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The negative benefits derived from the long-term separation of agriculture and animal husbandry in China have hindered the sustainable development of agriculture and the transformation of agricultural modernisation. The relationship between agriculture and animal husbandry is reconstructed from separation to reintegration. Focusing on the micro-agricultural production level, it relies on farmers to moderately adjust the existing family management structure and choose the family management mode combining planting and breeding. Structural and synergistic contradictions exist between agricultural economic development and ecological protection in the main corn-producing areas. Therefore, based on the micro-survey data of Jilin Province, China, the paper analyses the factors and mechanisms that influence farmers' choice of the combined management mode of planting and breeding. The results showed that the scale of land management, the stability of cultivated land management rights, the policy insurance of animal husbandry, the average profit of beef cattle head, and the cognition of income growth of animal husbandry were positively correlated with farmers' choice of the combined management mode. The spatial distance between farming and animal husbandry was negatively correlated with farmers' choice of management mode. There are mediating effects of animal husbandry breeding technology in farmers' choice of combined management mode, and there is regional heterogeneity in farmers' choice of combined management mode. Therefore, the reconstruction of the relationship between agriculture and animal husbandry should rely on large-scale farmers, optimise the planting structure of the main corn-producing areas, take multiple measures to stabilise the management right of cultivated land, and further improve the policy insurance and breeding technical support system of animal husbandry. This study can provide a theoretical framework and practical reference for reconstructing the relationship between agriculture and animal husbandry in China and other developing countries.

This study explores the impact of contract farming on household income and rural poverty alleviation using measures outlined by World Bank among 410 smallholder Kenyan poultry farmers. Using endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching models, we found that contract farming significantly boosts household income, with participants experiencing a 74% increase. If non-participants had engaged in contract farming, their income could have risen by 45.59%. The average treatment effect on the treated was USD 0.21 per capita per day, corresponding to a 9.83% reduction in extreme poverty and a 16.90% reduction in poverty severity. Written contracts proved the most effective in poverty alleviation, contributing to reduction of 12.17% and 20.93% in extreme poverty and poverty severity respectively. Spot transactions resulted in a 10.35% reduction in extreme poverty and a 17.80% reduction in poverty severity, while unwritten contracts had the least impact, with reductions of 7.92% and 13.62%, respectively. These findings demonstrate the substantial benefits of contract farming in improving household income and alleviating rural poverty. They highlight the importance of implementing and supporting written contracts to maximise poverty reduction. Targeted policy interventions and support for contract farming could further enhance its effectiveness and contribute to sustainable rural development.

The economic diversification of rural territories specialised in olive growing is key to the sustainability and resilience of these communities. In this context, olive oil tourism is presented as an innovative strategy to add value to the olive sector, attract visitors and promote public–private synergies. This study aims to determine the competitive advantages of olive oil tourism in the province of Jaén, Spain, using strategic analysis tools that align tourism resources with effective management strategies. Hence, in addition to a questionnaire completed by experts and a specialised literature review, we used the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) matrix, adapted to territorial analysis focused on tourism. This methodology correlates the territorial resources of olive oil tourism (TRs, the ‚what') with management specifications (MSs, the ‚how'). The analysis determines the relative importance of the TRs, the objective values and the technical importance of the MSs, and the direction of improvement. Furthermore, it includes an evaluation of competitiveness and estimates the technical-competitive positioning index. Nine TRs and eight MSs were identified and correlated, and Jaén's performance was compared to that of six other Spanish olive-growing provinces. Nine competitive advantages were identified, linked to five TRs (olive grove heritage landscape, tasting areas, exhibition centres, olive oil mills and greenways) and four MSs (olive mills, environmental education, diversification of supply and heritage promotion and innovation). This work proposes a useful tool to align resources and management, improve decision-making and move towards a more strategic governance in the olive oil tourism sector.

In this study, we examine the effect of Agricultural Socialisation Services (ASS) on green grain production efficiency in Jiangsu Province, China, by using data from the China Land Economy Survey. We used the generalised random forests model in this research to address potential issues of farming household self-selection into ASS and unobserved heterogeneity in treatment effects. The results show that participation in ASS significantly improves green production efficiency, particularly for small-scale farmers. Efficiency gains are most pronounced in critical agronomic operations such as pest control, seeding and planting, whereas smaller efficiency effects are observed in plowing, harvesting and straw treatment. The findings suggest that targeted expansion of ASS could substantially enhance sustainable farming practices, especially for resource-constrained farms. This study provides important policy insights for promoting agricultural sustainability through improved access to and delivery of agricultural services, contributing to more efficient and ecofriendly grain production.

