IN THEIR REPORT “INSECT-RESISTANT GM rice in farmers’ fields: assessing productivity and health effects in China” (29 Apr., p. 688), J. Huang et al. found that farmers growing insect-resistant GM rice obtained higher yields with less use of insecticides than farmers growing conventional varieties. Huang et al.’s methodology does not, however, permit discrimination between two alternative hypoth...

this study examined the knowledge and perception of farmers regarding privatization and commercialization of agricultural extension services in delta state, nigeria. a sample size of 90 farmers in contact with extension agents was randomly selected for the study. data for the study was collected through the use of a validated structured interview schedule. both descriptive and inferential stati...

this survey-study carried out among 360 randomly selected farmers living in drought-prone areas of fars province, iran, set out to investigate the perceptions and psychologi-cal coping strategies of farmers when facing drought. results showed that farmers per-ceived drought as a threat to all of their resources (material, conditions, personal, social and energies) and used emotion-focused and r...

BACKGROUND To date, there have been a limited number of studies on the impact of government-incentivised farm animal welfare programmes or 'schemes', and on farmers' attitudes regarding such schemes. In this study, focus groups were used to gain insight into Irish farmers' perceptions of such a scheme for suckler cattle and its behavioural impacts on farmers. RESULTS The findings were categor...

BACKGROUND Rain-fed agriculture remains the source of employment for a majority of Ghana's population, particularly in northern Ghana where annual rainfall is low. The purpose of this study is to examine farmers' perceptions and adaptation practices to climate change and variability in accordance with actual recorded weather data of the Vea catchment in Upper East Region of northern Ghana durin...

A number of economic and environmental benefits are associated with the use of no-till in production agriculture in the United States. There are lower labor, energy, and machinery costs associated with no-till farming relative to conventional tillage systems and other types of conservation tillage. Reduced erosion and runoff associated with no-till also lead to a number of environmental benefit...

Agroforestry on small-scale farms has potential to provide important ecological services, such as carbon sequestration and maintenance of biological diversity, while also providing on-farm products for domestic use and marketing. Payments for environmental services (PES) are an increasingly popular mechanism for encouraging production of ecological services on agricultural lands and may also co...

In West Africa, the most extreme predicted effects of climate change are expected to occur in desert and grassland areas. It is crucial for local populations in this region to better understand what such projections signify to them to identify sound adaptation policies and interventions. We developed a game, called the “grazing game,” and conducted trials with local farmers at multiple study si...

The organic agriculture represents a promising alternative for the future of European agriculture. It is consistent with the notion of sustainable development set forth already in the 1992 CAP Reform. Despite of increasing importance of organic farming, the research on organic farming is still limited. This scarcity of the research is especially true for New Member States of the enlarged EU. Th...