bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incorporating risk in the economic analysis of agronomic trials: fertilizer use on barley in Syria
Authors: Mazid Ahmed , Bailey Elizabeth 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn the drier areas of Syria yields of barley, the principal crop, are low. Due to the variability in rainfall, fertilizer use is perceived as risky. Barley‐fertilizer trials have been conducted on farmer's fields over a period of four years to investigate whether the large yield response to fertilizer observed on research sites could be achieved under farmers' conditions. Data were pooled across years and sites and response functions estimated.Simple optimization analysis shows that economic optimum fertilizer rates vary considerably with rainfall and relative prices. Historical rainfall data are combined with the estimated response functions, and stochastic dominance analysis is used to compare the riskiness of fertilizer treatments in terms of net benefits and benefit‐cost ratios. Results show that, given the estimated expected rainfall in barley producing areas, fertilizer use, especially at low levels, may not be as risky as has been believed. Extensions of the methodology to include other environmental variables, or to target recommendations, are discussed.
Effects of adjustment of the green drachma to its current exchange rate
Authors: Baltas Nicholas C. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTBetween 1981 and 1988, the drachma has devalued by 62.5% against the ECU. Until mid‐1985 any devaluation of the drachma was followed by a corresponding devaluation of the ‘green drachma‘. After that period, the green rate either remained unchanged or changed by a substantially smaller percentage, resulting in farmers' income loss and consumers' gain.The aim of this paper is to investigate the welfare effects on production/producer, consumption/consumer and budgetary flows from and to FEOGA assuming that an adjustment of the green drachma to its current exchange rate was realized. For this purpose partial analysis methodology is employed.The main findings are that, following a simultaneous adjustment of both rates, the gains to producers and in exchange flows more than make up for the corresponding consumers' losses for all products except beef.
Application of stochastic dominance criteria to evaluate bean production strategies in Central Province, Zambia
Authors: Bezuneh Mesfin 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTBeans are the most important relish crop in the farming systems of Serenje District in Central Province, Zambia. Both leaves and dried beans are major food sources for home consumption, and dried beans have a commercial value in the system. Given this dual role, increasing bean yields would improve family nutrition as well as economic returns to capital and labor invested. However, low levels of production have been recorded over the years due to the use of local bean varieties, low fertility, and inadequate pest control. As a result, on‐farm research on beans was carried out for four years to identify bean varieties and management strategies that would result in higher yields and economic returns.In this paper, the results of the four years on‐farm research were analyzed using stochastic dominance efficiency criteria in order to determine the most risk‐efficient production management strategies. The result indicated that the Brazilian bean variety Carioca, when used in combination with fertilizer and insecticide, performed best for the traditional and small‐scale farmers in Serenje District who are usually highly averse to risk.
Effects of international shocks and domestic macroeconomic policies upon Brazilian agriculture
Authors: Barros Geraldo S.A. Camargo 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTAn identified vector‐autoregressive model is used to analyze the transmission of external commodity shocks to the Brazilian economy. The effects of the interaction between domestic macroeconomic (monetary and exchange rate) policies and external shocks to agricultural commodity (raw material and food) prices and crude oil price upon domestic (agriculture/industry) terms of trade are estimated.
Impacts of feed ingredient subsidy removal and concurrent trade liberalization in Tunisia
Authors: Kristjanson Patricia , Tyner Wallace E. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThis article summarizes findings from a recent agricultural policy study examining the impacts of trade liberalization and removal of feed ingredient subsidies in Tunisia. A linear programming model was used to simulate private sector response to these policy changes. Increased feedgrain prices result from subsidy removal but effects are lessened if subsidy removal is coupled with trade liberalization. Induced long‐term effects are improved efficiency in production of feedgrains, feedgrain substitutes, and livestock.
Gini's coefficient of mean difference as a measure of adoption speed: theoretical issues and empirical evidence from India
Authors: Jansen Hans G.P. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThis paper represents a variant on the empirical analysis of technological adoption by Griliches. It follows up on previous research regarding the potential of the Gini coefficient of mean difference as a distribution‐free measure of adoption speed. A formal proof is supplied for the derivation of an empirically workable definition of the Gini. Data regarding the uptake of high‐yielding wheat varieties in India are used to compare the performance of the Gini relative to that of the logistic and Weibull adoption speed coefficients. The results suggest that, for the purpose of ex‐post analyses of monotonically increasing adoption processes, use of the Gini in measuring adoption speed can result in a better explanation of aggregate adoption behavior.
