Determinants of millet diversity at the household-farm and village-community levels in the drylands of India: the role of local seed systems

This research characterizes the biological diversity of millet crops in the semiarid regions of India at the household and village‐community ( panchayat) scales of analysis, placing that evidence in the context of local seed systems. A set of seed system parameters that span formal and informal exchange and can be measured empirically are proposed. The analysis is based on data collected through sample surveys of farmers and traders in selected sites of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, combined with cultivar taxonomies developed with geneticists and applied to seed samples. Findings demonstrate that millet crop diversity levels at both scales of analysis are significantly influenced by seed system parameters, factors which related studies have omitted. In particular, the presence of active local (formal and informal) seed markets enhances millet richness among and within farming communities. Crop improvement strategies oriented toward local seed markets could provide important benefits and incentives to farm households living in these marginal environments. There is a need, however, for an enhanced theoretical understanding of local seed markets in analyzing crop variety choices and the diversity of materials grown in less favored environments.     

Agriculture, pesticides and the ecosystem

Economists have a good understanding of intra-economic interdependence and a mature methodology of modelling it. Ecologists focus on the complex and sensitive interactions of species in ecosystems. This paper’s objective is to suggest a new micro-foundation of ecosystem analysis based on economic methodology, to integrate the analyses of the ecosystem and the economy and focus on the interface of ecosystem-economy relations. Agriculture forms a major part of this interface. The basic assumption is that in the short run the individual organisms of all species behave as if they optimise their costly offensive and defensive activities given other organisms’ activities (Nash-behaviour).We consider an ecosystem with three species in a unidirectional food chain: buzzards feed on mice, mice feed on grain, and grain feeds on solar energy. A fourth species, humans, also feeds on grain. Humans intervene in the ecosystem in various ways. They can grow grain by using seed, farm labour, pesticides and possibly nature conservation measures to maintain buzzard habitat. Short-run ecosystem equilibrium is characterised, and it is shown, in particular, how this equilibrium depends on farming activities. We then link this ecosystem model to a simple model of an agricultural economy. Both systems are solved for equilibrium simultaneously. From an economic perspective the ecosystem induces positive and negative externalities in agricultural production and in consumer ‘green’ preferences.The inefficiencies of the competitive economy are identified and some possibilities to restore efficiency through corrective taxes or subsidies are briefly discussed. We also outline how short-run equilibria are connected through ecosystem stock-flow relationships. Due to the complexity of the inter-temporal analysis, the resulting ecosystem dynamics cannot be characterised in general analytical terms. It is a topic for future research to study the dynamics in numerical analysis to understand under which conditions the joint ecological and economic system is driven toward a (sustainable) steady state.     

Valuing animal genetic resources: a choice modeling application to indigenous cattle in Kenya

In an effort to improve productivity and profits, many farmers have replaced traditional livestock breeds with higher yielding alternatives. While such changes may bring about short‐term economic gains, the loss of traditional livestock breeds could result in the loss of an important genetic resource as a variety of important genetic traits adapted to local conditions gradually become less common in the population. This is a particular problem in Africa, where livestock make a substantial contribution to human livelihoods. Using the example of cattle in Kenya's pastoral livestock markets this study uses a choice experiment approach to investigate buyers' preferences for indigenous breeds such as the Maasai Zebu. The analysis employs a latent class approach to characterize heterogeneity in valuations both within and across respondents buying cattle for breeding, slaughter, or resale. The results show that there are at least three classes of buyers with distinct preferences for cattle traits and that most buyers favor exotic rather than indigenous breeds. Such preferences have implications for the conservation of indigenous cattle in Kenya and in other developing countries and suggest that some form of intervention may be required to ensure the preservation of this important animal genetic resource.     

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.     

