bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Risk preference and optimal crop combinations in upland Java, Indonesia: an application of stochastic programming
Authors: Nanseki Teruaki , Morooka Yoshinori 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTA stochastic programming model was used to evaluate the economic performance of a soybean‐based farming system in upland Java. The model incorporates farmers' risk preferences, revenue fluctuations and resources restrictions. The results show that (1) changes in risk preference do affect the optimal crop combination, and (2) the typical cropping pattern is rational under the present level of the farmers' risk preference estimated in the study site.
Economic issues in tariffication: an overview
Authors: Moschini Giancarlo 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe agricultural trade liberalization proposal known as ‘ tariffication’ aims at converting all existing non‐tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade into bound tariffs, and to reduce these tariffs over time. This is in tune with the original philosophy of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and it calls for a dramatic overhaul of existing agricultural policies in many developed countries. The main economic issues that arise with tariffication stem from the non‐equivalence of tariffs and NTBs in a number of scenarios. This paper analyzes non‐equivalence arising from the existence of: imperfect competition in importing countries; price instability in importing and exporting countries; and, inefficient allocation of quantitative restrictions. It is shown that in all these cases the definition of an appropriate 'equivalent tariff to be used in tariffication is not straightforward, and that in general this equivalent tariff cannot be computed on the basis of only observed price differences between countries. Tariff‐rate quotas, which are meant to be the main tool of implementation of tariffication according to the existing proposal, are analyzed in some detail. Concerning the relationship between tariffication and the other elements of the trade liberalization package, it is shown that tariffication would limit the scope of export subsidy policies. It is also shown that the existence of production and export subsidies makes observed price gaps between countries of questionable value in setting equivalent tariff levels. Finally, it is argued that the main focus of tariffication should be the conversion of NTBs to acceptable long‐run (bound) tariffs rates, and considerable flexibility in this conversion process could be exercised in the transition period.
Agricultural settlement with joint production services
Authors: Feinerman Eli , Kislev Yoav 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTA theory of settlement planning focussing on village‐level production services is presented, and settlement plans are compared. The analysis draws on the modern theory of local public goods. Conditions for optimal level of services and optimum settlement size are derived, together with rules of finance of collective operations. The value of the right to settle is calculated for the cases considered.
Capital accumulation and the growth of aggregate agricultural production
Authors: Haley Stephen L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis report empirically examines the role which capital accumulation plays in the growth of agricultural production potential. The report assumes that the degree to which available technology can be implemented in a nation's agricultural sector depends on accumulated investments that have been made in the sector. Results from estimating aggregate agricultural production functions show the primary importance of rural labor in accounting for agricultural gdp and crop production. Capital accumulation is the dominant explainer of livestock production. Estimation results support the conjecture that capital tends to save scarce land resources (substitute relationship) and use rural labor (complementarity relationship). Output supply elasticities derived from the estimated equations tend to be large. The large elasticities imply that price distortions have had large impacts on resource use and production.
Urbanization and food imports in sub‐Saharan Africa
Authors: Tabi James , Howard Wayne H. , Phillips Truman 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe Granger statistical test of causality was used to examine the relationship between total food imports and urbanization and between food aid and urbanization. Urbanization appears to have caused total food imports to increase in 13 of the 24 countries. Food imports appear to be a cause of urbanization in three countries. Food aid, however, apparently was a cause of urbanization in 16 of the 24 countries used in the analysis.
Institutional effects on changes in Chinese foodgrain production and its variability
Authors: Wan Guang H. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBy applying variance decomposition technique to the regional data from China, this paper discusses possible impact on Chinese foodgrain production and its variations created by institutional changes, including imposition of procurement quota and the introduction of the agricultural production responsibility system (APRS). Despite the imperfection of the analytical tool used, the results are quite useful and imformative.
Canadian dairy policy and the returns to federal dairy cattle research
Authors: Fox Glenn , Roberts Bruce , Brinkman George L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe economic surplus approach is used to estimate the returns to federal investments in dairy cattle research in Canada. A national supply function is estimated using time series data. Lagged research expenditures are included as explanatory variables in the model, facilitating the calculation of ***marginal as well as average benefits from research. Simulation analysis is used to study the effects of product market distortions associated with Canadian dairy policy as well as of the marginal excess burden on the rates of return to research and on the distribution of research benefits. Returns were found to be high at the margin. Distortions in the product market had a small effect on the overall returns to dairy cattle research but had a large impact on the distribution of research benefits. Rate of return estimates were found to be indicative of underinvestment even when the marginal excess burden was taken into account.