Willingness to pay for pST‐treated pork
Authors: Elnagheeb Abdelmoneim H. , Florkowski Wojciech J. , Huang Chung‐Liang , Halbrendt Catherine 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe progress in porcine somatotropin (pST) application justified an assessment of consumer acceptance of pST‐treated pork. A survey of the Atlanta metropolitan area, USA, collected information about consumer attitudes toward lean pork produced with biotechno‐logically developed pST. A qualitative dependent variable model was used to identify socioeconomic consumer characteristics influencing the willingness to pay for lean pork. The model was modified to account for the selectivity bias of the sample data.Results indicate that frequent pork consumers were willing to pay more for lean pork produced using pST in contrast to respondents who frequently ate beef, were older, and had relatively high income.Probabilities associated with the willingness to pay a specific premium were calculated. In general, the average respondent was willing to pay an additional 18¢ per kg of lean pork produced using pST.
Improvement strategies for farming systems in the Eastern Highlands of Ethiopia
Authors: Emana Bezabih , Storck Harmen 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTEleven distinct farming systems were distinguished, based on selected indicators and locations. The indicators involve the resource basis, cropping pattern and intensity, and the major activities including off‐farm work. Statistical tests were used to verify the differences. Accounting for the given constraints and for the interdependences of the system's components, strategies are developed to improve their poor economic performance.A linear programming model is used to evaluate the effects on farm performance of (a) reallocating the existing farm resources, and (b) introduction of improved technologies. The type of relationship among the elements of the farming system determines the overall outcome of any improvement effort. Groundnut and livestock production are highly competitive. A package of technological innovations is needed to achieve a major improvement on the smallest farms.
Resource allocation and productivity of cereal state farms in Ethiopia
Authors: Mirotchie Mesfin , Taylor Daniel B. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTUsing a translog production function, cereal production on state farms in Ethiopia between 1980 and 1985 was analyzed. The farms were found to be operating at constant returns to scale. Manual labor was under‐utilized, while machinery and other modern inputs were over‐utilized. Elasticities of substitution between labor and these over‐utilized inputs were low.
Efficiency of small‐scale farmers in Ethiopia: a case study in the Baso and Warana sub‐district
Authors: Belete Abenet , Dillon John L. , Anderson Frank M. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study is to explore the possibilities of improving production and income on small farms through better allocation of resources. It pertains to the area that represents the low potential cereal crops zone (LPCZ) of Ethiopian highlands in the Shoa region. The basic primary data were drawn from 50 randomly selected farms in the area, and secondary data were obtained from ILCA. LP and MOTAD are used as analytical tools. The results of the study indicates a substantial potential for increasing net farm cash incomes by efficient allocation of available resources under current level of technology.The study further revealed that small‐scale farmers in the study area operate at a relatively higher risk under the existing situation than would be the case under an‐optimal situation. Thus, small‐scale farmers should allocate resources optimally not only to increase cash income but also to reduce risk.
Tactical responses to seasonal conditions in whole‐farm planning in Western Australia
Authors: Kingwell Ross S. , Pannell David J. , Robinson Stephen D. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTIn dryland agricultural systems, efficient farm management requires a degree of flexibility according to variations in climate from year to year. Tactical adjustments to the mix of farm enterprises can capitalize on good growing conditions and minimise losses under poor growing conditions. In this paper, a discrete stochastic programming model of dryland wheat‐sheep farms in Western Australia is used to identify optimal tactical adjustments to climate and to calculate the value of these tactical adjustments. The model, MUDAS, includes nine discrete season types with a wide range of options for tactical adjustments in each. In the standard model, optimal tactical responses increase expected net cash surplus by approximately 22% relative to a fixed or inflexible strategy. In most season types, changes to the long term farm strategy are made on less than 10% of the farm area, although in some seasons over 25% of the farm can require adjustments to the enterprise selected. The benefits of flexibility are not evenly distributed across different season types but occur predominantly in the best and worst seasons. The magnitude of benefits is affected differently by different commodity prices. Benefits of flexibility are due to capitalizing on knowledge about the greater volatility of profits from cropping than from livestock production. Deterministic models and even stochastic models which don't include activities for tactical adjustments miss this key feature of the system.
Estimating feed utilisation matrices using a cost function approach
Authors: Peeters Ludo , Surry Yves 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn this paper a multiple‐output cost function framework is proposed to construct national feed balances or feed utilisation matrices (FUMs). The framework is applied to the Belgian compound feed industry. For estimation purposes a Symmetrie Generalised McFadden (SGM) cost function is selected. The cost function is estimated using readily available time‐series data for the period 1962–88. Unlike previous studies based on duality theory, this study exploits the properties of nonjointness in animal feed production to establish a complete FUM. The allocation of feed ingredients among different livestock categories as well as the composition of various compound feeds are identified. Also own‐ and cross‐price elasticities of demand for feed ingredients by type of livestock are reported.
