Alternative Production Activities Research Articles

Resource-constrained multi-project scheduling with activity and time flexibility

Project scheduling in manufacturing environments often requires flexibility in terms of the selection and the exact length of alternative production activities. Moreover, the simultaneous scheduling of multiple lots is mandatory in many production planning applications. To meet these requirements, a new resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) is introduced where both decisions (activity flexibility and time flexibility) are integrated. Besides the minimization of makespan, two new alternative objectives are presented: maximization of balanced length of selected activities (time balance) and maximization of balanced resource utilization (resource balance). New mixed integer and constraint programming (CP) models are proposed for the developed integrated flexible project scheduling problem. Benchmark instances on an already existing flexible RCPSP and the newly developed problem are solved to optimality. The real-world applicability of the suggested CP models is shown by additionally solving a large industry case.

PENGADAAN USAHA WEDANG UWUH DENGAN PEMBERDAYAAN IBU RUMAH TANGGA SEBAGAI PENGENTAS KEMISKINAN

This is an action research conducted with empowerment effort which is addressed to housewife in Dusun Dukuh Imogiri Bantul. The data collection used in this research is observation method, document and interview. This study aims to improve the knowledge and skills of housewives. Efforts to empower done by considering the surrounding natural resources that have not been optimally utilized herbs that thrive in the yard of the community. The empowerment effort is done by training activity, that is the training of wedang uwuh making and marketing training of wedang uwuh. In addition to improving knowledge and skills as well as providing alternative productive activities, this training is also an effort to eradicate poverty because the sale of wedang uwuh can improve the economy of Dusun Dukuh.

Can India grow and live within a 1.5 degree CO2 emissions budget?

The world of 1.5 degree C requires a global compact and action. Assuming that a fair allocation of global emissions space is made, the question arises can India live within that space? What kind of technological innovations are needed to make it possible? What would be the consequences of such a path for human welfare in India? The model has 25 goods and services and 38 alternative production activities reflecting different technologies to produce these goods or services. The model provides for social welfare measures by the government. The paper explores the consequences of different technological futures and policy regimes using a multi-sectoral inter temporal dynamic optimizing model with endogenous demand. With endogenous income distribution and 20 different consumer classes effects of heterogeneity are accounted. Reductions in costs of renewable power and batteries are stipulated based on projections by various researchers. Also targets for energy efficiency are based on past experience. The scenarios show the importance of technical progress for India can meet its human development goals within a fair emission limit.

Capital Valuation, What is it and Why does it Matter? Insights from Austrian Capital Theory

AbstractThe ability to rationally evaluate time-consuming productive activities is what distinguishes capitalism from alternative social systems. Capital-accounting provides the framework for such evaluations that allow decision-makers to calculate the relative values to them of alternative productive activities. In this paper I show how insights from Austrian Capital Theory help to understand this process of evaluation. Austrian economics stresses that evaluation is an essentially subjective process. Entrepreneurs’ estimates of future earnings, which depend on the consumers’ subjective evaluations of the produced products, will vary and they must compete for productive resources in a dynamic trial and error social process. Entrepreneurial evaluations, nevertheless, can be described in terms of familiar financial concepts that encapsulate both the capital-value and the duration of any contemplated business venture. Value and time are the two essential dimensions of dynamic business valuation. I examine these concepts with a view to describing that social process, using what can be known and what needs to be imagined. I conclude that there is no silver bullet formula or method to evaluate a business that would give an objectively correct answer – obviously not, or else we would not have need of a competitive market process – but there

Capital Valuation, What is it and Why Does it Matter? Insights from Austrian Capital Theory

The ability to rationally evaluate time-consuming productive activities is what distinguishes capitalism from alternative social systems. Capital-accounting provides the framework for such evaluations that allow decision-makers to calculate the relative values to them of alternative productive activities. In this paper I show how insights from Austrian Capital Theory help to understand this process of evaluation. Austrian economics stresses that evaluation is an essentially subjective process. Entrepreneurs’ estimates of future earnings, which depend on the consumers’ subjective evaluations of the produced products, will vary and they must compete for productive resources in a dynamic trial and error social process. Entrepreneurial evaluations, nevertheless, can be described in terms of familiar financial concepts that encapsulate both the capital-value and the duration of any contemplated business venture. Value and time are the two essential dimensions of dynamic business valuation. I examine these concepts with a view to describing that social process, using what can be known and what needs to be imagined. I conclude that there is no silver bullet formula or method to evaluate a business that would give an objectively correct answer – obviously not, or else we would not have need of a competitive market process – but there are certain logical elements that are universal in any production evaluation decision that should be emphasized.

