The Value of Plains Cotton Cooperative Association

The Value of Plains Cotton Cooperative Association is a teaching case that allows students to consider the cooperative business model and the impact of this unique form of organization in agriculture. The Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) , a highly successful, innovative, and dominant cotton cooperative, is considered in this case.
The general question is whether the cooperative form of organization is viable and relevant in the face of intensifying economic competition. Cotton producers and long-time co-op members must decide if they will remain loyal to the cooperative in light of recent negative publicity and disappointing returns from its marketing operations.     

Institutional Environment and Technical Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Cotton Producers in West Africa

This paper examines the effects of the institutional environment on West African cotton farmers’ technical efficiency (TE). First, key aspects of the cotton sector institutional environment are discussed, including input and credit access, and producers’ organisations. Then, a stochastic frontier production function, which incorporates technical inefficiency effects, is applied to farm level data collected in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The survey includes farmers’ evaluations of the cotton sector institutional environment. Results suggest that institutional level features influence producers’ TE, besides farm‐level characteristics. Cotton growers who report a negative experience with the joint liability programme, who identify the cotton price mechanism or access to credit as the main constraints to performance, and who cultivate more hectares of cereals are technically more inefficient in producing cotton. Findings suggest that cotton farmers in Mali are less technically efficient in producing cotton than in Burkina Faso and Benin. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing farmers’ financial stress, particularly through the establishment of adequate price mechanisms (i.e. higher farm‐gate prices and timely payments to farmers) and improvement in the input–credit markets should be encouraged to improve TE in West Africa.     

Under the trees: the Georgia peach and the quest for labor in the twentieth century

The Georgia peach boom around the turn of the twentieth century was often hailed as a successful experiment in diversification. Peach growers, the story went, threw off the tyranny of King Cotton by pledging their allegiance to the "Queen of Fruits." This portrayal is partly true; unlike other proposed alternatives to cotton, peaches flourished in many places. But the history of the "labor problem" in the Georgia peach belt makes it clear that peach production depended on the cotton economy. Peaches required large amounts of labor only at harvest time, which came during a lull in the cotton season. Thus, for many years, growers found a ready labor supply in a rural population otherwise at loose ends. As this population relocated to cities, and as cotton farmers mechanized their operations, peach growers turned increasingly to the federal government to help shore up their workforces.     

中国储备棉轮入轮出机制对棉花市场传递效应研究

文章以1978-2016年中国棉花价格、消费产量及轮入轮出数据为基础,采用联立方程模型,就储备棉轮入轮出机制对棉花供需的传递效应进行实证分析。研究表明,中国棉花储备政策及轮入轮出机制对于平衡国内棉花市场供求、防止棉花价格过度波动起到积极的作用。储备棉轮入轮出机制对国内棉花产量、消费量的传递效应显著且存在一定差异,对国内棉花产量的传递效果要强于对国内棉花消费量的传递效应,产生这种差异的主要原因在于储备棉轮入轮出机制的传递路径有所不同。应坚持和完善储备棉轮入轮出机制,提升储备棉轮入轮出机制对棉花需求的调控作用,实现储备棉轮入轮出机制常态化,通过明确储备棉轮入轮出机制的政策目标和市场定位,加强棉花市场信息系统建设,使储备棉轮入轮出机制成为我国棉花支持政策体系的主要手段。     

Cotton market integration and the impact of China's new exchange rate regime

This article studies the integration of China's cotton market with the international market, especially the U.S. market. Investigating the futures prices from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in the U.S. and the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) in China with several time series models, we find that a long‐run cointegration relationship exists between these two series. The two markets share price transmissions, and based on results from an Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (ARCH) model, we find their price volatilities are similar. We argue that China's recent exchange rate reform and its gradual liberalization in bilateral cotton trade since it joined World Trade Organization have had important impacts on these futures markets. Based on these findings, several important economic and policy implications are derived.     