Advanced breakeven analysis of agricultural enterprise budgets
Authors: Dillon Carl R. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAdvanced conceptual techniques for breakeven analysis of agricultural enterprise budgets are developed and applied. Breakeven points of a single agricultural enterprise, breakeven points between enterprises, and elasticities of breakeven points between enterprises are defined and mathematically derived. Breakeven equations were reduced to computational formulas for several budget components: output price, yield, input price, input requirement, variable cost, fixed cost, and total cost. Application of the advanced breakeven techniques provide evidence that both rice and wheat production seem especially desirable for the Arkansas Delta region in light of a fluctuating economic environment.
Demand for red meat, poultry, and fish in Morocco: an almost ideal demand system
Authors: Mdafri Abdellah , Brorsen B. Wade 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThere is a paucity of data and basic research needed for policy analysis in Morocco. Subjective estimates for elasticities are currently used in making policy recommendations. An Almost Ideal Demand System model is used to estimate demand elasticities for beef, mutton, poultry, and fish in Morocco. Mutton is shown to be a luxury good reflecting Moroccans' preference for mutton. Demand is shown to be more elastic than has been assumed in some past policy analyses.
Maize acreage response under differential prices in the Republic of Benin, West Africa
Authors: Honfoga Barthelemy G. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractPrice response of maize acreage in Benin was estimated with a particular emphasis on whether the prices were producer prices in rural markets or retail prices in urban markets. A second difference between prices was examined through a price adjustment model which takes into account the distortions caused by local units on maize price when one is concerned with the pricing system in the private marketing network relating rural and urban areas. Urban market price specification appeared to be the most relevant statistically in explaining acreage decisions in Mono province. Price elasticity of acreage was 0.445 in this area while its value, around 0.10, was not significant for Benin as a whole. The use of adjusted urban prices enabled an increase of 5.6% of the elasticity in Mono province.The urban vs. rural difference was apparent, but the coefficients of the price variable were not significant in equations with rural prices. The latter were not as reliable as those of the urban market of Dantokpa (in Cotonou city) collected by the Institute of Statistics (INSAE) and the GTZ project.
Efficiency in agricultural production: the case of peasant farmers in eastern Paraguay
Authors: Bravo‐Ureta Boris E. , Evenson Robert E. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper contributes to the productivity literature in developing country agriculture by quantifying the level of efficiency for a sample of peasant farmers from Eastern Paraguay. A stochastic efficiency decomposition methodology is used to derive technical, allocative and economic efficiency measures separately for cotton and cassava. An average economic efficiency of 40.1% for cotton and of 52.3% for cassava is found, which suggests considerable room for productivity gains for the farms in the sample through better use of available resources given the state of technology. Gains in output through productivity growth have become increasingly important to Paraguay as the opportunities to bring additional virgin lands into cultivation have significantly diminished in recent years. No clear strategy to improve farm productivity could be gleaned from an examination of the relationship between efficiency and various socioeconomic variables. One possible explanation for this finding is the existence of a stage of development threshold below which there is no consistent relationship between socioeconomic variables and productivity. If this is the case, then our results suggest that this sample of Paraguayan peasants are yet to reach such a threshold. Hence, improvements in educational and extension services, for example, would be needed to go beyond this threshold. Once this is accomplished, additional productivity gains would be obtained by further investments in human capital and related factors.
Measuring research benefits in an imperfect market
Authors: Voon T.J. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn this paper, an imperfect market model is developed for evaluating agricultural research benefits. The main finding is that the increases in societal gain, and the producer's share of this gain, are larger with a monopoly than with a competitive market. The paper argues that if the market for an agricultural input or for a commodity is not competitive, then use of a competitive model for assessing research benefits could lead to understatements of both producer and total benefits.
Production technologies in Ethiopian agriculture
Authors: Kidane Asmcrom , Abler David G. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis article examines the characteristics of and choice among two production technologies in Ethiopian agriculture, one with fertilizer and the other without, using 1989–90 farm‐level data. For northwest and central Ethiopia, fertilizer usage determinants are estimated simultaneously with technology‐specific production functions. For southern Ethiopia, where fertilizer is rarely used, a single production function is estimated. Three conclusions emerge. First, fertilizer use is not significantly affected by a farm's stocks of capital or land. This is consistent with the fact that fertilizer allocation decisions under the deposed Mengistu regime were politicized to the point where farmers had little control over use. Second, fertilizer is associated with a smaller factor share for cattle and a larger share for land, meaning that those who control land may gain relative to the individual farmers who own cattle as the country develops agriculturally. Third, farms without fertilizer in northwest and central Ethiopia tend to be too small, a problem due to population pressures on the land and communal methods of land allocation. This suggests that land allocation institutions should adjust by distributing land to a smaller but more economically viable number of farmers.
