DSSC - Open Public Access Catalogue Search for 'an:13434'

The role of gender, risk, and time preferences in farmers' rice variety selection in Eastern India /

By Mehar, Mamta.
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2017 .
pp. 17-36 , Using data from 5,601 rice farmers in Eastern India, this study examined the role of gender, risk, and time preferences in farmers' rice variety selection in Eastern India. The determinants of the following were estimated: farmers' rice variety selection according to variety type (i.e., modern [non-hybrid], stress-tolerant, hybrid, and traditional), and farmers' main reasons (i.e., yield potential, taste/cooking quality, marketability/affordability, and stress tolerance) for choosing a rice variety. A multivariate probit model was employed to identify the factors that influence farmers' decision-making, since some farmers choose to mix rice varieties from multiple categories. The results revealed that female farmers, who are more risk-averse, usually choose rice varieties based on cooking quality (e.g., good taste, high cooking quality, and good straw quality) and stress tolerance. They are less likely to select hybrid rice, and also less likely to base their decision on market-oriented reasons, compared to male farmers. Certain rice varieties released many decades ago remain popular among farmers because of multiple preferred attributes. The preference model is useful in understanding why some varieties are more popular than others, among female and male farmers.

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Effects of climate change on the livestock population in Mustang District, Nepal /

By Koirala, Ananta .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2017 .
pp. 37-49 , There is strong evidence to suggest that climate change has affected and will continue to affect the occurrence, distribution, and prevalence of livestock diseases in Nepal. This study investigated how climate change has affected the livestock population in Mustang District. The outbreak of new diseases, changes in disease patterns, increase in cases of external and internal parasites, decrease in the availability of forage and fodder, and deterioration of pasture land were the major climate change effects observed. The number of livestock has decreased, resulting in declining income from livestock-related activities of Jomsom and Kagbeni, two village development committees in the Mustang District where people are seeking alternative occupations. The result revealed that some signs of climate change were experienced by rural communities in the study sites, such as an increasing number of warm days and a decreasing number of cold days. The different measures that people have adopted to lessen the impacts of climate change on the livestock population were also identified. 21cm..

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Does MGNREGS promote inclusive growth: What do evidence indicate /

By Arumugam, Mahendran .
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pp. 51-72 , The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in India seeks to provide a specified number of days of employment at a specified wage rate to interested rural households, and ensures equal wages between male and female workers. MGNREGS will benefit wage seekers directly by providing assured employment and pay, which will enhance their purchasing power; and indirectly by increasing the rural market wage rate. The nature of work of some employment opportunities under MGNREGS will likely improve the infrastructure at both community and individual levels, mostly of small-scale and marginal farmers, which is expected to improve the income levels of the poor. Using evidence from Andhra Pradesh before its bifurcation, the present study sought to determine if MGNREGS promotes inclusive growth by augmenting open-market wages, reducing gender wage differentials, increasing the proportion of Scheduled Castes among the participating households, improving the employment and income levels of wage seekers, and deriving substantial benefits compared to government expenditure on the scheme.

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Financial capacity of rice-based farming households in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam /

By Dung, Le Canh .
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pp. 73-87 , This study examines financial capacity of various types of rice farming households in the Mekong Delta. Household financial capacity was elicited and quantified through interviews with 449 households practicing rice-based farming systems in four agro-ecological zones of the Mekong Delta. Household net income, long-standing debt, and savings represent the three key parameters of household financial capacity. Analysis of farm size classes revealed that financial capacity was weak, especially among households with farms that were less than one hectare. Agricultural production was the primary component of household net income. The level of diversity of non-rice crops did not contribute significantly to increased household income. Net household income was positively correlated with farm size, land use circle (i.e., number of crops in a field), and non-farm activities. Mean household savings accounted for 27 percent of total net household income, and mean long-term debt was 11 percent of household savings. The low financial capacity of rice-based farming households introduces substantial challenges for Mekong Delta farmers to recover production costs caused by irregular weather patterns associated with climate change.

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Maize supply response in Vietnam /

By Huong, Nguyen Van.
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pp. 89-105 , This study was used a supply response model to determine factors affecting maize supply in Vietnam. It estimated response coefficients from semi-annual time-series data for the period 1986-2011. Using three criteria, it chose the rational expectation hypothesis supply response model (Model 1) with the separated price expectation formation hypothesis according to the information set at time (t-1) to estimate the supply response model for maize. Farmers used the available information set to form their expected price. Estimated parameters' result in Model 1 indicate that the farmers' supply had a positive response to the expected price of maize, but was negative to that of cassava. This means that maize and cassava are close substitutes in the supply response models. Maize production also positively responds to the amount of fertilizer per hectare, maize area, one-period lagged investment, irrigation, trend variable, and agricultural extension policy. Recommended policies include: enhancement of the judicious use of fertilizers and possible establishment of local factories; increase in maize area by changing the crop structure and multiple cropping with long-term industrial trees like perennials and fruit trees; improvement of the irrigation system in two deltas and in high production regions; increase in government support to farmers; increase in government spending on research and development of new maize varieties; and improvement of the extension system to provide farmers the needed market and technological information.

