The performance of Botswana's traditional arable agriculture: growth rates and the impact of the accelerated rainfed arable programme (ARAP)

This study assesses the performance of Botswana's traditional arable agriculture for the 1968-90 period. Growth rate and arable sub-sector production models are specified and estimated to determine how the sub-sector performed over time, and to capture the impact of the Accelerated Rainfed Arable Programme (ARAP). Growth rate model results indicate that cultivated area increased by about 2.2% per year during the 1968-90 period. However, crop output remained unchanged and yields declined by about 6.1% per year during the review period. Sub-sectoral model results reveal that cultivated area, output and yields rose by about 27%, 120% and 74% (respectively) due to the implementation of ARAP. Therefore, ARAP was effective in improving rural household food security and welfare. However, it is further argued that the program was unsustainable since it involved phenomenal government outlays and has led to an unprecedented input substitution from animal traction to tractor traction, which seems to be unjustified given the current economic fundamentals of the country's traditional arable farming. Moreover, the results reveal loss of productivity in the sub-sector over time. Therefore, the challenge facing policy makers is to devise new ways of reversing the current trend.     

面对WTO吉林省应如何调整农业政策

农业政策历来是指导农业生产经营的强有力的武器,面对WTO,我国的农业政策必须进行调整。而作为农业大省的吉林省,更应为了适应WTO的规则,适时调整农业政策。找出与国际接轨的农村经济发展规律,促进农村经济的发展。     

The financial crisis and its impacts on global agriculture

The financial crisis arose in the industrial countries, but has affected developing countries through higher interest rates, sharp changes in commodity prices, and reductions in investment, trade, migration, and remittances. For most low‐income countries, shocks that affect food prices or wage rates for unskilled workers seem likely to have the biggest impact on poverty, with the declines in key food prices associated with the crisis helping to reduce poverty. Policies to address the crisis must include measures to deal with: financial sector problems; the resulting reductions in aggregate demand; and the particular vulnerabilities of poor people.     

Productivity and international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States

This study looks at international competitiveness of agriculture in the European Union and the United States. The most intuitive concept is that of price competitiveness. We calculate relative prices for 11 member states of the European Union and the United States for the period 1973–2002. We assume that markets are perfectly competitive and in long‐run equilibrium, so that the observed price always equals average total cost, as measured by the cost dual to the production function. This assumption is used in our calculation of relative competitiveness and productivity gaps between the European Union and the United States and in our decomposition of relative price movements between changes in relative input prices and changes in relative productivity levels.     

"三农"问题与乡镇企业发展

从乡镇企业发展的角度,给出解决“三农”问题的一种可行性思路。乡镇企业是农村工业化和农业化的主要载体。只要加快调整乡镇企业的产业结构,大力发展乡镇企业集群,实现传统产业改造和高新技术产业发展的有机结合,乡镇企业就能在农民增收,农村经济发展方面担当重任。     

涉农企业技术创新存在问题及对策——基于杨凌示范区37家涉农企业的调查与思考

技术创新是涉农企业发展永恒的动力,为此,我们在对杨凌示范区37家涉农企业的技术创新状况进行问卷调查的基础上,分析了涉农企业技术创新的现状与存在的问题,例如涉农企业技术创新主体不明确、技术创新投入不足、企业缺乏顶级型创新人才和激励机制不完善等问题,并针对问题提出了涉农企业技术创新的对策,比如建立现代企业制度,改善融资环境,开展人才工程、走产学研的创新型道路和完善激励机制,以期能为陕西省区域经济的发展提供理论支持和决策依据。     

FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO COOPERATE IN ECOSYSTEM SERVICE PROVISION: DOES TRUST MATTER?

Ecosystem service provision in agriculture may require cooperation between farmers. Trust fosters cooperation in many economic and social interactions and is important to the success of traditional agricultural cooperatives. Little is known about how trust affects farmers’ willingness to cooperate to provide an ecosystem service, what types of trust are most important, and under what conditions trust may matter. In this study, we present results of a survey of Missouri crop farmers exploring the role trust plays in farmers’ stated willingness to cooperate to control pests. We find that most farmers say they are willing to cooperate, and most farmers are willing to trust others. However, we find little evidence that trust positively influences farmers’ willingness to cooperate to control pests. Instead, we find that trust may only matter under certain conditions, such as when participants’ farms are dissimilar, and that other determinants, such as the perceived benefit of cooperation and environmental concern, are more important than trust to farmers who are contemplating cooperation to control pests.     

Exact decomposition of the Fisher ideal total factor productivity index

Decompositions of total factor productivity (TFP) shed light on the driving factors behind productivity change. We develop the first exact decomposition of the Fisher ideal TFP index which contains no debatable mixed-period components or residuals. We systematically isolate five effects of (1) technical change, (2) technical efficiency, (3) scale efficiency, (4) allocative efficiency, and (5) price effect. The three efficiency components (2–4) represent the efficiency of achieving a given target point. Components (1) and (5) capture the changes of the target point. While the technical change component is well-established, changes in the relative input–output prices can have real effects on the scale and scope of the target. Such changes are captured by the new price effect component (5). The new decomposition is compared with existing decompositions both in theory and by means of an empirical application to a panel data of 459 Finnish farms in years 1992–2000.

低碳农业：金融支农的新视角

温室气体的增加、极端气候和自然灾害的频繁出现对农业发展的不利影响越来越凸显出来,农业作为温室气体的第二大重要排放源,必须实现从高碳向低碳的转变。当前在农村金融的发展中对低碳农业的认识还刚刚起步,应从政策导向、转变观念、金融产品创新等方面着手,把低碳农业作为金融支农的新视角。