Technology change as a policy response to promote changes in land management for environmental benefits

A previous study developed a framework for choosing among groups of policy mechanisms for encouraging environmentally beneficial land-use change. The framework highlights that these choices should depend on the relative levels of private (or internal) net benefits, and public (or external) net benefits. Incentive-based mechanisms (polluter-pays and/or beneficiary-pays) and extension need to be targeted carefully to appropriate projects—where private net benefits are close to zero, and/or public net benefits are more extremely positive or negative. This article focuses on policy mechanisms that alter the net benefits of changing land management, including R&D to develop new technologies, and training to improve the skill of landholders at using existing technologies. These policy options are now treated more comprehensively within the public benefits: private benefits framework. Benefits of technology-change projects can include reductions in the opportunity cost of compliance with environmental programs, increases in the public benefits of a particular type of land-use change, or improvements in private net benefits, resulting in public benefits through greater or more rapid adoption by private landholders. From an environmental management perspective, technology development is most relevant where public net benefits of land use change are positive and private net benefits are negative, but not highly negative. There is a set of projects for which technology change is the only viable alternative to no action, highlighting the importance of technology change in these cases.     

采用冲击压实技术的社会经济效益分析方法与实例

针对采用冲击压实技术可以缩短工期,但直接工程成本较高的实际,提出了2种采用冲压技术的社会经济效益比较方法,并用实例进行了验证。结果表明,采用冲击压实技术的社会经济效益大于普通压实技术的社会经济效益。     

Economic potential for improving the nutritional characteristics of feed grains

A comprehensive set of potential new feed grains for Australia was evaluated to help establish the options with the highest priorities for research. The cost–reducing impacts of the different options were analysed using a linear–programming model that determined the least–cost feed rations for the different livestock industries. Economic welfare analysis was then used to estimate the size and distribution of the benefits of research from the feed grains quality–improving research. The analysis revealed that there are only limited opportunities to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Australia's livestock industries by improving the nutritional characteristics of feed grains.     

Returns to public sector plant breeding in the presence of spill‐ins and private goods: the case of bean research in Michigan

This article illustrates a methodology for assessing economic returns to a publicly funded breeding program in the presence of private sector investments, and spill‐ins from other contemporary public institutions and past research efforts. The approach consists of determining yield gains from bean improvement research; applying these yield gain estimates to measure benefits attributable to different institutional players and time periods; and then assessing the benefit‐cost ratios of investments in a bean improvement program since 1980 by Michigan State University (MSU). The results indicate that investments in MSU's bean breeding program have yielded benefits to costs ratio in the range of 0.7 to 2.2, depending on the attribution rule used to estimate the benefits. The estimated benefit/cost ratios reported in this study are lower‐bound estimates, as they do not account for potential benefits from area planted to MSU varieties outside of Michigan (spillover effects), which was 1.5 times greater than the area planted to MSU‐bred varieties within Michigan in the period 1998–2002. The implications of the increasingly privatized bean seed markets for the role of public sector research in bean improvement research are discussed.     

四川省休闲农业成本效益分析——以苍溪县陵江镇为例

休闲农业作为旅游业的一种新型经济增长方式正发展较为迅速。文章利用成本效益分析方法,以四川省苍溪县陵江镇为研究对象,对休闲农业的成本和效益进行估算和界定。结果表明:陵江镇休闲农业总效益(WE)与总成本(WC)的比值(ECR)为1.431,说明总体收入是大于成本投入的,陵江镇休闲农业总体大展取得一定成效。在上述研究成果的基础上,提出资源成本与经济成本投入并重、实现文化效益和生态效益最大化是四川省发展休闲农业的主要节本举措。     

TOWARDS AN ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING POTENTIAL BENEFITS FROM RESEARCH INTO WEED CONTROL

A dynamic economic model for estimating benefits from research into alternative tactics for weed control is developed, by treating weeds as renewable negative resources. Research benefits are evaluated as the change in steady-state profit resulting from research-induced changes in various parameters of the system. The model is illustrated by application to research aimed at the control of wild oats in wheat in Australia, whereby it was found that the magnitude of benefits depended not only on the level of research-induced change but also on demographic behaviour of the weed. Research leading to reductions in seedling survival, potential fecundity or recruitment gave higher benefits than the manipulation of weed competitiveness or seed mortality. Reduced seedling survival gave the highest benefits in most cases, but achieving such improvement by improving herbicide efficacy may have a high marginal cost given that the tactic is already well-researched. Thus it is concluded that research into reducing potential fecundity could be more worthwhile, since it also gave high benefits but is relatively unexplored.     

