Production Contracts and Productivity in the U.S. Hog Sector

This article measures the impact of contracting on partial and total factor productivity and the production technology of U.S. hog operations. A sample selection model accounts for the fact that unobservable variables may be correlated with both the operators' decision to contract and farm productivity. Results indicate that the use of production contracts is associated with a substantial increase in factor productivity, and represents a technological improvement over independent production. Results also identify determinants of farmers' decisions to contract and other factors influencing farm productivity.     

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.     

新疆耕地和粮食生产力变化的区域差异分析

由于自然和人为因素的影响,耕地的数量、质量在时空上存在较大差异,科技进步等人文因素对各个区域的粮食单产造成不同程度的影响,这些都直接影响到新疆的16个区域的粮食生产水平的分异.从新疆各个区域1996-2004年的耕地面积、粮食产量及粮食播种面积等农业统计资料出发,分析新疆耕地面积和粮食生产力变化的区域差异,并简要分析其变化的原因,从而为新疆农业发展,尤其是粮食生产的发展提供了科学的参考依据.     

Input Substitution,Productivity Performance and Farm Size

This paper develops a theoretical model to examine the relationship between the input elasticity of (technical) substitution and both farm total factor productivity and size. In the presence of ongoing technical change and its factor bias, the ‘income effect’ arising from farms' cost minimising behaviour enables them to increase productivity by saving inputs or, through the dual equivalent, enlarging farm size. As such, farms with higher elasticities of substitution tend to grow larger and become more productive, which provides a new mechanism through which farm heterogeneity in productivity growth can be examined. Empirical evidence from Australian broadacre agriculture supports this theory and points to important policy implications.     

定西市有机农业发展优势、问题与对策

分析了甘肃省定西市发展有机农业的有利条件和面临的问题,定西市具有自然资源丰富、农业开发环境优越、劳动力资源充裕和区位优势明显等优势,极具发展有机农业的潜力,但是也存在认识不足、专业技术知识缺乏、认证费用高和投资风险大等问题;提出加强宣传、政策倾斜扶持、成立认证中心和整合现有特色农业资源等措施来推动定西市有机农业的健康发展。     

Cooperatives, regulation and competition in Norwegian agriculture

This article analyses the efficiency of current market regulations and market structure in Norwegian agriculture. Based on their potential to coordinate farmers' supplies, large marketing cooperatives are assigned a market regulation role. However, market prices frequently tend to fall below target prices, spurring costly additional market regulations. This is not necessarily a result of inefficient coordination by the cooperative. Using a mixed market model, the study shows that over production may be explained by the competition between marketing cooperatives and investor-owned wholesalers (IOW), typically weakening the cooperatives' ability to coordinate market supply. This conclusion is robust over a variety of IOW contracts. However, to what extent competition is to blame, depends on the target price level and the contract structure of the IOW. Moreover, it is shown that current market interventions to remove excess supplies may induce further incentives to increase production.     

Size and Productivity in the U.S. Milling and Baking Industries

From the late 1950s through mid-1990s, productivity growth in U.S. grain milling and feed manufacturing has been consistently strong and positive. In grain milling, approximately 15% of the growth is due to size economies. Technical change has been capital-using, increasingly material-saving, and, in recent years, decreasingly labor-saving or increasingly labor-using. The quality of capital has risen relative to that of labor and materials. In all but the baking industry, capital intensification and incentives for plant size growth remain unabated.     

Mergers and Acquisitions and Productivity in the U.S. Meat Products Industries: Evidence from the Micro Data

This article investigates the motives for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the U.S. meat products industry from 1977 to 1992. Results show that acquired meat and poultry plants were very productive before mergers, and that all but the very largest meat slaughter and processing plants and all but the bottom 20% of the poultry slaughter and processing plants significantly improved their productivity growth in their postmerger periods. These results lead to the conclusion that synergies and related efficiencies are important motives for M&As.     

On the Relationship between the Student–Advisor Match and Early Career Research Productivity for Agricultural and Resource Economics Ph.D.s

We use a unique data set on students receiving their Ph.D.s from top-ranked agricultural and resource economics programs to investigate how the ranking of a student's dissertation advisor affects his or her early career research productivity. After controlling for program reputation, we find that the higher the relative research productivity of a student's dissertation advisor the greater the student's early career research productivity. Allowing the estimated effects of advisor rank to vary with program reputation suggests that students from lower-ranked programs working with relatively more prominent advisors outperform their peers at highly ranked programs working with less prominent advisors.     

Harnessing sustainability,resilience and productivity through conservation agriculture: the case of likoti in Lesotho

Subsistence farmers in Lesotho have been able to boost agricultural yields and increase food production by adopting conservation agriculture. The practice, locally known as likoti, also contributes to combating soil erosion and to enhancing fertility. The socio-economic and environmental benefits help poor households to rehabilitate and strengthen their livelihood capital base and ultimately help rural communities to build system resilience in the face of widespread poverty and increasing vulnerability that affect the country. This paper discusses the major advantages associated with the spread of likoti. By drawing on primary data collected by FAO-Lesotho, it enquires into the determinants of adoption, thereby highlighting constraints and options for future up-scaling. The results show that attending appropriate training is a crucial prerequisite for the correct adoption of likoti. However, training is more effective when trainers pursue true participation and when social capital among farmers is stronger. Further important determinants of adoption are the level of education and the economic incentives provided to vulnerable households. Stronger policy and institutional support in all these areas would thus help address the cultural and resource constraints that limit the full potential of likoti to be harnessed and ultimately hinder its further spread throughout the country.     

