Reaping What We Sow: Emerging Issues and Policy Implications of Agricultural Biotechnology

This essay assesses the U.S. government's role in managing rapid biotechnological change in agriculture. Many scientists hail recent agricultural biotechnology developments as steps toward solving the health, nutrition, and environmental problems that have plagued the world for decades. At the same time, some fear these biotechnological advances will leave a legacy of environmental threats, health problems, and ethical dilemmas for future generations. The impacts of these technologies on economies and the environment are unpredictable and government's role in regulating GM (genetically modified) technologies will need to be different than its functions in traditional agricultural policy. In this article, we consider current federal regulation of GM products, consumers' apprehensions about GM food, possible market failures due to agricultural biotechnology, and the policy significance of scientific uncertainty. We then suggest policy approaches that can address concerns about biotechnology and ensure that the potentially widespread public benefits from GM crop production are not ignored.     

国家级贫困县农业电商用户与经营解析——基于惠农大数据的分析

[目的]精准扶贫是国策,电商扶贫是方法~([1]);国贫县是我国农业农村电商的重要组成部分,深入了解其发展状况对扶贫攻坚是非常必要的。[方法]文章基于惠农大数据,对整体贫困县内农业电商发展概况、参与电商人群属性、电商经营水平进行解析,分析了农业电商对贫困县脱贫的作用;从整体贫困县和"三区三州"内贫困县的农业电商发展程度,分析了贫困县开展农业电商与生产环境、优势品种和产业发展之间的关系。[结果]2016年以来的互联网农产品供应、采购与交易数据表明:(1)贫困县开展农业电商的覆盖面与整体县基本处在同一水平,(2)贫困县参与农业电商的累计增长率更快,(3)贫困县用户参与农业电商的程度在国家级和省级层面是不同的,(4)贫困县参与农业电商以种养农产品的年轻人较多。[结论]贫困县内的农业电商经营发展水平表明:贫困县的产业扶贫要因地施策,要找准优势产业,要优先扶助有一定规模的产业。     

基于化肥减量化管理的农业清洁生产多方联动机制框架研究

[目的]化肥减量增效是实现农业可持续发展的关键举措和优先任务,文章首先基于环境经济学的外部性理论分析与国内外研究现状综述,提出了新形势下基于利益相关方的视角开展化肥减量化管理多方联动机制研究的必要性。[方法]为构建有效的多方联动机制,需要全面了解利益相关方参与化肥减量化管理的现状与主要问题,该文实地调研了普通农户、新型经营主体的耕地保护意识、地力改善意识、清洁生产支付意愿和对政府的主要利益诉求并对其做了对比分析,同时通过关键人物访谈了解基层农技部门、有机肥生产企业在化肥减量过程中面临的主要困难。[结果]构建了化肥减量化管理多方联动机制框架,具体包括肥料生产与使用监管机制、耕地保护责任追究机制、化肥减量化技术推广机制、农业清洁生产补贴机制和绿色农产品消费引导机制等。[结论]结合当前农业供给侧结构性改革的政策背景,强调通过综合运用规范性、激励性和市场性政策工具和手段,建立有效的化肥减量化管理多方联动机制是实现化肥减量增效和农业可持续发展的必然要求。此外,该文补充强调了当前化肥减量应坚持用地、养地相结合,化肥、有机肥配合使用,在保持和改善当前地力水平的前提下,通过提质增效来确保粮食安全、农民增收。     

Trade policy, biotechnology and grain self-sufficiency in China

Over the past 20 years the growth of China's agricultural economy has been extraordinary. However, it seems unlikely that China will maintain self‐sufficiency in grains by 2005 without substantial intervention. We develop a CGE model to assess the options available to Chinese policy makers. We compare the welfare effects of import tariffs and domestic support, and explore the potential of biotechnology as a means to achieve self‐sufficiency through improvements in agricultural productivity. Our results indicate that the price interventions that would be required to maintain China's desired self‐sufficiency ratios are considerable, and are unlikely to be compatible with WTO accession. The productivity improvements required are also significant, and likely beyond the current potential of biotechnology.     

