Irrigation water pricing: differential impacts on irrigated farms

European water policy, as set out in the Water Framework Directive (WFD), requires all EU Member States to implement volumetric water pricing at rates that roughly cover the total costs of providing water services. The objective of this paper is to develop a methodology that, for the different types of farm in an irrigable area, will enable us to analyse the differential impact that a pricing policy for irrigation water would have. For this purpose, Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) mathematical programming models were used. The methodology is implemented on a representative area in the Duero Valley in Spain. Our results show the usefulness of differential analysis in evaluating the impact of a water pricing policy. This allows significant differences in the evolution of agricultural incomes to be observed, as well as the recovery of costs by the State, demand for agricultural employment and the consumption of agrochemicals resulting from rising prices of irrigation water in various groups of farmers within a given irrigated area.     

The role of agricultural entrepreneurship in Dutch agriculture of today

It is thought that agricultural entrepreneurs have an important role to play in Dutch agriculture. They are currently being confronted with drastic changes and it is open to question whether or not they are willing and able to deal with such changes. A telephone survey was carried out in order to find an answer to this question. The data presented here are based on the answers from 752 farmers. The questions to be answered were: (1) Which strategies do agricultural entrepreneurs choose to keep up with business demands? (2) Which personal characteristics are related to these choices and to successful agricultural entrepreneurship in general? (3) Do agricultural entrepreneurs in the Netherlands meet the demands of “real” entrepreneurship according to economic theories? Agricultural entrepreneurship was conceptualized into the strategic orientations, social orientation, growth orientation, and financial conservatism. The data showed that five different types of farmers could be distinguished on the basis of their preferences for different strategic orientations. Social farmers had especially high scores for social orientation, traditional growers for growth orientation, prudent farmers for financial conservatism, new growers for both social orientation and growth orientation, and indecisive farmers for all strategic orientations. The latter group was eliminated from the data because farmers in this group had the highest scores for almost all items of the questionnaire, whether or not these concerned positive or negative aspects of entrepreneurship. Moreover, they gave contradictory answers to comparable questions. Based on future expectations and family income, it was concluded that social farmers and new growers were more successful than other farmers. According to economic theories, they also seemed to meet the “demands” of “real” entrepreneurship better than other farmers because they can be called “movers of the market,”“innovators,” and/or “discoverers of profit opportunities.” New growers and social farmers were also distinguishable from the other groups of farmers by their personal characteristics. In general, it could be concluded that positive personal characteristics (self‐criticism, leadership, creativity, perseverance, and initiative) affected agricultural entrepreneurship positively, and negative personal characteristics (love of ease and passivity) affected it negatively.     

Using proportional modeling to evaluate irrigator preferences for market‐based water reallocation

Irrigators’ policy preferences for water reallocation programs usually take the form of proportional data, where one option will be relatively more or less favored than another in the composition of a government's total budget apportionment to address water reform. This study applies a zero‐one inflated beta regression to model Murray–Darling Basin irrigators’ preferences for market‐based water policy programs. Market‐based arrangements are more likely to provide efficient solutions to water reallocation problems, particularly where future uncertainty and appropriate pricing induce irrigator preferences for such programs. Our modeling of drivers of irrigator preferences for government expenditure on market‐based programs identified different determinants of zero (a corner solution) and proportional outcomes for the reallocation of Murray–Darling Basin water. In addition, the proportional modeling identifies some variables (namely, state regional influences, the type of farm production and recent debt, low income, or water allocation stressors) that increase engagement with market‐based programs. Interestingly, while price variables are important and statistically significant, they appear to be less relevant to program engagement than other influences.     

