Using Spatial Analysis to Study the Values of Variable Rate Technology and Information

For adoption of variable rate technology to increase, more knowledge of how crop yields respond to inputs is needed. As the necessary agronomic research involves approximating site‐specific yield response functions, data used inherently lend themselves to spatial analysis. We discuss the different types of spatial analyses that may be appropriate. Then we present a taxonomy for the discussion of the economics of technology and information, and use it to review studies that have contributed significantly to the literature over the past few years. We contend that longer‐term, multilocation agronomic experiments are needed for the estimation of site‐specific ex ante optimal variable input rates, and of expected profitability of variable rate technology and information.     

Farmer-to-farmer technology diffusion and yield variation among adopters: the case of improved cowpea in northern Nigeria

This article examines the magnitude and sources of yield variation among adopters of improved cowpea varieties in northern Nigeria promoted through farmer‐to‐farmer diffusion. The results reveal important efficiency differences between the lead farmers who have contacts with breeders and the follower farmers who get technology and information from the lead farmers. Differential adoption of the package of seed, insecticide, fertilizer, and recommended cereal‐cowpea cropping pattern provides much of the explanation for yield variation among adopters. The component often missing, and hence accounting for much of the yield variation, is the crop management technology relating to the cereal‐cowpea cropping pattern. No efficiency variation is attributed to the source of technology and information, such as whether improved cowpea was obtained from breeders or lead farmers. Technology source has a rather indirect influence on efficiency through its effect on package adoption where breeders promote greater package adoption among the lead farmers than the lead farmers do among the follower farmers. Possible ways of disseminating crop management technological information through the farmer‐to‐farmer technology diffusion are recommended to better exploit the yield and profitability potentials of improved cowpea varieties in northern Nigeria.     

Factors influencing the profitability of fertilizer use on maize in Zambia

Fertilizer use remains very low in most of Africa despite widespread agreement that much higher use rates are required for sustained agricultural productivity growth. This study uses longitudinal farm survey data to estimate maize yield response functions in a relatively high-potential zone of Zambia to determine the profitability of fertilizer use under a range of small-farm conditions found within this zone. The theoretical framework used in this study incorporates agronomic principles of the crop growth process. We generalize the asymmetric production models and define a concept of yield scaling factors. The model distinguishes different roles of inputs and non-input factors in crop production. We estimate the effects of conventional production inputs as well as of household characteristics and government programs on maize yield. The results indicate that recommended fertilizer application rates in the two specific years were often unprofitable, given observed price conditions and the yield response to fertilizer. However, there was substantial variability in yield response to fertilizer based upon the rate of application, the timeliness of fertilizer availability, the use of animal draught power during land preparation, and whether the household incurred the death of an adult member in the past three years. These modifying factors, as well as variations in input and output prices due to proximity to roads and markets, substantially affected the profitability of fertilizer use on maize.     

Agricultural diversification and integrated pest management in Bangladesh

We study factors associated with a shift toward diversified, high‐valued vegetable crops and the incentives associated with the use of IPM methods for vegetable producers in Bangladesh. The primary objective is to measure how IPM technologies affect the crop and technology choices of low‐income rice farmers. A three‐season household optimisation model is used to study crop and technology choice under price and yield uncertainty. The model is parameterised using data from vegetable farms and experimental IPM trials conducted in Bangladesh. Simulation results show that access to IPM technology and IPM availability combined with access to credit increase household welfare and lead to higher rates of vegetable adoption. Off‐farm employment opportunities work against vegetable cultivation and IPM use by risk‐averse farmers. Implications for policy and extension efforts are highlighted.     

