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Sustainable nitrogen (N) management in agriculture is one of the most important issues affecting the environmental performance of modern agriculture. It is actually well perceived that coordinated efforts and holistic approaches are required to regulate N use by farmers. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial examination of stakeholders’ views in Japan regarding N use in agriculture and challenges to increase its sustainability. The analysis was based on a questionnaire study of five types of stakeholders (farmers, advisors, researchers, suppliers, policy makers). By means of multivariate analysis techniques it was revealed that consensus was lacking either in the acknowledgment of the causes and effects of unsustainable N management or in the challenges that need to be addressed. N losses from farms and the effects of N use were perceived but not conceived equally by all stakeholders. Organic farming and mandatory measures were the most controversial challenges, while those involving awareness, training and advisory were the most popular. This study cannot provide safe conclusions that can be generalized in the Japanese context, but it indicates domains where further research is required and orientations for future policy design towards more sustainable N use.

The Moroccan agricultural cooperative sector is a key player in self-employment and income generation through territorial anchoring. The government’s “MOURAFAKA” program offers support for newly created cooperatives, including strategic diagnosis and training. This paper analyzes the impact of the MOURAFAKA program on the sustainability of agricultural cooperatives in Morocco. Using original data from a survey of 232 cooperatives and a second database of 1131 cooperatives, the study employs a methodology based on survival function analysis and Cox regression. The results show that the MOURAFAKA program improves the sustainability of agricultural cooperatives by strengthening their management, governance, and market access capabilities. The study also highlights the importance of internal factors such as management skills, leadership style, and cooperative size, as well as external factors such as strategic adaptability, in determining the sustainability of agricultural cooperatives. The policy implications of these findings suggest that upstream literacy programs and capacity-building initiatives for cooperative leaders, as well as downstream access to financing, marketing, and practical training, are crucial for ensuring the sustainability of cooperatives.

Soil salinity and the use of saline groundwater are two major constraints in crop production, which covers a ~1.0 billion ha area of arid and semi-arid regions. The improved drainage function of soil can modify the salty growing environment for higher agricultural production. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of cut-soiler-constructed rice residue-filled preferential shallow subsurface drainage (PSSD) to improve the drainage function and its effect on the yield, quality and plant–water relations of mustard over 2019–2021. Cut-soiler-simulated drains were made in a semi-controlled lysimeter (2 × 2 × 3; L*W*H m) as the main plot treatment in a double replicated split–split experiment with two soil types (subplot) and three irrigation water salinities (4, 8 and 12 dS m−1) as the sub-sub-plot treatment. The drainage volume of variable salinity (EC), dependent on the total water input, was substantially higher in the rainy season (April to October), i.e., 16.6, 7.76 and 12.0% during 2018, 2019 and 2020, with 1.7, 0.32 and 0.77 kg salt removal per lysimeter, compared to the post-rainy season. The mustard seed, straw and biological yields were improved by 31.4, 14.41 and 18.08%, respectively, due to a positive effect on plant–water relations. The mustard seeds produced in the cut-soiler-treated plots recorded higher oil, crude fiber and protein contents and a lower erucic acid content. The increase in salt load, by higher-salinity irrigation water, was also efficiently managed by using cut-soiler PSSD. It was found that the saline irrigation water up to 12.0 dS m−1 can be used under such PSSD without any extra salt loading. The present study showed the potential of cut-soiler PSSD in root zone salinity management by improving drainage in salt-affected arid regions.

Can shrinking cities harness population decline to improve their sustainability by repurposing land use, for example, for localizing food production? Whether such a transition is feasible depends on the pre-shrinkage state of urban agricultural land use, including ongoing trends in local land use change. This study examined agricultural land use from 2007–2017 in Kyoto City, Japan. Kyoto is on the brink of a large projected population decline (~190,000 or ~13% until 2040) and serves as a representative for a large number of regional Japanese cities in a similar situation. Analysis was based on a public 2007 land use data set, aerial and satellite imagery and ground truthing. Results showed a decline of 209 ha or 10% in agricultural land use over ten years, but also highlight the diversity of ongoing agricultural land use types not captured by standard categories. The main post-agricultural land uses were residential (40%) and vacant land (28%). These results have implications for planning and policy. Kyoto City is currently not set to benefit from the projected shrinking process through localizing food production, despite a tradition of vegetable production. Future research should analyze drivers of change for observed agricultural land use.

