Search Results (29)

In wet subtropical environments, perennial groundcovers are common in horticultural plantations to protect the soil from erosion. However, there has been little investigation into whether seeding annual cover crops into the perennial groundcovers provides additional soil services including carbon and nutrient cycling in these systems. To investigate this, farmer participatory field trials were conducted in commercial avocado, macadamia, and coffee plantations in the wet Australian subtropics. Cover crops were direct-seeded into existing inter-row groundcovers in winter (cool season cover crops), and into the same plots the following summer (warm season cover crops). Inter-row biomass was quantified at the end of winter and summer in the control (no cover crop) and cover crops treatments. Soil carbon and nutrient cycling parameters including hot water extractable carbon, water soluble carbon, autoclavable citrate-extractable protein and soil enzyme activities were quantified every two months from early spring (September) 2021 to late autumn (May) 2022. Seeded cover crops produced 500 to 800 kg ha⁻¹ more total inter-row biomass over winter at the avocado coffee sites, and 3000 kg ha⁻¹ biomass in summer at the coffee site. However, they had no effect on biomass production in either season at the macadamia site. Soil functional parameters changed with season (i.e., time of sampling), with few significant effects of cover crop treatments on soil function parameters across the three sits. Growing a highly productive annual summer cover crop at the coffee site led to suppression and death of perennial groundcovers, exposing bare soil in the inter-row by 3 weeks after termination of the summer cover crop. Annual cover crops seeded into existing perennial groundcovers in tree crop systems had few significant impacts on soil biological function over the 12-month period, and their integration needs careful management to avoid investment losses and exacerbating the risk of soil erosion on sloping lands in the wet subtropics. Full article

The sustainability of the Arabica coffee agribusiness is increasingly urgent as global demand grows while environmental and socioeconomic challenges intensify. North Toraja, renowned for its high-quality Arabica coffee, faces significant barriers to sustainability, including poor infrastructure, limited adoption of modern agricultural technologies, and socioeconomic disparities among coffee farmers. These issues threaten the long-term viability of the sector, which is a critical contributor to local livelihoods and the regional economy. This study evaluates the sustainability of the Arabica coffee agribusiness in North Toraja using a Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) approach, assessing five key dimensions: ecological, economic, social, infrastructure and technology, and institutional. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussions with stakeholders across the coffee value chain and secondary sources. The results reveal a moderately sustainable overall index of 73.78, with the economic and institutional dimensions performing strongly at 87.53 and 84.91, respectively. However, the infrastructure and technology dimension scored the lowest at 55.77, highlighting significant deficiencies in road conditions, postharvest handling, and access to advanced farming technologies. To enhance sustainability, this study recommends strategic investments in rural infrastructure, training programs to promote technology adoption, and strengthening institutional frameworks such as cooperatives and government programs. Inclusive social policies that address equity and community engagement are also crucial. By addressing these gaps through a comprehensive, multidimensional approach, North Toraja’s Arabica coffee sector can achieve greater sustainability, improving farmer welfare and ensuring competitiveness in the global market. These findings serve as a model for sustainable coffee production in similar regions. Full article

Avocado cultivation is displacing traditional coffee production in Veracruz, Mexico. This change modifies the floristic composition and agronomic management (AM), both of which are affected by socioeconomic factors and generate variation in edaphic conditions. The objective of this research was to identify the socioeconomic variables that modify the characteristics of the AM of avocado and coffee systems and have repercussions on the carbon and nitrogen pools. Four case studies were analyzed: a renovated coffee polyculture (SRC), severely cleaned coffee polyculture (IPC), avocado–coffee system (ACS), and conventional avocado orchard (CAO). A socioeconomic analysis was carried out with a 30-year economic projection and 56 variables. Three plots were installed where vegetal biomass carbon (VBC) was evaluated; soil samples were taken in theses plots at three depths (in triplicate) to determine soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) in each case. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. Four economic variables explain 50.9% of the variation in agronomic management and five social variables 50.2%, in both cases where the component is considered. In all systems, the variation in VBC is explained by the agronomic management, while the reported SOC presents an inverse relationship with AM. The ACS presents the higher values in total C in the system, and SOC and TSN pools, while the CAO shows negative impacts concerning soil organic matter quality. The ACS is sensitive to investment, market diversity, education, and external organic residue addition, explaining the variations in AM and the TSN pools. Full article