蓝色碳汇：海洋低碳经济新思路

“森林碳汇”的减碳功能已广被人知,但是海洋的碳汇功能却鲜为人知。本文就海洋碳汇即蓝色碳汇,从其概念到发展的意义,从发展路径到产业链发展,作了比较具体而详细的介绍,并指出：蓝色碳汇是成本较低、技术可行、又可带来多种效益的减碳手段,不仅可以改善高碳环境,而且有益于发展我国的蓝色经济,可带来“双赢”效果。本文建议把发展蓝色碳汇,作为我国发展海洋低碳经济的新思路和新方向,给予大力支持。     

COMMERCIAL FORESTS IN SCOTLAND: AN ECONOMIC APPRAISAL OF REPLANTING

The economic returns from replanting commercial forests are estimated using an investment model which links physical resource information with economic data, including appropriate monetised values for the major non-market benefits such as recreation and carbon storage. The area and location of sites in Scotland which are uneconomic, i.e. forests, which if replanted with commercial crops, would fail to achieve the current government target rate of return of 6%, are identified. Depending on the values and assumptions used, between 12% (105,000 ha) and 48% (532,500 ha) of existing forests were found to be uneconomic. Because data on the water resource costs of commercial forests are not available and the higher biodiversity value of natural regeneration could not be included in the opportunity cost of land, these percentages are likely to be lower-bound estimates. On the grounds of economic efficiency, abandonment to natural regeneration is the most appropriate land use for these sites, but this might be considered undesirable because of land management considerations. Modified grant payments for natural regeneration under the Woodland Grant Scheme to ensure delivery of enhanced non-market benefits through judicious management and silviculture are suggested. Cautious implementation of this new policy is, however, recommended while further research on the physical suitability of sites for natural regeneration is carried out. More work is also needed to value the non-use benefits of different forest types.     

Farmers' perceptions of benefits and factors affecting the adoption of improved dual-purpose cowpea in the dry savannas of Nigeria

This study links participatory research methods, geographic information systems (GIS) techniques, village and household‐level surveys, and a tobit analysis to examine the adoption and impact issues related to a new technology, improved varieties of dual‐purpose cowpea (IDPC), developed by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and recently released in Nigeria. The article analyzes factors affecting the adoption and impact of the technology across different socioeconomic domains as defined by degree of market access and population density. The results show multiple benefits from this flexible leguminous crop, many of which relate to the fodder and soil fertility‐enhancing aspects of IDPC rather than higher grain yields per se. The intensity of adoption was affected by different village‐ and household‐level factors in each socioeconomic domain, allowing more sharply defined recommendation domain‐targeting strategies. The multiple research approaches taken also provided useful lessons at different system levels regarding the benefits of, and perceived problems with, this technology for researchers, development practitioners, and policy makers. The collaborative research approaches taken in this study are helping to close the “feedback loop” from farmers back to researchers and others attempting to disseminate the technology, and by doing so, should contribute to faster and more widespread uptake of this technology.     

FOOD,TECHNOLOGY AND EMPLOYMENT: THE FARM-LEVEL POST-HARVEST SYSTEM IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The prevention of food loss in the farm-level post-harvest system has become an objective of food policy in many developing countries. This objective is founded on the allegations that food losses are high, that technology is available to prevent or reduce these losses and that, as a consequence, hungry people will be less hungry. This paper first reviews the development of this policy objective. It then goes on to argue that this formulation of post-harvest policy is inaccurate and frequently misleading. Evidence on the levels of food loss under traditional practices, and on the costs and benefits of technical change, show that at farm level cost reduction is the chief influence on technological choice; from a social perspective, employment and hence income distribution considerations are often the decisive factor in evaluating new techniques.     