广东省城镇化进程中失地农民收入问题研究——基于广东省佛山、韶关等6市的调研

在城市化快速发展中,大量农村土地被转化为国有土地,这对农民收入方式与来源造成较大影响。文章在对广东省主要农业县失地农民收入的调查研究基础,利用文献与系统分析法,对广东省失地农民失地前后收入来源与收入额度进行分析,结果表明:失地前农民收入主要以农业经营收入为主,而失地后农民收入来源主要通过就业、土地补偿及社会保障等。从总收入额度来看,失地后农民年总收入额较失地前有了一定提升,但由于受到消费成本增加、进城务工难度大等原因,这种收入存在暂时性与不稳定性。综合分析表明,导致失地农民收入不能增长的主要原因有:农民补偿利益受损、就业受阻、社会保障水平低及就业政策得不到落实等。因此,未来需要通过增加失地补偿、扩展多形式的财产性收入、提高社会保障性收入等方面来促进城镇化进程中失地农民收入的快速稳定增长,以保证他们生活可持续。     

目标价格改革对新疆棉农收入的影响机理及实证研究——基于南疆四地州370个样本农户的实地调查

[目的]通过探讨目标价格改革对棉农收入的影响机理,揭示影响南疆四地州棉农增收的主要因素。[方法]从棉农角度出发,基于南疆四地州370个样本农户的实地调研数据,结合当地特有的自然地理、农业生产、社会经济条件以及目标价格政策实施状况,理论分析目标价格补贴对棉农增收的作用机理,并运用多元线形回归模型实证分析目标价格补贴政策等对棉农收入的作用方向和影响程度。[结果]户主受教育程度、是否外出务工、社会关系、棉花种植面积、县域经济发展水平和棉花销售价格等对棉农人均收入均存在显著影响。[结论]基于此,要避免将补贴化为主要的收入保障措施,继续加快土地流转,扩大棉农财产性收入来源,加快新型职业农民培育,发展农民职业教育,加快县域经济发展,多管齐下,破解制约南疆民族地区棉农增收难题。     

Water pricing policies,public decision making and farmers' response: implications for water policy

The problems caused by water scarcity demand important changes in the criteria and objectives of water policies. The agricultural sector in Spain consumes up to 80% of all available hydric resources and the need to increase the efficiency of current uses of water in the agricultural sector is at the core of the country's national water policy. One alternative would be to resort to water pricing policies with the aim of providing incentives to save water consumption although it would inflict a certain degree of income losses to the farmers and raise the revenue collected by the water authorities. The objective of this research is to analyze the effect caused by the application of different water pricing policies on water demand, farmers' income and the revenue collected by the government agency. To undertake this analysis a dynamic mathematical programming model has been built that simulates farmers' behavior and their response to different water pricing scenarios. Empirical application of the model has been carried out in several irrigation districts in Spain covering varied farm regions and river basins. Results show that the effects of alternative pricing policies for irrigation water are strongly dependent on regional, structural and institutional conditions and that changing policies produce distinct consequences within the same region and water district. Thus, equivalent water charges would create widespread effects on water savings, farm income and collected government revenue across regions and districts.     

城乡征地增值收益分配：农民的反应与均衡路径

研究目的：探索统筹城乡征地增值收益的可操作性措施,减少城乡利益冲突并增加利益互补,推进和谐社会建设。研究方法：问卷调查法、比较借鉴法、逻辑分析法。研究结果：通过对浙江省800位农民的调查,表明不同经济水平、不同年龄阶段、不同教育背景等各类群体农民对征地增值收益分配有不同的反应和需求,但他们对于失地后生活的担忧以及分享增值的要求则是共同的。借鉴美国等发达国家农地转用增值利益分配经验,提出减少城乡冲突、统筹城乡征地增值收益的可操作性途径。研究结论：农民有权参与分配土地转用增值、分享城市化发展成果,分享的比例应在30% — 50%之间。为与现行政策衔接,这30% — 50%的土地转用增值可以通过提高土地补偿费、安置补助费、社会保障补偿费、教育培训费等形式让农民分享,并从中划出一部分补贴新政实施前的被征地农民,确保纵向平衡。     

Determinants of Health Costs due to Farmers’ Exposure to Pesticides: An Empirical Analysis

Pesticide spraying by farmers has an adverse impact on their health. However, in studies to date examining farmers’ exposure to pesticides, the costs of ill health and their determinants have been based on information provided by farmers themselves. Some doubt has therefore been cast on the reliability of these estimates. In this study, we address this by conducting surveys among two groups of farmers who use pesticides on a regular basis. The first group is made up of farmers who perceive that their ill health is due to exposure to pesticides and have obtained at least some form of treatment (described in this article as the ‘general farmer group’). The second group is composed of farmers whose ill health has been diagnosed by doctors and who have been treated in hospital for exposure to pesticides (described here as the ‘hospitalised farmer group’). Cost comparisons are made between the two groups of farmers. Regression analysis of the determinants of health costs show that the most important determinants of medical costs for both samples are the defensive expenditure, the quantity of pesticides used per acre per month, frequency of pesticide use and number of pesticides used per hour per day. The results have important policy implications.     