Rationale and Motivation of Agricultural Producers in Adopting Crop Rotation in the Northern Great Plains,USA

Despite several environmental and economic benefits of crop rotation, the adoption of this agricultural practice is relatively low. Understanding the reasons for low adoption is important from a sustainability policy perspective. This study explores the motivation, challenges, and sources of information of agricultural producers who participate in crop rotation practices in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. The findings of a mail survey of 672 producers in these three states show that producers are familiar with the crop rotation practice. Economic profitability is found to drive motivation for crop rotation adoption. The results of a binary logistic regression model show that a producer who perceives that crop rotation is beneficial to farm profitability is 1.83 times more likely to adopt it than the producer who does not believe in its profitability to the farm. The lack of time or resources is the primary barrier to the adoption of crop rotation practice. This study provides additional evidence in support of the importance of farm profitability for the adoption of the practice of crop rotation. Understanding the rationale and addressing the challenges faced by agricultural producers would be useful in planning and policy making of sustainable agriculture.     

Managing phosphorous soil dynamics over space and time

Understanding the relationship between soil fertility dynamics and crop response is conceptually appealing. Even more appealing is comprehension of the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of these connections over a production surface and across seasons. But gaining knowledge about these interactions is difficult because nutrient carryover dynamics and crop response to inputs are determined simultaneously on the one hand, and sequentially on the other. A second problem enters when crops are rotated, for example, the corn [Zea mays (L.) Merr.]–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] system commonly practiced in the U.S. Corn Belt. This article examines nutrient carryover–crop response dynamics using data from a corn‐soybean, variable rate nitrogen (N), and phosphorous (P) experiment conducted over five years in Minnesota, USA. Site‐specific corn response to N and P and soybean response to P is estimated with a P carryover equation. Estimates are used in a dynamic programming model to determine site‐specific optimal N and P fertilizer policies, soil P evolution, and profitability. The net present value of managing N and P site‐specifically is compared to a strategy in which these inputs are managed uniformly following Extension guidelines. The results suggest that when P carryover is accounted for in determining optimal P fertilizer rates, returns to the variable rate strategies are higher than returns to a uniform or whole‐field management strategy.     

Economywide effects of climate‐smart agriculture in Ethiopia

Climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural systems to support food security under climate change. Few studies, however, quantify at the national scale CSA's economic effects or compare CSA to input‐intensive technologies, like fertilizer or irrigation. Such quantification may help with priority setting among competing agricultural investment options. Our study uses an integrated biophysical and economic modeling approach to quantify and contrast the economywide effects of CSA (integrated soil fertility management in our study) and input‐intensive technologies in Ethiopia's cereal systems. We simulate impacts for 20‐year sequences of variable weather, with and without climate change. Results indicate that adopting CSA on 25% of Ethiopia's maize and wheat land increases annual gross domestic product (GDP) by an average 0.18% (US$49.8 million) and reduces the national poverty rate by 0.15 percentage points (112,100 people). CSA is more effective than doubling fertilizer use on the same area, which increases GDP by US$33.0 million and assists 75,300 people out of poverty. CSA and fertilizer have some substitutability, but CSA and irrigation appear complementary. Although not a panacea for food security concerns, greater adoption of CSA in Ethiopia could deliver economic gains but would need substantial tailoring to farmer‐specific contexts.     

Bias from Farmer Self‐Selection in Genetically Modified Crop Productivity Estimates: Evidence from Indian Data

In the continuing debate over the impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on farmers of developing countries, it is important to accurately measure magnitudes such as farm‐level yield gains from GM crop adoption. Yet most farm‐level studies in the literature do not control for farmer self‐selection, a potentially important source of bias in such estimates. We use farm‐level panel data from Indian cotton farmers to investigate the yield effect of GM insect‐resistant cotton. We explicitly take into account the fact that the choice of crop variety is an endogenous variable which might lead to bias from self‐selection. A production function is estimated using a fixed‐effects model to control for selection bias. Our results show that efficient farmers adopt Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton at a higher rate than their less efficient peers. This suggests that cross‐sectional estimates of the yield effect of Bt cotton, which do not control for self‐selection effects, are likely to be biased upwards. However, after controlling for selection bias, we still find that there is a significant positive yield effect from adoption of Bt cotton that more than offsets the additional cost of Bt seed.     

