CAP payments and spatial diversity in cereal crops: An analysis of Italian farms

Agricultural biodiversity conservation has been recognized as a fundamental resource for the maintenance of ecological and economic functions. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has an impact on crop diversity decisions of farm managers. In so doing, we allow the diversity decision to depend on a rich set of economic and agro-ecological variables, such as prices of the most common cereal varieties, and agro-ecological and socio-economic characteristics at farm and regional level. Using a panel dataset over the period 2004–2010, we compare the results obtained from pooled-OLS and dynamic panel GMM estimators. The empirical analysis shows the existence of a positive relationship between CAP payments and diversity. In addition, decoupling subsidies from production seems to have a positive effect on biodiversity.     

Input subsidies and crop diversity on family farms in Burkina Faso

Since their independence, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have used input subsidies to increase agricultural productivity and improve food security. We analyse the effects of both a fertiliser and a seed subsidy on farming households' land allocation among crops and crop diversity in Burkina Faso. Although previous studies investigated either the impact of a fertiliser or a seed subsidy on targeted crops, few examined the effects of both subsidies combined. Applying a correlated random-effects model with a control function approach to nationally representative, 2-year panel data collected from farming households, we find that those with access to the fertiliser subsidy allocate more land to the crops it targets (rice, maize and cotton) than non-targeted crops. Focusing on a minor crop with key agronomic and nutritional attributes, we conclude that land allocation to cowpea as the primary crop and intercrop declined with the fertiliser subsidy. The fertiliser subsidy also negatively affects crop diversity. However, we find that the cowpea seed subsidy offsets the bias of fertiliser subsidy toward fertiliser-targeted crops and enhances diversity.     

Estimating the range of economic impacts on farms of nutrient leaching reduction policies

Declining agricultural incomes, increasing concern over rural poverty and sporadic crises such as those of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease mean that the imposition of further costs on U.K. agriculture are likely to be politically and socially sensitive. Such additional costs are however on the agenda with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD; European Commission, 2000 ). The WFD aims to achieve “good ecological status” in EU water bodies reducing, inter alia, diffuse pollution from agriculture. In this study, we assess four possible WFD measures proposed to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs: reducing inorganic fertilizer application, conversion of arable land to ungrazed grassland, reducing livestock stocking rates, and reducing livestock dietary N and P intakes. For each measure, changes in farm gross margins (FGMs) are estimated using a dataset of over 2000 farms. In contrast to previous analyses, which have focussed upon mean responses on stylized farms, our approach allows the analysis of the range of impacts across a wide variety of real‐world farms and farm types. Findings reveal high variability in impacts. Cost‐effectiveness analysis indicates that, on average, cropping farms seem capable of reducing nutrient leaching in a more cost‐efficient way than livestock or dairy enterprises.     

A revised Tobit procedure for mitigating bias in the presence of non-zero censoring with an application to milk-market participation in the Ethiopian highlands

Fixed transactions costs that prohibit exchange engender bias in supply analysis due to censoring of the sample observations. The associated bias in conventional regression procedures applied to censored data and the construction of robust methods for mitigating bias have been preoccupations of applied economists since Tobin [Econometrica 26 (1958) 24]. This literature assumes that the true point of censoring in the data is zero and, when this is not the case, imparts a bias to parameter estimates of the censored regression model. We conjecture that this bias can be significant; affirm this from experiments; and suggest techniques for mitigating this bias using Bayesian procedures. The bias-mitigating procedures are based on modifications of the key step that facilitates Bayesian estimation of the censored regression model; are easy to implement; work well in both small and large samples; and lead to significantly improved inference in the censored regression model. These findings are important in light of the widespread use of the zero-censored Tobit regression and we investigate their consequences using data on milk-market participation in the Ethiopian highlands.     

