Impact of Risk on HYV Adoption in Bangladesh

The objectives of this paper are to develop a measure of risk aversion based on the safety-first principle. The risk coefficient for a large number of farmers was positive indicating the tendency towards gambling in Bangladesh agriculture. Farmers who were near subsistence income (disaster level of income) tended to choose riskier crops such as HYV rice. The risk-aversion variable was highly correlated with demographic and socioeconomic variables. Large holders of land tended to be relatively more risk-averse than small holders of land and area allocated to HYV proportionally declined with increases in holding size. A three-equation model on HYV adoption decisions, fertilizer and hired labour was estimated with a risk-aversion variable based on the safety-first principle, and expected and significant signs were obtained with the risk-aversion variable in HYV and hired labour equations.     

The impact of floods on the adoption rate of high-yielding rice varieties in Bangladesh

This paper analyses econometrically the impact of floods on the rate of adoption of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice in Bangladesh. It uses a small model combining a modified logistic adoption function with a model of the process generating expectations errors by the farmers which encompasses most other expectation hypotheses. Using pooled cross-section and time-series data at the district level, the econometric results show a significant negative impact of expected flood damage on the HYV adoption rate of ‘aman’ rice. Moreover, it is shown that the adoption of HYV ‘boro’ rice is governed by essentially the same equation.     

Eco‐efficiency of high‐yielding variety rice cultivation after accounting for on‐farm environmental damage as an undesirable output: an empirical analysis from Bangladesh

This study computes the eco‐efficiency of high‐yielding variety (HYV) rice production by including an on‐farm environmental damage index (OFEDI) as an undesirable output using data envelopment analysis. It then identifies its determinants by applying an interval regression procedure on a sample of 317 farmers from north‐western Bangladesh. Results reveal that the mean level of the OFEDI‐adjusted production efficiency (i.e. eco‐efficiency) is 89 per cent, whereas ignoring OFEDI adjustment (i.e. with OFEDI = 0) reduces the mean level of efficiency to 69 per cent, implying that the production of undesirable output or on‐farm environmental damage induces an efficiency loss of 20 per cent with significant differences across regions. The proportion of farmers’ income from HYV rice agriculture, land ownership, extension services and socio‐environmental living standard are the significant determinants of improving eco‐efficiency. Policy implications include investments in extension services and land reform measures to increase land ownership, which will synergistically improve eco‐efficiency of HYV rice production in Bangladesh.     

Acreage response in Pakistan: a co-integration approach

This paper seeks to quantify the acreage responses of wheat, cotton, sugarcane and rice in Pakistan using co‐integration techniques and impulse response analysis. Results indicate that acreages of wheat and basmati rice do not respond significantly to shocks in own‐price while cotton, sugarcane and high yielding variety (HYV) rice do, and that long‐run equilibrium is re‐established after about 4 years. Irrigated area is an important determinant of acreage.     

Assessing the potential of SRI management principles and the FFS approach in Northeast Thailand for sustainable rice intensification in the context of climate change

The paper describes the facilitated learning process of farmers, its results and implications in addressing the low productivity of Jasmine rice in northeast Thailand using the SRI-FFS approach in a collaborative action research. Other involved included rice traders, millers, researchers, government and non-governmental organizations. Working through an inclusive process of dialogue, observation, diagnosis, experimentation and exposure to different types of innovative agronomic crop management (IACM) practices resulting from the SRI–FFS approach, participants made a thorough analysis of the current management practices and evaluated various IACM practices for their productivity and profitability. The results confirmed the potential of IACM in enhancing crop and water productivity along with soil fertility with relatively low input-use (seed, water and fertilizers) and higher net farm-income compared to existing crop management practices. However, factors such as (i) the age of the farmers and (ii) off-farm employment opportunity are key drivers that affect the crop management decision-making process. Therefore, exploration of value-added production alternatives and favourable policies is required to sustain IACM that can benefit farmers, consumers and the environment. The participation of policy-makers at the action research continuum is essential for effective follow up, scaling up and sustainability of such environmentally sound practices.     