PERSPECTIVES ON AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH FOR SMALL COUNTRIES

The Rockefeller Foundation currently provides about 7.0 million annually for a comprehensive programme of rice biotechnology research designed to meet the needs of the developing world. Early in the programme deliberate decisions were made by the Foundation to support all the components of research required to make new varieties ready for testing, from determining what plant traits should receive priority to strategic technique development through the incorporation of traits into varieties. Agricultural biotechnology research is risky, high-cost relative to other agricultural research, has a long time lag to payoff, and requires efficiently functioning ‘conventional’ research to be effective. Most small developing countries do not have the conditions necessary to make productive investments in agricultural biotechnology, except possibly for sharply defined tissue-culture activities. A wise use of funds would be to concentrate on producing enough indigenous talent to give knowledgeable advice to policy makers on the costs, time lags and possible benefits of agricultural biotechnology.     

Smallholder participation in vegetable exports and age‐disaggregated labor allocation in Northern Tanzania

Modern agricultural supply chains have been playing an increasingly important role in developing countries and have had significant effects on rural labor markets. This article analyses the effects of smallholder farmer participation in export vegetable supply chains in Northern Tanzania on both household hired labor demand and off‐farm labor supply, using an age‐disaggregated approach. In our sample, neither separability nor exogeneity of smallholder farmer participation in export supply chains can be rejected. Hence, we apply lognormal double‐hurdle models and find that participation in export supply chains positively affects households’ decision to hire labor from all age groups. We also find that it increases the unconditional overall level of hired labor demand, while the age‐disaggregated analysis shows that these effects mostly benefit rural youth. However, our sample does not allow us to establish statistically significant evidence of an effect on household off‐farm labor supply although the point estimates point to nonnegligible positive effect sizes.     

Women farmers’ participation in the agricultural research process: implications for agricultural sustainability in Ethiopia

Empowering women farmers to participate in agricultural research is a key strategy for sustainable agricultural development. Women empowerment has the potential to improve their roles in agricultural production while enhancing nutrition and food security. Although new agricultural development policies are focusing on improving women engagement in agriculture, there is limited literature on women empowerment in relation to agricultural research. This study used mixed methods to analyse women farmers’ participation in four stages of the agricultural research process – design, testing, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation. Two hundred and thirty individual interviews with women farmers and 16 focus group discussions with men and women farmers were conducted in four Woredas (districts) of Ethiopia. Quantitative data were analysed using binary and multivariate probit models. Qualitative data were analysed using line-by-line coding. The results showed that several empowerment indicator variables significantly (p?≤?.001) influenced women’s participation in different stages of agricultural research. Specifically, input in production decisions, autonomy in plot management, membership to farmer groups, and ability to speak in public enhanced women’s participation in different stages, in addition to access to information and extension services, education and land size. Cultural norms hindered women’s empowerment and engagement in research. To foster sustainable agriculture development, it’s important to integrate holistic and proactive gender perspectives into research strategies to increase women’s participation in farmer research groups, access information and knowledge, have voice and challenge constraining cultural norms and traditions.     

Strategic Behavior and Consolidation in the Agricultural Biotechnology Industry

We develop a model explaining the consolidation patterns in the agricultural biotechnology industry. Among different consolidation and cooperation mechanisms, we consider collaborative and licensing agreements, joint ventures, acquisitions, and exchanges of ownership and spin-offs. The key results derive from the benefits of coordinated actions, distinction between transferable and nontransferable payoffs, the substitutability, complementarity, and the importance of the managers' noncontractible investments, and access and expansion of markets. Results from the model are used to examine the cooperation and consolidation activities for four major players in the agricultural biotechnology industry, DuPont , Dow Chemical , Monsanto , and Novartis .     