Prices,institutions, and determinants of supply in the Malian cotton sector

Cotton, both a source of livelihood for millions of poor rural households and a major source of export revenues, is a vital commodity for the economic and social development of Mali. Inefficiencies in the Malian cotton system at the ginnery and producers’ cooperative levels (e.g., late payment to farmers and poorly functioning credit schemes) have recently led to an important decline in supply, threatening the sustainability of the sector. Using regional data from 1998/1999 to 2008/2009, this study aims to quantitatively assess the contribution of key determinants, such as cotton prices and timely payment, toward the downward trend in cotton area. A dynamic supply model, based on adaptive expectations and partial adjustment, is employed to estimate the effects of prices and institutional factors, such as credit recovery rates and date of payment to farmers, on the Malian cotton supply. Results show that supply responds significantly to cotton prices relative to cereal and fertilizer prices. Date of payment varies across agricultural cycles and late payment negatively influences land devoted to cotton. Low credit repayment rates create disincentives to grow cotton. Therefore, the revitalization of the Malian cotton sector depends upon getting both prices and institutions right.     

Will cotton make a comeback in Mali?

With the decline of cotton especially in the marginal cotton areas, farmers have been using more of the cotton‐financed inputs on the cereals. The cotton para‐statal company (CMDT) has made a virtue out of this recommending diversification for these regions. Following the world price spike in 2010, the Malian government responded with a substantial price increase for cotton in 2011 of 38% to rejuvenate the Malian sector. This article looks at the impact of this price policy in the cotton economy and the potential of new cereal technology and marketing strategy to raise incomes and facilitate the diversification. Given the importance of the marketing decision of selling later after the recovery of cereal prices from the harvest collapse, a discrete stochastic programming model was developed for three‐stage decision making. Then, the recent changes in the cotton economy and government fertilizer subsidies were analyzed along with the introduction of the new technology marketing of sorghum. Cotton and maize continue to dominate the economy but the combined sorghum technology marketing increases farmers’ incomes by 16% to 21% and eases the return to normal cotton prices, after the 2011 price spike, as well as the removal of the fertilizer subsidies.     

Estimating the supply response of cotton and cereal crops in smallholder production systems: recent evidence from Mali

Cotton is one of the most important crops in West Africa and is a major catalyst of economic development in rural areas, but the sector has suffered from a decline in the world cotton price after 1999. This article exploits an unusual data set following 82 farmers over 14 years, from 1994 through 2007, to estimate a Nerlovian supply response model for cotton, maize, sorghum, and millet in long-term rotation. The resulting system of equations is estimated with two-stage least squares (2SLS), showing that this sample of Malian cotton producers have responded to prices in a relatively inelastic manner, with supply elasticities only about one-half of those estimated for producers in developed countries. Policy reforms could help producers respond more easily to prices changes, as well as to raise average productivity levels.     

The Sustainability of the Farm‐level Impact of Bt Cotton in China

The short‐run impact of Bt cotton adoption has been well documented; however, the sustainability of the impact remains unclear. In particular, pest resistance build‐up and secondary pest outbreaks have caused concern regarding the sustainability of this benefit. This paper analyses the effects and impact dynamics of Bt cotton adoption in China. Using six unique waves of panel data collected between 1999 and 2007, we show that the benefits of Bt cotton continue 10 years after it has been commercialised, albeit with evidence of a decline in the benefit since the early adoption period. Importantly, we also show that the benefit has been shared by both Bt and non‐Bt cotton adopters.     

Farm-Level Economic Performance of Genetically Modified Cotton in Maharashtra, India

A study of the commercial growing of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton in India, compares the performance of over 9,000 Bt and non-Bt cotton farm plots in Maharashtra over the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Results show that since their commercial release in 2002, Bt cotton varieties have had a significant positive impact on average yields and on the economic performance of cotton growers. Regional variation showed that, in a very few areas, not all farmers had benefited from increased performance of Bt varieties.     