The impact of social networks on hybrid seed adoption in India

This article adds to the literature about the impact of social networks on the adoption of modern seed technologies among smallholder farmers in developing countries. The analysis centers on the adoption of hybrid wheat and hybrid pearl millet in India. In the local context, both crops are cultivated mainly on a subsistence basis, and they provide examples of hybrid technologies at very different diffusion stages: while hybrid wheat was commercialized in India only in 2001, hybrid pearl millet was launched in 1965. The analysis is based on surveys of wheat and millet farmers in the state of Maharashtra. Comprehensive data on farmer characteristics and social interactions allow for identifying individual networks, thereby improving upon previous research approaches that employed village-level variables as proxies for network effects. Using econometric models, we find that individual social networks play an important role for technology adoption decisions. While village-level variables may be used as suitable proxies at later diffusion stages, they tend to underestimate the role of individual networks during early phases of adoption.     

Agricultural Policy Reform and Off‐farm Labour Decisions

Off‐farm labour decisions of a sample of Kansas farmers are evaluated. The central question of our analysis pertains to whether 1996 US farm policy reforms may have altered the decisions to work off the farm. The effects of policy decoupling on off‐farm labour are complex: different aspects of policy changes can have opposing effects on off‐farm work decisions. Essentially, this makes this issue an empirical question. Results show that the introduction of fixed, decoupled payments in 1996 might have reduced the likelihood of off‐farm labour participation. However, the new policy environment may have increased farm households’ revealed aversion to risk, motivating a higher participation in non‐farm labour markets. The effects of 1996 policy reforms on farm income variability could have been attenuated by changes in US crop insurance programmes and by an increase in emergency assistance payments towards the end of the 1990s. The reduction in price supports may have increased the motivation for working off the farm. The net effect of the overall reforms on off‐farm work participation is not likely to have been large.     

Coping with drought with innovative pricing systems: the case of two irrigation water management companies in France

In recent years, France has been facing particularly severe drought periods especially in summer. In a country where agriculture is the largest water user, some irrigation management companies have implemented innovative pricing systems to handle this situation. The objective of this article is to analyze the impact of these new management systems on farmers’ incomes, the revenue of the management companies, and the amount of water used. To do that, we develop a methodology using a stochastic model that simulates the representative farmer's optimal behavior in a context of climatic variability. An empirical application is made with a crop growth model and data collected from the Midi‐Pyrenees region. The results show that using these specific nonlinear pricing systems allow irrigation water managers to reduce the impact of drought on production. Moreover, the type of pricing implemented depends on the characteristics and capabilities of the water company. More particularly, these pricing systems can be used to anticipate agricultural water demand in order to avoid imbalance with water availability.     

Incentives to managers or participation of farmers in China's irrigation systems: which matters most for water savings,farmer income,and poverty?

The overall goal of our article is to better understand which matters for water savings, farmer income and poverty in China's irrigation systems: incentives to managers or participation of farmers. To pursue this goal, the article has three objectives. First, we track the evolution of water management reform, examining the practice of providing incentives to managers, and increasing the participation of farmers. Second, we identify the impact of water management reform on crop water use. Specifically, we want to measure whether or not incentives to managers and farmer participation in water management institutions affect the performance of the irrigation system. Because we also are interested in the potential results of water management reform, the article explores how changes in incentives and farmer participation affect farmer income and poverty. Based on a random sample of 51 villages and 189 farmers in four large irrigation districts in Ningxia and Henan provinces, both in China's Yellow River Basin, our results show that the two major forms of water management reform, water users' associations (WUAs) and contracting, have begun to systematically replace traditional forms of collective management. Our analysis demonstrates, however, that it is not the nominal implementation of the reform that matters, but rather it is the creation of new management institutions that offer water managers monetary incentives that lead to water savings. In contrast to the original design of China's reform policies, participation of farmers has not played a role in saving water. Importantly, given China's concerns about national food production and poverty alleviation, the reductions in water, at least in our sample sites, do not lead to reductions in income and do not increase the incidence of poverty.     

