The impacts of extreme weather events on crop productions are largely heterogeneous along the timing dimension of the shocks, and the varieties being affected. We investigate the relationships yield-weather for three durum wheat varieties (early, middle, and late). We disentangle the time dimension distinguishing five phenological stages, as identified by Growing Degree Days approach. Our panel regression models show that the starting and development stages are sensitive to changes in minimum temperatures, regardless of wheat variety. Raises in maximum temperatures during the starting stage are associated with increases in yields; the opposite is true for increases in high temperatures from seed fill to dough stage (for late varieties), and at maturity complete stage (for early varieties). The analysis suggests that advancing sowing dates may help preventing yield losses due to heat stress, whereas the cold stress should be managed through other on-farm risk management strategies or via crop insurance.

Despite water scarcity and lots of benefits, implementation of micro-irrigation systems on potato crops in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon is notably low. This could be related to farmers’ acceptance to use this technique. The objective of this study is to investigate the factors that can affect or not the adoption and the investment in a new micro-irrigation system. For this aim, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) served as the conceptual framework. A qualitative approach using focus group discussion was applied. A total of 34 farmers in six focus groups were conducted in the three main districts of the Bekaa Valley. From the analysis, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions emerged as the three most prominent factors to understand farmers’ acceptance and adoption of micro-irrigation systems. The focus group findings indicated that potato farmers are willing to adopt a new micro-irrigation system if they ensure its provision in gains, its reduction of time and effort correlated with the farming activities. Barriers included lack of knowledge about the system, financial capabilities and extension services. Generally speaking, participants were enthusiastic about the idea to adopt a micro-irrigation system, but they are hindered by the unstable socio-economic conditions in Lebanon and the financial abilities. It was concluded that age, experience and voluntariness of use exert an effect on the related major determinants. This study will provide recommendations that can be considered while drafting agricultural policies.

The transition from a linear bio-based economy to a sustainable circular bioeconomy depends not only on the skills that the different actors of the innovation system can find, develop, and exploit internally, but also on the efficiency with which they can access external sources of knowledge and skills related to technologies and markets. In this scenario, understanding the dynamics of learning and knowledge accumulation acquires greater importance due to the bioeconomy’s position at the confluence of several technological areas. Therefore, for this study, we apply qualitative system dynamics modelling methods to the analysis of Andalusia’s circular bioeconomy, obtaining important insights into its complexity due to the existence of non-linear processes, multiple feedback loops, and time delays. The models thus generated led to the identification of 20 key interventions points where targeted actions by governments and other actors could help overcome the pervasiveness of information asymmetry in the sector.

Climate change has the potential to impact the agricultural sector and the wine sector in particular. The impacts of climate change are likely to differ across producing regions of wine. Future climate scenarios may push some regions into climatic regimes favourable to grape growing and wine production, with potential changes in areas planted with vines. We examine which is the linkage between climate change and productivity levels in the global wine sector. Within the framework of agricultural supply response, we assume that grapevines acreage and yield are a function of climate change. We find that grapevines yield suffers from higher temperatures during summer, whereas precipitations have a varying impact on grapevines depending on the cycle of grapevines. Differently, acreage share of grapevines tends to be favoured by higher annual temperatures, whereas greater annual precipitations tend to be detrimental. The impacts vary between Old World Producers and New World Producers, also due to heterogeneity in climate between them.

In the context of climate change, one of the EU’s major political efforts focus on water management. Public investment is carried out considering several drivers, from economic development to demographics, climate, and pollutants. Meanwhile, the need for evaluation methods is also increasing, so their development has grown in recent years. Among these, Multi-Criteria Analysis methodologies (MCA) have taken on great importance. This work aims to demonstrate the usefulness of MCA in addressing crucial environmental issues, such as the use of water resources for agricultural and food production. The document presents an application of MCA for the ranking and selection of projects to be financed under the Italian National Plan on Water Resources. The Plan is part of the national initiatives planned for the adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change. The selection criteria have been identified following a participatory approach, and to respond to both the challenge of climate change and the limited availability of funds. MCA is used to select the best projects to be financed with the available amount. The Italian experience confirms the effectiveness of MCA and highlights how the involvement of both decision makers and stakeholders is necessary for a successful application of MCA to environmental issues.

This paper explores the potential usefulness and possible pitfalls of using integrated choice and latent variable models (hybrid choice models) on stated choice data to inform policy. Using a series of Monte-Carlo simulations, we consider how model selection depends on the strength of relationship between the latent variable and preferences and the strength of relationship between the latent variable and the indicator. Our findings show that integrated choice and latent variable models are difficult to estimate, even when the data generating process is known. Ultimately, we show that their use should be driven by the analyst’s belief about the strength of correlations between preferences, the latent variable and indicator. We discuss the implications of our results for policy.

The role of culture in connection with the development of food and bioeconomy issues has gained growing importance in recent years. In this editorial we provide background information on the three key topics addressed by the papers published in this special issue: cultural ecosystem services, cultural issues in the organisation of food chains, culture and food characteristics. In a way, the common denominator of these papers is the link between culture, food and territory, taken from different angles. More research and methodological advances are needed for a better consideration of culture in economic research accounting for the current needs of more systemic and holistic vision of the topic.

Ecosystem services are the benefits for society deriving from ecosystems. The perception of ecosystem services by local residents is relevant to understand the extent to which such services contribute to society and regional development. The objective of this study is to assess the perception of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape by local residents and to use them to respond to two main questions: Are residents able to attribute flows of services from specific landscape elements to the different socioeconomic sectors? Are such perceptions affected by the different landscape features of the area of residency (e.g. rural vs. urban dwellers)? The analysis is carried out using data from a survey (n=295) in a rural area located in North Italy (Po Delta lowlands, Province of Ferrara). The results show that the urban population has a rather generic and positive consideration of ecosystem services associated to rural landscape elements and that perception is largely related to their recreational experience. The rural population has a more complex understanding of services and is more prone to acknowledge disservices associated to specific elements and/or specific socioeconomic sectors. Such differences are likely connected to a more direct experience and to the different spatial scales that affect the perception of ecosystem services. The results indicate that cultural services such as recreation and actions linked to the promotion of the territory are commonly acknowledged. On the other hand, initiatives to enhance the awareness of less visible services (e.g. regulation services) would be useful for improving the valorization of specific landscape elements.

This study focuses on the Italian market for high quality olive oil and seeks at assessing the value of a set of emerging quality clues. To this aim a hedonic price model is proposed where the price is regressed on various product attributes using a quantile regression that allows for deeper insights. The analysis covers about one thousand Italian extra-virgin olive oils reviewed by Slow Food guide. Overall, results indicate that various quality clues (e.g.: variety of the olives, the production area, the certification of origin, the organic certification) are associated with relevant price premiums. Moreover, the quantile regression reveals the values associated to quality changes at different price levels. It is worthwhile to underline that the usual negative price premium against olive oils produced in Southern Italy tends to decrease in higher market segments.