ROLES OF WOMEN ON FARMS: A PILOT STUDY

Official statistics do not reveal the nature of the contribution which farmers' wives make to the farm labour force. On the basis of a pilot study, three roles for women on farms were identified. Main distinguishing features were division of labour between husband and wife, frequency of manual work, responsibility for farm enterprises, participation in formal organisations and approach to housework. Home-centred farm housewives only work on the farm occasionally, working farmwives assist their husbands regularly while women farmers threaten male status by doing “man's” work. Reasons for women playing one role rather than another are discussed. Trends in agriculture suggest that the farmer's wife's contribution to the farm business will become still more significant in future. “The concept of ‘the farmer and his wife’ so often used by agricultural economics is far from having universal validity” (Ashby, 1953: 97).     

AN INDEX OF MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY FOR EGYPTIAN AGRICULTURE: A CASE STUDY OF LARGE FARMS

An index of management efficiency in cotton production is formed for each of five geographical regions in Egypt for farms of large enough size for the functions of management and labour to be separated. The index is introduced as a variable in the production function and reveals distinct differences between the regions in the scope for improving management efficiency.     

THE ECONOMIC STUDY OF AFRICAN SMALL FARMS; SOME KENYA EXPERIENCES

As a basis for both planning and evaluation, improved statistical information is required on the peasant section of developing economies. Developments made in Kenya since 1960 are discussed, covering the trial of various methodological approaches to the economic study of small farms, and the evolution of satisfactory procedures which can be applied in a large government research organisation in which technical accuracy and efficiency must be combined with administrative simplicity and the quick production at reasonable cost of specific information that is required for economic planning. Consideration is given to full farm business studies, enterprise studies and the collection of agricultural statistics in conditions where the complexities of mixed farming systems create unusual problems.     

鲁西平原农业可持续发展的指标体系与评价--东昌府区的典型实例研究

在介绍聊城市东昌府区背景特征的基础上,确立了东昌府区农业可持续发展指标体系,判断了农业可持续发展指标属性,确定了指标权重与可持续能力指数,最后,对东昌府区农业可持续能力进行了评价.     

A LINEAR PROGRAMMING STUDY OF FAMILY-RUN DAIRY FARMS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

The paper presents the results of a study in which multiperiod linear programming models were used to examine the probable responses of small and medium sized dairy farms in Northern Ireland to various policy, farm indebtedness and development options and to project consequent structural change in the dairy sector. The introduction of quotas has curtailed the considerable potential for expansion of output on these farms while having a less detrimental effect on farm profits and the survival of the smaller dairy herd than the price cut necessary to produce the same reduction in output.     

经济发达地区城镇化与耕地资源保护——以江阴市为例

以江阴市为经济发达地区代表,分析了该市通过合理的城镇化体系规划,强化中心村镇建设和积极实施土有偿使用等,初步实现了中心村镇的节地内涵式发展及其对农村居民的集聚作用;总结出值得其它经济发达地区借鉴的经验地。     

产业化——安徽省农业可持续发展的定位

为促进农村经济发展，农民增收，要大力推进农业产业化经营；在分析安徽省农业经济的现状和农业产业化面临的主要问题的基础上，提出了加快农业产业化进程，实现安徽省农业可持续发展的建议。     

THE ANALYSIS OF MEMORY BIAS IN AGRICULTURAL LABOUR DATA COLLECTION: A CASE STUDY OF SMALL FARMERS IN NIGERIA

An analysis is undertaken of daily labour data collected once-per-week for a sample of 129 farm households in Benue State, Nigeria during 1979/80. The purpose of the analysis is to test for the presence of memory bias in these data for which the recall period is up to seven days. The analysis indicates significant between-day differences in hours of agricultural work. This is partly due to the low work input for Sunday but it is also noted that the mean number of hours of agricultural work reported for the day prior to data collection is significantly lower than the means for days further removed from the time of data collection. This finding is taken to be confirmation that a significant level of memory bias exists in the labour data and it is estimated that reported hours of agricultural labour may overstate actual hours of such work by almost 38 per cent.     

