The objective of this study is to explore the main factors that drive decisions of farmers to sell their products directly to consumers through farm direct marketing channels. A case study on cherry growers on the subject of direct marketing, which is one of the alternative marketing options in agricultural products marketing for farmers, is examined in this study. In addition, further suggestions are put forward on how to improve the use of direct marketing strategies by farmers in Turkey. An ordinal logistic regression analysis model was used to analyze the effects of agricultural businesses and demographic features on the tendency of growers to choose direct marketing channels in cherry selling. According to these model results, the cherry farming experience of the growers, the size of the cherry orchard, the level of specialization in cherry production, and the gross margin per hectare for cherry production have a statistically significant impact on the tendency of the growers to choose direct marketing channels in cherry selling. In particular, the growers whose experience is more than 20 yr, the farms that are semi-specialized, the farms providing a gross margin of more than US$5506 ha−1, and the farms having a cherry orchard between 1 and 2 ha in size were determined to have more of a tendency for direct marketing. These results show that owners of medium-sized farms are more interested in direct marketing. According to the interviewed cherry growers, the most important factor limiting their participation in direct marketing is that there are no organizations that will help them meet their direct marketing goals and build direct marketing arrangements between themselves and their consumers.

Naranjilla cultivation is highly profitable in many parts of the Andean foothills in Colombia and Ecuador. Its susceptibility to soil-borne diseases, however, lowers its economic benefits, reduces sustainability of production and increases its contribution to environmental degradation. This paper presents an analysis of the potential market and non-market benefits of research that developed and tested the grafting of common naranjilla onto disease-resistant rootstock. Grafting reduces the need for pesticide application and increases the longevity and sustainability of the plant. An economic surplus approach, carefully calibrated to reflect the realities of naranjilla production, was employed to show the large benefits from such research. Environmental and health benefits are very close in magnitude to market-mediated surplus gains. The results show substantial potential benefits from an outreach program to diffuse the new technology.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) may have a potential to enhance the productivity of agroecosystems in dry areas where water and nutrients are limited. This study quantified soil water, residual soil nitrogen (N), and crop yields in lentil-based systems in comparison with continuous cereal and conventional summerfallow systems. A 3-yr cropping sequence study was conducted for three cycles in Saskatchewan (50.28°N, 107.79°W) from 2007 to 2011. On average, soil retained 187, 196 and 337 mm of water in the 0–1.2 m depth at crop harvest in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Summerfallow contained the same amounts of water as the cropped treatments at the harvest in 2009 and 2010. However, in 2008, summerfallow contained more soil water than the cropped treatments. The effect of lentil cultivar on soil water conservation varied with years; the cultivars Glamis, Laird and Sedley conserved highest amounts of soil water by the planting time of 2009 and 2010, but no differences were found among cultivars in 2011. Soil available N (NO3− + NH4+) at spring planting time was 50.4 kg ha−1 in the preceding lentil treatments, which was 44% higher compared with preceding barley or flax, but was 25% lower compared with preceding summerfallow. Lentil cultivars had a similar amount of soil residual N. Grain production in the 3-yr rotation averaged 6.3 t ha−1 per rotation for the wheat–lentil–durum system and 6.8 t ha−1 for the wheat–cereal–durum monoculture, averaging 36% greater compared with wheat–summerfallow–durum system. The lentil system increased total grain production through the access of residual soil water and biologically fixed N, whereas continuous cereal system relies on inorganic fertilizer input for yield. Summerfallow system relies on ‘mining’ the soil for nutrients. We conclude that the adoption of lentil systems will enhance grain production through the use of residual soil water and available N.