Impacts of capital and land constraints on the economics of new livestock technology in western Kenya
Authors: Nyaribo Fanny B. , Young Douglas L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe introduction of new forages and milk marketing improvements was projected to permit even the smallest modeled farms in a western Kenya region to adopt dual‐purpose goats and thereby improve family income and nutrition. Expanded credit permitted modeled medium and large farms, especially, to vigorously exploit these innovations; credit also expanded income more than did goat management improvements. Because credit, extension assistance, marketing improvements, and new forages will leave projected incomes of small farmers below those of medium and large farmers in the study region, development of off‐farm jobs may still be necessary to supplement the incomes of this fast growing group. The marginal value of capital for medium and large farmers with new livestock technology was high. This suggests that government‐subsidized credit might be unnecessary. With proper infrastructural and legal support, private capital markets might develop as new livestock technology and marketing improvements expand the demand for borrowing.
Effects of subsidized wheat consumption by state in India
Authors: Chellaraj G. , Brorsen B. Wade , Farris Paul L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper reports the results of a study of the effects of the Indian government's consumer subsidies on wheat demand. Results indicate consumption of subsidized wheat is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The public distribution of wheat in most states had little effect on demand in the commercial market, which suggests the government is effective in targeting subsidized wheat to poor consumers.
Estimation and use of risk aversion coefficient for traditional dryland agriculture in western Sudan
Authors: Elamin Eltighani M. , Rogers LeRoy F. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper explores the importance of including risk when modeling subsistence‐oriented agriculture in a developing nation. The specific objective is to measure the degree of risk aversion for typical farmers in the smallholder traditional agriculture of the Sudan. The procedure followed is to impute the farmer's risk aversion coefficient through a mathematical risk programming technique. Imputed farmers' risk aversion coefficients were used to validate the model specified and identify, for further analysis, a single risk optimal farm plan for each of the different farm situations studied.
Cardinal criteria for ranking uncertain prospects
Authors: Bigman David 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to develop criteria for comparing and ranking uncertain prospects when we have some information on the extent to which agents are risk‐averse. The basis for these comparisons is the value of the certainty equivalent outcome of the corresponding uncertain prospects. Clearly, the ranking established by the values of the certainty equivalent outcome is identical to the ranking established by the expected utility of the outcome. By comparing the former values, however, we can determine not only the ranking of the uncertain prospects under consideration but we can also determined by how much one prospect would be more valuable than the other in terms of money – for that particular agent.The paper develops expressions for approximating the values of the certainty equivalent outcomes on the basis of the central moments of their distribution and the value of the underlying coefficient of variation. These criteria are then applied for comparing alternative crop rotation and irrigation practices of wheat in Israel.
Labour on the family farm: a theory under uncertainty – an extension
Authors: Bar‐Shira Ziv , Finkelshtain Israel 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTIn a framework developed by P.J. Dawson, the effects of output price risk on the family labour supply and its demand for hired labour are investigated. In particular, the effects of changes in autonomous income, expected output price, family composition, and farm size‐are studied. Comparative statics is used to sign these effects, revealing the importance of the behavior of the measures of absolute, relative and partial risk aversion in determining them. It is shown that some of the effects may be determined only via empirical research.
Livestock pricing policy in sub‐Saharan Africa: objectives, instruments and impact in five countries
Authors: Williams Timothy O. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTLivestock pricing policies in many developing countries are often instituted without a good appreciation of the consequences of such policies for allocative efficiency, output and trade. This paper evaluates, in a comparative cross‐country context, the objectives and instruments of livestock pricing policy in five sub‐Saharan African countries: Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe during the period 1970‐86. It assesses the extent to which pricing policy objectives have been attained, and also estimates the effects of price interventions on output, consumption, trade and government revenues in order to draw out lessons for the future.The empirical results indicate that in comparison with real border prices, a certain degree of success was achieved in stabilising real domestic producer prices in the study countries. The results also show that since the early 1980s, there has been a gradual shift away from taxation of producers. However, consumers still appear to gain as much as producers in three of the study countries, with negative consequences for foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic inflation and exchange rates as key variables for livestock pricing policies and highlights the need to address the macroeconomic imbalances that cause exchange rate distortions and high domestic inflation at the same time that direct price distortions are being tackled.
