Impact of research investment on Cassava production technologies in India*

The present study was an ex‐post assessment done to validate past funding on cassava research, based on economic surplus approach. Though cassava was introduced as a food crop in Kerala, India from Brazil, it has changed its status to commercial crop at present in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states. This was made possible due to intensive research and development efforts of different R&D organizations. Cassava technologies developed enabled in sustaining the crop in the country with the world’s highest productivity. All the cassava production technologies considered in the study resulted in an economic surplus of Rs.3585.87 million in the target domain covering Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Consumers and producers benefited to the tune of Rs.2090.64 million and Rs.1495.23 million respectively. Net present value of economic gains was estimated to be Rs.3548.76 million. Present value of research investment on cassava production technologies was Rs.37.11 million resulting in benefit cost ratio of 96.63:1 with a high internal rate of return of 104 per cent. Thus the study indicated that the research investments incurred on cassava production technologies development was highly economical and provided evidence to the policy makers that supporting the research investment on underground, under exploited tropical root crops like cassava is an economically viable proposition.     

Are maize marketers averse to quality loss in supplies? A case study from Ghana

To ensure sustainable post‐harvest loss reduction, markets that are averse to quality loss and provide incentives for farmers to supply high quality produce are crucial. Such markets will be averse to quality loss, offering distinct prices and substantial rewards to farmers for the supply of quality produce. Farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), where informal markets exist, have often assessed the rewards for the supply of quality produce as inadequate. Hence, this study investigates if intermediary buyers are actually indifferent to quality loss in supplies based on two scenarios—the informal market scenario and a hypothesized grade scenario. The analysis builds on survey data from marketers in two informal maize markets in Ghana. For the hypothesized grade scenario, random effect regression was used to examine the influence of marketer‐specific characteristics on premiums offered to farmers over different quality levels. The findings suggest that although informal markets seem not to adequately value loss reduction, investing in institutional infrastructures, such as grades and standards can change this. Furthermore, interaction among marketers and association participation positively influences the value marketers place on quality loss reduction. The result highlights the importance of standard grading systems and collaborating with market groups in minimizing quality loss.     

Consumer preferences for cowpea in Cameroon and Ghana

Consumer preference information is essential to targeting research. This paper reports an effort of a multi‐disciplinary team to measure the market value of cowpea characteristics. Five samples were purchased once per month in seven markets in Ghana and Cameroon starting in September 1996. In the market, price and vendor characteristics were noted. In the laboratory, size of grains, testa color, testa texture, eye color and damage levels were recorded. A hedonic pricing regression model was used. Results indicate that grain size is the most important characteristic. Consumers seem more sensitive to bruchid (Callosobruchus maculates) damage than hypothesized. Cowpeas with white testa command a clear premium only in one of the Ghanaian markets. In Ghana, black eyes sell at a premium, but in Cameroon black eyes are discounted. In general, this study indicates that quality characteristics are very important in West African food markets. Even low income consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that match their preferences, and they are vigilant in identifying products that do not meet their standards. Purchasing samples on a regular basis and hedonic pricing offers a practical way for biological scientists and economists to work together to measure these consumer preferences.     

Sensory Experiences and Expectations of Italian and German Organic Consumers

We explore sensory experiences and expectations of Italian and German organic consumers when purchasing and eating organic food. Ten focus group interviews were performed and the results were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Outcomes indicated that although sensory attributes are not the main purchase drivers, flavor and odor are the most important in driving consumers' choice. Findings also suggested that training consumers' sensory abilities offers new market opportunities to organic marketers. From a marketing perspective, Italian consumers seem to equally appreciate nonsubjective as well as subjective marketing information about organic products, whereas in Germany non subjective aspects appear to be predominant.     

Dynamic Interrelationships in Hard Wheat Basis Markets

Basis values for hard red spring (HRS) wheat have escalated radically, experienced extraordinary levels of volatility (risk), were subject to a squeeze during 2008, and all these have important implications for market participants. These are particularly important to marketers in the Northern Great Plains in the United States, as well as for Canadian marketers as they confront deregulation in wheat marketing and will be exposed to these risks. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamic relationships and interdependencies among terminal market basis values for milling. Specifically, we seek to identify factors impacting basis values for 13%, 14%, and 15% protein HRS wheat in addition to the intermarket wheat spread between Minneapolis and Kansas City wheat futures. We specify a vector autoregression (VAR) model to explore these relationships. Exogenous structural variables are specified in addition to dynamic interrelationships including seasonal and intertemporal variability and dynamic interdependencies among these markets and relationships. Results of interest are that: (1) basis values for these markets have been trending up and have become more volatile; (2) factors impacting this variability are the protein level in HRS, production of hard red winter (HRW), and Canadian wheat (on high protein basis); (3) HRW protein supplies are not significant in the basis equations, but, do impact the intermarket wheat futures spread; (4) quality factors have a significant impact on basis values, notably vomitoxin, falling numbers, and absorption. Dynamic interrelations are also important in that all prices converge quickly toward a long‐term equilibrium. In addition, there are seasonal impacts, dynamic basis interactions, trends, and lagged impacts of protein levels.     