COMPARATIVE EFFICIENCY OF RICE FARMS IN CENTRAL LUZON,THE PHILIPPINES

The purpose of this paper is to estimate a bias-free agricultural production function with a view to examining efficiency differences among small rice farmers. Simultaneous equation bias is avoided if we assume that farmers maximise expected profits; specification bias, which commonly occurs when a management input is omitted from such functions, is circumvented by introducing farm-specific dummy variables into a combined cross-sectional and time-series data set. Applying this model to data for 32 Philippine rice farms between 1970 and 1979, rather small production-elasticities are obtained for the conventional inputs and an efficiency ranking of the farms is presented. Second stage analysis shows that differences in soil type, land tenure, education and access to credit are important factors explaining these efficiency differences.     

河南省长江流域农业生态与资源可持续开发利用

通过实地调查分析河南省长江流域农业生态环境与资源利用现状问题及变化成因趋势,提出了农业生态环境建设与资源可持续开发利用的指导思想、原则、目标、总体方案、重点项目及政策建议等。     

曲阜孔林局域生态研究

在对世界最大的人工园林之一——曲阜孔林中的野生动物调查研究的基础上．从生态学角度提出对其合理开发利用和保护意见。     

MODELLING FERTILISER DEMAND IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: A COST FUNCTION APPROACH

A translog cost function was used to obtain estimates of the own- and cross-price demand elasticities for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The results indicated a mean value for the own-elasticities of —1.0, —0.6, —0.5 for N, P and K respectively. A test of the hypothesis of nutrient substitution was attempted. The test indicated that P and K were substitutable for N but not for each other. This result was corroborated by a zero elasticity of substitution estimate between phosphorous and potassium. A corollary of the results was the rejection on empirical grounds of the Cobb-Douglas specification for the input demand functions. The latter function has traditionally been used in analyses of this nature.     

MECHANISATION OF SMALL RICE FARMS IN THE PHILIPPINES: SOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION ASPECTS

Considerable controversy exists about the desirability of farm mechanisation in the Philippines. Survey evidence shows that the introduction of tractors has not directly resulted in yield and cropping intensity increases yet the employment displacement potential is great. Income shares are presented for different classifications of mechanised and irrigated farms and the effects of new technology on the welfare of landless labour households are discussed.     

我国北方农牧交错带的土地利用研究

分析了我国北方农牧交错带土地利用的新要求。简介了FAO土地 可持续 利用的评价原则及国内外土地可持续利用的研究动态,在总结国外成功模式与国内探索经验的基础上,讨论了21世纪我国北方农牧交错带土地可持续利用用必须面对的问题。     

COMMUNICATIONS IN AGRICULTURE: RESULTS OF A FARMER SURVEY

This paper discusses the results of a survey of farmers aimed at establishing a contemporary view of both the use of information and advice by farmers and their attitudes towards the various sources through which agricultural information and advice is channelled. The results of the survey suggest that farmers are generally satisfied with the provision of agricultural information and advice. The Agricultural Development and Advisory Services (ADAS), commercial representatives and the farming press continue to play an important role in communicating information and advice to farmers, but the wider uptake of on-farm information technology is yet to be achieved.     

BIASES IN RESEARCH: THE CASE OF RUBBER GROWING IN MALAYSIA

This paper measures the impact of technological progress in Malaysian rubber growing and tests the hypothesis that past research has been biased in favour of raising the productivity of capital rather than labour. It also demonstrates the methodological usefulness, in relation to a long-lived perennial crop, of separating embodied from disembodied technical change. The analysis indicates that research leading to new embodied technology has not been biased since it has raised the productivity of all input factors at about the same rate over time. However, disembodied technological change has not shifted the production hypersurface in an unambiguously neutral fashion. These results are especially pertinent to the debate about the future direction of rubber growing research.