Bt Cotton,Pesticide Use and Environmental Efficiency in Pakistan

There is a broad literature on the impact of Bt cotton adoption in different countries, but few studies have explicitly looked at environmental and health effects from an economic perspective. We analyse the impact of Bt cotton on environmental efficiency in Pakistan, using farm survey data and a doubly heteroskedastic stochastic production function framework. Negative environmental and health effects of chemical pesticide use are quantified with the environmental impact quotient. Bt‐adopting farms have higher cotton yields, while using lower pesticide quantities and causing less environmental damage. Bt farms are both technically and environmentally more efficient than non‐Bt farms. Bt adoption increases environmental efficiency by 37%. Achieving the same reduction in negative environmental and health impact without Bt would cost conventional cotton farmers US$ 54 per acre in terms of foregone yields and revenues (7% of total revenues). Extrapolating this shadow price of the technology's health and environmental benefits to the total Bt cotton area in Pakistan results in an aggregate value of US$ 370 million. These benefits are in addition to the profit gains for Bt‐adopting farmers. Our results suggest that Bt technology can contribute to sustainable agricultural development.     

Cotton farmers’ willingness to pay for pest management services in northern Benin

This study was carried out to assess cotton farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for pest management services in northern Benin. Targeted staggered control (TSC) has been introduced to reduce pesticide use in cotton cropping and generate an estimated benefit of FCFA48,800 (€74.40) per cotton hectare accruing from increased productivity and reduced pesticide cost. However, TSC application requires extra time for pest identification and scouting, and its adoption remains low due to the lack of funding to boost farmers’ awareness and cover training costs. An interval regression model was used to analyze responses to a double‐bounded contingent valuation survey with data collected from 300 cotton farmers. The results showed that 87.3% of cotton farmers were willing to pay for TSC services. Annual WTP per cotton hectare was estimated at FCFA16,962 (€25.80), revealing an existing demand for TSC adoption. Respondents' WTP was driven by farm and socio‐economic characteristics. Financial mechanisms managed by farmers could thus potentially foster technology adoption, and in turn, generate economic and environmental benefits.     

The viability of cotton-based organic farming systems in India

Cotton farmers in many developing countries are facing decreasing marginal returns due to stagnating yields and high input costs. Conversion to organic management could offer an alternative. In a two year comparative study in central India covering 170 cotton fields, organic farms achieved cotton yields that were on par with those in conventional farms, whereby nutrient inputs and input costs per crop unit were reduced by half. Due to 10–20% lower total production costs and a 20% organic price premium, average gross margins from organic cotton fields were 30–40% higher than in the conventional system. Although the crops grown in rotation with cotton were sold without premium, organic farms achieved 10–20% higher incomes from agriculture. In addition to these economic benefits, the organic farming system does not burden soil and groundwater with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. However, in this study only minor differences were detected in soil fertility parameters of organic and conventional fields. Altogether, the results suggest that conversion to organic farming can improve livelihoods of smallholders while protecting natural resources. Income loss due to reduced yields in initial years of transition, however, constitutes a major hurdle, especially for poorer farmers. It is thus important to support farmers in overcoming the obstacles of the conversion period.     

抗战前陕西棉花产销合作

在二十世纪三十年代前期实行统制经济和救济农村金融的背景下，国民政府和各省政府、社会团体、银行机构以及一些大学广泛开展了棉花产销合作运动，陕西棉花产销合作是其中办理较早、规模最大、成绩较好的地区。由于各方的努力，陕西棉花产销合作取得了一定的成绩，棉花品种得到改良，棉田面积扩大，棉农因此获得了一定的利益，但棉花产销合作也存在诸多缺陷，面临许多困境，前景仍然十分艰难。     