Returns to wheat breeding research in Nepal
Authors: Morris Michael L. , Dubin H.J. , Pokhrel Thaneswar 
Published: January 2020

AbstractReturns to investment in wheat breeding research in Nepal were estimated for two periods: (1) the Green Revolution period (1960–1990), when modern semidwarf wheat varieties first appeared and spread throughout the country, and (2) the post‐Green Revolution period (after 1990), when first‐generation modern varieties will be replaced by newer materials. Major benefits of the Nepalese wheat breeding program have included maintenance of disease resistance and faster dissemination of exotic germplasm. Attractive rates of return to investment in wheat breeding have been due in part to Nepal's ability to capture spillover benefits from neighboring countries and from international agricultural research centers.
Asymmetry in beef, lamb and pork farm‐retail price transmission in Australia
Authors: Griffith G.R. , Piggott N.E. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe hypothesis of asymmetry in price transmission within the Australian meat market is tested using monthly data for beef, lamb and pork prices at different market levels over the period 1971–1988. The results indicate that asymmetrical price response is a strategy used by beef and lamb retailers and wholesalers to adjust to changing input prices, but not by pork retailers and wholesalers. This difference is perhaps unexpected given the similarity in behaviours relating to price levelling in this market, the high cross‐price elasticities of demand between these meats, and the relatively greater degree of concentration in the pork market.
An analysis of population growth, Green Revolution and terms of trade in the presence of cropsharing in agriculture
Authors: Taslim M.A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis explores the welfare effects of some persistent trends in some developing countries on different groups of farmers. It takes a general equilibrium approach in modelling a representative developing economy comprising a manufacturing sector and an agricultural sector where both self‐cultivating landlords and tenants carry on production. It is shown that while population growth tends to depress welfare of both the tenant and the landlord, Green Revolution has the opposite effect such that when both trends are present, peasants may or may not be better off. An adverse movement in the agricultural terms of trade reduces welfare of the landlord, but the tenant is made better off.
Japan's peanut import demand: implications for United States exports
Authors: Zhang Ping , Fletcher Stanley M. , Carley Dale H. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractJapan's import demand for both raw peanuts and processed peanut products was estimated using the Rotterdam model in order to determine the impact of an increase in the Japanese raw peanut quota on peanut imports from the USA and its competitors. The results indicate that if a larger import budget were allocated to raw peanut imports by Japan, most of the increase would be allocated to imports of Chinese raw peanuts. Furthermore, U.S. exports of peanut products could be affected if Japanese expenditures on peanut product imports change as a result of an increase in the quota for raw peanut imports. Thus, this study concludes that an increase in the Japanese import quota for raw peanuts provides only limited market opportunity for U.S. peanut exports, and China appears to benefit more than the USA from an increase in the Japanese raw peanut import quota. In contrast, the value added trade of peanut products could provide a better market opportunity for the U.S. peanut industry.
Food demand in rural China: evidence from rural household survey
Authors: Fan Shenggen , Cramer Gail , Wailes Eric 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe recent rural reforms in China have had great effects on agricultural production and productivity as well as rural household consumption. While much has been written on production and productivity effects of these reforms, very few Chinese studies have attempted to analyze the changes in rural consumption patterns. This paper uses a dynamic AIDS model to estimate various food demand parameters for Chinese rural households using rural household survey data recently released by the China State Statistical Bureau. The results show that all important food commodities including rice, wheat, coarse grains, vegetables, meat, tobacco and alcohol have positive expenditure elasticities. Rice, wheat and coarse grains are necessities, while meat, vegetables, alcohol and tobacco are luxuries. The expenditure elasticities for rice, coarse grains and tobacco are declining, but those for wheat, meat, vegetables and alcohol are increasing. As per capita income rises and population increases, the demand for these items will continue to increase. Therefore, China must continue to increase its food production by a greater rate in the future in order to avoid food shortages.
Compensated optimal response under uncertainty in agricultural household models
Authors: Saha Atanu 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis study derives the qualitative properties of a household's optimal consumption, family labour, hired labour and non‐labour input choices under price and/or output risk through a Slutsky‐type compensation without imposing any restriction on risk preference structure or production technology. These compensated responses provide the underpinning for welfare analysis in agricultural household models under risk. The framework for the evaluation of welfare effects of product and factor price interventions in a setting of output and price risk is developed. The paper also outlines an empirical model for estimation of the compensated demand and supply responses and for validation of the paper's analytical results.