Background: Temperate agroforestry is regarded as a sustainable alternative to monoculture agriculture due to enhanced provisioning of ecosystem services. Plant health and food safety are crucial requirements for sustainable agriculture; however, studies of fungal diseases and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown under temperate agroforestry are lacking. This study therefore aimed to compare fungal colonization and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown in temperate agroforestry against conventional monoculture. Methods: The biomass of plant pathogenic fungi in oilseed rape plants and barley and wheat grain harvested in 2016 to 2018 at four paired agroforestry and monoculture sites was quantified using species-specific real-time PCR. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain was determined by HPLC-MS/MS. Results: The colonization of oilseed rape plants with the vascular pathogen Verticillium longisporum and wheat grain with the head blight pathogen Fusarium tricinctum was lower in agroforestry than in conventional monoculture. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain did not differ between agroforestry and monoculture systems and did not exceed the legal limits of the EU. Remarkably, fumonisin B1 was detected in wheat grains at two sites in two years, yet the low levels found do not raise food safety concerns. No differences were found between the two production systems with regard to infection of wheat and barley grain with five Fusarium species (F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae, and F. proliferatum) and oilseed rape with fungal pathogens Leptosphaeria biglobosa, Leptosphaeria maculans, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Conclusions: Temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect the infection of wheat, barley and oilseed rape with major fungal pathogens though it may suppress the infection of oilseed rape with V. longisporum and wheat grain with F. tricinctum. Furthermore, temperate agroforestry does not increase mycotoxin contamination of barley and wheat. Therefore, temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect food safety.

Land degradation is recognized as one of the major threats to the buffer zones of protected areas (PAs) in Vietnam. In particular, the expansion of land degradation into the PAs is exerting pressure on biodiversity conservation efforts. This degradation is partially the result of mismanagement: the utilization of the land is often unmatched with the inherent suitability of the land. Identification of the spatial distribution of suitable areas for cropland is essential for sustainable land-use recommendation. This paper aims to delineate the areas suitable for cropland in the Tam Dao National Park (TDNP) region using a GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation of biophysical factors and Landsat ETM+ imagery. GIS is used to generate the factors, while MCE is used to aggregate them into a land suitability index. The results indicate the location and extent of crop farming areas at different suitability levels, i.e., most suitable (28.10%), moderately suitable (23.96%), marginally suitable (28.77%), and least suitable (19.17%). The current cropland covers 46.5% of the study area, while most and moderately suitable areas are estimated to be 52.06% of the territory. The results can be used to identify priority areas for crop farming and sustainable land-use management. The GIS-MCE approach provides an effective assessment tool for land-use managers working in protected areas of Vietnam.

Soil salinity severely affects soil ecosystem quality and crop production in semi-arid and arid regions. A vast quantity of data on soil salinity has been collected by research organizations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, formerly USSR) and many other countries over the last 70 years, but using them in the current international network (irrigation and reclamation strategy) is complicated. This is because in the CIS countries salinity was expressed by total soluble salts as a percentage on a dry-weight basis (total soluble salts, TSS, %) and eight salinity types (chemistry) determined by the ratios of the anions and cations (Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, and Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+) in diluted soil water extract (soil/water = 1:5) without assessing electrical conductivity (EC). Measuring the EC (1:5) is more convenient, yet EC is not only affected by the concentration but also characteristics of the ions and the salinity chemistry. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between EC and TSS of soils in a diluted extract (1:5) for eight classic salinity types. We analyzed extracts (1:5) of 1100 samples of a clayey soil (0–20 cm) collected from cultivated semi-arid and arid regions for EC, TSS, soluble cations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+), and anions (HCO3−, Cl−, SO42−). Results revealed that (i) the variation in the proportional relationships (R2 ≥ 0.91–0.98) between EC (0.12–5.6 dS m−1) and TSS (0.05–2.5%) could be related to salinity type, and (ii) the proportionality coefficient of the relationships (2.2 2–3.16) decreased in the following order of salinity type: SO4 < Cl(SO4)–HCO3 < Cl(HCO3)–SO4 < SO4 (HCO3)–Cl < Cl. The findings suggest that once the salinity type of the soil is established, EC (1:5) values can be safely used for the evaluation of the soil salinity degree in the irrigated land in the context of sustainable soil and crop management.

Using survey information of 150 randomly selected households across 21 villages of the forest-rich district of Swat, Pakistan, this study assessed households’ decision-making behaviors in depending on income from nearby forested land using socio-economic attributes. The evidence from the study may aid in making the existing policies be better targeted toward families that depend on the forest for income. Descriptive statistics and econometric techniques such as logit and tobit were used to analyze the data. Respondent households obtained the highest share of their income from off-farm activities (37%) and least from forest activities (16%). Fuelwood constitutes the biggest share (66%) of forest income, followed by medical plants (20%) and fodder (13%). We found that households with more physical assets, more family members working in off-farm jobs, and households earning more income from off-farm jobs were significantly and negatively associated with households’ decision to depend on forest income and total income obtained. We also found that households with less distance to the market and membership to joint forest management committees (JFMCs) were significantly and negatively associated with households’ total income obtained. However, household size was significantly and positively related to households’ decision of forest dependency. The study recommends the creation of off-farm opportunities and inclusion of local people in the management of forests through establishment of JFMCs, particularly for large and poor families.