Organic agriculture continues to expand in the USA and in the European Union (EU), particularly in Italy, which had 48,650 organic farms in 2014 compared with 19,474 in the USA. Additionally, EU support for organic research is nearly double than that of the USA. Along with increased support for organic research, the EU organic community has achieved recognition at the European Commission policy level for a dedicated innovation platform, advocating the practice of farmer-first models for participatory research. The US land-grant universities have a long history of on-farm research, primarily through the Extension Service, but the need exists for more inclusive, second-loop, co-research with organic farmers. A survey was conducted of organic farmers and researchers in Italy and in the USA to ascertain the extent of participatory organic research activities and experiences, and explore the vision each group had for the future of co-innovation between organic farmers and researchers. Results indicated that, despite the higher level of organic research support in the EU, the percentage of researchers involved in on-farm/participatory organic research was equivalent in Italy and the USA, presumably due to the more recent emphasis in Italian/EU agricultural research agendas on the importance of farmer knowledge and participation in organic research. Overall, 60% of surveyed organic researchers in both countries cited involvement in on-farm/participatory organic research, with ‘farming systems’ and ‘nutrient/pest management’ the main research focus in the USA, compared with ‘farming systems’ and ‘equipment’ in Italy. Both countries’ researchers expressed their vision of participatory research as helping to improve communication between researchers and farmers, to enable work on relevant research, and to allow farmers to adapt technologies to their own conditions. Organic farmers in Italy completed survey questionnaires as part of a field day activity, leading to more Italian farmers responding to the survey, compared with USA counterparts who were queried via e-mail. Organic farmers in Italy identified ‘knowledge-sharing’ as a critical value of participatory research, and were conducting on-farm research with less compensation than US farmers. The ‘lack of time’ was cited as the most important constraint limiting participatory research by Italian and US farmers, although the ‘lack of common language’ also was rated as potentially impairing full participation. Lessons shared between EU and US organic researchers as a result of this project included methods to institute policies aimed at increasing support for organic research and co-innovations with organic farming communities, and connecting experienced on-farm researchers in the US with Italian colleagues to enhance collaborative activities with organic farmers.

Cover crop-based reduced tillage (CCBRT) has achieved positive impacts in organic row crop systems, contributing to the conservation of soil resources and the facilitation of weed management. This technique, which uses cover crop residues as mulches to suppress weeds, has shown more variable success in organic vegetable production systems. This experiment examined CCBRT for small-scale organic vegetable production in the upper Midwestern USA, specifically evaluating weed suppression, labor inputs and crop yields. Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were fall-sown in 2012 and 2013 in a strip-plot design, including control treatments with no cover crop and spring-applied oat straw mulch. Cover crop plots were strip-tilled in mid-April to establish a planting zone, with cover crops terminated in late May at anthesis with a hand-tractor mounted sickle-bar mower. Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L. var. ‘Revolution’), snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. ‘Tavera’), and potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L. var. ‘Red La Soda’) were hand-planted either as transplants or seed in each treatment immediately following cover crop termination. During each summer growing season, weeds were completely eliminated from each plot by hand approximately every 10–14 days, with time for manual weeding recorded for each treatment. Vegetable crop yields and quality were measured at harvest during 2013 and 2014. Cereal rye and winter wheat produced similar biomass at the time of termination. Greater weed biomass was collected in the wheat treatment as compared with the cereal rye, increasing the in-season labor required for manual weeding. Bean yields were decreased in the all CCBRT treatments compared with control treatments in both years of the study. Pepper yields did not differ in CCBRT treatments as compared with the control in both 2012 and 2013, although the CCBRT treatments did yield lower marketable peppers compared with the straw mulch plots. Potato tuber yields were not different in the CCBRT treatments as compared with the control in 2012, but were lower in 2013. These data indicate that, if CCBRT is to be more widely adopted in small-scale vegetable production, further optimization of the system must be achieved to ensure consistent and adequate weed suppression while maintaining crop yield and quality.