Traceability, Liability, and Incentives for Food Safety and Quality

Recent food scares such as the discoveries of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and E. coli -contaminated spinach have heightened interest in food traceability. Here, we show how exogenous increases in food traceability create incentives for farms and marketing firms to supply safer food by increasing liability costs. We model a stylized marketing chain composed of farms, marketers, and consumers. Unsafe food for consumers can be caused by either marketers or farms. We show that food safety declines with the number of farms and marketers and imperfect traceability from consumers to marketers dampens liability incentives to supply safer food by farms.     

Evolving Marketing Channels for Beef and Lamb in the United Kingdom-

This paper investigates the effects of: (1) recent changes to food safety legislation; (2) increasing consumer concerns over animal welfare; and (3) further market integration in the European Union on British agribusiness firms involved in marketing beef and lamb. It is hypothesized that these changes will alter the transaction costs associated with marketing these products. As a result, there is likely to be a reduction in the number of animals sold for slaughter through traditional auction markets and an increase in direct contracting or strategic alliances between supermarkets and farmers' marketing cooperatives.     

Seasonal and Spatial Variations in Demand for and Elasticities of Fish Products in the United States: An Analysis Based on Market‐Level Scanner Data

Seasonally and spatially varying demand elasticities would provide important information to seafood producers and marketers as well as policy makers. We analyzed the effects of season and space on (i) demand (translation effects) and (ii) price as well as expenditure elasticities of demand (scaling effects) for 13 finfish species in the United States. The paper used market‐level scanner data for 52 U.S. markets. Results suggest that not only the quantity demanded, but also the demand elasticities vary across species, seasons, and geography; not only does the degree of competition among finfish products vary considerably over space, but substituting products themselves change. These results highlight the importance of studying consumer demand behavior at species level, across seasons and geography, particularly as it sheds important light on some important policy issues such as the potential substitution between catfish and tilapia in the U.S. markets.     

几种酶发酵增强剂对木薯生料发酵的影响

生料发酵对原料的利用率相对较低,以正交实验优化工艺条件对几种发酵增强剂在发酵过程中的影响作用进行了研究,复配3种酶作为发酵增强剂使用,酸性蛋白酶、纤维素酶、果胶酶用量分别为5000、10000、15000U/kg原料,醪液总糖消耗率和淀粉利用率的平均值分别为90.98%与91.78%,结果达到传统高温蒸煮与低温水解发酵工艺的水平。     

Structure and Dynamics of Livestock Marketing in Rural Uganda: Constraints and Prospects for Research and Development

ABSTRACT

The projected global expansion in consumption of meat and other livestock products potentially offers sub-Saharan African small-holder farmers opportunities to escape from the poverty trap. A necessary condition for exploiting this potential is the establishment of marketing systems that provide farmers with reasonable incentives to participate in the market. In this study, the functioning of livestock markets in rural Uganda is analyzed based on a survey of 401 livestock keepers, complimented with focus group discussions with livestock traders and policy planners. The first part is dedicated to the empirical analysis of key organizational and institutional arrangements. Constraints along the marketing chain as well as potential institutional solutions are illuminated. The second part is dedicated to propositions of new areas where more work and new results are needed to improve the functioning of the livestock marketing chain. Empirical findings indicated the following institutional constraints: a poor market information system, lack of grades and standards, lack of trade finance, poor contract enforcement and dispute settlement, disorganized actors, high transaction risks, and poorly developed marketing infrastructure. The study recommends a structured approach to livestock marketing, market infrastructure development, and emphasis on arbitration systems as specific ways of improving the efficiency of livestock marketing in Uganda and other developing countries.     

The Challenges of Organic Production and Marketing in Europe and Spain: Innovative Marketing for the Future With Quality and Safe Food Products

In this work the actual situation of organic production and marketing in Spain is explained, studying and analyzing their evolution in the last decade of previous the century and in the first years of the new millennium. In Spain, organic production began in the 1970s with pioneers in Catalonia, Murcia Region, and other zones. It was in the 1990s when was observed a great increase in organic surfaces. A very interesting and critical date is that at the moment, more than 80% of organic products are being exported to other European countries, United States, and other foreign markets, and it is necessary to find new marketing strategies and innovations to structure the organic market, give new information to consumers, improve investments in the relation between retailers and consumers, and improve the perception of the utilities of these products. In some countries, as is the case of Spain, the consumers don't have enough information about the characteristics of organic products, organic food, and organic production methodologies. They must have all the information about the benefits of organic production methodologies and their implications in environmental conservation, biodiversity protection, food quality and safety, and this task must be provided by the new marketing strategies and actions.     