Fertilizer in Indonesian Agriculture: the Subsidy Issue

Indonesia began subsidizing fertilizer in 1971 to encourage its use as a complement to the new, high-yielding rice varieties that were becoming available. While providing considerable assistance to encouraging farmers to utilize these new HYVs and the associated package of inputs, the subsidy for fertilizer has attracted considerable attention in the light of the increasing budget limitations in Indonesia. The high levels of fertilizer and HYV use, the rapidly changing elasticities and cross elasticities among the major food crops, and the growing intersectoral linkages in the Indonesian economy suggest reasons for re-assessment of the subsidy for fertilizer. The operation of the subsidy is explained, followed by a discussion of changes in the relevant elasticities for demand and supply of commodities and fertilizer. A static welfare analysis of the fertilizer subsidy is presented, showing that the economic subsidy is worth only 42% of the financial subsidy and that farmers are receiving only 7% of the financial subsidy. A simulation of the effects on the food crop sector of removing the subsidy follows the welfare analysis. The paper concludes with an exploration of the policy issues stemming from the results.     

Rice productivity improvement in Cambodia through the application of technical recommendation in a farmer field school

Innovation in rice (Oryza sativa) productivity improvement is a major goal for rice research. However, many studies have tended to analyse the various factors that affect productivity separately, while farmers invest their scare resources in farm inputs that impact on multiple factors in the real farm. This study assessed the effectiveness of integrated pest management practised during farmer field school (FFS) training in Cambodia on the production efficiencies, yields and profitability of rice farming. In total, 270 FFSs on rice cultivated in the early wet, wet and dry seasons were randomly selected from three provinces in 3 years to analyse the production practices and productivity using six cost-related factors: seed, planting methods, field management, fertilizer use, pesticide application and harvesting. It was found that yields and profits were significantly higher with the technically recommended practices (TRs) than with traditional farmer practices (FPs). However, the reverse was true for production costs due to the overuse of seed and pesticides in FP, neither of which are correlated with yield increase for both FP and TR. Thus, the FFS approach is a knowledge-intensive field management tool that enables the rational use of farm inputs and that is expected to be highly effective for sustainable rice production improvement.     

Economic Risk and Water Quality Protection in Agriculture

Producers' and consumers' risk perceptions and preferences can affect perceived costs and benefits of agricultural water quality protection. Many studies find that integrated pest management actually reduces economic risks to farmers. Results from crop rotation and conservation tillage studies are mixed, while nutrient management studies indicate a potential for higher risk compared with conventional practices. Uncertainty about pollution damages to water resources is likely also to increase the perceived benefits of a given quantity of water quality protection practices. Public policies to reduce uncertainty about the costs and benefits of water quality protection practices may produce net social benefits.     

内环流控温结合稻草帘压盖储粮试验效果分析

通过内环流控温结合稻草帘储藏稻谷的储粮技术,稻谷的下层温度低、水分减量小、脂肪酸值增量小、新鲜度高,中层适中,上层温度变化大、水分减量大、脂肪酸值增量大、新鲜度低,且使用稻草帘透气性好,成本低廉,易于消毒、杀虫,保证清洁性,能够更好的提高稻谷销售品质,进而提高经济效益.本文采用内环流控温结合稻草帘储藏稻谷的储粮技术,研...     

近世日本传统暖地稻作技术研究:兼与清代中国的比较

近世日本的传统暖地稻作技术(1)是为应对暖地气候条件及土壤环境而诞生的一种特色水稻栽培方法。其中,"稀播疏植"核心技术的实施有效缓解了暖地气候所带来的秧苗徒长、过繁茂化等问题;合理排灌、高肥栽培、综合防治等配套技术的应用有效确保了稻田的水肥供给和虫害防治的效果;而暗渠排水、干鰯肥田、鲸鱼油防虫等措施则极具日本地方特色。从技术的实施效果来看,传统暖地稻作技术实现了水稻的稳定高产和瘦田增收,对于当代农业生产依然具有十分重要的生态价值和借鉴意义。通过与同时期清代中国的比较发现,日中两国在水稻用种、插秧规格、稻田灌溉等方面的做法较为相似,即两国都主张通过"稀播疏植,精细管理"的方式来发展稻作生产。基于比较结论和种种史实,我们推测日本这一技术的形成在很大程度上应是受到清代中国的影响。     

Soil,water and crop management alternatives in rainfed agriculture in the Sahel: an economic analysis

Most agriculture in the Sahel Region is carried out under rainfed conditions where low and uncertain soil moisture levels limit productivity. Improved soil, water and crop management practices are required to reverse the steady decline in per capita food production and sustain output over the long term. Several technological innovations and related farm management practices are evaluated in a case study of a typical farm in Mali. Through use of a soil-water balance model and a whole-farm economic model an optimal mix of these measures is identified. Compared to a base case where no modern inputs are utilized, the combination of animal traction (oxen team), low levels of NPK fertilizer, tied-ridges, traditional long-season food grain crops and early planting was most effective: food grain output was 35% higher than with the traditional base case; soil erosion was reduced by 72%; and even with residual future soil erosion damage capitalized into current income, net farm income was larger by a factor of almost 45.     

