Psychological Constructs Underlying Farmers’ Decisions to Diversify or Specialise their Businesses – An Application of Theory of Planned Behaviour

We use the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explain how underlying psychological constructs influence farmers’ decisions to extend their farm businesses to income‐generating ventures outside conventional agricultural production. The analysis contrasts the influence of psychological constructs on this decision with those on decisions to specialise in a single farm enterprise or to have multiple farm enterprises. This is one of the first studies to introduce psychological constructs into the study of farm diversification. It is based on a sample of 929 Swedish farms participating in the official Swedish Farm Economic Survey. These data are supplemented with a detailed postal questionnaire to the participating farmers, generating a response rate of 73% and an effective sample size of 679 farmers and their businesses. Data are analysed with factor and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results show that psychological constructs in TPB (attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) influence farmers’ decisions regarding the strategy they adopt. Attitude and subjective norm are found to be especially influential in these decisions. Given the prominent role agriculture still has in rural development policy, where the development of new ventures in farm businesses is perceived as the engine for rural economic growth and employment, these findings have clear policy implications.     

耕地保护的新举措--"基准农田"

耕地保护是由于大量农地的非农占用、土地生态环境恶化对人类生存基础和区域社会经济持续发展形成重大威胁时,为协调人口-资源-环境-发展之间关系而采取的一种社会行为,关系我国经济和社会可持续发展的全局性战略问题,但现有耕地保护措施在执行过程中存在许多问题。从维护粮食安全的基本目标出发,提出了“基准农田”这一概念,并对其内涵、计算方法、作用及操作过程中应注意的问题进行了相关探讨,从而达到保护耕地的目的。     

黑龙江省东部垦区耕地利用效益时空分异特征

耕地利用效益是衡量耕地生产能力和农业可持续发展的重要指标,它具有一定地域的时空分布特征。以黑龙江省东部垦区的宝泉岭、红兴隆、建三江、牡丹江4个农场群为研究区,选取18个具有代表性的指标,构建研究区的耕地利用效益评价指标体系,利用改进的功效系数法和协调度模型,定量计算研究区1999—2008年10年耕地利用经济效益、社会效益、生态效益及其三者的协调度和耕地利用综合效益值,同时运用ArcGIS手段,对1999—2008年研究区耕地利用综合效益特征进行空间分析。结果表明:1999—2008年,研究区耕地利用效益呈现出不稳定的波动状态,且耕地利用综合效益始终受经济效益、社会效益及生态效益三者之间协调度的影响。研究区的耕地利用效益呈现出东北部和中部高、西北部和南部低的明显区域差异性特征。     

Heterogeneity of Long‐run Technical Efficiency of German Dairy Farms: A Bayesian Approach*

In parametric efficiency studies, two alternative approaches exist to provide an estimate of the long‐run efficiency of firms: the dynamic stochastic frontier model and the generalised true random‐effects model. We extend the former in order to allow for heterogeneity in the long‐run technical efficiency of firms. This model is based on potential differences in firm‐specific characteristics and in firms’ inefficiency persistence. The model is applied to an unbalanced micro‐panel of German dairy farms over the period 1999 to 2009. Estimation of long‐run technical efficiency and inefficiency persistence is based on an output distance function representation of the production technology and estimated in a Bayesian framework. The results suggest that heterogeneity in long‐run technical efficiency of farms is mostly attributed to discrepancies in farm‐specific factors rather than differences in farms’ inefficiency persistence. Farm size is positively related to long‐run technical efficiency while subsidies exert a negative effect on the long‐run technical efficiency of farms. Inefficiency persistence is found to be very high, but heterogeneity in this persistence is low.     

A Parametric Approach to Estimating Eco‐Efficiency

The concept of eco‐efficiency is becoming increasingly popular as a tool to capture economic and environmental aspects of agricultural production. The literature to date has exclusively used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to measure producers’ eco‐efficiency. We show that it can also be estimated using a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach. Our approach not only allows controlling for random noise in the data but also permits an analysis of the potential substitutability between environmental pressures. We provide an empirical application of our model to data on a sample of Spanish dairy farms.     

Does Zero Tillage Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholder Cropping Farmers?

The biophysical benefits of zero tillage (ZT) are well documented in the literature. However, the literature on its economic benefits, especially in the context of small and medium‐scale farmers in the temperate developing world is scanty. Using a study of 621 wheat farmers in Syria, we provide empirical evidence on the impacts of adoption of ZT on farm income and wheat consumption. We use propensity score matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression (ESR) approaches to account for potential selection biases. After controlling for confounding factors, we find that adoption of the ZT technology leads to a US$ 189/ha (33%) increase in net crop income and a 26 kg (34%) gain in per capita wheat consumption per year (adult equivalent) – an indication of meaningful changes in the livelihoods of the farm households. Besides the biophysical and environmental benefits documented elsewhere, our results suggest that adoption of ZT can also be justified on economic and food security grounds. Therefore, ZT can have sizeable impacts in transforming the agricultural sector in the temperate developing world provided that the technology is well promoted and adopted.     

“十二五”期间河南粮食发展的水土资源保障研究

阐述了河南省水资源的变动趋势及水土资源利用存在的问题,提出在"十二五"期间加快水利设施建设,强化耕地资源保护和合理利用,提高耕地质量,探索耕地保护和流转机制,确保耕地资源的高效利用等水土资源保障措施。     

山东省耕地动态变化趋势及驱动力分析

阐述了山东省耕地数量的变化历程,对耕地空间变化趋势进行分析,用主成分分析了耕地变化的驱动力,采用灰色系统方法预测了山东省耕地变化趋势,说明耕地面积变化是自然、社会、经济因素综合作用的结果。提出山东省要确保533.3万hm2基本农田的"底线"。     

山西省粮食安全的耕地保护研究

提出了山西省粮食安全及耕地保护研究的基本框架,对山西省耕地资源、粮食需求量和耕地区域生产潜力做了研究,对粮食安全和耕地阀值进行了计算,对粮食和耕地变化提出高、中、低3个方案进行预测后认为：全省2010年耕地应保持在410万hm^2,2020年耕地应保持在420万hm^2。     

中国耕地资源流失的深层原因及对策

我国是一个人多地少,且农业人口占70％的国家,保护和利用好在相当长的时期内都难以替代的耕地资源意义十分重大。该文分析了我国耕地资源流失的基本状况,分别从农地产权制度、征地制度、管理体制、农村土地市场等方面揭示了耕地大量流失的深层原因,提出了相应的对策措施与政策建议。