Japanese wild boars head north: Snow depth decrease, wildlife conflict, and structural changes in agriculture

Abstract:This contribution focuses on the interaction between structural change in agriculture and the availability of key natural resources – land and water. The relationship is not unidimensional; therefore, we propose three dimensions of resource-induced structural change. The first dimension describes the links between the two critical input factors into agricultural production, namely land and water. To systematize this perspective, we use the concept of linking patterns that depict direct and indirect intersectoral linkages from a property rights perspective. Second, we examinee the dimension of how structural change in agriculture can be triggered by scarcity of natural resources. The third dimension describes structural change that may lead to overuse and scarcity. In this regard, we introduce resource scarcity not only as physical but most important as institutional scarcity. To illustrate these dimensions, we have chosen a case in Central Asia, where the availability and the control of access and withdrawal rights to land and water is of utmost importance for the agricultural sector. Tajikistan faces physical and institutional scarcity in arable land. The institutional scarcity is due to the non-transparent and costly processes that need to be followed to gain land rights. Likewise there is sufficient supply in water, in Tajikistan, but the de-facto access rights to water are limited for some groups. For instance, the post-socialist irrigation infrastructure is now inappropriate to serve all small-scale users on a canal. In the future, land use change due to a predicted increase of major investors, will have additional impact on the de-facto water rights. We conclude that a solid study not only on the physical but also on the institutional relations of agriculture to natural resources is important to come to reliable predictions of structural change in agriculture. We also show that structural change in agriculture may have wider implications for rural society that go beyond the agricultural sector.

In Germany, productivity gains and other factors induce structural changes in agriculture since decades. While the number of farms decreases simultaneously average farm sizes with respect to area and herd sizes increases. Conflicts between agricultural reality and society’s perception will always surface when production methods of large farms become public and significantly divert from the societal expectations mainly if the society still have romantic views from story-books in their mind. In this study societal perception of structural change in agriculture is analyzed using a mixed method approach to identify the main conflicts and to evaluate options to cope with these. In the focus group discussions as well as in the online survey a rejecting or critical attitude towards structural change in agriculture was stated. Structural change in agriculture was often associated with ‘mass production’, ‘mechanization’ or ‘agrarian factories’. Participants requested a restructuring of agriculture towards smaller and more diversified farms; however, most are aware that the technical progress require also adjustments in the agriculture. As expected, results do not provide an easy solution to cope with societal expectations. Responsibility for a better alignment of structural change to societal expectations is seen multi-layered: The government, the farmers, the processing industry as well as the consumers seem to be in demand.

The dynamic effects of government-supported farm-investment activities on structural change in Austrian agriculture

This article focuses on an analysis of factors that have influenced structural change in Polish agriculture since 1989. The Republic of Poland was the only CEE country, pre-1989, which had 70% of its agricultural land in private hands. This turned out not to be a development asset as there were mostly small subsistence farms (ca 70%) at the core of Polish agriculture. This resulted in much of the rural area (except for that located in the vicinity of cities or renowned tourist centres) being dependant, to a large extent on both low-productive agriculture and agricultural policies. Now, after almost 25 years of transformation, structural change in agriculture (and rural areas) is slowing down as a result of EU Common Agricultural and National policies. The agrarian structure, dominated by subsistence farms, remains stable (average farm size below 10 hectares, in some South-Eastern regions NUTS 2 below 5 hectares). As a result rural areas are still in need of a deep restructuring and a modernization of economic structures.

The paper examines structural changes in the Ukrainian agriculture during the reform period. The tendencies in the agricultural sector and directions of its transformations are considered. It has been concluded that the multifunctional model of agriculture should be implemented in Ukraine, because it can create good opportunities for an increase in the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, a solution of socio-economic issues of the rural areas and a provision of an integrated development of rural areas in the long-term perspective.

The relationship between agricultural rationalization and suicide mortality has been little researched. On the basis of the hypothesis that agricultural rationalization leads to more suicide, this study investigated whether a general relationship could be found between structural change in agriculture and suicide mortality in post-war Europe. Due to the expected small size of the effect, the data were deliberately collected so as to maximize the variation in the independent variable. Annual national-level data on suicide mortality, the percentage of the work force in agricultural employment, and the unemployment level were collected from those countries and 10-year periods where the structural changes (reductions in employment) in agriculture between 1950 and 1995 had been most and least pronounced. In order to avoid confounders, the annual changes in the variables' values were correlated with each other, adding a control for the level of unemployment, and allowing for lagged effects. The annual changes in the levels of agricultural employment and those of suicide mortality did not covary at all. Controlling for unemployment levels did not change this, nor could any lagged effects be found. At the most general level, no causal relation between agricultural rationalization and suicide mortality was detected. This lack of a universal relation does not, however, preclude the possibility of the relationship existing given certain socio-historical circumstances.