The paper explores the influence of global pandemic uncertainty (GPU) on food prices (FP) by using the mixed-frequency vector autoregression (MF-VAR) model. Empirical findings indicate that the influence of GPU on FP varies across different scenarios, exhibiting either positive, negative, or insignificant effects. A positive influence implies that GPU fuels panic-buying and stockpiling behaviours, thereby boosting food demand. Concurrently, disruptions in agricultural production and food export restrictions tighten the market supply, potentially pushing FP upwards. Conversely, a negative effect suggests that the global economic downturn and food safety anxieties stemming from pandemic-related uncertainty may dampen food demand, causing FP to decline. In some instances, FP remains unaffected mainly by GPU due to the competing pressures from adverse climate change risks on the food market. Notably, FP's predictive error variance decomposition underscores that the net impact of GPU on FP is stimulatory. This overall effect aligns with the inter-temporal capital asset pricing model (ICAPM), which posits a positive influence of GPU on FP. The findings recommend that consumers and investors diversify their food sources, while policymakers should bolster food supply chain resilience, promote sustainable agriculture, establish emergency reserves and coordinate aid.

The objective of the study is to determine the impact of shock from climate change, such as drought and flood, on various technology adoptions in rice production in Vietnam. This study utilised VARHS (The Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey) panel data from 2012 to 2018 and employed regression analysis following the application of propensity score matching (PSM) to address potential selection bias caused by drought and flood shocks. The findings indicated that households tend to adopt the improved variety of rice and organic fertilisers since households suffer the shock from the drought. Another finding showed that households used more chemical fertiliser and reduced the probability of using improved seeds in rice production since the household was affected by floods. Based on the findings, policies should prioritise promoting and implementing environmentally friendly farming methods that are customised to address specific climate-related difficulties.

As the strategy for building a robust agricultural nation gains momentum and agricultural science and technology advances, the quality of agricultural products has seen significant improvement, accompanied by an increase in the economic income of agricultural producers and operators. Therefore, the fair and reasonable implementation of the revenue distribution of the agricultural supply chain is of great significance in improving the quality of agricultural products and ensuring the stable operation of the supply chain. The article focuses on the three main bodies of the agricultural supply chain, namely production and price co-integration enterprises, logistics service enterprises and sales enterprises, and utilises the matrix semi-tensor product to establish the Shapley value revenue allocation model of the interval cooperation game, so as to make the revenue allocation of the governance of agricultural products' quality in the digital supply chain more reasonable and scientific. Finally, numerical examples verify the Shapley value model, demonstrating that this revenue allocation scheme, when applied, can boost the overall supply chain's revenue through cooperative agricultural product quality management, elevate agricultural product quality and market competitiveness, and foster collaboration to ensure the stability of supply chain operations.

This study investigates the extent to which international agricultural price shocks are transmitted to domestic agricultural markets in both developed and developing economies. Using panel data from 13 major agricultural trading countries from 1990 to 2022, we applied cross-sectional dependence tests, fixed-effects panel regressions, and panel Granger causality analyses to examine the degree of interdependence and directionality in price movements. Our results reveal significant cross-sectional dependence, suggesting that global price shocks reverberate across the national markets. The panel regression estimates indicate a statistically significant and positive effect of international prices on domestic prices, with a stronger transmission observed in developed economies. Panel Granger causality tests confirm that global price indices significantly predict domestic price changes in most countries, although reverse causality is limited to large exporters, such as the United States, China, and Brazil. Robustness checks across sub-periods (1990–2005 vs. 2006–2022) and country groupings validate the stability and heterogeneity of the price transmission mechanisms. These findings underscore the increasingly integrated nature of food markets and the evolving dynamics of price volatility. The policy implications highlight the importance of multilateral coordination in food trade, differentiated policy tools tailored to country development levels, and the need for strategic buffering mechanisms to manage the growing global volatility in agricultural prices.