The economic costs and benefits of a participatory project to conserve maize landraces on farms in Oaxaca,Mexico⋆

Conventional methods were used to assess the benefits and costs of an unconventional project whose purpose was to test whether participatory crop improvement can encourage Mexican farmers to continue growing maize landraces by enhancing their current use value. Findings suggest that farmers as a group earned a high benefit‐cost ratio from participating, though from the perspective of the private investor the returns were low. The project also generated social benefits, but these would be difficult (and costly) to measure. There was a gender bias in both participation and benefits distributions, though there is some evidence of a welfare transfer to maize deficit households. Application of other valuation approaches will be necessary in order to assess both the private and social benefits of similar projects.     

The links between management's critical success factors and farm level economic performance on dairy farms in Sweden

Management's critical success factors (MCSFs) are used to indicate how farm profits develop, but their usefulness as profitability predictors has previously not been analyzed statistically. This paper explores the usefulness of some commonly used MCSFs in Swedish dairy farms, by investigating whether the MCSFs are significant predictors of economic efficiency. Further, the paper takes a comprehensive view of evaluating farm level efficiency, in that all major input and output efficiency scores are estimated. Previous literature has focused on only one score, or on only one perspective. Our results show that cost efficiency is the more problematic part of the profitability process. Especially the allocative part needs to be improved. Moreover, the results show that the MCSFs milk quality, herd fertility and involuntary culls ratio may not work as indicators of economic performance, whereas milk yield per cow and the mastitis ratio are significant indicators.     

The Economics of Sustainable Land Management Practices in the Ethiopian Highlands

This article uses data from household‐ and plot‐level surveys conducted in the highlands of the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. We examine the contribution of sustainable land management (SLM) practices to net value of agricultural production in areas with low vs. high agricultural potential. A combination of parametric and non‐parametric estimation techniques is used to check result robustness. Both techniques consistently predict that minimum tillage (MT) is superior to commercial fertilisers (CFs), as are farmers’ traditional practices (FTPs) without CFs, in enhancing crop productivity in the low agricultural potential areas. In the high agricultural potential areas, in contrast, use of CFs is superior to both MT and FTPs without CFs. The results are found to be insensitive to hidden bias. Our findings imply a need for careful agro‐ecological targeting when developing, promoting and scaling up SLM practices.     

The impact of transport-and transaction-cost reductions on food markets in developing countries: evidence for tempered expectations for Burkina Faso

Reductions in transport and transaction costs are expected to have a major effect on the functioning of food markets in developing countries. For Burkina Faso, this is a relevant issue as it may have important consequences for the food markets in urban and rural deficit areas. A partial equilibrium model is presented to analyze the short-term effects of reduced costs on price formation, inter-regional cereal trade, and farmers' and traders' storage strategies. Our results show that the high expectations with regard to the direct effects of cost reductions on food prices and food availability require some nuance. The effects of a reduction of transport costs will be small. Moreover, also the unintended negative consequences on the competitive position of farmers and traders in other regions that do not profit from road construction should be taken into account. Finally, it is concluded that only if transport and transaction costs are reduced simultaneously, will both the consumers and farmers benefit significantly.     

An examination of economic efficiency of Russian crop production in the reform period

This article examines economic efficiency (EE) of crop production of Russian corporate farms for 1993–1998. EE declined over the period, due to declines in both technical and allocative efficiency. Technical efficiency (TE) results indicate that output levels could have been maintained while reducing overall input use by an average of 29–31% in 1998, depending on the method used, while the allocative efficiency (AE) results show that costs could have been reduced about 30%. The EE scores show that Russian corporate farms could have increased efficiency by reducing the use of all inputs, particularly fertilizer and fuel. Russian agriculture inherited machinery‐intensive technology from the Soviet era, which may be inappropriate given the relative abundance of labor in the post‐reform environment. Investment constraints have prevented the replacement of old machinery‐intensive technology with smaller scale machines that allow for a more labor‐using technology.     

