Abstract Over the last two decades, researchers and farmers have been actively co-developing soil-amelioration technologies in Malawian maize-based smallholder systems, specifically grain-legume technologies (GLT) for the purpose of sustainable intensification. Despite farmers' expressed interest and researchers' technological adaptations to reflect newly discovered on-farm constraints, farmers' adoption of these technologies remains limited, as does researchers' understanding of associated barriers. We investigate Malawian-smallholder farmers' incorporation of co-designed GLT into their maize-based systems after four years of intentional on-farm experimentation, focusing on understanding farmers' (n = 366) continued low levels of integration. We used mixed qualitative and quantitative methods within participatory action research to examine the potential effects of farmers' stated preferences and perceptions of GLT on their adoption choices. We found that farmers' adoption of GLT continues to remain low. Farmers preferred their traditional maize-dominated system to the majority of the studied GLT, for its perceived superiority in meeting farmers' food security and yield needs. Additionally, although GLT were less labor intensive than farmers' traditional maize systems in aggregate, farmers' cropping-system choices prioritized food security needs and were restricted by increased labor demand during time-sensitive labor tasks that have the potential to impact food security by decreasing on-farm maize production, specifically the task of planting. We identify potential entry points for future research that prioritize reducing the planting complexity of GLT in maize-dominated systems.

中文翻译：

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小农对谷物与豆类技术整合的限制：马拉维时效性劳动力需求和粮食安全首要问题的案例

摘要 在过去的二十年中，研究人员和农民一直在积极共同开发马拉维以玉米为基础的小农系统的土壤改良技术，特别是谷物豆科植物技术 (GLT)，以实现可持续集约化。尽管农民表达了兴趣并且研究人员对技术进行了调整以反映新发现的农场限制，但农民对这些技术的采用仍然有限，研究人员对相关障碍的理解也是如此。我们调查了马拉维小农在四年的农场试验后将共同设计的 GLT 纳入他们的玉米系统，重点是了解农民（n = 366）持续的低整合水平。我们在参与式行动研究中使用混合的定性和定量方法来检查农民陈述的偏好和对 GLT 的看法对其采用选择的潜在影响。我们发现农民对 GLT 的采用率仍然很低。与大多数研究的 GLT 相比，农民更喜欢他们传统的以玉米为主的系统，因为它在满足农民的粮食安全和产量需求方面具有明显的优势。此外，尽管总体而言 GLT 的劳动密集程度低于农民的传统玉米系统，但农民的种植系统选择优先考虑粮食安全需求，并受到时间敏感的劳动任务期间劳动力需求增加的限制，这些任务有可能通过减少粮食安全来影响粮食安全。农场玉米生产，特别是种植任务。