Despite the recognised benefits of climate smart agriculture (CSA) in enhancing farmers' adaptive capacity to climate risks, adoption rates remain low in Sub-Saharan Africa. This disparity can be attributed, in part, to the significant challenges smallholder farmers face in accessing credit from the formal financial sector. In response, Rural Saving and Credit Cooperatives (RUSACCOs) have emerged as crucial sources of funding for both household expenses and agricultural activities. However, despite their increasing importance in improving financial inclusion, little is known about whether participation in RUSACCOs can help alleviate existing credit constraints and promote the adoption of CSA among smallholder farmers. To address this knowledge gap, we employ a recursive bivariate probit (RBP) and propensity score matching (PSM) analysis using data from 400 randomly selected smallholder farmers in Zambia. The analysis controls for three main sources of endogeneity: program placement, endogenous covariates, and self-selection. Our findings indicate that participation in RUSACCOs has the potential to mitigate farmers' credit constraints by 42% and facilitate CSA adoption by 25%. Notably, the alleviation of existing credit constraints is associated with a 14% increase in CSA adoption. These results underscore the previously overlooked role of RUSACCOs in promoting agricultural sustainability. By effectively addressing financial inclusion barriers and providing access to practical agricultural knowledge, RUSACCOs can contribute to reducing the vulnerability of agriculture while fostering sustainable production. Our study suggests that repurposing RUSACCOs to emphasise financial inclusion and promote access to agricultural learning platforms can yield triple benefits: agricultural, environmental, and livelihood sustainability.

In this study, we used psychology and organisational behaviour theories to determine the main elements affecting Chinese farmers' grain loss-reduction efforts (LREs). We established social factors (SFs), policy factors (PFs) and buyer's strategies (BSs) as the three central factors and constructed a theoretical framework linking these factors to grain producers' LREs. Using this framework, we designed a survey questionnaire and an interview guide; we subsequently collected 1 536 valid questionnaire responses and 25 interview transcripts. The findings revealed that SFs, PFs and BSs had a significance positive effect on the LREs of grain producers. Critically, grain producers from significant Chinese grain-producing regions did not always minimise the effects of the independent variables (SF, PF and BS) on the dependent variable (LRE). This research provides a new viewpoint on grain farmers' LREs activities and may be used to tailor policy and commercial strategies.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the difference in the production of ecosystem services depending on the management method using a selected sample of fishponds from the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic and subsequently monetarily to assess this difference. Using 16 fishponds over a 10-year period, the research evaluates key services such as biodiversity conservation, water purification, and fish production, employing the opportunity cost of foregone profits methodology. The results reveal that ecologically managed fishponds provide enhanced ecosystem services at a financial trade-off, with an average annual profit difference of EUR 142 per hectare compared to conventional management. This trade-off translates to a present value of EUR 1 288 per hectare over a decade, reflecting the additional societal value of ecosystem services from ecological management. The findings underscore the economic and ecological challenges faced by stakeholders, particularly fish farmers, in balancing conservation goals with economic viability.

Studies on the sustainability assessment of supply chain performance in tropical fruit still have limitations, whereas similar studies are more widespread in the manufacturing sector. This study aims to assess the sustainability performance of the tropical fruit supply chain in Indonesia. Performance evaluations were conducted for three producer organisations of tropical fruit with members ranging from 70 to 200 people in Banyuwangi Regency, the largest production centre in Indonesia. This study proposes a new approach, the best-worst method (BWM), to prioritise supply chain performance criteria derived from the SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) model based on assessments by experts managing producer organisations. In the SCOR model, environmental and social criteria are added, resulting in seven criteria for evaluating supply chain performance, which include reliability, responsiveness, agility, cost, asset management, GreenSCOR, and social. Thus, the integration of BWM and SCOR can ensure higher consistency and reliability than traditional methods for assessing sustainable supply chain performance. The results revealed that reliability is the most important criterion for supply chain performance, which shows how important the maintenance of product quality is. In contrast, agility received the lowest score, indicating that there is a need to improve performance with respect to responding to high demand, managing safety stocks, and overtime in the shipping process. Moreover, this study gives a glimpse into the importance of evaluating sustainability performance for the tropical fruit sector, having perishable characteristics and great contributions to rural development. Hence, this study provides a solid practical guide for decision-makers in assessing the sustainable supply chain of tropical fruits in Indonesia.