New markets and technological change for the traditional cereals in semiarid sub-Saharan Africa: the Malian case

During the last three decades in sub‐Saharan Africa, development and research resources have concentrated on the higher‐rainfall and irrigated regions, especially on export crops and the principal food crops grown there. There has been much less concern and investment in semiarid regions without irrigation. Another negative factor has been the lack of public policy concern with the profitability of the basic food crops. With good weather, prices collapse. With bad weather, governments and NGOs dispense food crops as food aid or at subsidized prices. This article documents the importance of the demand side to facilitate diffusion of new technologies for the basic food commodities of semiarid regions—the traditional cereals. With farm programming models aggregated into a sector model, the combination of technological change and demand shifts for sorghum are evaluated in one semiarid region where the traditional cereals are concentrated. It focuses on combining policies to increase the prices farmers receive after introduction of technologies that use higher input levels. It also compares benefits of a strategy that focuses on yield and demand increases for a traditional cereal of the semiarid region, sorghum, with two alternative strategies for the higher‐rainfall zone.     

Interaction between crop insurance and technology adoption decisions: The case of wheat farmers in Chile

This paper examines relationships between crop insurance and input technology decisions among Chilean wheat farmers. Using nationwide farm‐level data, a bivariate probit model is estimated. We investigate the extent to which the adoption of production input technologies is associated with farmers’ participation in the insurance program. We find that relationships between insurance and technology decisions are significant only for family farmers. In particular, there is a negative relationship between participation in the insurance program and the adoption of modern irrigation. Interpretations based on the role of input technologies on insurance adoption and adverse selection behaviours are discussed.     

农业社会化服务能促进农户采用亲环境农业技术吗

使用亲环境农业技术是治理农业面源污染、改善耕地质量和提升农业绿色发展程度的重要举措.本文基于农业社会化服务视角,采用农户微观调查数据,利用倾向得分匹配法和mvprobit方法,定量测度了农户购买不同环节的农业社会化服务对其亲环境农业技术采用的影响效应.研究结果表明,农户购买农业社会化服务对其采用亲环境农业技术具有显著促...     

Adoption and diffusion of improved technologies and production practices in agriculture: Insights from a donor-led intervention in Nepal

Adoptions of improved technologies and production practices are important drivers of agricultural development in low-income countries like Nepal. Adopting a broad class of such technologies and practices is often critical for meeting the multifaceted goals of efficiency, profitability, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. This study aims to address the knowledge gaps that still exist concerning what determines the adoption of improved technologies and production practices, the factors affecting their diffusion, the impact of interventions on productivity and crops grown, and the variability of impact within a particular country context. In this paper we address these questions using data collected as part of the USAID-led Knowledge-Based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal (KISAN) project. We adopted a multistage sampling technique and surveyed 988 beneficiary households and 997 non-beneficiary households in KISAN intervention districts and non-intervention districts. Our findings suggest that, in Nepal, adoption of improved technologies and practices is significantly increased by improved access to markets, private sector involvement in selling improved seeds and disseminating information, membership in progressive farmers groups and cooperative societies, participation in agricultural training and farm visits, provision of subsidies for seeds, and access to credit. We also found the probability of the adoption of improved practices to be affected by farmers’ sources of information; for instance, the adoption of improved practices was increased when farmers obtained information from informal sources, cooperatives/farmers organizations, and public and private extension programs. The effects of KISAN projects vary significantly across the different crops grown, based on the evaluation models that address self-selection of both project participation and crop choices. These implications may also apply to other parts of the world facing similar challenges as Nepal, where limited market access, insufficient knowledge and resource capacity of farmers constrain their adoption of improved technologies and practices in agriculture.     