Agricultural Biotechnology: A Comparison of Consumers' Preferences for Selected Policy Options

This paper reports on a study of consumers' preferences for regulatory policies that relate to food biotechnology. Data on consumers' choices of selected policy options were collected through a telephone survey of Alberta residents conducted in early 2000. Conditional and mixed logit models were developed and tested. These assess the influence of different socio-economic factors on respondents' choices of particular policy options and are used to estimate respondents' willingness to pay for two policy options that were the major focus of the study, specifically:

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  a food labeling system that gives more information about agricultural biotechnology for

       
  
  

中国农产品的全球价值链参与度及其对国际竞争力的影响——基于企业微观数据的证据

[目的]农产品国际竞争关键在于全球价值链竞争。通过量化全球价值链参与度,升级中国农产品全球价值链参与,为农民生存、农业发展争取更广空间。[方法]文章采用企业微观进出口数据,构造核心解释变量交叉项,利用面板工具变量模型,实证估计全球价值链参与度对农产品国际竞争力的影响与作用机制。[结果]全球价值链参与能够显著提升竞争力水平,且稳健性较好。从影响机制看,全球价值链参与度提升,有力刺激企业加大科研投入,以谋求更高的生产效率和产品技术增值,从而实现产品国际竞争力提升。从加工程度看,全球价值链参与对深加工农产品正向影响最显著。从贸易方式看,一般贸易下全球价值链参与对农产品竞争力提升最明显,加工贸易下抑制效应明显。从企业所有制看,国有企业全球价值链参与对农产品竞争力提升作用最强。[结论]中国农产品积极参与全球价值链分工,为制定竞争力提升导向的政策体系提供了理论与实证参考依据。     

European farmers and participatory rural appraisal: A systematic literature review on experiences to optimize rural development

Farmers are those who daily supervise and manage rural areas, but still their collaborations with those institutions entitled to decide the transformation of these territories are not managed properly. The experiences of participatory processes with the involvement of farmers are analyzed in many agricultural studies. A systematic review has allowed us to analyse experiences related to 35 participation paths aimed at rural regions’ development. The analysis has been made on the basis of 14 variables describing the path followed and its purpose, the agricultural holding involved and the areas surveyed.The work has the objectives to identify some strengths and weaknesses in the involvement of farmers in decision-making and the strengths and weaknesses of the processes themselves. The review has shown that too often in participatory processes farmers are considered only as a source of information to be used by researchers rather than as active participants in the choices for the protection, management and transformation of the rural territory. An effective participatory rural appraisal requires greater empowerment of farmers. In general, compared to the methods and tools used, farmers are wary of paths that are too complex and prefer the use of low-tech tools. This result can be attributed to the farmers’ demand of direct contact with the researchers to build trust and also to the average age of European farmers, which is pretty high.In participation contexts, it is not possible to establish standardized methods and tools, because each process should be tailored for the community that expresses it. Nevertheless, the work has highlighted the need to establish some minimum principles to avoid considering unsuccessful some participation paths which, in reality, have been only scarcely participated. In the work, these principles have been presented through the development of key questions, to which those who design the path for an effective engagement of agricultural stakeholder must respond: representativeness, empowerment, empirical knowledge, relationships, group type, numerosity and involvement stage.     

网络治理视角下农业科技创新发展的路径研究——基于农业试验示范站的实践分析

[目的]农业科技的广泛应用是农业现代化发展的重要标志,农业试验示范站是提升农业科技水平的重要手段。[方法]文章以杨凌农业科技示范推广模式的典型代表——试验示范站作为研究对象,借助网络治理理论研究我国农业技术推广模式的特征和经验,分析农业技术推广过程中涉及的多方主体的职能定位,构建农业技术推广治理网络,同时通过深入分析市场机制和宏观调控机制的作用机理和作用过程,研究各方利益相对主体的关系,为创新农业科技示范推广机制构建提供理论支持。[结果]从网络类型的视角看,试验示范站是政府推动、基层农技试验示范站具体操作实施的政府参与型的网络治理模式;从网络主体的视角看,以试验示范站为主体,联动政府相关部门、普通农户等各个主体在技术推广过程中的行为;从网络运行的视角来看,通过从网络治理的主体因素、关系因素和环境因素等方面分析影响杨凌农业试验示范站网络治理效果的一些具体因素。[结论]政府参与型的农业科技示范推广模式通过政府推动、基层农技试验示范站具体操作实施、普通农户参与落实等一系列的技术推广过程实现了农业科技创新发展,该模式是最有效的农业科技创新发展路径之一。     

