Editorial: Sustainable Cropping Systems for Small Grain Crops for Smallholder Farmers

Cosmas Parwada^1*Adornis Dakarai Nciizah²Hupenyu Allan Mupambwa³Ernest Dube⁴

• ¹Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe
• ²Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
• ³University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
• ⁴Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Climate change has negatively impacted on the smallholder farmers in Africa, leading to variability in rain and weather conditions that reduce crop yields e.g maize to below 1.5 t ha⁻¹. The farmers lack sufficient adaptive capacity and cannot adopt mitigation interventions.Small grains like sorghum, millet, and finger millet are resilient to climate but have low adoption due to high labour demands in their production, restricted market access, weak policy support, and consumer preferences. Additionally, these crops are often grown on poor soils under low inputs leading to reduced yields. Solutions to low yields include conservation agriculture, intercropping with legumes, agroforestry, and better pest, water, and nutrient management. Increasing productivity requires improved agronomic management, highyielding varieties, post-harvest handling, and linkage to markets. Overcoming these can enhance food security and resilience among smallholder farmers. Coulibaly et al. evaluates the profitability of adopting improved sorghum varieties (ICRSVs) compared to local varieties. Drawing on a farm partial budgeting method, sensitivity analysis, and stochastic dominance analysis across three years of yield data (2017,2018,2020) Information System (GIS) was used to evaluate 17 parameters like soil texture, nutrient 51 content, and slope. Results classify 24.80% land as "highly suitable," 31.37% as "moderately 52 suitable," 12.40% as "least suitable," and 31.43% as "not suitable" for wheat. Kumar et al. 53 observed that nitrogen and micronutrient (Mn, Fe, Zn) were deficient hence need for fertilizer 54 application. Ahmedabad and Kheda districts are more suitable and Bhavnagar least suitable. 55There is evidence-based justification to ensure maximum land use, enhanced wheat 56 production, and food security in the region. 57 This systematic review investigates quinoa cultivation practice on 148 global field 59 experiments from 2000 to 2022. The crop is tolerant to drought and salt and has been grown 60 beyond the Andes due to its nutritional quality and resilience. Taaime et al. observed that 61 quinoa yields are extremely heterogeneous (108-9,667 kg ha -1 ) and are genotype, sowing 62 date, and agronomic management dependent. Planting periods are optimal per region to avoid 63 climatic stresses like frost or heat. Fertilization is necessary, and 2-4.6 kg nitrogen is needed 64 per grain quintal. Quinoa is low irrigation-tolerant (300-400 mm), but yields are maximized 65 at an availability of 866 mm water. Weed control relies heavily on manual labour, and downy 66 mildew and birds are the main pests. Post-harvest removal of saponin can be done using 67