IDENTIDADE E TERRITÓRIO: SAGA, CONSTRUÇÃO E SITUAÇÃO DE ETNICIDADE ENTRE AGRICULTORES FAMILIARES (PA BELO HORIZONTE – PARÁ – BRASIL)

This article reflects on the endeavor of family farmers Settlement Project Belo Horizonte (BH PA), located in southeast Para, to "keep" their collective identity and build of the territory of living from 30 years. The productive trajectories chosen by families, the height of productive systems, their decline, as well as the implementation of alternative production activities, show the dynamics of construction of the identity and the territory by family farmers. The build of diversified productive system, of the territoriality and the corresponding identity, make us reflect about the ethnicity situation of the group for to fight the appreciation and recognition of difference against universalizing public policies, socio-cultural diversity in the Territory Southeastern Para-Brazil. The analysis is based on direct intervention experiences with the group, interviews with key people (events of the protagonists), direct observation and the notion of ethnodevelopment.

Actors and networks in urban community garden development

Community gardens play a significant role in challenging neoliberal inequities by serving as spaces of alternative food production and community development activities in marginalized neighborhoods. While past research has explored the production of place in community gardens, less attention is paid to the role of social networks in garden development. Yet, network formation is critical for grassroots groups to navigate neoliberal governance and politics of power. This article draws on social network theories to examine the process of urban community garden development set within the context of neoliberalization. These theories provide a useful framework for evaluating networking as a spatial strategy and conceptualizing power relations within networks. We contend that forming spaces of engagement through scaled networks constituted by strong and weak ties is an essential means by which actors obtain information and leverage resources necessary to build and maintain urban community gardens. However, we also find that these networks contain power hierarchies that shape the conditions for participation in the networks. Actors with fewer resources and lesser political clout are compelled to conform to the interests of powerful actors. In employing social network theories to analyze urban community garden formation, this paper aims to achieve greater theorization and understanding of the complexities embedded in community garden development.

Application of DSSAT Crop Models to Generate Alternative Production Activities Under Combined Use of Organic-Inorganic Nutrients in Rwanda

The low agricultural productivity of Rwanda reflects the poor soil fertility status caused by a low organic matter and high soil acidity that characterizes a large part of the country. Experimental trials have shown that a combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers can increase crop yield. However, there are no guidelines for combined nutrients of different sources and qualities. Crop growth models can assist in the evaluation of the integration of organic and inorganic fertilizers. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) presents a collection of such crop models. The objective of this study was to determine alternative production activities through yield prediction of several crops under combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers on Oxisols and Inceptisols in eastern Rwanda and to determine the best fertility management options. The DSSAT crop models were used to quantify the alternative production activities. The simulation of crop yield showed that predicted crop yield was distinctly higher than the actual yield for the current small-scale farming practices common in the region. The predicted yields for beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), and cassava (Manihot esculenta) were approximately the same for all treatments, whereas the combined application of Tithonia diversifolia and Diammonium phosphate appeared to predict higher yields for maize (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). Yield prediction for all crops was higher on the Inceptisols than on the Oxisols because of the better chemical and physical conditions of Inceptisols. This is in line with reality.

Upscaling Payments for Environmental Services (PES): Critical Issues

The concept of payments for environmental services (PES) lends itself to an extremely diverse array of experimentations. At a time when PES are likely to be scaled up massively in certain parts of the tropics, notably in the context of REDD+, it is important to refine the scope of implementation of the instrument to avoid several perverse effects specific to PES and sustain its benefits over time. We analyze recent developments in PES based on a review of literature and emerging practices as we observe them in the field. Using various elements from the theory of economics, public action and environmental management, we flag five key aspects of PES that are often overlooked in most influential studies on PES: (1) the nature of the environmental service providers, (2) the actual efficiency gains of involving industrial and commercial actors, (3) the type of contractual obligations incumbent to the providers and duration of payments, (4) the potential macroeconomic effects of an upscaling of PES, and (5) the risk that PES undermine the consolidation of fragile states. If these elements are not properly addressed in the design of PES, this paper explains that the instrument risks delivering only ephemeral environmental results, while inducing a dangerous shift towards the ‘polluter-profits’ principle. Conversely, we explain how systematically going beyond monetary payments and integrating elements of technical support to encourage alternative productive activities is key to sustain PES benefits over time.