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Public participation in agriculture and natural resource management projects in South and Southeast Asia : A literature review /

By Sirajuddin, Zulham.
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pp. 107-118 , Facilitators of participatory approaches to community development in agricultural and natural resource management settings frequently encounter dilemmas due to embedded social and power structures that potentially interfere with achieving desired outcomes. These dilemmas underscore the need for better facilitation structures and techniques to mediate the complexity of disagreements. This paper reviews the literature on selecting and applying participatory facilitation methods in Asia, focused on South and Southeast Asia. The analysis acknowledges critics of participation and identifies elements for involving marginalized communities when using participatory approaches to increase the livelihood of successful outcomes.

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Wither the economics of agricultural development /

By Roumasset, James .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 1-22 , In spite of a healthy demand for a renaissance in economic policy for agricultural development, the academic supply response is found wanting. The infusion of public economics into the economics of agricultural development, which thrived during the 1970s and 1980s, has stagnated due to the lack of foundations in transaction costs, dynamics, and the co-evolution of specialization and governance. Many of the policy ideas found in the World Bank's WDR 2008, for example, reflect a post-modern tendency to seek and destroy market failures with new mandates and subsidies for farmer cooperatives, microfinance, crop insurance, and land reform. The new development microeconomics favors form over substance and overemphasizes multiple equilibria, trap theories, new market failures, and the new case for social insurance. Empirical research has likewise suffered from the quest for clever instruments and methods instead of informative results that estimate parameters of established theories, distinguish between competing theories, or challenge theory to explain empirical patterns. These latest fads and fancies have distracted economists from the quest for fundamental explanations of development patterns, especially the nature and causes of specialization as an engine of growth. The stage is set for young dynamic scholars to develop new tools of analysis to explain empirical patterns in behavior and organization in developing agriculture and to build the foundations of a public microeconomics of development.

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The role of labor markets and human capital in poverty reduction: Evidence from Asia and Africa /

By Otsuka, Keijiro .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 23-40. , Using long-term panel data sets of rural households in the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Tamil Nadu (India), a short-term panel data set in Mozambique, and cross-section data sets in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, the roles of labor markets in the long-term process of poverty reduction in Asia were examined in comparison with the current situation in Africa. There are three main findings. First, reliance on agricultural labor markets alone will not reduce poverty to a significant extent, in view of the declining share of agricultural wage income in Asia and its negligibly low level in Africa. Second, an increased non-farm income is a decisive factor in reducing rural poverty because it has become the major source of the rise in household income. Third, labor markets are clearly segmented in accordance with the schooling levels, where the younger and more educated children are engaged in lucrative non-farm labor employment in order to capture the high returns in schooling in this sector.

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Climate change and Asian agriculture /

By Rosegrant, Mark W. .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 41-81 , Asian and global agriculture will be under significant pressure to meet the demands of rising populations, using finite and often degraded soil and water resources that are predicted to be further stressed by the impacts of climate change. In addition, agriculture and land use change are prominent sources of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Fertilizer application, livestock rearing, and land management affect levels of GHG in the atmosphere and the amount of carbon storage and sequestration potential. Therefore, while some impending climatic changes will have negative effects on agricultural production in parts of Asia, and especially on resource-poor farmers, the sector also presents opportunities for emission reductions. Warming across the Asian continent will be unevenly distributed, but will certainly lead to crop yield losses in much of the region and subsequent impacts on prices, trade, and food security--disproportionately affecting poor people. Most projections indicate that agriculture in South, Central, and West Asia will be hardest hit. This paper discusses two approaches to responding to the impacts of climate change: mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation--or the reduction of GHG emissions--is essential to slow climate change. The primary opportunities for pro-poor mitigation in the agriculture sector in Asia involve soil carbon sequestration, rice cultivation, and grazing land management. China and India, the world's largest producers of rice, also account for the vast majority of global methane emissions from rice. Potential exists for low-and no-cost mitigation policies in this sector. But significant reforms in the international climate policy framework and in implementation of carbon mitigation are needed to reduce transactions costs and increase the incentives for small farmer participation. In addition, as climate change has already begun, adaptation--or the modification of agricultural practices and production--will be imperative if the growing food demands of modern society are to be met. However, many developing countries lack sufficient adaptive capacity. National governments, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and international institutions therefore have a large role to play in building the necessary adaptive capacity and risk management structures. Significantly, mitigation and adaptation cost, the smaller the burdens placed on adaptation.

