Publications by authors named "Simon Fonteyne"

Article Synopsis
  • Rainfed agriculture in semi-arid regions faces challenges due to unpredictable rainfall, leading to low yields from traditional farming methods.
  • Research conducted between 2013 and 2020 in Queretaro, Mexico, compared conservation agriculture practices—like permanent beds and crop rotations—against conventional tillage for maize cultivation.
  • Results showed that maize grown on permanent beds yielded significantly better—averaging 3,717 kg/ha, which is 70% higher than conventional methods—while the most profitable strategy involved rotating maize with beans.
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For several decades, maize ( L.) management decisions in smallholder farming in tropical regions have been a puzzle. To best balance alternative management practices' environmental and economic outcomes, an extensive dataset was gathered through CIMMYT's knowledge hub in Chiapas, a state in southern Mexico.

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Agri-food systems are besieged by malnutrition, yield gaps, and climate vulnerability, but integrated, research-based responses in public policy, agricultural, value chains, and finance are constrained by short-termism and zero sum thinking. As they respond to current and emerging agri-food system challenges, decision makers need new tools that steer toward multi-sector, evidence-based collaboration. To support national agri-food system policy processes, the Integrated Agri-food System Initiative (IASI) methodology was developed and validated through case studies in Mexico and Colombia.

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Background And Aims: The high productivity of Miscanthus × giganteus has been at least partly ascribed to its high chilling tolerance compared with related C4 crops, allowing for a longer productive growing season in temperate climates. However, the chilling tolerance of M. × giganteus has been predominantly studied under controlled environmental conditions.

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This paper describes the complete findings of the EU-funded research project OPTIMISC, which investigated methods to optimize the production and use of miscanthus biomass. Miscanthus bioenergy and bioproduct chains were investigated by trialing 15 diverse germplasm types in a range of climatic and soil environments across central Europe, Ukraine, Russia, and China. The abiotic stress tolerances of a wider panel of 100 germplasm types to drought, salinity, and low temperatures were measured in the laboratory and a field trial in Belgium.

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