Privatization of Statutory Marketing Authorities and the Regulatory Role of Government in Developing Countries

In recent years, there has been a trend away from intensive government participation in agricultural and food marketing systems in developing countries. As greater emphasis is placed on the role of private marketers, uncertainty prevails over the appropriate future role of statutory marketing authorities in these systems. This is especially so in respect of the regulatory role.     

Policy Development for Novel Foods: Issues and Challenges for Functional Food

Challenges in policy development for novel foods arise from information asymmetry associated with these credence goods. Policy development reflects pressures by firms and investors to apply health claims in marketing functional food, nutraceuticals and natural health products, which are growing market segments, relative to mature food markets. However, the wordings on health claims are often misinterpreted by consumers. Despite tendencies for some convergence in approaches to health claim policies, policy differs internationally. Related issues considered include factors influencing consumer preferences for these products and uncertainties in the markets for them.     

Applied Policy Analysis of the Rice Marketing Subsector of Guinea-Bissau

Simple analytical techniques are used to diagnose and demonstrate problems observed in the rice marketing subsector of Guinea-Bissau. The problems are typical of those encountered by liberalizing economics. The recommendations favor policies that enhance competition.     

Strategic Agricultural Export Marketing in South Pacific Island Nations

Agribusiness firms in small developing countries face a special set of circumstances when formulating strategic marketing decisions. The nature of small economies usually means that agribusiness firms must have a strong export orientation, but they have little influence in the markets to which they export. The potential for domestic market expansion is limited. Information needed for developing export marketing strategies is often lacking, or difficult and expensive to obtain. An associated feature is the high degree of risk in export marketing, caused particularly by the variability in the world markets in which these nations sell their agricultural commodities. The importance of agricultural exports to economic development in these nations means that governments intervene a good deal in the export processes. Hence, government strategic decisions also affect agribusiness export performance. Finally, the number of competing firms is often small because of the smallness of the agricultural economy and the desire by agribusiness firms to avoid severe diseconomies of small size. This set of circumstances is examined in this paper in relation to a number of small South Pacific island nations (SPINS). Emphasis in the analysis of the strategic marketing concerns of agribusiness firms in these nations is on the competitive marketing strategies adopted in both the domestic and international sectors of the agricultural export markets. The special strategic marketing problems these firms face and the ways in which they have sought to overcome them are the main focus of study. But some attention is also given to the strategic decision-making processes of governments in the region, because they also have an impact on export strategies and performance of agribusiness marketing firms.     

现代销售渠道增加农民收益了吗?——来自我国梨主产区的调查

本文利用2011年8月南京农业大学组织的对河北、湖北两地梨农的入户调查数据,研究探讨了现代销售渠道对梨农收益的影响。在控制了样本选择性偏误以及消除异方差影响后,回归分析发现加入现代流通渠道对于梨农亩均净效益和单位面积产量没有显著影响,但对梨果的单位售价却产生了显著性的负面影响,同传统渠道相比,现代销售渠道反而利用市场势力压低了采购价格。     

Testing market integration for Japanese retail seafood markets

Although Japan is one of the largest seafood‐consuming countries, with various types of seafood products traded throughout the nation, few studies have explored how this market is integrated from the aspect of market price. Because Japanese consumers in different regions have different preferences for seafood, we focused our study to see how the regional seafood retail markets (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, and Fukuoka) are integrated for 10 major seafood products (horse mackerel, short‐necked clams, yellowtail, scallops, cuttlefish/squid, flounder, tuna, mackerel, saury, and octopus) consumed in Japan. We applied the relatively new Phillips–Sul convergence test for our analysis. For most of the seafood products investigated in this study, our results indicate that the Japanese regional seafood markets cannot be integrated as a whole and that marketing strategies need to consider the peculiar characteristics of the regional seafood markets.     

Marketing Channel Choice and Marketing Efficiency Assessment in Agribusiness

In agribusiness, profitability critically depends on the choice of proper marketing channels. This article studies the factors influencing marketing channel choices of vegetable farmers. Vegetable farmers have generally 3 choices to sell their produce, which are formal and informal market participation vis-à-vis nonmarket participation. Ten independent variables are considered for the study and a multinomial logistic regression model is used for the analysis. The study finds 4 major variables that can influence farmers’ decision to shift from nonmarket participation to informal or formal market participation. The article further identifies 4 microlevel marketing channels and assesses their efficiency.     

木薯与薯蓣粗纤维提取的对比研究

以木薯和薯蓣为原料,通过酶（糖化酶,α-淀粉酶）一物理结合法,对影响二者中粗纤维提取率的因素进行研究。研究结果表明,木薯粗纤维提取的最佳工艺条件为：浸泡料液比1：3,浸泡时间4h,原料粒度80目;酶解料液比1：5,酶解时间1．5h,酶解温度65℃;薯蓣粗纤维提取的最佳工艺条件为：浸泡料液比1：4,浸泡时间3h,原料粒度80目;酶解料液比1：8,酶解时间1h,酶解温度65℃,得到的粗纤维纯度都在90％以上。