Supply and demand estimates for feed grains in China

In the past two decades, the use of grain to feed livestock in China has increased rapidly. A number of studies have examined demand and supply of grain for animal feed in China. Forecasts have been made. Generally, these projections have turned out to be well wide of the actual supply and demand. Further, forecasts of supply and demand for feed grains for the same time periods have differed greatly. Accurate forecasts of variables affecting supply and demand benefit both producers and consumers. Past forecasts of supply and demand of feed grain for livestock production in China are reviewed and reasons for discrepancies between projections are explored. Ways to improve projections of demand for and supply of grain for livestock feed in China are identified.     

Spillovers from high-value agriculture for exports on land use in developing countries: evidence from Madagascar

High-value agriculture for exports is increasingly important in developing countries. In a case study of contract farming for exports of vegetables from Madagascar, strong spillover effects of these trade opportunities on land use are found to exist. Using a matched plot sampling design, the productivity of rice—the main domestically consumed staple—is shown to be two-thirds higher on fields that were contracted during the off-season for the production of vegetables. This increase in yields is linked to an increase of soil fertility due to the application of fertilizer and compost, which farmers did not use prior to the contracts. Although agricultural output goes up significantly, labor productivity stays the same, suggesting that there is greater labor absorption on existing land and the diffusion of this type of technology at a larger scale throughout Madagascar would be expected to substantially decrease incentives to deforest by increasing wages and to boost productivity of existing lands relative to newly deforested ones.     

Does crop insurance influence agrochemical uses under current Chinese situations? A case study in the Manasi watershed,Xinjiang

Government subsidy to crop insurance has been advocated as a policy alternative to support growth of agricultural production and farmers' income in China since the country joined the WTO. However, cautions have been raised as the crop insurance program may impact the environment negatively. This study tries to explore farmers' behaviors with regard to agrochemical use with household data applied to a simultaneous equation system consisting of disaggregated input models. It is found that decisions on fertilizer, pesticides, and agro‐film applications do have different impacts on crop insurance participation, and are influenced by the latter in different ways. It is also implied that encouraging farmers' participation in crop insurance under current low‐premium and low‐indemnity terms does not have a significantly negative impact on the environment.     

Are citizens willing to pay for agricultural multifunctionality?

Agricultural multifunctionality is the recognition of the joint exercise of economic, environmental, and social functions by the agricultural sector. In order to make the concept operative for the design of public policies, it is necessary to estimate the social demand for such functions. The main objective of this article is to present an empirical application in this sense. For this purpose, we have adopted the agricultural system of cereal steppes in Tierra de Campos in Spain as a case study. The economic valuation technique used is the Choice Experiment. The results suggest the existence of a significant demand for the different functions, although the demand is heterogeneous, depending on the socioeconomic characteristics of the individuals surveyed.     

Metamodelling phosphorus best management practices for policy use: a frontier approach

This article presents a modelling system for synthesising heterogeneous productivity and nutrient loading potentials inherent in agricultural cropland for policy use. Phosphorus abatement cost functions for cropland farmers in a southeastern Minnesota watershed are metamodelled using frontier analysis. These functions are used to evaluate policies aimed at reducing nonpoint phosphorus discharges into the Minnesota River. Results indicate an efficiently targeted policy to reduce phosphorus discharge by 40% would cost US$167,700 or 844 per farm.     

Irrigation technology adoption and its implication for water conservation in the Texas High Plains: a real options approach

Water shortage has been a significant issue for several decades in the Texas High Plains. Agriculture has been identified as the main activity contributing to this shortage. To address this issue, many efforts have been focused on the possible adoption of sophisticated irrigation systems with high levels of water application efficiency. In this study, the entry and exit thresholds for the low‐energy precision application (LEPA) system are analyzed simultaneously in cotton farming in the Texas High Plains using a real options approach. The results show that the LEPA system is profitable only when cotton price is set above $1.59/kg. The exit (entry) threshold is consistently low (high) over a range of values for parameter changes including investment cost, exit cost, variable cost, risk‐adjusted discount rate, and volatility rate, so it is unlikely that farmers with irrigation systems in place would leave them easily. This implies that to attain the goal of saving water, Lubbock County needs to focus on convincing current farmers to replace old irrigation systems with new ones.     

