Improving land productivity is essential to meet increasing food and forage demands in hillside and mountain communities. Tens of millions of smallholder terrace farmers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America who earn $1-$2 per day do not have access to peer-reviewed knowledge of best agronomic practices, though they have considerable traditional ecological knowledge. Terrace farmers also lack access to affordable farm tools and inputs required to increase crop yields. The objectives of this review are to highlight the agronomic challenges of terrace farming, and offer innovative, low-cost solutions to intensify terrace agriculture while improving local livelihoods. The article focuses on smallholder farmers in developing nations, with particular reference to Nepal. The challenges of terrace agriculture in these regions include lack of quality land area for intensive agriculture, erosion and loss of soil fertility, low yield, poor access to agricultural inputs and services, lack of mechanization, labour shortages, poverty, and illiteracy. Agronomic strategies that could help address these concerns include intensification of terraces using agro-ecological approaches along with introduction of light-weight, low-cost, and purchasable tools and affordable inputs that enhance productivity and reduce female drudgery. To package, deliver, and share these technologies with remote hillside communities, effective scaling up models are required. One opportunity to enable distribution of these products could be to ‘piggy-back’ onto pre-existing snackfood/cigarette/alcohol distribution networks that are prevalent even in the most remote mountainous regions of the world. Such policies, practices, and tools could be supported by formalized government policies dedicated to the well-being of terrace farmers and ecosystems, to maintain resiliency at a time of alarming climate change. We hope this review will inform governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to draw attention to this neglected and vulnerable agro-ecosystem in developing countries.

Cover crops provide a range of well-documented benefits to growers and the environment. However, no single species can deliver all of these benefits, and hence planting mixtures is gaining increasing attention. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review on different multi-mix strategies. This article reviews available studies on multi-mixes, focusing on temperate North America, and discusses objective criteria for selecting components of a multi-mix and what future research is needed. Very few peer-reviewed studies on multi-mixes are currently available; a diversity of species compositions is being tested with a wide range of potential benefits but also with various limitations. Selection of species in multi-mixes is based on different criteria that help improve multiple ecosystem services. An emerging concept is the importance of selecting cover crop species with functional complementarity rather than simply increasing the number of species. Based on this concept, objective criteria have been developed to select the species for a multi-mix: grower objectives/primary purpose of planting the cover crop, crop rotation and cropping system compatibility, above and belowground compatibility, complementarity of different ecosystem functions, compatibility with the growing environment, duration for cover crop growth, termination option(s) available, input/labour costs, planting equipment required, persistence/weediness, and potential net economic returns. We propose a step-wise procedure to develop effective multi-species mixtures. The number of species and their ratio in the mixtures will depend on objective criteria, and hence long-term research is required to assess different species compositions and their impacts.

Here, we review the impacts of recent natural disasters in developing countries on rural agriculture and livelihoods with the objective of understanding gaps and providing recommendations. Lessons from these disasters demonstrate that national governments, aid agencies, and international/non-governmental organizations (I/NGOs) are effective primarily at distributing short-term products (e.g. food packages and tarpaulin) to cities. Such products are inexpensive, simple to procure, and easily quantifiable for donors. Unfortunately, the literature suggests that many national governments and foreign NGOs are ineffective at assisting rural farmers in the short and long term. Given that the global community is somewhat effective at distributing short-term products, we suggest that a similar strategy should be developed for rural areas, but focusing on products that can assist farm households. There appears to be a gap in knowledge of effective products that can target such households after a disaster. We propose an emergency sustainable agriculture kit (eSAK) framework for disaster relief in rural areas that involves a comprehensive list of products that can be combined into packages to address the needs of shelter, hunger, first aid, seeds, preservation of indigenous crop varieties, and post-disaster labour shortages. We also propose ideas on how to re-purpose relief products provided to urban areas to assist with farm needs. Products highlighted are rolls of agricultural-grade plastics, low-oxygen grain storage bags, waterproof gardening gloves, multi-use shovels, seeds of early maturing crops, fertilizers, inexpensive farming tools, temporary food support, and first-aid kits. These products are needed, inexpensive, labour efficient, compact, lightweight, available/procurable on a large scale, simple, and re- usable. Furthermore, correct use and re-purposing of the products can be explained using accompanying graphical illustrations, which is critical for rural illiterate households. As distribution to rural areas is a challenge, especially after a disaster, we propose the use of pre-existing alcohol/cigarette/snackfood distribution networks as a novel strategy for rural disaster relief. These efforts must be in partnership with local officials and grassroots organizations, with dedicated funding from governments and international aid agencies. It is hoped that global stakeholders will benefit from these recommendations to assist affected farmers after a crisis.