我国表土剥离技术启蒙与发展研究综述

[目的]综述表土剥离技术在我国的启蒙及发展历程,明晰表土剥离技术内涵的发展与演变,探讨表土剥离技术未来可能的研究方向,以期丰富表土剥离技术视野,促进表土剥离技术应用的发展与完善。[方法]文章采用了文献法、归纳法及比较法。从表土剥离技术、利用方向及时空配置3个方向,表土剥离内涵、技术体系、成本收益、土地整治、土壤改良、区域调配6个方面进行表土剥离相关问题的综述与探讨。[结果](1)表土剥离的内涵在发生着深刻转变;(2)表土剥离应用的技术规范不断完善;(3)针对表土剥离成本收益的探讨较片面;(4)在土壤改良中缺乏耕层厚度与作物产量的定量分析;(5)表土剥离区域调配理论还需完善。[结论]以后可能的研究重点:(1)省级区域间宏观上的剥离表土调配利用研究;(2)表土剥离适宜运输距离研究;(3)耕层增厚与耕地产能关系研究;(4)土壤改良项目成果后评价研究;(5)表土剥离项目成本收益及生态社会价值研究。     

Economic Returns to Feed Barley Yield-increasing and Disease Resistance Research at the Alberta Field Crop Development Centre

The Alberta Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) at Lacombe has carried out an extensive research and development program on feed barley since 1973. Prior to 2002, FCDC released 11 hulled and six hull-less barley varieties that have been adopted by farmers. The primary objective of this study is to estimate an economic rate of return to the FCDC barley research and development program from 1973 to 2001. A secondary objective is to include benefits arising from research that improved feed barley disease resistance in new cultivars in addition to benefits from purely higher-yielding cultivar research. The analysis uses an ex post economic surplus methodology. Benefits are identified and empirically investigated for three separate FCDC feed barley research thrusts:
• benefits arising from FCDC research that developed new, higher-yielding feed barley cultivars that give a yield advantage
• benefits arising from FCDC research that improved feed barley disease resistance in new cultivars that result in yield loss avoidance from disease
• benefits arising from FCDC research that developed new feed barley cultivars that yield higher silage production.
Of the total benefits from research on feed grain varieties, 52% can be attributed to yield advantage research and 48% to yield loss avoidance research. The overall internal rate of return with base elasticity parameters is estimated at 27%, ranging between 23% and 31%, depending on the assumptions made about the yield advantage and base variety. The IRR was sensitive to changes in supply elasticities and ranges from 20% (∈= 1.5) to 54% (∈= 0.1).     

Rotational grazing adoption in cattle production under a cost‐share agreement: does uncertainty have a role in conservation technology adoption?

Rotational grazing has been promoted as a best management practice with environmental benefits and associated higher revenue. Its adoption rate has been relatively low. This study investigates the role of uncertainty in the adoption of rotational grazing with a cost‐share by cattle producers. Mail survey results indicate that 63–71 per cent of cattle producers are uncertain about adoption with a government cost‐share. The study suggests that the possibility of uncertainty should be considered in cases where willingness‐to‐pay is elicited in the context of adoption of technology.     

Ex-ante agricultural research evaluation with site specific technology generation: the case of sorghum in Kenya

Agricultural commodity research has very site-specific productivity impacts. Crucial determinants of the magnitude and distribution of research benefits include agroecological conditions for technology generation and adoption, as well as commodity market-structure. This paper presents a process for ex-ante research evaluation which accounts for these factors with a dynamic, spatial multi-market model. Simulation results based on sorghum research in Kenya demonstrate that potential research benefits can vary dramatically research program research target zones. In Kenya, however, population-induced demand growth not technological development will have the greatest influence on future sorghum markets.     

Evaluating the benefits from transport infrastructure in agriculture: a hedonic analysis of farmland prices

Access to transport infrastructure generates a range of benefits to the agriculture sector; many of which are difficult to measure directly. In this study, we use hedonic regression analysis of farm‐level data to examine the contribution of transport infrastructure to the value of farmland traded between 2009 and 2011 through its impact on farm productivity. We show that a one per cent reduction in the cost of transportation between farms and ports leads to a 0.33 per cent increase in land prices, and there is no significant difference between rail and road transportation at the aggregate level. Moreover, the benefits generated by particular types of infrastructure services vary between industries and with farm size, suggesting there are multiple channels through which public infrastructure influences agricultural production. Our findings help to inform future investment decisions in Australia and in other countries by providing new evidence regarding the benefits of existing transport infrastructure.     