The substantial increase in grain production stimulated by traditional agricultural direct subsidies has been accompanied by a concomitant decrease in ecological quality, precipitated by excessive application of chemical fertilisers, which has generated countervailing effects that fundamentally undermine the positive effect of subsidy policies on agricultural output. Consequently, the mitigation of agricultural pollution and the elevation of ecological quality have emerged as pivotal directions for the reform of agricultural subsidies. Using both time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) models and spatial DID models in this study, we examined the effect of agricultural 'three subsidies' reform on agricultural fertiliser nonpoint source pollution (AFNSP), drawing on China's province-sector panel data from 2008 to 2022. The empirical evidence yields several salient findings. First, the three subsidies reform can significantly reduce AFNSP and improve ecological quality. Second, the large-scale operation of agricultural households and the enhancement of agricultural production efficiency serve as effective pathways for the three subsidies reform to reduce AFNSP. Third, the implementation of the three subsidies reform engenders significant spatial spillover effects, which play a crucial role in reducing overall regional AFNSP. Fourth, the efficacy of the three subsidies reform exhibits heterogeneity across diverse agroecological contexts and farming cultures. Last, the reform has resulted in notable improvements in agricultural ecological quality, thereby reinforcing food security capabilities. These findings not only offer valuable reference for refining agricultural subsidy reform but also contribute to the development of a comprehensive framework that simultaneously safeguards agroecological security and food security.

As an important path to breaking the urban-rural dual system and promoting agricultural modernisation in China, the process of urbanisation might have a strong influence on promoting agricultural economic resilience (AER). Using panel data from provincial-level administrative regions of China’s mainland, we constructed a novel indicator system to measure AER, and employ the system generalised method of moments model to examine the impact of urbanisation on AER and the moderating roles of land transfer and heterogeneous human capital. Our study yielded three notable findings. First, the urbanisation process can significantly enhance AER. This finding remained robust after conducting multiple robustness tests and addressing endogeneity using the instrumental variable method. Second, the influencing mechanism analysis results indicated that land transfer and human capital had significant moderating roles, and the level of land transfer and educational improvement can enhance the positive impact of urbanisation on AER, while the migratory human capital weakened this positive effect. Third, the heterogeneity analysis revealed regional differences in the impact of urbanisation on AER, demonstrating that the promotional effect of urbanisation was much greater in the major grain-producing areas. Our study offers a new perspective and evidence for researchers and policymakers investigating how to enhance AER.

The circular economy (CE) has proven to be an effective solution for sustainable development in the last two decades, especially in the context of multiple crises. As a long-term strategy, business managers are seeking a sustainable business model that harmoniously and efficiently integrates prosperity, social security, and resource conservation. This research highlights the essential role of components such as green logistics (GL) and green human capital (GHC) in sustainable production (SP), which is necessary for the successful implementation of CE. The study, based on data collected from 117 companies in the Romanian food industry, uses partial structural equation modelling to explore the causal relationships between these variables. The results show that both green logistics and green human capital are important factors for circular economy, and sustainable production significantly mediates the relationships between green human capital, and circular economy, but not significantly for green logistics. Thus, it is concluded that sustainable production has a determining positive effect on circular economy. Although the research is limited by the geographical and sectoral context, it contributes theoretically and practically by analysing the relationships between these concepts and the relevant managerial implications.

Mitigating emissions from the agricultural sector is crucial for achieving sustainable development goals. However, controlling emissions in one sector can lead to unintended consequences in others through leakage effects. Grounded in the theoretical propositions of sectoral shift theory (SST), the rebound effect, and leakage effects, this study investigates the asymmetric impact of environmentally sound technology (EST) imports and exports on agricultural emissions (N₂O and methane) within the framework of the agricultural Kuznets curve (AKC). Utilising a balanced panel dataset of 105 countries from 2010 to 2020, we employ the Westerlund cointegration test to establish long-run relationships among variables. Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) estimations reveal a positive effect of EST imports and exports on agricultural N₂O emissions, intensifying the impact at higher quantiles. This suggests that industrial emission reductions through EST may have unintended consequences in agriculture via two mechanisms: emission leakage from industry to agriculture and increased agricultural emissions resulting from productivity improvements through the rebound effect. Nevertheless, in line with SST, our results indicate that sustainable agricultural trade can contribute to mitigating agricultural emissions. The AKC hypothesis holds across almost all models. These findings underscore the importance of developing tailored policies to design EST specifically for the agricultural sector, ensuring more effective emission reductions.