Improving crop yields are essential to meet the increasing pressure of global food demands. The loss of high quality land, the slowing in annual yield increases of major cereals, increasing fertilizer use, and the effect of this on the environment all indicate that we need to develop new strategies to increase grain yields with less impact on the environment. One strategy that could help address this concern is by narrowing the yield gaps of major crops using improved genetics and management. The objective of this study was to determine wheat (Triticum spp. L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and canola (Brassica napus L.) yields and production gaps in Alberta. We used ten years of data (2005-14) to understand yield variability and input efficiency at a farmers’ specified level of management, and the yield potential under optimal management to suggest appropriate pathways for closing yield gaps. Significant management gaps were observed between attainable and actual yields of rainfed wheat (24%), barley (25%), and canola (30%). In addition, genetic gaps (i.e., gaps due to genetic selection) in wheat, barley, and canola were 18%, 12%, and 5%, respectively. Genetic selection with optimal crop management could increase yields of wheat, barley, and canola significantly, with estimated yield gains of 3.42, 1.92, and 1.65 million tonnes, respectively, each year under rainfed conditions in Alberta. This paper identifies yield gaps and offers suggestions to improve efficiency in crop production.

Studies have shown the potential of rhizobia and associated micronutrients to enhance symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes. Tens of millions of smallholder farmers, however, farm on mountain hillsides in highly variable soil and microenvironments, with different crop rotations, inputs and cultural practices. Here, on the terraces of the Nepalese Himalayas, we evaluated rhizobium inoculants (local, exotic), micronutrients (molybdenum, boron) and their combinations as technologies for smallholder farmers under highly variable microenvironments and traditional practices. The study was conducted as a series of participatory on-farm trials with 39 terrace farmers in two mid-hill districts of Nepal (Dhading, Kaski) from 2015 to 2017. Plots were measured for relevant agronomic traits. As expected, when comparing treatment plots with adjacent control plots within each farm, the results demonstrated tremendous farm-to-farm variability for nodulation, vegetative biomass, shoot nitrogen content, grain yield, and grain N content. Despite the variation observed, the data showed that the number of farms that showed yield increases from the rhizobium interventions, compared to those that suffered yield losses, was generally 2:1. We discuss potential experimental and socio-agronomic reasons for the variable results, including rainfall, which appeared critical. The results demonstrate the promise of rhizobium interventions for hillside smallholder farmers, even in a highly variable context.

Farming in Northern Ontario is limited to less than 1% of the total land area available. With over 2000 farms, this is home to about 6% of the province’s population, concentrated in the five major southern border cities of Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Sudbury and North Bay, with a significant presence of indigenous (i.e., First Nations) and disadvantaged peoples. This review highlights the challenges and opportunities of agriculture in Northern Ontario and offers a few strategies for establishing and sustaining agricultural operations locally. The challenges of farming in this region include the prevalence of adverse climatic conditions, lack of crop/economic diversification, insufficient infrastructure and support services, presence of small local markets, an aging population and youth out-migration, attitudes of dependency on government and limited investment potential. Nevertheless, this region offers much potential for farming as it contains significant amounts of fertile soils, good road networks and affordable land to start up farm businesses. Furthermore, the changing climate could be a boon to improve growing conditions, with expanded cropping options and increased yields in recent years. Production and consumption of local foods, conducting innovative on-farm research that addresses the needs of local producers including First Nations peoples, fostering regional research centres, building relationships through networking, exchange of ideas through effective use of different extension avenues, and collaboration and assisting local producers with market development may help establish a more competitive and sustainable agrifood sector in Northern Ontario. Favourable government policies to support growers who have experienced damage to their crops, forages and livestock due to adverse climatic conditions will further help sustain and expand their agricultural operations.