessing support networks, collaborating with banks, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and agricultural associations for mentoring and networking, and achieving the SDGs and sustainable agriculture.

The study connects WAEs and banks in achieving SDGs.