Fixed Costs, Efficient Resource Management, and Conservation

This article develops a framework to analyze the impacts on resource development of efficient management practices that account for possible resource conserving technological changes. Compared with the traditional management practice ignoring these changes, efficient management may not delay or reduce resource development, depending on the level of the changes. Under efficient management, a higher probability of resource conserving technologies may not delay or reduce resource development. These ambiguities are due to the existence of fixed and increasing marginal costs in resource development.     

Farmers’ Preferences for Production Practices: A Choice Experiment Study in the Rhone River Delta

This article examines farmers' preferences for both cropping and management practices, which are of policy interest because of their environmental impact. We present the results of a choice experiment survey of all agricultural decision makers in the Camargue region. A latent class model identified three classes. The main class encompasses farmers complying with the norms of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI): Riz de Camargue. We estimated the monetary value of each of the relevant agricultural practices. Our results make a strong case for differentiating incentives to encourage environmentally friendly practices and identify the diversity of values attached to the main components of rice cropping technology in the area. Estimates of the implicit prices indicate that most rice growers can be persuaded to adopt environmentally friendly practices. These findings could help in designing targeted contracts according to farmers' preferences, in line with conservation or environmental objectives.     

The positive impacts of irrigation schedules on rice yield and water consumption: synergies in Jilin Province,Northeast China

Food and water security in China are inextricably linked to the development of regional economy, especially for regions with temporary or sustained water shortage such as Jilin Province in northeast China. Water-saving irrigation practices are therefore urgently sought to maintain sustainable growth in grain production. To improve knowledge of the effect of irrigation water level on rice yield and water-use efficiency (WUE), we conducted a field experimental study over two growing seasons in central Jilin. The irrigation experiment included four schedules: (1) traditional irrigation (CK), (2) shallow wet irrigation (T1), (3) intermittent irrigation (T2), and (4) controlled irrigation (T3). Soil test pits were used to estimate evapotranspiration and seepage. The study showed that T3 had the highest WUE (1.64?kg/m³). However, the highest rice yield was found in T1 (9867?kg/ha¹) that achieved the second highest WUE (1.63?kg/m³). Compared with CK, T1 and T3 consumed 7.3% and 36.1% less water, respectively. If adopted at the operational scale, these two schedules could help reduce the pressure of local surface water supply and the production costs significantly. The results gained from this study could also have relevant implication in developing an effective irrigation management for other high-latitude regions.     

水足迹视角下三江平原地区农业水土资源配置效率研究

[目的]三江平原地区是我国重要的商品粮基地,其农业水土资源相对丰富但水土资源配置效率不佳,亟待改善。[方法]运用投入导向型数据包络分析(DEA)方法,对水足迹视角下的三江平原地区农业水土资源配置效率进行评价。[结果]2015年,三江平原地区农业水土资源配置综合有效的地区仅占5%,总体来看,农业水土资源配置的技术效率略好于规模效率;水土资源投入冗余状况分析表明,友谊县、虎林市、宝清县、汤原县、富锦市、同江市等8个县、市辖区的农业水土资源投入合理,其他地区都存在不同程度的冗余现象;分作物来看,水稻生产的水土资源配置技术效率高于其他三大旱作。[结论]完善农业基础设施配套工程,提高水土资源配置的技术效率,是提高其规模效率,进而实现综合有效的关键。     

Farm-level adaptation to climate change in Western Bangladesh: An analysis of adaptation dynamics,profitability and risks