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International best practice in food policy: Reflections on food policy analysis /

By Timmer, C. Peter.
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 83-92 , It has been more than 25 years since food policy analysis (Timmer et al. 1983) was published, and more than 30 years since the initial outline for the book was circulated among the authors. It is fair to say that the volume has been very influential in the way food policy issues have been looked at, and it remains in use as a textbook for a number of university courses. Its academic success is a bit surprising because the target audience was not primarily university faculty (for whom the book seemed too simplistic in methodology and too anecdotal in presentation). Instead, it was mainly aimed at practitioners, an ill-defined group of analysts in need of an understanding of how a complicated and interconnected food system actually works. Training these practitioners was the main mission of the book. The early drafts of food policy analysis (henceforth FPA) were simulated by the attention to high food prices following the world food crisis in 1973-74, and the fears of a repeat in 1979-80. But by the fourth full draft, in 1982, it became apparent that surpluses were returning to world food markets. A volume predicated on a world running out of food would have been out of date before the ink was dry, and so a full-scale revamping of the analytical messages was needed. The new theme, which has stood the test of a quarter century of market fluctuations, was the need for flexibility to cope with market instability. Such flexibility is not a natural feature of domestic policymaking in the food sector or elsewhere, and providing the analytical tools for understanding how to create flexible responses both to high-and low-price environments turned out to be a real challenge. But the approach remains relevant to this day, hence, the continued usefulness of an analytical guidebook that is a quarter century old.

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Agricultural development, nutrition, and the policies behind China's success /

By Huang, Jikun .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 93-126.

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Indian agriculture and food security : Current concerns and lessons /

By Acharya, Shabd S. .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2010 .
pp. 127-148

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Soil conservation decisions and upland corn productivity: A Philippine case study /

By Rola, Agnes C. .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 1-19 , This paper empirically investigates whether farmers who adopt soil conservation measures derive productivity gains. A twelve-year (1994-2006) panel data in Bukidnon, Philippines was used to quantify the indirect relationship between soil conversation technology adoption and upland corn productivity. A two-stage econometric analysis was done. First, the probability of adoption was estimated. The associated inverse Mill's ratio obtained from the first stage was used to correct the second stage endogenous switching stochastic frontier model estimation of the determinants of corn yield. Results showed that in normal times, upland corn productivity is positively affected by abatement of soil erosion. Results further suggest that farmers adopting soil conversation technologies become less flexible in their land use decisions during periods of drought, thereby experiencing lower yields than the non-adopters.

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Technical efficiency of land tenure contracts in West Java Province, Indonesia /

By Jamal, Erizal .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 21-33. , Obtaining land tenure contracts for rice farms is a major problem faced by farmer tenants in the province of West Java. This study aimed to analyzed the type of land tenure contracts in this region and the levels of technical efficiency of each contract system. Data were collected through a survey, with respondents randomly selected from the Karawang and Subang districts of West Java. The stochastic frontier was used to determine the efficiency of each system. Results showed that the average area being tilled was higher than land owned due to land tenure arrangements that increased farmers' access to land. Three common land tenure contracts in his region are fixed rental, sharecropping, and mortgage. Sharecropping and mortgage coefficients were found to be less efficient, while fixed rental was more efficient compared to owner-cultivated plots. These results provided evidence to support the view that sharecropping is inefficient for the tenants. However, sharecropping is still a common type of land transaction in West Java. To improve efficiency, the local government can help farmers by enabling them to lease land through fixed rental or other more favorable arrangements.

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Technical efficiency of rice-producing households in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam /

By Huy, Huynh Truong .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 35-50. , Technical Efficiency (TE) is an estimation of the ability of a household to produce the maximum output with the given inputs. It is usually estimated by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Data collected from 261 rice-farming households in the Mekong Delta were used in the empirical analysis. Results show that the average TE among the surveyed households is above 76 percent in both the Constant (CRS) and the Variable Returns to Scale (VRS). The average scale efficiency score for these rice-producing households is nearly one. The determinants of the quantity of rice or yields and of the TE for the households are significantly associated with some variables such as the plot size, seed, and hired labor cost. However, technical inefficiency significantly depends on the farmers' farming experience and adoption of advance farming practices.