The value of plant genetic diversity to resource-poor farmers in Nepal and Vietnam

Genetic resources for food and agriculture are the biological basis of world food and nutrition security; and they directly or indirectly support the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people. Genetic diversity gives a species or a population the ability to adapt to changing environments. For resource-poor farmers, adaptive animal breeds, crop varieties and cultivars adapted to particular micro-niches, stresses or uses are the main resources available to maintain or increase production and provide a secure livelihood. The economic value of genetic diversity for productivity and yield traits is discussed in the literature. However, it is difficult to value many other aspects of agricultural biodiversity as these have both direct and indirect values in terms of qualitative traits such as food, nutrition and environmental uses that include adaptation to low input conditions, co-adaptive complexes, yield stability and the consequent reduction of risk, specific niche adaptation, and in meeting socio-cultural needs. Together, the direct and indirect values of genetic resources for resource-poor farmers are expressed in a range of options in the form of the crop varieties and species they use for managing changing environments.

The value of genetic diversity to resource-poor farmers is seldom captured by markets or addressed by the international research agenda. This paper presents lessons learned from our work over 5–10 years in the Asia and Pacific Ocean (APO) region on participatory crop improvement, home gardens and on-farm management of agricultural biodiversity. The lessons illustrate how farmers adapt genetic resources to suit local environmental conditions. The paper focuses on the value of genetic diversity of selected crop species to meet people's food and other needs. Genetic diversity valued by resource-poor farmers is often maintained, selected and exchanged by local social seed networks. Identification of such genetic resources and their custodians is important if international agricultural research is to contribute to the reduction of poverty. The paper highlights some good practices from case studies that illustrate how such genetic resources could be exploited by informal research and development strategies or participatory plant breeding or for marketing value-added products.     

Economie development and land policies in the highlands and islands of Scotland

This paper explores the complex relationship between economic development and land use in a remote part of the UK — the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It is suggested that the essential link between land reform and economic development is obscured in the Highlands and Islands. The historic reasons for this are given in detail and attached to the argument that the problems of the area have never been fully addressed. The authors state that many government policies in the area have been on an ad hoc basis and the background and achievements of the Highlands and Islands Development Board are given. The authors conclude with a plea for further legislative changes.     

镜泊湖世界地质公园的维管植物多样性

经野外调查,镜泊湖世界地质公园有野生维管植物118科418属848种,菊科等10科为优势科。本区植物资源丰富,按其性质和用途分为药用、观赏、食用等13类;按Raunkiaer生活型分类,地面芽植物占42.92%,其次为隐芽植物;按中国植被生活型分类,多年生草本占59.67%,一年生草本占16.51%;中生植物占66.04%,是主要的水分生态类型,旱生植物位居其次;国家珍稀濒危保护植物11种,中国特有植物9种。     

森林草原过渡带植物多样性与环境因子的关系

利用样方研究了内蒙古高原东南缘森林草原过渡带植物群落多样性与环境因子的关系。在山地森林区,土壤各因子、郁闭度、坡度和坡向是控制植物物种多样性的主要因子;海拔、土壤ph值和土壤水分是限制高原森林草甸区与草甸草原区植物物种多样性的主要因子。森林草原过渡带植物物种多样性的差异是土壤、环境条件等综合因子的影响,更大程度上受海拔的影响。     

黑龙江省完达山东部林区兽类多样性调查

2008年冬季和2009年早春积雪覆盖期,利用样线调查法在黑龙江省完达山东部林区东方红林业局境内开展兽类多样性调查.调查结果表明,该区域现有兽类共计5目11科25种,与1989年的调查结果相比,兽类多样性明显降低.研究发现,针叶林、针阔混交林、阔叶混交林是兽类多样性分布较多的生境.导致该区兽类多样性降低的主要因素包括森...     