Global Capitalism and the Nation State in the Struggles over GM Crops in Brazil

The introduction of biotechnology is part of a global process of structural change in agriculture characterized by an increased integration of world agriculture with high corporate control. However, as the legal competence to allow the planting and trade of genetically modified (GM) crops commonly lies at the level of the nation state, this remains strategic in the politics of GM crops, both for actors promoting the technology and for social movements struggling against it. This paper illustrates this argument with an analysis of the struggles over GM crops in Brazil. It shows how the implementation of a food regime based on biotechnology, corporate control and neoliberal globalism depended on the state and was a contested process.     

Smallholder Farmers and Collective Action: What Determines the Intensity of Participation?

Collective action through farmer groups can be an important strategy for smallholders to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets. Previous research has analysed determinants of farmer participation in groups, equating participation with group membership. However, within groups the commitment of members can vary, as marginal benefits and costs are not the same for all individuals, and opportunities to free‐ride exist. Low participation in collective activities may reduce the ability of groups to provide useful services to its members. This article investigates determinants of member participation intensity, using the example of farmer groups in Kenya. The role of individual and group characteristics is analysed with survey data and regression models. Previous benefits that members received through the group positively influence their intensity of participation in group meetings and collective marketing, suggesting that reciprocity motives play a role. Low participation can mostly be attributed to structural and institutional conditions, such as group size and the timing of payments for collective product sales. More diversified farmers are less likely to sell collectively when group marketing activities only concentrate on one particular commodity. Since smallholders are often highly diversified, the focus of farmer groups should also be broadened. Further policy implications are discussed.     

Gender and agricultural productivity: implications of the Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi

Alleviating gender differences in agricultural productivity is vital for poverty reduction. While numerous studies suggest that gender differences in agricultural productivity are a result of female farmers having limited access to resources, few studies investigate the role of agricultural interventions in alleviating the constraints to input use and subsequently the gender gap in productivity. This study investigates whether there are gendered gains in agricultural productivity from participating in an input subsidy program and if these gains help reduce the gender gap. Using nationally representative data that is disaggregated at the plot level, this study analyzes the large‐scale voucher‐based Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi. Focusing on the total value of output per hectare, relationships are identified using weighted estimators, where the weights are constructed from propensity scores, and spatial fixed effects, to address the unobservable factors that may confound the relationship between program participation and productivity. The findings suggest that participation in the program improves agricultural productivity for both male and female farmers but it does not provide disproportionate help to female famers to overcome gender disparities in agricultural productivity. This suggests that female farmers face additional constraints to productivity apart from nonlabor input use.     

Will developing country debt forgiveness increase agricultural trade?

Latin American countries are important customers in international agricultural trade. However, between 1981 and 1987, U.S. agricultural exports to these countries declined by almost 50%. One explanation for the above decrease is the change in financial conditions facing many countries in this region. Outstanding debt in the Latin American countries continued to rise through the 1980's, reaching over $120 billion for Brazil and Mexico by 1987. In this paper, we develop an import model which considers the effect of the debt crisis on the ability of developing countries to purchase agricultural commodities in world markets. We estimate the model for four countries: Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela. The estimated results are used in a simulation model to obtain the effects of a 50% debt forgiveness scenario. Results indicate only a modest improvement in agricultural imports of the four Latin American countries considered in this study. These four countries would expand agricultural imports by $400 million per annum given the debt reduction.     