Efficiency of U.S. conservation‐compliance program
Authors: Govindasamy Ramu , Huffman Wallace 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTUnder the conservation‐compliance program, most of the individual producers are forced to cut their soil erosion to 7 t per acre annually irrespective of the marginal cost of controlling soil erosion. In a system where coupons to a ton of soil loss were issued to producers and traded, the marginal cost of controlling soil loss within each soil type and across different soil types would be equalized. An instrumental variable procedure was used to determine the effect of soil erosion on net profits. The results for Iowa show that there is considerable difference in the marginal opportunity cost of controlling soil erosion between soil types. By assigning one ton of erosion to Iowa soil type Downs (5‐10% slope) instead of Clarion (2‐5% slope), there is a savings of $5.00 per acre for the society as a whole. The tradable coupon system is not only efficient, but will also bring in more land under soil conservation.
Chile's agricultural diversification
Authors: Arnade Carlos , Sparks Amy 
Published: January 2020

AbstractChile's fruit sector, both in production and exports, has grown significantly since 1974. At that time, Chile introduced structural reforms in its economy which assured that market principles would operate regarding land ownership. Also, the government began a ‘hands‐off’ policy which basically allowed free‐market principles to prevail. As a result of these conditions operating in the economy, Chile's agricultural sector diversified from producing largely annual crops and wool to also producing a significant amount of commercial fruit crops. A second round of diversification is currently underway within the fruit industry where pears and peaches are being produced and exported in addition to apples and table grapes.In this paper we derive decision criteria when aggregate performance is evaluated from the perspective of maximizing a risk‐averse utility function. Empirical evidence on Chilean fruit exports indicates that, on an aggregate level, Chilean fruit exporters are following the path of utility maximization and validates the sequence by which Chilean producers introduced nontraditional crops over time. While on an individual level there may be complex factors and constraints involved in the planting decisions, the results of this study seem to indicate that the sum of producer behavior satisfies the conditions required for maximizing a risk‐averse utility function.
An application of Target MOTAD Model to crop production in Zambia: Gwembe Valley as a case study
Authors: Maleka Phiri 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe Zambian Government encourages crop production in the Gwembe Valley without taking into consideration the risks involved. These risks mainly originate from the stochastic nature of rainfall. This paper, therefore, identifies optimal cropping patterns in the Gwembe Valley by using Target MOTAD Model. The results of the Target MOTAD Model indicate an optimal cropping pattern of growing sorghum, rice and soyabeans. This is different from the existing cropping pattern of sorghum, sunflower, cotton and maize. The overall policy implication of adopting the cropping pattern obtained from the model solution is that some resources allocated to the production of current crops have to be reallocated to the production of new crops. Moreover, since people in the Gwembe Valley are used to growing of cotton, sunflower and maize, the adoption of the suggested new crops will entail the education of the people (through extension services) in the crop husbandry of these crops.
Risk analysis of new maize technology in Zaire: a portfolio approach
Authors: Ames Glenn C.W. , Reid Donald W. , Hsiou Li‐Fang 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRisk associated with the adoption of new maize technology and the impact of mandatory cotton production on traditional farmers in the Kasai Oriental Region of Zaire are evaluated within a portfolio context using a quadratic programming model. Seasonal net returns for farm plans including four levels of maize technology in combination with staple food crops are evaluated, with and without mandatory cotton production. The results indicate that cropping systems that include new maize technology are risk‐efficient relative to local maize varieties while mandatory cotton production is not risk‐efficient at the prevalent price and yield levels in the farming system.