This article addresses the financial viability of agents in the robusta coffee sector. The objective is to calculate and analyze the profitability performance of the coffee sector in Tshopo in order to inform the subsequent development of business projects in the robusta coffee sector. Moreover, the analysis will assist decision-makers and investors in determining the optimal allocation of funds to the most profitable links in the robusta coffee sector in Tshopo. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted, employing a discounting methodology to evaluate the cash flows of agents engaged in the robusta coffee sector. This entailed the calculation of the net present value, internal rate of return, and payback period. The results demonstrate that the coffee sector is performing well, with agents’ cash flow sufficient to repay the initial investment. It can thus be concluded that, in consideration of the favorable profitability criteria, there is minimal risk in investing in the robusta coffee sector in Tshopo. Full article

Coffee production has become increasingly technified in order to optimize the use of inputs and the sustainable use of natural resources. In this context, one way that farmers are investing in their coffee plantations is in the use of precision agriculture techniques, termed precision coffee farming. Over the last few years, research has been conducted to facilitate the application of this technology, and sampling grids with two points per hectare have been recommended by several studies. These georeferenced demarcations in a plot are generally shaped as equidistant squares or rectangles, and the sampling points are located at the centers of these areas. Coffee farmers typically plant their crops following the level line, which greatly hinders the navigation of equidistant points within the field. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop an optimized walking route method to reduce the distance for sampling soil, leaf, and yield attributes. The experimental plots were established in 2000 at Samambaia Farm, located in Santo Antônio do Amparo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with coffee the cultivar Acaia IAC 479-19, totaling 56.65 ha. The 111 sampling points were distributed in the land following the new method proposed in this study, and, after walking simulations using Farm Works Mapping Software, the new method was compared with the conventional method using the mean displacement between points. The new optimized walking routes method reduced the mean distance traveled to sample the points by 50.1%. Full article

Often, in the discussion of reducing the climate impact of coffee, there is a short-term focus on what is needed to hit short-term (2030) targets. To deliver systemic change, it is important to also look at what is needed to deliver in the long term. Using a simplified model built from emissions reporting, and studies on the key impacts of coffee agriculture (on farm), the authors have reviewed what needs to be true for all coffee agriculture, in order for coffee to be grown in a net zero (90% footprint reduction) future. This will cover the years of 2020–2070, following a science-based reduction pathway to net zero from 2050 to 2070. Looking at what the long-term drivers of change are puts shorter term removal projects like agroforestry into perspective, and sets the stage for the need for long-term collective action. Given timescales, the beginnings of this need to start now. Between now and 2070, the coffee industry needs to eliminate 1.2 Bn metric tons of emissions from its agricultural impact. Less than 10% can come from in-farm direct tree planting. Soil-organic carbon increase from regenerative practice is also unlikely to be significant. Key drivers will be the prevention of deforestation, farmer training, biochar, and new coffee varieties. To drive change, the sector needs to understand the scale of the challenge and the likely outcomes, in order to focus its investments on protecting its long-term value chain risk, as well as managing shorter term actions. Full article

Recommendations to coffee farmers regarding agronomic practices are eventually based on agronomic research. The main target of agronomic research is often, if not always, yield measured in Kilograms of green coffee per Ha. We often see or hear claims that a given practice will double or even triple the yield. However, everyone can feel that supposed agronomic silver bullet solutions are not widely adopted by farmers. The reason often put forward is that farmers ignore these solutions and require training. Too often, agronomists and technical assistants explain that farmers are stubborn and will not change and not to mention other more derogatory statements used. We need to understand that the vast majority of farmers, just like any human being, is making rational decisions, optimizing the expected return on any investment in time or money. We hence need to refresh our R&D approach towards coffee farmers’ profitability. Yield is not profitability. Every entrepreneur will understand the difference between gross and net income. In fact, extra-coffee yield obtained by recommended practices is not necessarily covering the extra-cost related to these practices. It is a compulsory first step to understand what the limitations of farmers are and then specifically work out some practices addressing these limitations. In my presentation, I will give some illustrations and show what a refreshed agronomic R&D approach would look like. Full article

