As China's largest economic province and a major agricultural region, Guangdong has long ranked among the top in core indicators of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery. In 2024, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery in Guangdong reached 971.861 billion yuan, with the total agricultural output value at 470.631 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.21%. Since the reform and opening up, leveraging its subtropical climate endowment, geographical proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, and continuous rural reform, Guangdong has gradually established a sound modern agricultural industrial system and steadily enhanced its comprehensive agricultural production capacity. To further promote the high-quality development of Guangdong's agricultural economy and identify the key influencing factors, this paper selects 17 core indicators across five dimensions: agricultural production inputs, agricultural water conservancy status, agricultural production scale, agricultural output, demand and income, and agricultural technology and development, covering the period from 2015 to 2024. Two machine learning (ML) models—support vector machines and neural networks—are constructed, and SHAP is employed to rank indicator importance and analyze explanatory power. The study ultimately identifies five core indicators that drive Guangdong's agricultural economic development. The findings provide a scientific basis for the precise formulation of agricultural economic policies in Guangdong. By clarifying the core influencing indicators, policymakers can rationally allocate regional advantageous resources and introduce targeted measures, such as optimizing the agricultural support and farmer subsidy system to improve input efficiency; advancing rural water supply facilities and intelligent water conservancy systems, and establishing a provincial-level digital management platform for water conservancy; and fostering leading agricultural enterprises, supporting large-scale production bases, and improving the level of large-scale agricultural operation. These measures can effectively enhance the precision of agricultural economic policy support and promote the high-quality development of Guangdong's agricultural economy.
Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a high-value perennial crop essential to global tropical and sub-tropical agriculture, but its yield potential is frequently limited by imbalanced soil nutrition and unsustainable management practices. Hence, this study investigated the efficacy of the combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers on coconut growth, yield, quality, and soil fertility in order to determine the suitable fertilization strategy. The field experiment was conducted over two consecutive years in a Completely Randomized Design with five treatments and three replicates, using 16-year-old palms of the coconut cultivar 'BARI Narikel-2'.The treatments were viz. T1 (RDF): N450P120K1000S50Zn25B6.8 g per plant, T2 (150%RDF+CD): N675P180K1500S75Zn37.5B10.2 g plant-1+10 kg cowdung (CD) plant-1, T3 (125%RDF + CD): N563P150K1250S62.5Zn31.25B8.5 g plant-1+30 kg CD plant-1, T4 (FP): N200P70K300 g plant-1+20 kg CD plant-1 and T5: Control (without fertilizer). Parameters measured included growth characteristics, annual nut count, fruit size, copra quality, nut yield, soil health indicators etc. Results revealed that treatment T3 significantly improved coconut growth, yield and quality metrics. The highest nut yield (115 kg plant-1) was achieved in T3, representing a 195% increase over the control and a 67.9 % increase over farmer practice (T4). This yield was primarily driven by a higher single fruit weight (1.70 kg) and an increased number of fruits plant-1 (75.5). Additionally, T3 enhanced meat thickness (12.8 mm), total soluble solids (7.25 0Brix), vitamin C (3.23 mg/100g) and protein content (12.0%). Regarding soil health, T3 increased organic carbon by 10% and total nitrogen by 11%. This treatment was also highly economically viable, yielding a gross return of 108 US$ and a gross margin of 77.6 US$ per plant. Correlation analysis and PCA confirmed a strong positive correlation between growth and yield parameters and the fruit quality traits of coconut. Therefore, results suggest that the fertilizer strategy T3 (N563P150K1250S62.5Zn31.25B8.5 g plant-1+30 kg CD plant-1) optimizes the physiological yield potential, improves fruit quality, and sustains soil fertility, offering a climate-resilient solution for sustainable coconut management.
Journal of Agricultural Studies (JAS) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether JAS publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue. Reviewers for Volume 14, Number 1 André Luiz Rodrigues Magalhães, Universidade Federal do Agreste de Pernambuco-UFAPE, BrazilAngel Ramon Sanchez Delgado, Universidade federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, BrazilArnaud Z. Dragicevic, IRSTEA, FranceEben von Well, Agricultural Research Council, South AfricaMaría Francisca Perera, ITANOA, EEAOC-CONICET, ArgentinaSybelle Mesquita Silva, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brazil Richard WilliamsEditorial AssistantJournal of Agricultural Studies--------------------------------------Macrothink Institute5348 Vegas Dr.#825Las Vegas, Nevada 89108United StatesPhone: 1-702-953-1852 ext.521Email 1: jas@macrothink.orgEmail 2: jas@macrothink.comURL: http://jas.macrothink.org
Soil nutrient depletion is a major constraint limiting agricultural productivity in Burkina Faso. This study aims to evaluate the response of two cowpea varieties (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) to various organo-mineral fertilization levels. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used to compare two varieties (Komcallé and Niizwè) under four fertilization treatments: a control with no input (F0), NPK at 100 kg/ha (F1), jatropha compost at 2,500 kg/ha (F2), and a combination of NPK (50 kg/ha) + jatropha compost (2,500 kg/ha) (F3). Ten agromorphological traits were evaluated. The results indicate that fertilization, when considered alone, did not significantly influence the measured variables. In contrast, a significant varietal effect (P < 0.05) was observed across all parameters. Furthermore, the variety × fertilization interaction revealed significant differences (P < 0.05) for all studied traits. The Komcallé variety achieved its best grain yield (1,833.07 ± 45.31 kg/ha) under the combined F3 treatment (NPK + jatropha compost). For the Niizwè variety, the highest yields were recorded in the F0 control (1,125.97 ± 17.50 kg/ha), followed by the F2 treatment with jatropha compost alone (1,073.81 ± 20.09 kg/ha). Combining NPK fertilizer and jatropha compost with high-potential genetic varieties appears to be a promising pathway for improving cowpea performance over the medium to long term. Adopting such organo-mineral amendments could contribute to the sustainable intensification of cowpea production within smallholder farming systems.
In the face of growing challenges posed by climate change, enhancing the resilience of the agricultural sector has become a crucial issue to ensure food security and achieve the sustainable development goals. In rainfed areas, agricultural production and the use of natural resources are directly linked to climatic conditions, which explains the multiplicity of adaptation strategies employed by farming households to ensure the resilience of agricultural systems. This research reflects the concerns regarding the strengthening of agricultural resilience in semi-arid regions. The research examines through a Target MOTAD (Minimization of Total Absolute Deviation) model the assessment of different risk level scenarios among farmers in the studied area. The findings reveal that these farmers exhibit a relatively high degree of risk aversion, with an estimated coefficient of ϕ = 1.8. This analysis highlights how farmers balance the risks associated with crop failures and income variability due to climatic uncertainties.The findings underscore the complexity of implementing adaptation strategies that minimize risks while ensuring long-term resilience. Ultimately, the study offers practical insights into how climate resilience can be strengthened through targeted interventions, focusing on both technological adoption and risk management for vulnerable farming communities.