The effect of nonfarm income on investment in Bulgarian family farming

This article documents a relationship between nonfarm income (primarily earnings and pensions) and agricultural investment in Bulgaria, specifically, expenditures on working capital (variable inputs such as feed, seed, and herbicides) and investment in livestock. Among those with positive spending on farm inputs, the estimated elasticity of these expenditures with respect to nonfarm income is 0.14. Nonfarm income also has an effect on the number of households that purchase farm animals, with an estimated elasticity of 0.35. The use of nonfarm income for farm investment is consistent with the presence of credit constraints, as is the fact that less than one percent of farmers report outstanding debts for agricultural purposes. Yet many farm households take out large unsecured loans for other purposes, primarily to cover consumption expenditures, implying that credit is available, but that farmers prefer not to use borrowed funds to finance agricultural investment. This would suggest that increases in the availability of agricultural credit may have little effect on farm outcomes, whereas increases in nondebt-financed sources of liquidity, such as subsidies or transfers, may better stimulate investment.     

Land use and income diversification: comparing traditional and colonist populations in the Brazilian Amazon

This article compares and analyzes land use and income diversification among two distinct groups of farmers in the Brazilian Amazon: recent colonists in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia, and traditional long‐term residents along the Tapajós River, Pará. We investigate the hypothesis that farmers who diversify their cash income sources clear less forest on an annual basis, and we compare these livelihood choices across colonist and traditional populations. In particular, we develop a conceptual model based on the household production framework and use econometric models to identify determinants of diversification and forest clearing. We find that diversification of agricultural cash crops is negatively correlated with forest clearing by colonists, providing limited evidence for the hypothesis. Other significant covariates of diversification and forest clearing include cash income levels, stage in family life cycle, cattle ownership, and chemical inputs. Differences in these variables, and differences in household response to these variables, explain variation in diversification and forest clearing across the two populations.     

SLA框架下生计资本影响山区农户分化的机理与实证研究以广西山区农户为例

目的 基于可持续生计分析（SLA）框架,对生计资本影响山区农户分化进行深入研究,为职业分化背景下促进农户多渠道创收以及实现山区乡村振兴提供参考。方法 文章运用比较分析法、多值选择模型,以广西山区的540家农户为研究对象,探讨农户职业分化的影响因素。结果 研究结果表明,社会资本有助于纯农户与非农农户向以农为主的兼业农户分化;自然资本丰裕更能吸引农户向纯农户或以农为主的兼业分化;增加金融资本有助于兼业农户专注于农业生产,也促使非农经营主体投身于农业经营;物质资本影响农户向纯农户或以非农为主的兼业农户转变;拥有自身务工经历的农民更易于选择以农为主的兼业形态,对农民进行农业技术培训因提升其农业生产经营能力从而有助于他们投身于农业生产;生计资本影响农户分化的程度因距离中心市场的远近而存在差异。结论 生计资本影响农户向不同类型的职业进行分化,应从鼓励农户兼业化实现收入多元化以及鼓励乡村精英返乡创业的视角,适应不同类型农户分化需要,为调整农户生计资本,维持生计可持续性提供必要的决策支持和政策保障。     

The impact of soil conservation and output diversification on farm income in Central American hillside farming

This article analyzes the determinants of farm income among hillside farmers participating in natural resource management projects in El Salvador and Honduras. The farm income function was evaluated using a system of equations in which income is determined simultaneously by the farmer's decision to adopt soil conservation technologies and by the level of diversification (number of agricultural activities) on the farm. The database used comes from surveys administered to 678 beneficiaries of these projects during 2002. The econometric results suggest that all the variables related directly to land use (i.e., output diversification, soil conservation practices and structures, and the adoption of forestry systems) have a positive and statistically significant association with farm income. Also, farmers who own land enjoy higher farm incomes than those who do not. The results indicate that when investing in natural resource management projects, governments and multilateral development agencies should pay close attention to output diversification, land tenure, and human capital formation as effective instruments in increasing farm income.     