Is Oligopoly a Condition of Successful Privatization? The Case of Cotton in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe embarked on market liberalization in the early 1990s, leading towards increasing participation of private capital in the agricultural sector. This paper examines the emergent shape of the private marketing chain for cotton in Zimbabwe, based on fieldwork conducted in the 1999-2001 cotton marketing seasons. The privatization of the cotton marketing board replaced state monopoly with private oligopoly and competition is still seriously underdeveloped, especially on price. However, because of a concentrated market and collective private action, important aspects of earlier systems of coordination have been maintained, preventing downgrading of Zimbabwean cotton lint after liberalization. The paper concludes with a discussion about (absence of) competition and commodity system sustainability in liberalized markets.     

Is a Futures Market Viable in Turkey? The Case of a Cotton Futures Market

Abstract

Many countries as they reduce price controls develop an interest in futures markets as a way to manage risk. This article explores the potential of using existing futures markets to hedge cotton in Turkey. Futures prices in New York and Liverpool are not cointegrated and only weakly correlated with cash prices in Izmir. Thus, existing futures markets have limited ability to reduce the risk faced by the cotton industry in Turkey. While there are obstacles to overcome, there does appear to be a potential demand for a cotton futures market in Turkey.     

The Adoption of Genetically Modified Cotton and Poverty Reduction in Pakistan

This article employs a propensity score‐matching approach to examine the direct effects of adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton on yields, pesticide demand, household income and poverty, using cross‐sectional data from a survey of farmers in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Generally, the findings reveal that adoption of the new technology exerts a positive and significant impact on cotton yields, household income and poverty reduction, and a negative effect on the use of pesticides. The positive and significant impact of the technology on yields and household income is consistent with the potential role of new agricultural technology in directly reducing rural poverty through increased farm household income.     

内聚与开放:棉花对近代华北乡村社会的影响

20世纪20－30年代，美棉的推广使得华北乡村社会的封闭状态产生了变化。在美棉引种、种植、管理、收获及棉花销售的过程中，引种和销售两个环节加强了村庄对外界的依赖，体现出开放性。种植到收获各个环节中的生产联合则基本上局限于村庄内部，仍保持传统的内聚性。这种传统与现代的结合，体现出近代乡村社会的一种变化趋势。     

Cooperative Cotton Marketing, Liberalization and 'Civil Society' in Tanzania

This paper describes developments in marketing cooperatives in Tanzania's major cotton-growing area between 1991 and 1997, when they underwent voluntarization, lost state and donor financial support, and (from 1995) faced strong competition from private cotton buyers/ginners. After summarizing the history of marketing cooperatives in the country, the paper distinguishes the main dimensions of the current changes and sums up their outcomes. It then examines the main socio-economic and political dimensions of these outcomes before exploring current developments with reference to broader changes in 'civil society' and organizational life in rural Tanzania.     

A Question of Integrity: Variants of Bt Cotton,Pesticides and Productivity in Pakistan

Bt cotton remains one of the most widely grown biotech crops among smallholder farmers in lower income countries, and numerous studies attest to its advantages. However, the effectiveness of Bt toxin, which depends on many technical constraints, is heterogeneous. In Pakistan, the diffusion of Bt cotton occurred despite a weak regulatory system and without seed quality control; whether or not many varieties sold as Bt are in fact Bt is also questionable. We utilise nationally representative sample data to test the effects of Bt cotton use on productivity. Unlike previous studies, we invoke several indicators of Bt identity: variety name, official approval status, farmer belief, laboratory tests of Bt presence in plant tissue, and biophysical assays measuring Bt effectiveness. Only farmer belief affects cotton productivity in the standard production model, which does not treat Bt appropriately as damage‐abating. In the damage control framework, all Bt indicators reduce damage from pests. Biophysical indicators have the largest effect and official approval has the weakest. Findings have implications for impact measurement. For policy‐makers, they suggest the need, on ethical and productivity grounds, to improve variety information and monitor variety integrity closer to point of sale.