人口,土地和农业生产力水平:二十世纪初无锡农村地区人口压力的测量

论文把"生存压力"和"劳动力剩余"作为测量"人口压力"的两个具体指标,在对20世纪初无锡农村地区人口,土地和农业生产力水平详细考察分析的基础上,对20世纪初无锡农村地区的人口压力进行了测量。论文从"人均土地粮食收获水平"和"剩余劳动力规模"两方面讨论了当时无锡农村经济所面临的资源困境,以及其有可能的发展出路。论文认为在当时那种沉重的人口压力下,提高农业生产力水平和发展工业和城市经济是实现农业经济增长和农村经济转型的关键。然而,就是在当时全国工业和城市经济最为发达的江南,其当时的工业和城市经济发展程度也远不足以吸收足够多的农村剩余劳动力,在资金和技术上对农业生产予以显著的支持,为农村经济发展带来本质性的变化。     

城市化背景下赣江流域植被初级生产力的时空变化

城市化对植被初级生产力的变化具有重要影响,本文在前人研究的基础上进一步研究城市化过程中建设用地扩张等人类活动对植被初级生产力的间接影响,以赣江流域为例,探究了2000-2015年十五年里城市建成区变化情况,并从整个流域与城市两个尺度分析2000-2015年赣江流域植被初级生产力时空变化特征,探究了建成区面积与降水、气温等气象因子的关系。结果表明,2000-2015年赣江流域植被初级生产力除部分建设用地地区总体呈现上升趋势,其中非建成区呈现显著增加趋势,平均每年增加2.297 d/km²。在城市尺度上,随着建成区面积的增大,城市植被初级生产力也随着不断上升。另外,研究表明,气温与降水等气象因子对城市植被初级生产力具有一定的推动作用。     

System of crop intensification for more productive,resource-conserving,climate-resilient,and sustainable agriculture: experience with diverse crops in varying agroecologies

With continually increasing demand for food accompanied by the constraints of climate change and the availability and quality of soil and water, the world’s farmers are challenged to produce more food per hectare with less water, and with fewer agrochemical inputs if possible. The ideas and methods of the system of rice intensification which is improving irrigated rice production are now being extended/adapted to many other crops: wheat, maize, finger millet, sugarcane, tef, mustard, legumes, vegetables, and even spices. Promoting better root growth and enhancing the soil’s fertility with organic materials are being found effective means for raising the yields of many crop plants with less water, less fertilizer, reduced seeds, fewer agrochemicals, and greater climate resilience. In this article, we review what is becoming known about various farmer-centred innovations for agroecological crop management that can contribute to agricultural sustainability. These changes represent the emerging system of crop intensification, which is being increasingly applied in Asian, African, and Latin American countries. More research will be needed to verify the efficacy and impact of these innovations and to clarify their conditions and limits. But as no negative effects for human or environmental health have been identified, making these agronomic options more widely known should prompt more investigation and, to the extent justified by results, utilization of these methodologies.     

建国初期中苏农业科学技术合作初探

从1949年8月到1960年8月，中国和苏联两国政府在特定历史背景下进行了农业科学技术全面合作。早期合作主要通过外交途径进行；中后期合作则主要通过非外交途径进行，在此期间，成立了中苏科学技术委员会，签署了“122项协定”并建立了两国农业科学院之问的直接合作关系。中苏农业科学技术的合作方式及内容主要包括：聘请苏联顾问、专家，互派留学生，专家互访与交流，交换种子苗木、书刊资料、信息情报，引进畜牧、作物良种及农机具等。建国初期中苏农业科学技术合作对中国农业发展产生了深远影响。     

林地确权后林农林业收支变化及配套政策需求分析——基于云南省林改前,2009年,2010年调研数据

林地确权是集体林权制度改革的首要任务,它是集体林改深入推进的前提。本研究通过实地调查,利用云南省林改前、2009年、2010年的调研数据,从林农的角度探讨林地确权对林农林业收入、林业生产投资、配套政策需求等方面产生的影响,反映云南省林改的成效。并从发展林下经济、引导林业投资、完善配套政策三方面提出建议,以期促进林改工作稳步推进,将林改价值深化和延伸。     

绩效与不足:建国初期农村信用合作社的借贷活动的历史考察——以鄂湘赣三省为中心

农村信用合作社是建国初期农村金融体系的重要组成部分，它的产生是新中国乡村借贷关系转型和现代化的标志之一。信用社借贷有利于农户的生产生活经营，推动了农村经济的恢复与发展，但其也存在一定的缺陷。