Heterogeneity of commercialization gains in the rural economy

Farmers in low‐income rural economies often fail to switch to cash crops from staple production despite the positive income effects of commercialization expected by policy makers. The literature suggests that market failures prevent households from cash crop adoption but remains inconclusive regarding farmers' motives and the effects of commercialization. This article contributes to the debate by offering an original approach to the analysis of commercialization outcomes and farmers' decisions. It consists of applying a model with essential heterogeneity and a semiparametric estimation technique to analyzing harvest value returns to cash cropping. Using Malawian data, we show considerable heterogeneity in harvest value returns to cash cropping both within and between groups of farmers choosing different crop portfolios. Importantly, the results imply rational choices based on comparative advantage considerations of farming households: farmers self‐select into the activity where they expect higher gains and adopt cash crops when facing weaker market barriers.     

Determinants of a social clause in international trade negotiations

Survey data are used to examine the determinants of a “social clause” in international trade negotiations. Proponents of such a clause argue that the inclusion of labor laws, environmental impacts, and other social issues in international trade negotiations would ensure fair competition, an equitable distribution of the benefits of free trade, and, in the case of labor, protect the basic rights of workers. Opponents see these arguments as a disguised form of protectionism and self‐interest based on the protection of labor‐intensive industries in developed countries. Results from a logit model indicate a decreased likelihood for the inclusion of a social clause in international trade negotiations across farm sizes. In particular the results suggest that agricultural producers with annual gross sales including government payments between US$500,000 and US$999,000, are 40% less likely to want labor laws, environmental impacts, and food safety standards to be included as part of international trade negotiations. The results also show that agricultural producers with college experience or college degrees are less likely to want these social interventions while second generation farmers and first generation farmers with a master's degree want labor laws, environmental impacts, and food safety standards to be included as part of international trade negotiations.     

农业水价政策对农户种植结构的影响——以新疆地区为例

为了缓解用水危机,提高用水效率,中国正在推进农业水价综合改革,试图建立以水权交易为核心的水价制度。本文根据作物的亩均灌溉用水量将作物划分为高耗水作物和低耗水作物,利用新疆天山北麓5县(含2个团场和3个县)的农户调查数据,对比分析实施统一水价、阶梯水价、水权交易水价3种水价政策区域内农户的种植结构,探索农民在不同水价政策下的种植决策,并进一步验证价格信号对农户种植选择的影响。研究发现,由于水费收取方式和水价不同,实施不同的水价政策对农户的种植结构产生了不同的影响。与其他水价政策相比,水权交易水价更能促使农户选择更为节水的作物。不同水价政策下水的定价是影响农户选择种植结构的关键要素,当农户灌溉用水的机会成本增加时,他们会增加低耗水作物的种植比例。每亩低价水定额对农户选择种植低耗水作物有非线性的影响,当每亩低价水定额超过一定数量时,定额进一步增加会导致农户减少种植低耗水作物。     

新疆农业资金投入与农民收入效应关系的实证研究

[目的]为清晰识别农业资金投入对新疆农民收入的影响程度,并给予地方政府进一步优化调整农业资金使用效能提供参考依据。[方法]文章选取1978~2013年新疆统计数据,采用协整分析、误差修正模型等方法对财政支农、农业贷款、农民自主投资与新疆农民人均纯收入进行了实证探究。[结果]新疆地区财政支农、农业信贷、农民自主投资与农民人均纯收入之间存在长期均衡关系;而短期内财政支农、农业信贷以及农户自主投资的促进效应不如长期明显,其中农业贷款的收入效应远低于财政支农和农民自主投资;财政支农、农民自主投资与农民人均纯收入在短期内具有格兰杰因果关系,长期则格兰杰因果关系解释力逐渐减弱,而农业贷款在短期内不是新疆农民人均纯收入增长的格兰杰原因,长期则互为格兰杰因果关系。[结论]该文提出加大财政支农投入力度,提高财政资金配置效率;推动农村金融改革,提高农村金融效率;提振农民自主积累资金投资的积极性等政策含义,以期为新疆"三农问题"有效解决提供坚实可靠的资本基础。