How to Understand High Food Prices

Agricultural price booms are better explained by common factors than by market‐specific factors such as supply shocks. A capital asset pricing model‐type model shows why one should expect this and Granger causality analysis establishes the role of demand growth, monetary expansion and exchange rate movements in explaining price movements over the period since 1971. The demand for grains and oilseeds as biofuel feedstocks has been cited as the main cause of the price rise, but there is little direct evidence for this contention. Instead, index‐based investment in agricultural futures markets is seen as the major channel through which macroeconomic and monetary factors generated the 2007–2008 food price rises.     

Rural nonfarm activities and agricultural crop production in Nigeria

Although most rural households are involved in the farm sector, the nonfarm sector has grown significantly in recent decades, and its role in rural development has become increasingly important. This article examines the effect of participation in nonfarm activities on crop expenses of farm households in Nigeria. The relationship is modeled using a nonseparable agricultural household model that suggests that participating in nonfarm activities can relax the credit constraints facing farm households and reduce risk thereby helping households improve farm production and smooth consumption over time. The results show that participation in nonfarm activities by Nigerian farmers has a positive and significant effect on crop expenses and in particular on payments for hired labor and inorganic fertilizers. Separate analysis of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria indicates that it is in the South-South and South-East zones where nonfarm participation appears to induce more hiring of labor. The results support the hypothesis that nonfarm participation helps relax liquidity constraints but suggests how that liquidity is used is zone-specific. In general, the results also indicate that liquidity is used more to pay for inputs into staple production as opposed to cash crops.     

Roundup Ready soybeans in Argentina: farm level and aggregate welfare effects

Although adoption rates of genetically modified crops have been staggering in some countries, there is still comparatively little evidence about biotechnology impacts under diverse agroecological and institutional conditions. These knowledge gaps lead to an overly precautious attitude among policy makers and the public. This article analyzes the effects of Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans in Argentina, the country with the second biggest transgenic area worldwide. Based on recent survey data, it is shown that the technology increases total factor productivity by 10% on average, with cost savings being somewhat more pronounced for smaller than for larger farms. The reduction in use of toxic herbicides and of tillage operations entails positive environmental repercussions. Aggregate welfare effects are computed over the 1996–2001 period with a three-region, partial equilibrium model, comprising Argentina, the United States, and the rest of the world. In 2001, RR soybeans created more than US$1.2 billion of economic surplus at the global level. The largest share went to consumers (53%), followed by seed and biotechnology firms (34%), and agricultural producers (13%). Due to comparatively weak intellectual property protection, and thus only small technology mark-ups in seed prices and widespread adoption, Argentine soybean growers receive 90% of the benefits in that country. This demonstrates that farmers in developing countries can gain considerably when they obtain access to suitable foreign innovations through technology spill-overs.     

牢牢抓住建设智慧农业的时代主题

目的 当前，以信息技术和生物技术为特征的新一轮农业科技革命正在孕育大的突破，信息化进入到大数据发展的新阶段，并与农业农村现代化形成了历史性交汇。通过界定智慧农业及相关重要概念，探索大数据、物联网、人工智能等现代信息技术在农业生产各环节、各领域的创新应用。方法 文章对建设智慧农业的技术演进、现实需求、发展趋势进行研究，将文献、统计数据、调研案例分析结果相结合，提出智慧农业建设和数字乡村发展路径。结果 建设智慧农业是技术进步的必然产物，是乡村振兴的应势而为，数字技术正在破解“谁来种地、怎么种地”的问题，改变“面朝黄土背朝天”的劳作方式，让“知天而作”的智慧农业逐步变为现实。结论 要着力建设数据资源体系，以企业为主体、多方协同开展科技攻关，探索应用场景，加强数字技术在农业农村各行业各领域的集成应用，聚焦重点品种、重点地区、重点领域和重点方向抓好试点示范，支撑中国走出一条不同于欧美发达国家大规模大机械的农业现代化道路。