This article reviews the current scenario and the main uncertainties and challenges associated with implementing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Colombia, from which it determines the possible certified technologies under the ASTM D 7566 standard as well as co-processing technologies contemplated within the ASTM D 1655 standard, more suitable for the implementation of SAF production. Likewise, through the PESTEL tool (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal), a diagnosis is made in order to obtain an updated overview of the implementation of SAF in Colombia. Based on the above, it provides recommendations to mitigate the uncertainties identified, and it is complemented by the ECOCANVAS tool, which applies to businesses related to the circular economy, and also include the net production potential of SAF in Colombia, considering the production of feedstock, in agricultural residue of sugarcane, oil palm, corn, and coffee. This study concludes with some policy recommendations that can make SAF implementation viable and allow responsible institutions to organize themselves for better strategic action and identify the fields of research and the need for investment in R + D + i to strengthen the supply chain. Full article

Coffee tree replanting is needed in Indonesia, yet a financing scheme is not available at the moment due to its economic feasibility and farmers’ reluctance to reinvest. This research aims to design contract farming for coffee tree replanting in Indonesia to support coffee farmer welfare. The method used in this study is Soft System Methodology (SSM), including interviews with several coffee cultivation respondents, with case studies in the Lampung region. The initial study indicates that the replanting program must integrate coffee farmers with banks or investors and coffee processing companies. The study of one farmer community successful in profiting from a new coffee production method enables the possibility of a new model of replanting through contract farming. Aside from banks, institutions that will have an essential role in the development of successful replanting are land owners and exporters or processing companies as offtakers. The implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation on traceability will impact Indonesia’s replanting effort, as exporters or importers will be accountable for the compliance of their supply chain. The five main factors that need to be evaluated consist of (1) financing as an initial investment, (2) farmer competencies as the farmer’s skill to implement the coffee tree replanting, (3) technology to ensure the successful implementation of coffee tree replanting, (4) production to maintain the income flow, and (5) synergy between actors to ensure the role in contract farming development. Full article

Jamaica produces one of the most expensive coffees on the global market. The local specialty coffee industry plays a significant role in the island’s economy and also contributes to the livelihood of smallholders—the majority of whom operate the industry’s coffee farms. While climate model projections suggest that Jamaica will continue to experience a warming and drying trend, no study has assessed the future impacts of changing climatic patterns on local coffee-growing areas. This research developed a number of geospatial processing models within the ArcMap software platform to model current coffee suitability and future crop suitability across three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) and three future time periods (2021–2040, 2041–2060, and 2081–2100). The results validated current locations of coffee production and revealed that there was an observable decrease in coffee suitability across the island, across all SSP scenarios and time periods under study. Most growing regions were projected to experience declines in production suitability of at least 10%, with the most severe changes occurring in non-Blue Mountain regions under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Implications of this projected suitability change range from decreased production volumes, increased price volatility, and disruption to market operations and livelihood incomes. The paper’s findings offer stakeholders within Jamaica’s coffee industry the opportunity to develop targeted adaptation planning initiatives, and point to the need for concrete decisions concerning future investment pathways for the industry. It also provides insight into other tropical coffee-growing regions around the world that are facing the challenges associated with climate change. Full article

COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the world. This study aims to investigate the possible implications of COVID-19 on sustainability and digitalization initiatives, by exploring a sample of 15 Italian coffee companies located in Northern, Central and Southern Italy, to highlight any differences and at the same time identify which are the main strands of their resilient behaviors. “Sustainab-lization” is our idea to define a business model in which sustainability and digitalization are closely related in companies’ strategic initiatives. We have analyzed the various actions which have been undertaken to get out of the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on initiatives related to sustainable development and digitalization, critical also to fulfilling some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. Most of the companies have invested in sustainability and digitalization. The results show, for most of them, a resilient approach towards a sustainable business model, and also through increased digitalization. Full article