Composting is an appealing way to reutilize the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW). Beyond the obvious advantage of reducing urban waste, the use of MSW compost in agriculture entails other potential benefits, such as reducing the amount of mineral fertilizer applied to the field and providing a potentially higher quality alternative. However, some concerns may arise from its use, such as crop yield and quality alterations. This work studied the effect of fertilizing with compost obtained from the organic fraction of MSW, on crop yield, crop quality and phenolic content of tomato fruit. Experiments were conducted in the Barcelona area, using Solanum lycopersicum L., var. ‘Penjar’, a popular regional tomato. Compared with the use of mineral fertilizer (M), fertilization with MSW compost alone (C) or combined with mineral fertilizer (C + M) had no significant effect on tomato fruit quality characterized by weight, diameter or Brix, nor was there a significant effect on total phenolic content. In contrast, the C treatment altered the phenolic profile by enhancing a kaempferol derivative, and caused a 43 and 48% yield reduction compared with the C + M and M treatments, respectively. Overall, composted MSW + mineral fertilizer appeared to be the best strategy for the reutilization of MSW in tomato culture, as it did not compromise crop yield or fruit quality.

Agriculture in the Altiplano and Andean Mountains is experiencing threats to sustainability mainly due to intensive cultivation of quinoa driven by international markets. This recent export-oriented production system is causing the degradation of soils and reducing productivity, therefore, agro-technological innovations are necessary to sustain cropping systems while maintaining organic quality (mostly quinoa). In this work, we searched for native Trichoderma species associated with plants from the Andean highlands to obtain an environmentally friendly and organic alternative to chemical fertilizers. We obtained different Trichoderma isolates from quinoa, potato and maize roots and soil, which were identified as Trichoderma harzianum, as well as other species. Twelve of the isolates were cultured in pairs to stimulate the production and secretion of compounds of diverse chemical nature that we called collectively ‘secondary metabolites’ (SMs). Crude extracts of SMs were used to inoculate selected crops to determine their plant growth promoting potential compared with two commercially available controls, chemical fertilizer and a bio-fertilizer. Results showed that SMs significantly promoted lettuce and radish growth and increased quinoa grain yield. Indole acetic acid was detected in all SM extracts that promoted plant growth, suggesting that this plant regulator might be responsible for the plant growth promoting activity. In conclusion, the Trichoderma-derived SMs approach appears to be a promising, simple and accessible technology for small-scale farmers in order to insure the sustainability, affordability and accessibility of food production in the Andes.

Cover crops play an important role in agricultural sustainability. Unlike commodity cash crops, however, there has been relatively little cover crop breeding research and development. We conducted an online survey to evaluate: (a) the perspectives of organic and conventional farmers in the USA who use cover crops and (b) the specific cover crop traits that are important to farmers. We recruited participants from both organic and conventional agriculture networks and 69% of respondents reported that they farmed organic land. In addition to demographic data and information on management practices, we quantified farmer perspectives on four winter annual cover crops: (1) Austrian winter pea, (2) crimson clover, (3) hairy vetch and (4) cereal rye. Overall, respondents represented a wide range of states, farm sizes, plant hardiness zones and cash crops produced. Of the 417 full responses received, 87% of respondents reported that they used cover crops. The maximum amount farmers were willing to spend on cover crop seed varied by farmer type: 1% of conventional farmers versus 19% of organic farmers were willing to spend over US$185 ha−1 (US$75 acre−1). Organic and conventional farmers differed in terms of the reasons why they grew cover crops, with organic farmers placing greater value on the ecosystem services from cover crops. More organic (63%) than conventional (51%) farmers agreed that participatory breeding was important for cover crop variety development (P = 0.047). Both groups shared strong support for cover crop research and considered many of the same traits to be important for breeding. For the legume cover crops, nitrogen fixation was considered the most important trait, whereas winter hardiness, early vigor, biomass production and weed suppression were the most important traits for cereal rye. Our results illustrate common interests as well as differences in the perspectives between organic and conventional farmers on cover crops and can be used to inform nascent cover crop breeding efforts.