Adoption of precision farming tools: A context-related analysis

This paper deals with precision farming tools (PFTs), a way of farming which relies on specialized equipment, software and information technologies services, whose importance is underlined in recent documents of the European Union. Precision farming is an integrated and sustainable farm management system making use of modern technologies to increase farm’s profitability, by reducing environmental impact. In this paper we explore the complex mechanisms that affect PFT’s adoption by Italian farmers. More precisely, we try to analyse the context-related factors affecting adoption of PFTs in the Italian farms.Little research has been carried out in Italy on this topic, therefore our paper tries to fill a gap in literature. In order to investigate the process of technology adoption related to precision agriculture, a questionnaire was submitted to a sample of Italian farms. The questionnaire has been structured in order to apply the AKAP (Awareness, Knowledge, Adoption, Product) sequence. Our analysis underlines that context-related factors are fundamental dimensions to be explored in order to specify uptake of PFTs. Therefore, the paper has relevant policy implications, within the context of a new participatory approach to agricultural innovation characterized by bottom-up processes boosted by farmers, which has informed the recent policies of agricultural innovation at the EU level.     

德国精准农业做法及启示——以百年农场Gut Derenburg为例

[目的]通过分析德国Gut Derenburg农场推进精准农业的做法和思路,以期对我国发展精准农业提供借鉴。[方法]采用实证研究法,介绍德国百年农场Gut Derenburg发展精准农业的基本情况,剖析其在改良土壤、底施磷钾肥和有机肥、变量追施氮肥和生长调节剂、农机作业等方面实施精准管理的应用实例,并总结其成功经验。[结果]Gut Derenburg农场的主要做法:(1)通过建立详实的土壤空间数据库和属性数据库,来实现对基肥施用(磷钾肥、有机肥)和土壤改良(应用堆肥和石灰调控土壤p H)的分区精准管理;(2)通过近红外光谱实时测定叶片营养状况、群体长势等实现中后期氮肥的变量精准施用和作物生长调节控制;(3)基于车载Telematics系统实现多农机同时高效作业的精准管理。[结论]Gut Derenburg农场对当前中国发展精准农业的启示:(1)以提高经济效益为前提;(2)以专业化服务为依托;(3)以提高资源利用效率为核心;(4)以规模经营为基础;(5)以提升劳动力素质为支撑。     

Cost-effective nitrogen leaching reduction as influenced by linkages between farm-level decisions

This article focuses on how the linkages between various farm‐level decisions affect the choice of measures to reduce nitrogen leaching from crop production. A mathematical programming model is developed. The model considers not only management decisions that affect nitrogen leaching directly, but also other decision variables such as scheduling of field operations and machinery investments. A simplified analysis that ignores the latter management decisions, and the linkages between the various decisions, may result in abatement policies that are not cost‐effective because the policies will have other effects than expected. As an example, the empirical results show that subsidies to catch crops and spring ploughing may contribute to increased nitrogen load, quite contrary to the purpose of these subsidies. Further, it is noted that the characteristics of the production system make it costly to change land use, tillage practices, or fertilizer use drastically. Instead, cost‐effective nitrogen abatement includes a mix of various adjustments of farm‐level production practices. The EU set‐aside payment appears to reduce abatement costs.     

The impact of water price uncertainty on the adoption of precision irrigation systems

We examine whether a firm is more or less likely to adopt precision technology when input prices are stochastic. The results are important to determining whether programs and contracts that reduce input price uncertainty may deter the adoption of conservation practices. An economic model of the technology adoption decision shows that the net effect of input price risk is ambiguous and depends on several factors including the shutdown effect, the mean price effect, the precision expansion effect, and the risk aversion effect. An empirical implementation of the model relies on data on water price and irrigation technology adoption observed in a California irrigation district over the period 1999–2002. The results show that a stable input price increases the adoption of precision technology, but the impact depends on crop choice and land quality characteristics.     

Macro–micro feedback links of water management in South Africa: CGE analyses of selected policy regimes

The pressure on an already stressed water situation in South Africa is predicted to increase significantly under climate change, plans for large industrial expansion, ongoing rapid urbanization, and government programs to provide access to water to millions of previously excluded populations. This article employs a general equilibrium approach to examine the economy‐wide impacts of selected macro and water‐related policy reforms on water use and allocation, rural livelihoods, and economy at large. The analyses reveal that implicit crop‐level water quotas reduce the amount of irrigated land allocated to higher‐value horticultural crops and create higher shadow rents for production of lower‐value water‐intensive field crops, such as sugarcane and fodder. Accordingly, liberalizing local water allocation within irrigation agriculture is found to work in favor of higher‐value crops, and expand agricultural production and exports and farm employment. Allowing for water trade between irrigation and nonagricultural uses fuelled by higher competition for water from urbanization leads to greater water shadow prices for irrigation water with reduced income and employment benefits to rural households and higher gains for nonagricultural households. The analyses show difficult trade‐offs between general economic gains and higher water prices, which place serious questions on subsidizing water supply to irrigated agriculture, i.e., making irrigation subsidies much harder to justify.     