Optimisation and the selection of conservation contracts*

This paper explores alternative techniques for the selection of conservation contracts under competitive tendering programs. Under these programs, purchasing decisions are often based on the benefits score and cost for proposed projects. The optimisation problem is to maximise the aggregate benefits without exceeding the budget. Because the budget rarely permits all projects to be funded, there is a binary choice problem, known in the operations research published work as a knapsack problem. The decision‐maker must choose which projects are funded and which are not. Under some circumstances, the knapsack problem can be unsolvable because computational complexity increases exponentially with the number of projects. This paper explores the use of several decision rules for solving the optimisation problem including the use of advanced meta‐heuristics. It is shown that commonly applied techniques for project selection may not be providing the optimal solution. Improved algorithms can increase the environmental programs benefits and staying within budget. The comparison of algorithms is based on real data from the Western Australian Conservation Auction.     

Welfare Impacts of Cross-Country Spillovers in Agricultural Research

The welfare implications of intellectual property protection (IPP) for private sector agricultural research are analyzed, focusing on the realistic cases where countries provide different IPP levels, technology spills over across countries, and the public sector is involved in research. A model is developed to determine who benefits from, and who should pay for, the associated research. The article contains some interesting results on the implications of a harmonization of IPP policies through multilateral agreements or via technology that allows research firms to prevent the copying of plants and animals that express traits that have emerged from their research.     

Economic evaluation of a weed-activated sprayer for herbicide application to patchy weed populations

Spatial distribution of weeds in a crop is patchy. Traditional boom sprayers waste herbicide by applying it to areas where weed density is already low. A new technology, Weed Activated Spray Process (WASP), uses sensors to detect the presence of weeds and control spray nozzles accordingly. The economic benefits of this technology to extensive crop farmers in Western Australia are investigated using a model based on the economics of information. Existing technology is likely to reduce profits because the weed density at which it switches off spraying is too high. Even if sensitivity to low densities could be improved, likely benefits of pre-crop usage would still be very low or negative.     

An Economic Evaluation of Public Wheat Research and Extension Expenditures in Canada*

The widespread commitment of public funds to agricultural research is being questioned by administrators in governments and by the Canadian public. Questions relating to the level of public expenditure on agricultural research, the efficiency with which the resources are being allocated, and the manner in which the benefits are distributed among members of society art being asked. This study addresses these and related questions as they pertain to publicly funded wheat research activities conducted over the period 1946 to 1979- Two research scenarios were examined - one dealing with the development of new varieties of wheat and the other dealing with all research applicable to the production of wheat. The results revealed that society has indeed benefitted substantially from public investment in wheat research. The level of social benefits averaged $49 and $143 million (measured in 1971 dollars) annually for the wheat breeding and all-wheat research scenarios, respectively. The average annual internal rates of return earned from these public investments ranged between 30 and 39 percent. Furthermore, some evidence was presented that suggests society may, in fact, be underin-vesting in agricultural research in the aggregate. Finally, analyses of the distribution of the benefits showed that both producers and consumers are major beneficiaries.     

种粮大户粮食生产效益的非价格影响因子分析——对江西省种粮大户的调查

通过对2005年江西省种粮大户种粮效益非价格因素的实证分析,发现种粮大户种粮效益与粮食经营规模、机收面积和家庭人数呈正相关关系。而与种粮农户的文化水平、性别、年龄等因素相关性不强。这一结果说明当前农村农业劳动力成本在不断上升,农业投入中劳动力的替代效应逐渐下降;同时,这也是当前政府在粮食主产区的政策支持与引导的结果,说明当前粮食主产区的农业政策是有效的。即推动粮食主产区农村土地流转制度的完善和适度规模经营,对粮食主产区的良种补贴和购买大型农机具的补贴,有利于种粮大户种粮食生产效益的提高。同时,提高农业科技成果物化水平,有利于农业科技成果在不同文化水平的粮农中推广应用。