Agriculture of the Republic of Serbia plays an important role in the national economy, making it significantly different from agriculture of developed countries. Its contribution to the national economy is reflected in a still significant share in the gross domestic product, total employment, and trade balance. Despite the insufficient utilization level of available natural resources, agriculture in Serbia is a backbone of the economic development of rural areas. The research goal of the paper is to examine structural changes in Serbian agriculture in the following aspects: changes in the employment structure, plant and animal production, as well as a change in the share of agriculture in the gross domestic product and trade balance of Serbia. The analysis has been carried out in the period from 2002 to 2017 based on the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Research results show that the Serbian agriculture has suffered significant changes in the analysed areas, resulting in its decreasing share in the overall employment and gross domestic product, but also in the slight increase of its share in the value of exports and imports.

The paper examines structural changes in the Ukrainian agriculture during the reform period. The tendencies in the agricultural sector and directions of its transformations are considered. It has been concluded that the multifunctional model of agriculture should be implemented in Ukraine, because it can create good opportunities for an increase in the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, a solution of socio-economic issues of the rural areas and a provision of an integrated development of rural areas in the long-term perspective.

Purpose: to study the problem of structural changes in the development of the agricultural sector in Russia within the framework of the national priorities implementation. Materials and methods: the synthetic tools of the study are based on the methods of economic statistics, which helped to analyze the structural dynamics of the country's agricultural sector. The object of the research was the agrarian structure of the Russian agricultural sector. The statistical analysis was carried out in the context of individual categories of farms. Results. The problems of structural changes in the agricultural sector of Russia within the framework of the implementation of national priorities are dealt with. For this, the methodology for calculating structural changes in agriculture and the mining industry, as well as the agricultural sector in the context of certain categories of farms, was used. The analysis is carried out for agricultural organizations, peasant (farmer) households. The problem of structuring the agrarian sector of the Russian economy is considered as a systemic task of state management of the industry, reduced to the formation of optimal proportions between the elements of the agrarian structure and their development. The results of agrarian reforms in agriculture for the period 2006–2019 are presented. A comparative characteristic of the options for organizing large-scale agro-industrial production in Russia and abroad is given. Conclusions. The presented dynamics of structural changes in agriculture on the basis of linear and quadratic coefficients makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of the state agricultural policy in the context of the implementation of national priorities. It has been substantiated that in the mid-term strategic development the intensity of structural changes in agriculture will be determined by the development trends of the small-format sector of the economy, including the one through the system of agricultural cooperation.

Phylogeographic characteristics and population structure of Japanese wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax) were investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data. Sixteen Japanese wild boar haplotypes detected from partial sequences of the mtDNA control region (574-bp) from 180 Japanese wild boar specimens from 10 local populations on Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu islands and 41 haplotypes from other S. scrofa were analyzed using the neighbor-joining method. The Japanese wild boars were more closely related to Northeast Asian wild boars from Mongolia than to the other Asian continental S. scrofa. The Japanese and Northeast Asian wild boars were not significantly distinguished by corrected average pairwise difference analysis. The ancestors of Japanese wild boars are suggested to have been part of the continental S. scrofa population that spread from Southeast to Northeast Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. The Japanese wild boar mtDNA haplotype cladogram shows 95% parsimoniously plausible branch connections supporting three sympatric clades. Nested clade analysis indicates that these three clades are the result of distinct historical events or gene flow. The present population of Japanese wild boars may have been formed by a few independent migrations of distinct clades from the continent with subsequent mixing on the Japanese Islands.