In recent pasts, high priority has been placed on encouraging the implementation of various climate change adaptation techniques to adapt to the disastrous effects of climate change. Like in other countries affected by climate change, Nigerian farmers were also encouraged by governmental and non-governmental organisations to implement techniques for adapting to climate change impact. In this study, we use a psychological approach to investigate how a mix of socioeconomic and psycho-cognitive factors affect smallholder farmers' decisions about various climate change adaptation strategies and the consequent impact of the adoption of adaptation strategies on crop yield. Following the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the adoption decision of farmers was modelled using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and the ordered probit model. The impact of adopting adaptation strategies on productivity was evaluated using multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR). The MESR helps to address endogeneity issues that might arise as a result of inconsistencies in the behavioural responses of the farmers. Our result indicates that psycho-cognitive factors like intentions and personal norms significantly predicted the number of climate change adaptation strategies the farmers ultimately embraced and implemented on their farms. We also found that the smallholder farmers' yield and income were most significantly impacted by the adoption of land restoration as a climate change adaptation strategy. The findings will assist in the design of more effective policy instruments to remove adoption hurdles as well as crafting tailored extension services that resonate with the realities of the farmer and thus help foster behavioural change.

This study investigates the effects of digital economy (DE) on agricultural land use (ALU) in seven sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, specifically from 2006 to 2022. Using a moderating mediation model on panel data, the work explores the extent to which the DE, as proxied by fixed telephone subscriptions, internet usage, and mobile penetration, influences the degree and intensity of ALU. The results indicate that ALU is often supported by DE, as technology will lay the groundwork for improved land management and agriculture. Results show that DE has a positive influence on ALU, with a more substantial effect being observed in countries such as Kenya and South Africa, where more developed digital infrastructure and governance are in place. In contrast, Uganda and Zambia exhibit lower impacts due to lower levels of digitalisation and governance barriers. The patent applications (PAs) and water management represent the positive mediators of the efficiency of land-use improvement. The study highlights the need for government-enabling policies and digital infrastructure so that the promise of digital technologies and their uptake for agricultural production in SSA is fully fulfilled. Whenever technology is integrated with an appropriate resource management policy, SSA societies have the potential to achieve sustainable agricultural development and food security.

Digitisation enables the integration of science, technology and finance, and this trend toward integration can in turn enhance the innovation efficiency of listed agricultural enterprises. By leveraging the quasi-natural experiment of China's 2011 pilot program for technology finance – also known as science, technology, and finance, this paper uses the difference-in-differences (DID) model to demonstrate that the science and technology finance policy positively impacts the innovation levels of agriculture-related listed enterprises. That said, the policy's effect varies across different regions and enterprise sizes. Furthermore, moderating-effect analysis reveals that the digitalisation level of agriculture-related listed enterprises is a critical factor, while the evolutionary game model elucidates this factor's underlying mechanism. Based on these findings, policy recommendations are proposed to further develop science and technology finance platforms for agricultural-related listed enterprises.

Air pollution is beyond an environmental or health issue. The impact of air pollution on farmers' decisions on agricultural mechanisation has always been overlooked and debate persists over subjective and objective pollution. Adopting data set from the China Labour Force Dynamics Survey, we investigate the influence of air pollution perceptions on farmers' mechanised farming. The endogeneity problem is addressed through the instrumental variable method. The consequences reveal that air pollution perceptions strengthen farm mechanisation, and reduced farming time is the key intrinsic mechanism through which perceived air pollution affects farmers' decisions on agricultural machinery. Additionally, this impact is more pronounced in male household heads and farmers in the plains. These findings render valuable policy implications for farmers chronically exposed to air pollution and for agricultural modernisation in China, including the necessity of improving air conditions and encouraging agricultural machinery services.

Order-based agriculture aligns with the fundamental requirements for the high-quality development of modern agriculture in the new era. This study investigates how social capital influences the participation of family farms in order-based agriculture across the mountainous regions of southwestern China. Drawing on survey data from 557 farms and employing logit and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation effect models, the research reveals that social capital significantly promotes participation. Specifically, stronger social networks, heightened trust, and established norms are associated with increased engagement. While access to information mediates this relationship, the direct effect of social capital remains predominant. These findings underscore the importance of enhancing both social capital and information accessibility to encourage greater involvement among family farms. Furthermore, targeting younger and middle-aged farmers engaged in single-product production is crucial for promoting sustainable development.