Land relations in the Mekong Region are marked by the densely populated and intensively cultivated lowlands and the more extensive settlement and cultivation areas in the uplands. Land-use changes in the lowlands and uplands are interlinked and are a key process of agrarian and environmental transition. The ‘tenure-scape’ approach is introduced as a qualitative analysis combining integrated landscape approaches, governance and rights-based approaches, while underlining the centrality of legitimate tenure rights, limitations and obligations. This approach is used to analyze the impact of the Green Revolution and the global commodity boom, in particular the growth of rubber and coffee, on sustainability in the Mekong countries, i.e., Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam. The way forward points to the use of the elements of the ‘tenure-scape’ approach to re-valuate the potential contribution of smallholder farmers to the wider physical and societal landscape. The ultimate goal is to go from transition to transformation toward a more secure, equitable future for those at risk of being excluded from effective access to, use of, and control over land, fisheries, forests and water resources, which are providing the basis for their livelihoods if the concession model of land-based investments were to be continued. Full article

Crop yield is an important factor for evaluating production processes and determining the profitability of growing coffee. Frequently, the total number of coffee beans per area unit is estimated manually by physically counting the coffee cherries, the branches, or the flowers. However, estimating yield requires an investment in time and work, so it is not usual for small producers. This paper studies a non-intrusive and attainable alternative to predicting coffee crop yield through multispectral aerial images. The proposal is designed for small low-tech producers monitored by capturing aerial photos with a MapIR camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle. This research shows how to predict yields in the early stages of the coffee tree productive cycle, such as at flowering by using aerial imagery. Physical and spectral descriptors were evaluated as predictors for yield prediction models. The results showed correlations between the selected predictors and 370 yield samples of a Colombian Arabica coffee crop. The coffee tree volume, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the Coffee Ripeness Index (CRI) showed the highest values with 71%, 55%, and 63%, respectively. Further, these predictors were used as the inputs for regression models to analyze their precision in predicting coffee crop yield. The validation stage concluded that Linear Regression and Stochastic Descending Gradient Regression were better models with determination coefficient values of 56% and 55%, respectively, which are promising for predicting yield. Full article

The investigation of the fractal nature of financial data has been growing in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the efficiency of agricultural futures markets by using multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA). To better understand the relative changes in the efficiency of agriculture commodities due to the pandemic, we split the dataset into two equal periods of seven months, i.e., 1 August 2019 to 10 March 2020 and 11 March 2020 to 25 September 2020. We used the high-frequency data at 15 min intervals of cocoa, cotton, coffee, orange juice, soybean, and sugar. The findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has great but varying impacts on the intraday multifractal properties of the selected agricultural future markets. In particular, the London sugar witnessed the lowest multifractality while orange juice exhibited the highest multifractality before the pandemic declaration. Cocoa became the most efficient while the cotton exhibited the minimum efficient pattern after the pandemic. Our findings show that the highest improvement is found in the market efficiency of orange juice. Furthermore, the behavior of these agriculture commodities shifted from a persistent to an antipersistent behavior after the pandemic. The information given by the detection of multifractality can be used to support investment and policy-making decisions. Full article

Agricultural practices of smallholder farming systems of Latin America can play an important role in reducing their exposure to the risks associated with climate extremes. To date, however, there is no systematic analysis of scientific evidence for the extent to which these practices can provide the multiple benefits needed for smallholders to adapt to climate extremes. In this paper, we searched scientific databases to review scientific evidence of the benefit provided by twenty-six practices in crops commonly farmed by smallholders in the region and highly relevant for their food and nutrition security; namely, coffee, maize and beans. We reviewed scientific documents (n = 304) published in the period 1953–2021 to register evidence of the practices’ effects on fifty-five benefits. Our analysis of these documents found measurement records (n = 924) largely based on field experiments (85%). Our results show strong evidence of the multiple benefits that some ecosystem-based practices (e.g., tree-based practices for coffee and no tillage for maize) can provide to support the adaptation to climate extremes of smallholder farming systems and enhance a farm’s natural assets (e.g., biodiversity, water, soil). We also found that the majority of research on practices in the region focused more on the socioeconomic dimension (54%) rather than on the capacity of practices to improve the natural assets of a smallholder farmers or reduce the impact of climate extremes. Given these knowledge gaps, we discuss the importance of a renovated investment in research to address existing knowledge gaps. Our concluding suggestions for future research include the need for systematizing existing knowledge from different sources (e.g., peer-reviewed, gray literature, farmers, extension agencies, etc.), and to assess the extent to which these practices can provide multiple benefits for smallholder farming systems by improving their wellbeing, reducing their vulnerability to different hydroclimatic extremes while also contributing to ecosystem services provision at the landscape level. Full article