Regional heterogeneity and spatial interdependence as determinants of the cultivation of an emerging alternative crop: The case of the Styrian Oil Pumpkin

In the course of the liberalisation and globalisation of agricultural markets the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has shifted from quantity-based to quality-based policies, encouraging a diversification of agricultural production. For policy makers it is therefore relevant to understand better the drivers which influence the adoption and spatial distribution of emerging alternative products and production systems in agriculture. Taking the Styrian Oil Pumpkin as an example, the aim of this study is to quantify the determinants of spatial variations in the cultivation of an emerging alternative crop. We estimate Tobit and SLX Tobit models for two regions, drawing on cross-sectional data from the year 2010 of 549 municipalities in the Styrian Oil Pumpkin Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) area. Our findings indicate that, apart from (i) crop-specific factors, there are also (ii) region-specific factors such as marketing possibilities and there is (iii) spatial interdependence influencing spatial variations in oil-pumpkin-cultivated area and we conclude that these factors also need to be considered for the support of other emerging alternative products and production systems in agriculture.     

The factors influencing the profitability of leased land on dairy farms in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland possesses a land market that is constrained by minimal sales each year, less than 1%. In an effort to capitalise on milk quota abolition and to increase dairy production, a suite of tax incentives has recently been introduced in the Republic of Ireland to encourage land mobility and long-term leasing among Irish dairy farmers. Using Irish Farm Accountancy Database Network (FADN) data from 2011–2017 to examine this, a Heckman sample selection model explores two aspects; (i) the factors that influence a farmer’s decision to rent, or continue renting, land and (ii) the profitability of dairy farmers renting in land. We find self-selection into the rental market is driven by farm traits that include a high level of hired labour, the presence of a successor, intensive farming practices and dairy discussion group membership. The results show that rental agreements assist farms in achieving economies of scale. The findings provide evidence to support government intervention such as tax incentives for renting out land and knowledge sharing discussion groups.     

The commercialisation of subsistence farms: Evidence from the new member states of the EU

For selected regions of five EU Member States (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia), this paper examines the determinants of the commercialisation of (semi)subsistence farms. While subsistence farming has become an important feature of the EU, there is a lack of evidence on its spatial distribution, importance and reasons for persistence. The analysis utilises cross-regional survey data and qualitative interviews. Results suggest the absence of a subsistence poverty trap driven by either farmer perceptions or transactions costs although capital endowment appears to play a significant part. On the other hand the degree of market engagement depends on access costs, which vary with location, households’ productive assets, specialisation, and risk propensity. Implications for land use policy are discussed.     

Crop genetic diversity, farm productivity and the management of environmental risk in rainfed agriculture

This paper presents an assessment of the linkages between cropgenetic diversity, farm productivity and risk management. Aflexible moment-based approach is used to analyse the impactof crop genetic diversity on the mean, variance and skewnessof yield. Using farm-level data from Sicily (Italy), econometricevidence shows how crop genetic diversity can increase farmproductivity and reduce risk exposure. The empirical resultsindicate that crop genetic diversity can reduce variance, butonly if pesticide use is low. Furthermore, high diversity levelscan reduce downside risk exposure (e.g. the risk of crop failure).This provides useful insights on the linkages between resilienceand crop genetic diversity.     

Determinants of efficiency of vegetable production in smallholder farms: The case of Ethiopia

Improving production efficiency remains as a plausible means of increasing productivity when resource reallocation, and the creation and adoption of new technologies are limited. Technical, allocative and economic efficiencies are derived from a sample of smallholder vegetable farmers in Ethiopia using parametric and non-parametric methods. The results reveal that the two methods yield similar estimates and the existence of substantial inefficiencies in production as well as efficiency differentials among farmers. The analysis of the determinants of efficiency of vegetable production using regression models show that low asset ownership, illiteracy, large family size, inadequate extension contacts, small farm size, age, low off/non-farm income and high consumer spending are the major socio-economic factors causing inefficiency of vegetable production in the study areas. A comparison of the market-driven (vegetables) with the whole-farm (crops and livestock) production efficiency indicates that lower economic efficiency scores for the former might be related to the limited access to capital markets, high consumer spending, and large family size.