This study contributes to the limited body of research on mergers and acquisitions in primary agriculture by examining how large corporate agroholdings achieve profitable post-acquisition growth for the farms they acquire. Using System GMM estimation, we analyse farm-level data from 648 farms acquired by agroholdings in Ukraine between 2005 and 2016. Our findings show that agroholdings facilitate post-acquisition growth and performance improvements by employing several integration strategies. Specifically, they leverage horizontally integrated structures to: (i) consolidate land resources of acquired farms to achieve scale economies; (ii) reallocate farm resources toward more profitable production lines; and (iii) intensify production on acquired farms. These results support established firm growth theories, namely, the independence of firm growth rates from firm size (Gibrat's law) and the existence of Penrosean limits to growth.

The global focus on the relationship between digitisation and agricultural carbon emissions remains high. However, research on the systemic ramifications of comprehensive digital policy implementation remains limited. Against the backdrop of China's pursuit of carbon neutrality and carbon emission peaking targets, we employed the difference-in-differences method to investigate the impact of applying a digital policy on agricultural carbon emissions. Our findings indicated that the implementation of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone policy could effectively mitigate agricultural carbon emissions, resulting in a sustained positive influence. The intermediary mechanism test results validated the beneficial effects of financial expenditures on science and technology, as well as the number of information practitioners. The regional heterogeneity analysis results revealed that the policy effect was obvious in the major grain-producing areas but not in the major grain-selling areas or production–marketing balance areas. Additionally, differences in policy effectiveness were observed across different crop types. This study not only offers valuable insights for agricultural carbon reduction in China but also provides robust case data and guidance for other developing countries worldwide in the formulation and execution of digital policies aimed at promoting agricultural carbon emission reduction.

Employing the Comprehensive Demonstration of E-commerce in Rural Areas (CDERA) policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper explores the impact of rural e-commerce development on agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP) and its underlying mechanisms, using a difference-in-differences model. The analysis utilises panel data from 1 495 counties in China from 2001 to 2021. The findings indicate that the CDERA policy implementation enhanced ATFP in treated counties by approximately 1.6 percentage points compared to control counties, other factors being equal. Mechanism analysis further reveals that the CDERA policy enhances ATFP by improving agricultural technological efficiency and fostering agricultural industrial development. This study highlights the significant role of CDERA policy in enhancing agricultural productivity in China and offers policy insights for advancing rural e-commerce and promoting sustainable agricultural development.

Enhancing economic and environmental efficiency is a fundamental objective shared by all European economic sectors, with agriculture being a particular area of focus. In this study, economic and environmental efficiency are considered in parallel and compared in terms of their long-term development. From an economic perspective, the classical production factors of labour, capital and land are compared with economic production output. The environmental perspective of the study focuses on greenhouse gases and acidifying gases, with the investigation based on data from Eurostat from 2009 to 2020. Due to constraints regarding the  availability of data , the study encompassed 22 EU countries.  The findings indicate that Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland demonstrate high levels of economic efficiency, while Ireland and Finland exhibit notable enhancements in this regard. Low economic efficiency scores are evident in Latvia and Austria, where substantial catching-up processes are observable. With respect to ecological efficiency, Greece, Spain and Italy have been found to be dominant, as have Finland, Sweden and Slovakia. Ireland, Luxembourg and Poland have lower ecological efficiency scores, but only Ireland shows signs of convergence. The present study seeks to minimise the impact of volatility and dispersion with a view to providing valid long-term trends for the purpose of benchmarking efforts and r policy decisions.

The capacity for flexibility, personal development, and intrinsic motivation is a crucial aspect needed by employees in the process of transforming agricultural organisations. This paper aims to determine the typically oriented groups of employees in terms of their motivation and verify whether the identified groups are invariant even under changing conditions over time. The data from 2019–2023 (from 374 respondents employed in agricultural enterprises in south-central Slovakia) were evaluated using descriptive and inferential (K-means cluster) statistics. According to preferences and constancy of attitudes, three clusters of employees called ‘Materialists’, ‘Team progressives’, and ‘Preferences settled’ were determined. The clusters were also solved in terms of stability over time. Despite the differences in the preferences of these clusters, relational factors indeed played one of the most critical roles, even in the case of materialistically oriented employees. The practical result of the research is the possibility of designing a differentiated motivation program specifically targeted to individual groups of employees with similar motivational preferences based on a competent statistical analysis of motivation. The results are used by agricultural businesses to design motivation programs for similarly motivationally oriented employees sophisticatedly.