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The transformation of food retail in the Philippines /

By Romo, Glory Dee.
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 51-84 , From a small base by the end of the 1990s, modern retail (the chains selling at least some food) in the Philippines grew very rapidly in the 2000s, at thrice the rate of the country's GDP growth. Reaching 13 billion USD of overall sales by 2010, 5.25 billion USD of this amount came from food sales. While much of the policy debate about market development focuses on export markets, we will show that supermarkets in the Philippines already sell twice the value (volume priced at export prices) of food that is exported--and modern retail is growing faster. Modern retail has reached 45 percent of urban food retail--already beyond the share of the middle class in the population, and about 35 percent of the national food market--from a tiny fraction of that figure two decades ago. Modern food retail is itself rapidly transforming--with a rise of fresh produce sales, industry concentration, format diversification off-mall into formats that permit greater market penetration, and emerging procurement system modernization. While traditional food retail (and even most aspects of modern food retail) in the Philippines track international experience, the lack of major foreign presence even after retail foreign direct investment (FDI) liberalization in 2000 is a puzzle about which we present hypotheses. Given the already large and increasing importance of food retail modernization in the Philippines, this theme should enter the agrifood research mainstream and be the subject of systematic field survey analysis in order to start discerning its impact on consumers, farmers, wholesalers, and processors.

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Impact of water management on agricultural production /

By Haq, Rashida .
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 85-94 , This paper explores the impact of water management on output, labor, and capital growth for an agriculture-based developing economy like Pakistan. According to empirical findings, capital stock and labor force in the agriculture sector significantly affect output growth. Improvement of capital stock in the form of mechanization, improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides on one hand, and labor force skills, techniques and management, on the other hand, will bring positive and significant impact on agricultural output. Any improvement in policy management by authorities will enhance agricultural production manifold. Water at farm gate, tube wells, and access to credit of farmers increase agricultural output by enhancing the productivity of capital and labor. Proper water management will result in efficient allocation of resources and has an indirect positive impact on growth of output. To increase overall efficiency, an irrigation technology that efficiently uses water for intensive crop production must be developed.

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Risk management strategies for drought-prone rice cultivation : A case study of Tamil Nadu, India /

By Selvaraj, K. N..
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 95-123 , This study aimed to understand the issues associated with rainfed rice production in dry and semi-dry areas in Tamil Nadu, India. Farmers face risks such as input, output, market price, and income, as these areas are prone to rainfall shortage. Secondary data about Tamil Nadu and various water-limited rice environments were studied. A farm survey of 230 farm households in selected districts was conducted in 2001-02 and 2003-04. Fertilizer use in rainfed areas was reduced due to rainfall shortage. In drought period, crop response to fertilizer declined, causing a decrease in rice yields. Yield variability was higher (44 percent to 60 percent) in drought-prone areas. In rainfed areas, a 10-percent increase in drought risk resulted in a 5.4 percent decline in the yield of modern varieties. In contrast, the effect on landraces was minimal. Farmers in the rainfed areas are operating at sub-optimal level of production. About 90 percent were inefficient since crop yields were lower than the optimal yield. Farmers incurred an additional cost of Rs 899 to increase yield by 228 kg/ha. An increase in rice productivity by one ton per hectare would replace rice area by 189,208 hectares in Tamil Nadu. Area expansion under rice was noticed in the selected rainfed areas, revealing that infusing high productivity traits in drough-tolerant rice varieties enable farmers to allocate part of their land to other crops. Traits (genetic and marketability) of widely adopted modern varieties and landraces should be considered in breeding varieties for water-limited environments to earn profits. The results confirm that drought intensity is higher during the maximum-tillering stage, therefore, continued research on development of drought-tolerant rice varieties to withstand early drought is crucial. Finally, rice income variability in rainfed areas was explained more by variability in yields rather than prices both during normal and risk periods. In other areas, income variability was due to price variability. Yield stabilization would be more effective in keeping revenues stable in rainfed areas, while price stabilization, is an appropriate strategy for reducing revenue risk in irrigated areas.

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Technological and institutional changes in the Indonesian rice sector : From intensification to sustainable revitalization /

By Mariyono, Joko.
Los Baños, Laguna : Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, 2009 .
pp. 125-144 , Agricultural development in Indonesia has been changing dynamically since the country's independence. This paper reviews the rice sector as part of agricultural development in Indonesia. It is remarkable that the agricultural sector was ignored when the oil boom benefited Indonesian economy. As revenues from oil dropped significantly, the agricultural sector emerged as an engine of economic growth in the 1980s. As staple food, rice was posited as top priority. Various rice intensification programs coinciding with the Green Revolution were launched, and several institutions were established to support these programs. The result was so significant that Indonesia was able to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 1983. But with the growing critical awareness about sustainable development, the intensification programs lost their relevance. The programs were replaced with an environmentally sound policy. However, as the industrial sector grew, again, the agricultural sector was neglected until an economic crisis hit Indonesia in 1997 and rice self-sufficiency could not be sustained. Realizing the importance of the agricultural sector, it is now being developed in equal measure as other sectors. Under the current administration, an agricultural revitalization program has been implemented, and in 2008, Indonesia has achieved rice self-sufficiency for the second time.

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