Adoption of New Technologies in Ethiopian Agriculture: The Case of Tegulet-Bulga District,Shoa Province

Adoption of agricultural production technologies in developing countries is influenced by a wide range of economic and social factors as well as physical and technical aspects of farming and the risk attitude of farmers. It is important to understand the role of these factors to ensure the development of appropriate technologies and the design of successful development projects. This study examines the impact of such factors on the adoption of single-ox, fertilizer and pesticide technologies as part of a post-drought recovery project in Tegulet-Bulga district in Ethiopia. Models to evaluate the probability of adoption are specified for the respective technologies and are estimated using a logit maximum likelihood procedure, results indicate that the most significant variable affecting the probability of adoption of all three technologies is farm size; the impact is negative for single-ox technology and positive for fertilizer and pesticide use. Economic factors such as income, wealth and debt generally exhibit statistically significant influence on the adoption of single-ox and pesticide technologies as do family size, access to outside information, education and experience. The effect of socio-economic factors on adoption of fertilizer and pesticide technologies is greater in the area which has more access to outside information and off-farm activities (Ankober) than in more ‘self-contained’ area (Seladengay). The impact of the degree of risk aversion of farmers is found to be significant and negative for single-ox technology in both areas, and for fertilizer and pesticide technologies in only one area. The predicted probabilities of technology adoption by an average farmer are found to increase dramatically with the level of education and access or exposure to outside information.     

Factors and scenarios affecting a farmer’s grain harvest logistics

This paper explores how changes in Australia’s grain industry supply chains are likely to impact on the nature and profitability of an Australian farmer’s grain harvest logistics. A simulation model is used to show how receival site rationalisation, cheaper on‐farm storage, larger trucks, higher‐yielding crops and new harvest technologies, separately and in combination, affect the nature and profitability of a farmer’s grain harvest logistics. Applying the model to a typical Australian grain farm shows that many of these changes unambiguously advantage the farm business, and often, the combination of these changes increases a farmer’s harvest profits by at least 10 per cent. For many farmers, the task of efficiently designing and managing harvest logistics will be an increasingly difficult yet important series of choices due to the range of storage options, grain pathways, crop portfolios and market opportunities that are arising. A farmer’s decisions about cost‐effective on‐farm storage and transport, and their judicious use, will be a key contributor to additional profit in future years.     

Inter‐ and intra‐seasonal crop acreage response to international food prices and implications of volatility

Understanding how producers make decisions to allot acreage among crops and how decisions about land use are affected by changes in prices and their volatility is fundamental for predicting the supply of staple crops and, hence, assessing the global food supply situation. This study makes estimations of monthly (i.e., seasonal) versus annual global acreage response models for the world's principal staple food crops: wheat, corn, soybeans, and rice. Primary emphasis is given to the magnitude and speed of the allocation process. Estimation of intra‐annual acreage elasticity is crucial for expected food supply and for input demand, especially in the light of the recent short‐term volatility in food prices. The econometric results indicate that global crop acreage responds to crop prices and price risks, input costs as well as a time trend. Depending on respective crop, short‐run elasticities are about 0.05 to 0.40; price volatility tends to reduce acreage for some of the crops; comparison of the annual and the monthly acreage response elasticities suggests that acreage adjusts seasonally around the globe to new information and expectations. Given the seasonality of agriculture, time is of an essence for acreage response. The analysis indicates that acreage allocation is more sensitive to prices in the northern hemisphere spring than in winter and the response varies across months.