Assessing and optimising the efficiency of agricultural and pastoral systems is crucial for the long-term development of a country. The presence of shared factors and undesirable outputs increases the complexity of evaluating the efficiency of these systems. To address this issue, we first analysed the production possibility sets of the agricultural subsystems, pastoral subsystems, and agricultural and pastoral systems. Then, two bounded adjusted measure (BAM) models considering shared factors and undesirable outputs were proposed to evaluate the divisional efficiency of agricultural and pastoral subsystems. Additionally, a network BAM model in the presence of shared factors and undesirable outputs was developed to assess overall efficiency. Undesirable outputs were handled by slack-based measures in the three novel models. The proposed models were used to evaluate the efficiency of agricultural and pastoral systems across 30 provinces and cities in China. To explore the impact of undesirable outputs, the efficiency of ignoring undesirable outputs was investigated and compared with that obtained from the new method. These results suggest that ignoring undesirable outputs may misestimate efficiency to a certain extent.

Multifunctional landscapes, such as agroforestry, that improve soil health are essential in sustaining terrestrial life by supporting various ecosystem services (ESs). However, decision-making often requires more attention to soil health because its parameters have no market value. In this study, we aim to evaluate soil health parameters in cacao agroforestry and monoculture and their degradation due to erosion and to estimate their indirect use value (IUV). We develop a soil health economic valuation approach bridged by ESs because the economic valuation of ESs tends to be better studied. We estimated the IUVs of the eight soil health parameters by using the direct proxy revealed prevalence valuation method on the basis of the valuation of the four ESs they support: water regulation, climate regulation, nutrient retention and biodiversity. The total IUVs for cacao agroforestry were USD 633 with Endoaquepts and USD 723 with Dystrudepts and for cacao monoculture were USD 415 with Endoaquepts and USD 575 with Dystrudepts. Soil carbon has the highest contribution to IUV, followed by soil nitrogen. Agroforestry not only increases IUV but also minimises its decrease due to erosion. Despite economic valuations being subject to uncertainty, these results encourage the internalisation of soil health values in sustainable land management design.

This study investigates the characteristics associated with the adoption of smart farming technologies in Turkish agriculture. By surveying 325 farmers across six regions in Türkiye, the research identifies key attributes influencing adoption patterns. Four distinct profiles emerge: technology users, non-users, young educated female farmers, and traditionalists. Exploratory findings from Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) indicate that attributes such as agricultural insurance, credit utilisation, knowledge of smart farming systems, and tractor ownership are commonly observed among technology users. Ordinal logistic regression further quantifies these associations, highlighting the significant role of financial accessibility and knowledge dissemination in shaping adoption likelihoods. Non-users, on the other hand, are characterised by smaller landholdings, lack of credit use, limited awareness, and absence of tractor ownership, reflecting structural barriers to adoption. Tailored financial solutions and shared machinery parks could help address these challenges. Empowering young, educated women farmers, identified as a key demographic for innovation, offers an opportunity to catalyse broader technology adoption. By addressing knowledge gaps and fostering inclusive policies, this study provides actionable insights to accelerate the technological transformation and sustainability of Türkiye's agricultural sector.

Drawing upon data on co-signed patents in China's agricultural sector between 2015 and 2022, this paper explores the structural characteristics and determinants of the patent collaboration network in agricultural technology involving universities (U), enterprises (E) and research institutes (R). The results of social network analysis (SNA) revealed that the patent collaboration network is expanding in scale, but innovators are sparsely connected to others. Although the subnetwork linked by enterprises is the largest, universities and research institutes are more likely to play roles as hubs and bridges in the network. Furthermore, quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) regression revealed that prior collaboration experience and geographical proximity are key factors that promote co-patenting in the agricultural sector. Compared with U–U partnerships, E–E and E–R partnerships are associated with decreased patent collaboration. In the agriculture and forestry industries, the U–U and U–R partnerships are most likely involved in co-patenting, followed by the R–R and U–E partnerships. In the animal husbandry and fishery industries, no significant difference was found between the partnerships of U–U, R–R, U–E and U–R in their collaborative propensity.