Community Member Viewpoints on the Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan, Mexico: Suggestions for Improving the Community/Natural Protected Area Relationship

The results of an analysis of the viewpoints of Celestun community members regarding the Ria Celestun Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, are used as the basis for recommendation to improve the community/natural protected area (NPA) relationship. Participant observation was used to record the opinions of 80 people (8–83 years of age) between April and August 2002. Twenty semistructured interviews were held with local young people randomly selected from the participant observation group and their fathers; one interview was held with a municipal officer. Results indicate that the informants perceived a lack of communication between community members and the Reserve concerning its objectives and action areas, minimal community participation in Reserve regulation development, an absence of alternative productive activities and unjustified restriction of natural resources. These perceived conditions can potentially generate conflict between the community and the Reserve administration, preventing fulfillment of the Reserve’s environmental protection mission and negatively affecting community welfare. It is suggested that communication between the Reserve and the community be mutual and free-flowing, that Reserve objectives be identified in conjunction with the community, that community members be included in Reserve activities and administration, that interdisciplinary teams be formed to encourage communication and participation and that alternative productive activities be developed. Particular emphasis is placed on the need to listen to and address the concerns of young people because they will define the community/Reserve relationship in the near future.

The influence of ecosystem goods and services on livestock management practices on the Bokkeveld plateau, South Africa

In the biodiversity rich regions of western South Africa transhumance grazing strategies were practised for thousands of years. Today only vestiges of these systems remain with private ownership restricting seasonal mobility. Cultivation practices have created a mosaic landscape transforming the resource base, and we have a limited understanding of livestock management practices and the relative value of all landscape components. Ecosystem goods and services assessments provide a framework which directly links the human economy, natural assets and ecological functioning. The aim in this study was to understand how farmers perceive the availability of goods and services in a heterogeneous environment, whether different vegetation types are providing different services for livestock or the same ones at different times. We use semi-structure interviews to document the current grazing strategies, and then tested perceived benefits by comparing differences in vegetation types according to structure, productivity and biomass, leaf mineral content and phenology. We found that vegetation types differ in their structure and therefore ability to provide shelter. There were limited differences in productivity and mineral content associated with feed and nutrition, and seasonal growth patterns were found to be very similar for all vegetation types. We conclude that livestock management strategies are strongly influenced by ecosystem disservices with farmers avoiding poisonous plants and boggy areas at certain times of the year. Furthermore livestock management patterns are also influenced by alternative production activities which heterogeneous landscapes provide including flower tourism and wheat production. Our study points to the need to consider the full farm economy when determining the links between ecosystem goods and services and livestock production.

Leaves and Cigarettes: Modelling the Tobacco Industry

A vast literature analyzed the tobacco industry in the past: however, most of the previous studies dealt with final demand or crop production. Instead, there are only a few works which examined the whole tobacco industry in general, and the Italian and Greek ones in particular. This book aims at filling this gap: this contribution is even more needed if we take into account that tobacco consumption is currently decreasing, but there is the possibility to grow tobacco for other purposes thanks to biotechnologies. In this context, quantitative models of the tobacco industry can be of great help for policy making. To achieve this aim, the book is organized in three parts which describe three quantitative approaches: I. An Econometric Modelling approach. The main advantage of econometric methods is the possibility to submit the models and their results to statistic validation. Moreover, econometric models can be used for simulation and/or forecasting exercises, and their performances can be checked with proper statistical tests, too. The empirical application with Italian tobacco data shows the interesting properties of this methodology in terms of forecasting performances and statistical properties. II. A Linear Programming approach. The Positive Mathematical Programming, or PMP, is a methodology used in this work to simulate the effects of the EU reform scenarios on a sample of Italian farms. The PMP is able to reproduce the economic and production framework of the farms within the sample group, and estimate the future production choices, based on the changes in economic convenience of tobacco crops with respect to possible alternative production activities within the farm. III. An Input-Output Matrix approach. In order to investigate the possible impacts of different scenarios, an Input-Output model at the national and regional level is developed and used. In this way employment, output and household income effects at the national and regional level can be revealed, while a linear programming model helps to identify the impacts on tobacco producing farms and examine the existence of possible alternative cultivation replacements to tobacco. This book can be therefore of interest to both public policy makers, as well as academics and private investors, involved in the tobacco industry.