Peasant household modelling: Farming systems evolution and sustainability in northern Zambia
Authors: Holden Stein T. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractChitemene slash‐and‐burn cultivation continues to be a dominating cropping system in northern Zambia even after the introduction of modern technologies such as hybrid maize and fertilizer. The rationale of farming systems evolution in northern Zambia where labour markets have been absent or highly imperfect, has been analyzed by goal programming based on the theories of Chayanov (1966) and Nakajima (1986). Carrying capacity estimation is incorporated in the models and discussed in relation to the sustainability of land use systems in the area.The major changes in agricultural technologies in northern Zambia during this century has been the introduction of cassava, maize and fertilizer technologies. Cassava has had the most significant impact since the land could support much higher population densities and since the dependence on the chitemene system no longer was critical for the survival of peasants. By switching from finger‐millet to cassava as the main staple the peasants could reduce their total labour recquirement to meet their basic food needs by as much as 40%. The results also show that the maize‐fertilizer technology has been unable to replace the chitemene system because economic incentives to continue the system exist as long as there is suitable woodland available. Nevertheless, the introduction of the maize‐fertilizer technology may have resulted in reduced chitemene cultivation. The rapid expansion of maize production in northern Zambia from the late 70s to the late 80s depended critically on the government policy of equity pricing and input subsidisation. The models predicted that the removal of fertilizer subsidies would result in a dramatic reduction in maize production.
A generalized Armington trade model: Respecification
Authors: Yang Seung‐Ryong , Koo Won W. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractEven if the original version of the Armington model is simple and plausible in estimation, the single CES and homotheticity assumptions are too restrictive for practical application and give biased price elasticities. This paper develops a generalized Armington model, which relaxes the single CES and homotheticity restrictions, and includes the Armington model as a special case. The Armington and generalized Armington trade models are applied to the Japanese meat import demand to demonstrate their performance. The empirical results rejected the two assumptions imposed on the Armington model. The generalized Armington model provides an alternative to the restrictive but indispensable Armington model.
Modernization of a peasant crop in Colombia: evidence and implications
Authors: Janssen Willem , de Londoño Norha Ruiz 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe survival of the small‐farm sector in the process of agricultural modernization in Latin America has been a concern for many authors and institutions. It is generally believed that the small‐farm sector is bypassed in the process of agricultural development. The authors analyze modernization of bean/maize cropping systems in Southern Colombia. Prices, production practices and profitability are compared for 1975 and 1989. By means of a production function, the effects of allocative efficiency, technical efficiency and technical change on productivity and profitability are analyzed. The observed changes reflect very well the price trends over the period. Between 1975 and 1989, total factor productivity increased by 50%. Bean/maize producers almost doubled returns to land and labor. Increased technical efficiency had most effect on profitability, followed by technical change. Allocative efficiency had more impact on yields than on profitability because it was associated with high input costs. Considerable opportunities for further productivity increases were identified. Conclusions on the nature of the modernization process are drawn. Implications for agricultural policy, research and the role of the small farm in agricultural development are derived.
Impacts of the training and visit extension system on farmers' knowledge and adoption of technology: Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Hussain Syed Sajidin , Byerlee Derek , Heisey Paul W. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper provides quantitative evidence on the impact of the Training and Visit (T&V) extension system in the irrigated Punjab of Pakistan. Three models are analyzed using limited dependent variable regressions: the impact of T&V on the number of extension contacts with farmers; the effect of extension contact on farmers' knowledge of wheat technology; and the impact of T&V on the adoption of improved wheat technology. The first model analyzes the impact of T&V on the quantity of extension contact and the latter two models analyze the effect on the quantity and quality of extension contact. It is concluded that T&V has increased the quantity but not the quality of extension contact and this, in turn, has increased farmers' knowledge and adoption of technology. However, the overall impacts have been small relative to those observed in a similar area in India.
Gendered impacts of fertilizer subsidy removal programs in Malawi and Cameroon
Authors: Smale Melinda , Heisey Paul W. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractGladwin's** main contention is that women provide most of the agricultural labor in sub‐Saharan Africa and because much of this labor is oriented to food production for home consumption, the effects of structural adjustment programs on them and the children they work to feed are likely to be different than on men who produce crops for commercial and export production. Her specific hypothesis for Malawi is that the removal of the fertilizer subsidy affects women farmers more than men farmers because it reduces fertilizer use on local maize. As part of the structural adjustment program, a major purpose of removing the fertilizer subsidy is to reallocate resources from food production for domestic consumption to cash crop production for export. In Gladwin's analysis, men farmers produce hybrid maize and tobacco for export and women produce the subsistence food crop, local maize. Gladwin's main contention is probably correct. For the Malawi case, the presentation does not support the hypothesis because two of the major underlying assumptions are inappropriate and the evidence provided is inconclusive. This comment proceeds by discussing the two assumptions and corresponding evidence. The purpose of this comment is not to contradict the hypothesis, but to clarify the Malawi situation and to suggest that a different analytical approach is needed in that context.