The structure of the agrifood system has changed significantly over the past century. In production agriculture, the changing structure is often characterized by a drastic decrease in the number of farmers associated with a rapid increase in average size, more reliance on purchased inputs, and greater interdependence between the farm and nonfarm sector. The farm input industry has changed to meet the increased reliance of the remaining farms on purchased inputs such as fertilizers and machmery. The food processing sector has also evolved with the aid of new technologies such as food preservation to meet chang~ng consumer preferences. As in the farm sector, both non-production components of agriculture have been characterized by increasing levels of firm concentration and integration between the sectors. Consumer preferences and purchasing patterns have also changed sigtuficantly as the structures of households and of society have evolved. Although there is a consensus that the structure has changed, there is no agreement on the implications of the changes for the health and viability of the sector, the rural community, the environment, and society. For example, many farm organizations argue that the family farm is essential to s o c d well-being and the competitive production of adequate food supplies while others argue that there are efficiency gains associated with increases in farm size. Whatever the net effects of structural change are, they may be influenced by appropriate actions if the causes of the structural change are understood. Thls is particularly important if the net effects of structural change are not coincidental with the politicdsocial agenda of the country. The purpose of this paper is to review the economics of structural change in agriculture. The paper begins with alternative definitions of structural change and notes that the definition in agriculture has generally been narrowly focused on the number and size of farms. Models proposed to explain structural changes are then presented followed by a discussion of why we would be interested in knowing the forces behmd the changes. The paper concludes with an examination of why we are interested in how agriculture is structured and the associated implications for future research.

The article discusses the contribution of systems analysis and simulation to the analysis and projection of structural change in agriculture. It starts out with a discussion of general problems of agricultural change and emphasizes the need for appropriate models to control this process by means of policy instruments. Consequently the main part deals with some basic concepts of systems theory and simulation which appear to be useful in this context. Simulation is defined as a numerical method to describe the behaviour of a system under a finite number of randomly or independently selected environmental conditions. Compared to analytical tools it provides a greater flexibility with respect to model structure and component link. The specific concepts discussed in more detail refer to topics of considerable relevance in the process of agricultural change. These concepts are Stochastic simulation; explicit incorporation of delay functions; feedback and control mechanism for economic policy. Three aspects of ‘experimental design’ for projections under varying factor configurations are discussed: Policy projections to analyze factor response relationships (response surfaces); determination of optimal levels of policy instruments or control strategies for given goal structures; construction of social preference orderings for policy makers by means of experiments. Finally three empirical approaches to the simulation of structural change in agriculture with comprehensive systems models are discussed with respect to model structure and economic content.

Structural changes in agriculture, rural areas and regions, as well as in economic activities related to the production and trade of agricultural products, most often occur as a response to periodic changes in general economic and social conditions. In order to formulate effective policies and strategies, policy makers need adequate information about the main structural changes in agriculture. Therefore, based on the information framework of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, the article primarily focuses on changes of agricultural output in Serbia, respectively changes in crop and animal production, and agricultural services. The research aims to analyze changes in the structure of agricultural output in the period from 2007 to 2019 in order to identify its future trend by applying the forecast function. The research results show that the agricultural production of goods and services will keep the positive trend with a dominant share of crop production.

The paper examines to which extent the theory of the farm household and the argument of path dependencies can be confirmed through recent empirical contributions on structural change in agriculture. In addition, a model is developed that explains structural change through occupational choices in favour or against farming. The validity of this model is challenged by empirical results, too. It can be shown that all three theoretical approaches contribute to explaining structural change in agriculture, which results to a coexistence of small and large farms if not hampered by political interference.

Our study presents a comprehensive method for measuring the distribution of urban wildlife and human-wildlife conflicts based on citizen reports. We investigate the ecological and social factors affecting the distribution of synurbic wild boars (Sus scrofa) and related human-wildlife conflicts within Haifa, northern Israel. Using Maximum Entropy (Maxent) species distribution modeling, we analyzed 2,921 citizen reports of wild boar sightings collected between January 2014 and May 2016. We modeled two distribution maps predicting: (1) wild boar presence, and (2) human-wild boar conflict within the city. Our models incorporated both ecological variables (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index, built area density, distance to nature reserves) and social variables (e.g., human population and density, socioeconomic status). The results of the wild boar habitat suitability model confirm previous studies, associating boar presence with the availability and fragmentation of green areas. In contrast, the conflict model suggests that human-boar conflicts are primarily linked to human population size, density, and socioeconomic status. Notably, areas with higher socioeconomic status exhibited a greater likelihood of reported conflicts, even after controlling for ecological factors. This study highlights the importance of integrating both ecological and social factors in understanding and managing urban human-wildlife conflicts. Our findings suggest that effective management strategies should consider the ecological needs of urban wildlife along with the social and economic contexts of urban neighborhoods.