Crop diversification in Thailand: Status,determinants, and effects on income and use of inputs

Following the national policy, the Department of Agriculture of Thailand has implemented a crop diversification program in several provinces of the country. This study, which was conducted in Nakhon Pathom Province, analyzed the extent of crop diversification and its determinants using primary information collected from 245 farm households using a structured questionnaire, and from selected farmer leaders and agricultural development officials. The study also assessed the effects of crop diversification on income and the inputs used. The findings of the study revealed that nearly three fourths of the land is still being used for rice mono-cropping, indicating little success in the promotion of the crop diversification program. Paddy fields, including farms for cultivating rice under mono-cropping and diversified system, still account for 90% of the total farmland in the country. The limited impact of the program on the farming sector is attributed primarily to the variation in land and labor resources available at the farmers’ disposal as well as soil suitability. The farmers’ attendance in training and interaction with farmer groups are the other influential factors. Although cropping diversification has provided attractive financial return particularly to the small farmers, it has also accelerated the use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. Broad policy instruments are therefore suggested for the effective implementation of future crop diversification programs in Thailand and perhaps elsewhere in Southeast Asia.     

映射气候的大学校园规划

映射气候的规划研究旨在通过设计手段创造绿色低耗的校园环境,突出规划结合地域气候和自然地理,达到生态节能目的。应用建筑物理和生态学理论,采取图解分析和比较的方法,探究适宜地域气候的生态校园规划与设计的原理和方法,提出了校园规划布局结合地方气候与地理、空间规划组织自然通风与防风、节地省耗规划、建筑节能设计与校园空间的气候应变等规划与设计策略,为生态校园规划与实践奠定理论基础。     

Scope economies and technical efficiency of cocoa agroforesty systems in Ghana

A number of studies have addressed issues relating to the physiological, environmental and economic values of trees in cocoa farming systems. However, to date, little has been done to quantitatively examine the effect of crop diversity on cocoa farming efficiency. This study therefore sets out to first investigate whether and to what extent crop diversity (defined as the mixing of cocoa with other crop species on farmers' plots) affects productivity on cocoa farms. Secondly, it sought to establish whether there are economies of scope (i.e., cost complementarities) from the sharing of farm inputs by crops on the same plots. Our results indicate that diversified (i.e., multi-crop) cocoa farms are more efficient than single (i.e., mono) crop farms. Furthermore, our estimate for the economies of scope parameter indicates possibilities for cost complementarities between production of cocoa and other crops on the same plot. We advocate further investigation on the issue of scope economies to determine which crop combinations offer better cost complementarities and also meet biodiversity conservation objectives.     

India's post‐green‐revolution agricultural performance: what is driving growth?

Following a period of poor performance in the 1990s, India's agricultural growth rate has reaccelerated in the 2000s. Some believe the reacceleration has been a product of intensified investment, which in turn has spurred yield growth. Others suggest it is because India's newly wealthy citizens have demanded greater product diversification. To examine these hypotheses, we use growth accounting techniques in conjunction with more complete agricultural production data than in past studies to construct state, regional, and national output, input, and total factor productivity quantity indexes, which can be decomposed into their underlying sources. Sectoral performance evaluation suggests that, since 1980, output growth has diffused away from the northern “grain belt” and toward high‐value agriculture in traditionally less‐productive regions. Productivity growth, rather than resource use, has accounted for these geographical and intensity shifts. The growth burst has not, as the literature has primarily argued, been uniquely explainable by yield growth or product diversification but by a variety of factors, including area expansion. For example, the contributions of irrigation technologies permitting double‐cropping have until now been largely ignored.     

制糖企业与糖料农户之间交易关系研究

本文从交易方式的角度，通过对糖料加工企业和原料采购市场结构的分析，探讨制糖企业与农户上下游部门间的协调机制对整个产业链竞争能力的影响。研究发现，糖料划区收购使得糖厂具有地域垄断特征，农户在交易中处于不利的地位。目前采用的订单糖料生产形式，在一定程度上较好地协调了两者的关系。但由于订单合约的不完全性，双方市场风险依然很高，都具有机会主义倾向，专用性资产投资不足。在交易成本很高的情况下，制糖企业不会实行一体化形式提高企业竞争力。     

医疗支出、粮食生产与农户收入

基于全国性大规模的微观调查数据,文章采用随机前沿生产函数模型检验了家庭医疗支出对中国农户玉米和稻谷产量的影响以及对农户家庭种植业收入的影响。研究发现,家庭的医疗支出不仅显著地降低了农户的粮食生产效率,减少了玉米和稻谷的产量,而且显著降低了农户家庭的种植业收入水平。农户家庭劳动力的平均教育程度正向影响玉米和稻谷的产量;但是,教育程度对农户种植业收入水平的影响不明显。此外,降雨量促进了农户玉米和稻谷的产量,充沛的降雨量显著地提高了农户的种植业收入水平。因此,应该采取有力措施减轻农民患病的经济负担、加大对教育的投资力度、加强农田水利基础设施建设,以提高中国农户的粮食生产效率并增加农村居民的收入。