Njas-wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 

About: Njas-wageningen Journal of Life Sciences is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Agriculture & Dairy farming. Over the lifetime, 568 publications have been published receiving 15133 citations.

A review of social science on digital agriculture, smart farming and agriculture 4.0: New contributions and a future research agenda

Abstract: While there is a lot of literature from a natural or technical sciences perspective on different forms of digitalization in agriculture (big data, internet of things, augmented reality, robotics, sensors, 3D printing, system integration, ubiquitous connectivity, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and blockchain among others), social science researchers have recently started investigating different aspects of digital agriculture in relation to farm production systems, value chains and food systems. This has led to a burgeoning but scattered social science body of literature. There is hence lack of overview of how this field of study is developing, and what are established, emerging, and new themes and topics. This is where this article aims to make a contribution, beyond introducing this special issue which presents seventeen articles dealing with social, economic and institutional dynamics of precision farming, digital agriculture, smart farming or agriculture 4.0. An exploratory literature review shows that five thematic clusters of extant social science literature on digitalization in agriculture can be identified: 1) Adoption, uses and adaptation of digital technologies on farm; 2) Effects of digitalization on farmer identity, farmer skills, and farm work; 3) Power, ownership, privacy and ethics in digitalizing agricultural production systems and value chains; 4) Digitalization and agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS); and 5) Economics and management of digitalized agricultural production systems and value chains. The main contributions of the special issue articles are mapped against these thematic clusters, revealing new insights on the link between digital agriculture and farm diversity, new economic, business and institutional arrangements both on-farm, in the value chain and food system, and in the innovation system, and emerging ways to ethically govern digital agriculture. Emerging lines of social science enquiry within these thematic clusters are identified and new lines are suggested to create a future research agenda on digital agriculture, smart farming and agriculture 4.0. Also, four potential new thematic social science clusters are also identified, which so far seem weakly developed: 1) Digital agriculture socio-cyber-physical-ecological systems conceptualizations; 2) Digital agriculture policy processes; 3) Digitally enabled agricultural transition pathways; and 4) Global geography of digital agriculture development. This future research agenda provides ample scope for future interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science on precision farming, digital agriculture, smart farming and agriculture 4.0.

The need to breed crop varieties suitable for organic farming, using wheat, tomato and broccoli as examples: A review

Abstract: It is estimated that more than 95% of organic production is based on crop varieties that were bred for the conventional high-input sector. Recent studies have shown that such varieties lack important traits required under organic and low-input production conditions. This is primarily due to selection in conventional breeding programmes being carried out in the background of high inorganic fertilizer and crop protection inputs. Also, some of the traits (e.g., semi-dwarf genes) that were introduced to address problems like lodging in cereals in high-input systems were shown to have negative side-effects (reduced resistance to diseases such as Septoria, lower protein content and poorer nutrient-use efficiency) on the performance of varieties under organic and low-input agronomic conditions. This review paper, using wheat, tomato and broccoli as examples, describes (1) the main traits required under low-input conditions, (2) current breeding programmes for organic, low-input agriculture, (3) currently available breeding and/or selection approaches, and (4) the benefits and potential negative side-effects of different breeding methodologies and their relative acceptability under organic farming principles.

Cocoa production in West Africa, a review and analysis of recent developments

Abstract: This paper reviews the present condition of cocoa growing in West Africa where some six million ha are planted with cocoa which provide about 70 percent of the total world production. Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are the largest producers, followed by Nigeria and Cameroon. In the beginning of the 21st century the cocoa production increased from about 2,000,000 tons to about 3,000,000 tons in 2010 and subsequent years. While in this period expansion of the cocoa area (at the expense of forest land) contributed to increased production, nowadays more cocoa has to come from higher yield per ha which is very low at present. This paper highlights at first cocoa growing in each of the cocoa producing countries and then deals with the common constraints and options to higher yields, especially those in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. The major causes of low yield are a high incidence of pests and diseases, the old age of cocoa farms and lack of soil nutrients. Concerns about declining output due to aging and diseased trees have urged the government of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to launch large rehabilitation and replanting schemes which provide farmers with improved planting materials, plant protection chemicals and fertilizers. As owners of small farms do not earn enough income from their cocoa to purchase external inputs, the traditional mixed planting of cocoa and forest and fruit trees and some oil palms is discussed as an alternative to a high input approach. This low input low output system is sustainable but not the way forward to higher yields. It is thought that in the short run higher cocoa prices and improved management including pest and disease control and to a certain extent fertilizer use offer scope for a larger cocoa output. In the more distant future the predicted climatic change and increased land use for food production will reduce the size of the cocoa area and affect the leading position of West Africa on the world cocoa market. This review shows that at present the conditions for sustainable production are not met and concludes that important structural changes in the cocoa sector are needed to reach this goal. These changes concern the economic viability of cocoa on small farms, extensive land use and the ecological impact of the current cocoa growing practice. The implementation of these changes requires area specific programs with as their common goal increased economic and environmentally sustainable cocoa production on less land.

Economic analysis of anaerobic digestion - A case of Green power biogas plant in The Netherlands

Abstract: One of the key concerns of biogas plants is the disposal of comparatively large amounts of digestates in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. This paper analyses the economic performance of anaerobic digestion of a given biogas plant based on net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) concepts. A scenario analysis is carried out based on a linear programming model to identify feedstocks that optimize electricity production and to determine the optimal application of digestate. In addition to a default scenario, management and policy scenarios were investigated. Economic evaluations of all scenarios, except no subsidy scenario, show positive NPV. The highest NPV and IRR values are observed under reverse osmosis (RO) as a green fertilizer scenario. Our findings show that treating RO as a green fertilizer, as opposed to manure (default scenario), is not only lucrative for the plant but also lessens environmental burden of long distance transportation of concentrates. This paper also concludes that given the uncertainty of regulations concerning RO and the currently low values of digestate and heat, high investment and operating costs limit feasibility of anaerobic digestion of wastes of farm origin and other co-substrates unless subsidies are provided.

Adaptation to climate change and climate variability: The importance of understanding agriculture as performance

Abstract: Most climate change studies that address potential impacts and potential adaptation strategies are largely based on modelling technologies. While models are useful for visualizing potential future outcomes and evaluating options for potential adaptation, they do not adequately represent and integrate adaptive human agency. Richards’ concept of ‘agriculture as performance’ is useful in counterbalancing the modelling approach to adaptation because it highlights how adaptive processes and technologies, whether short term or long term, are more than simple technical responses to biophysical conditions. Instead, adaptive processes are social phenomena whose significance and effects expand well beyond changing climate conditions. This examination of agriculture as performance in the context of climate adaptation draws on two different examples. The first example explores how technical aspects of climate adaptation in Mali are situated within the enactment of ethnic identities and political struggles between farmers and herders. The second example shows how farmers in southeastern United States approach climate variability and climate forecasts as risk management tools. There are substantial differences between approaching adaptation as a dynamic process that is socially embedded and approaching adaptation as a set of modelled responses to anticipated future conditions. It is unlikely that either is adequate to meet the challenges posed by the uncertainties associated with climate change. However, building a synergistic relationship between the two promises to be as difficult as it is necessary.