Estimating the supply response of cotton and cereal crops in smallholder production systems: recent evidence from Mali

Cotton is one of the most important crops in West Africa and is a major catalyst of economic development in rural areas, but the sector has suffered from a decline in the world cotton price after 1999. This article exploits an unusual data set following 82 farmers over 14 years, from 1994 through 2007, to estimate a Nerlovian supply response model for cotton, maize, sorghum, and millet in long-term rotation. The resulting system of equations is estimated with two-stage least squares (2SLS), showing that this sample of Malian cotton producers have responded to prices in a relatively inelastic manner, with supply elasticities only about one-half of those estimated for producers in developed countries. Policy reforms could help producers respond more easily to prices changes, as well as to raise average productivity levels.     

Comparing heterogeneous consumption in U.S. and Japanese meat and fish demand

This article uses national, quarterly data to conduct an empirical analysis of pre‐committed meat and fish demand by U.S. and Japanese households using the generalized almost ideal demand system (GAIDS). Pre‐committed demand represents the component of demand that is insensitive to both income and price adjustments. U.S. consumers are found to hold significant positive pre‐committed demand for beef and pork, while Japanese consumers appear to possess significant, positive pre‐committed demand for beef and fish. This provides evidence to partially explain observed differences in Japanese and U.S. consumer reactions to nonprice and nonincome effects in beef, pork, poultry, and fish. In addition, based on in‐ and out‐of‐sample performance, the more general GAIDS is preferred to the almost ideal demand system (AIDS) for both the U.S. and Japanese demand systems. Results lend to improved demand modeling efforts and more complete understanding of true market forces at hand in meat and fish markets for these culturally diverse consumer groups.     

Modeling linkages between climate policy and land use: an overview

Agriculture and forestry play an important role in emitting and storing greenhouse gases. For an efficient and cost-effective climate policy, it is therefore important to include land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) explicitly in economy-climate models. This article gives an overview and assessment of existing approaches to include LULUCF into partial and general equilibrium economy-climate models. For each class of models, we describe different examples, their treatment of land, and their potential for and applicability to policy analysis, as well as their shortcomings. We identify data requirements and conceptual problems, and provide suggestions for future research.     

Landowner response to policies regulating land improvements in Finland: Lease or search for other options?

Land improvements with long pay-back periods are often delayed on leased agricultural land. The delay in improvements has been found to result in land degradation, decreased land productivity and environmental problems. An important question is thus how landowners would respond to regulations and mandates concerning land improvements. Based on a Finnish landowner survey, we analysed landowner choices under certain land improvement regulations, using the currently dominant choice of leasing land for agricultural use as the benchmark. The results indicated that land leasing will continue to increase in the future, but if the landowner mandate to co-finance costly land improvements is increased, landowners are predicted to respond significantly to these mandates and search for other land management options. Three heterogeneous landowner groups were identified based on their land use choices. Current leasers and amenity owners, in particular, were sensitive to land improvement mandates, and would avoid compulsory investment expenses by selling or afforesting their land.     

Soil quality and fertilizer use rates among smallholder farmers in western Kenya

Studies of fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa have been dominated by analyses of economic and market factors having to do with infrastructure, institutions, and incentives that prevent or foster increased fertilizer demand, largely ignoring how soil fertility status conditions farmer demand for fertilizer. We apply a switching regression model to data from 260 farm households in western Kenya in order to allow for the possibility of discontinuities in fertilizer demand based on a soil carbon content (SCC) threshold. We find that the usual factors reflecting liquidity and quasi-fixed inputs are important on high-SCC plots but not on those with poorer soils. External inputs become less effective on soils with low SCC, hence the discernible shift in behaviors across soil quality regimes. For many farmers, improved fertilizer market conditions alone may be insufficient to stimulate increased fertilizer use without complementary improvements in the biophysical conditions that affect conditional factor demand.     

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.