Using long-term district-level climate data and a case study from a drought-prone village in western Bangladesh, this research explored trends in climate change, and analysed farmers’ adaptation dynamics, profitability and risks. This is the first study of its kind for drought-prone areas in Bangladesh.Farmers perceived climate changes included increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall which were as consistent with the trends of Chuadanga climate records. Farmers’ adaptation measures included changes in cropping systems, cropping calendars, crop varieties, agronomic practices, crop diversification and improved animal husbandry. Reducing environmental stress, ensuring self-sufficiency in staple crops (mainly rice) and other crop production practices, and enhancing economic viability of farm enterprises have underpinned these adaptations. Off-farm and non-farm wage employment, temporary migration, self-employment and educating children, constituted the core non-farm adaptation strategies.Emerging cropping systems like maize/cucumber and maize/stem amaranth/rice were economically more viable than the traditional rice/rice and rice/maize systems. Despite some uncertainties, farming was preferred to off-farm work, generating higher returns to labour for all cropping systems. Limited access to stress-tolerant varieties, extension services and affordable agricultural credit, combined with high production costs, variability in crop yields and output prices, are the main barriers to adaptation. Stronger agricultural research and support services, affordable credit, community-focussed farming education and training are critically important for effective adaptation to climate change.     

湖北农业资源劣势的认识与对策

湖北省自然资源的种类丰富、储量大,素有"千湖之省,鱼米之乡"的美誉,然而,湖北省农业资源也存在诸多劣势与不足,除水土等自然资源外,湖北省的生产力、科技水平、农业基础设施等社会经济资源均存在着不足之处,本文系统、客观地分析了现阶段湖北省农业发展中社会、经济、自然资源的劣势,并提出了一系列变劣势为优势的措施.     

空调控温技术在稻谷储藏中的应用

为了验证空调控温技术在稻谷储藏中的应用效果,笔者选择两座装入安全水分稻谷的高大平房仓做稻谷储藏控温试验,其中一座采用空调控温技术控制仓温和仓上层粮温,试验过程中对外温、粮温及稻谷品质变化的数据进行相关分析.结果表明,空调控温技术可保障稻谷安全储藏,能够减少稻谷的水分损失,保留了粮食食用品质,可提高企业的经济效益.     

Applicability of economic instruments for protecting ecosystem services from cultural agrarian landscapes in Doñana,SW Spain

Abandonment and conversion of cultural agrarian landscapes are major drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in Europe. One incentive for land-use conversion is the higher (private) economic return from industrial mono-functional crops relative to traditional multi-functional ones. However, conversion of cultural agrarian landscapes can involve high direct and indirect costs to society through the loss of ecosystem services. Using as a case study the traditional vineyards surrounding the Doñana National Park, South-West Spain, this research has three objectives: i) to measure soil erosion impacts from the conversion of traditional vineyards in biophysical and economic terms, (ii) to identify drivers of change behind the loss of traditional vineyards, and iii) to assess the applicability of economic instruments to protect traditional vineyards. Our results suggest that uprooting of traditional vineyards is an important driver behind the siltation of the marsh in the Doñana National Park, which in turns involve socio-environmental costs in terms of loss of ecosystem services and cultural values. Subsidy reform to reward management practices that sustain ecosystem services and eco-labelling of vine-derived products are pointed at as promising economic instruments to slow down or reverse abandonment or conversion of traditional vineyards.     

The effects of repeated soil wetting and drying on lowland rice yield with system of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods

In lowland rice farming, water management is the most important practice that determines the productivity of other inputs, e.g. nutrients, herbicides, pesticides, farm machinery, microbial activity, mineralization rates. Deliberate flooding or poor drainage that keeps soil saturated is detrimental to crops and degrades soil quality. This study evaluated whether rice grain yield could be increased relative to continuous flooding by using the management practices of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The effects of SRI's repeated wetting and drying cycles plus different plant populations were investigated at Sapu Research Station in The Gambia, on an alluvial soil between 2000 and 2002. The water management practices proposed for SRI were found to be beneficial to rice growth. At 20 cm spacing, average grain yield with SRI practice was 7.3 t ha^?1 compared with 2.5 t ha^?1 under continuous flooding. At 30 cm spacing SRI practice yielded 6.6 t ha^?1, while under continuous flooding, grain yield was only 1.7 t ha^?1. Even wider spacing did not produce higher yield. At 40 cm spacing, SRI management gave 4.7 t ha^?1, while continuous flooding yielded 1.3 t ha^?1. Thus overall, SRI practices gave better results than continuous flooding. This was probably as a result of increased nutrient availability and superior growing conditions which enhanced physiological development and grain yield. Rewetting dry soil reportedly facilitates nitrogen mineralization. The phenomenon of having a flush of nitrogen mineralization occurring after rewetting dry soil was first reported by Birch in 1958. This intensive pathway of nitrogen mineralization and nitrogen availability has potential to increase lowland rice yields in ways consistent with sustainable agricultural production.