A method for exploring sustainable development options at farm scale: a case study for vegetable farms in South Uruguay

The methodology presented in this paper aims at analysing whether there is room for improvement of vegetable farmers’ income in Canelón Grande (Uruguay), while reducing soil erosion and improving physical and biological soil fertility, and to gain insight in the influence of farmers’ resource availability on the opportunities for sustainable development. The (generic) approach we developed to support re-design of farming systems in this region is unique in dealing with complex temporal interactions in crop rotations and spatial heterogeneity on farms in one integrated method, while revealing trade-off between economic and environmental objectives. Rather than an arbitrary sub-set, all feasible crop rotations were generated, using a tool named ROTAT. The crop rotations were combined with a range of production techniques according to pre-defined design criteria to create a wide variety of alternative production activities at the field scale. We used process-based simulation models supplemented with empirical data and expert knowledge to quantify inputs and outputs of production activities. We developed a mixed integer linear programming model (MILP), named Farm Images, to allocate production activities to a farm with land units differing in soil quality, while maximising or minimising socio-economic and environmental objectives, subject to constraints at the farm level. Production activities comprised current practices as well as activities new to the area. We used Farm Images to design farm systems for seven existing farms in Canelón Grande with different resource availability. The farm systems designed by the model had higher family income than current systems for six of the seven farms studied. The estimated average soil erosion per ha decreased by a factor of 2–4 in the farm systems proposed compared to the current systems, while the rate of change of soil organic matter increased from negative in the current systems to +130 to +280 kg ha −1 yr −1 in the proposed farm systems. The degree to which the objectives could be achieved was strongly affected by farm resource endowment, i.e., particularly by the fraction of the area irrigated, soil quality and labour availability per ha. The study suggests that decreasing the area of vegetable crops by introducing long crop rotations with pastures and green manure during the inter-crop periods and integrating beef cattle production into the farm systems would often be a better strategy than the actual farmers’ practice.

DECISION TREE MODELLING TO SUPPORT INVESTMENT DECISIONS ON FLOWER PRODUCTION FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

The aim of this research was to develop a generic decision tree model that captures and integrates in a logical and orderly manner the impacts of production and marketing activities that determine the profitability of flower production for export. The model has to indicate options necessitating choices between alternative production and marketing activities and has to show the impact of a particular choice on the profitability of the total operation. The model should be easily adaptable to evaluate the suitability of various flowers for export. The model was applied to describe the income and cost determinants and relevant choices with regard to the production of Protea Magnifica (Queen Protea) in the Western Cape to be sold on Dutch flower auctions.

Trade implications of biotechnology in developing countries: A quantitative assessment

The effects of biotechnological advances on the employment and income of the rural labour force in developing countries may be analysed by means of estimates and scenarios. Improved varieties of crop could help increase physical output and therefore the income and employment opportunities for rural workers/producers. The results, however, are not obvious, especially for the small, poorer farmers and wage workers restricted to marginal areas in developing countries. Biotechnology developments could lead to changes in the international trade pattern by enhancing the possibilities for crop substitution, by the introduction of new plant characteristics, by changes in food processing such as improvements in the fermentation and enzymatic processes or by the industrial production of synthetic substitutes of plants or their components. The development of tropical plants tailored to meet the specific needs of processing countries' industry and consumers is likely to lead to overproduction, declining prices and economic and social instability in Third World exporting countries. The employment and income implications of such substitution depend on the quantitative significance of these displacements. A decrease in the labour force requirements may accrue even if the internal consumption and production increase at the expected rates. The replacement of export crops by a more labour-intensive production of selected basic grains may generate a net gain in employment. The net employment effects of biotechnology-induced substitution for tropical crops will depend on the alternative production activities adopted by the affected producers and workers to overcome the adverse impact and on the relative labour coefficients of the crops involved in the substitution and diversification.

Risk Indices for Economic and Water Quality Tradeoffs: An Application to Great Plains Agriculture

Agricultural nonpoint source pollution is a multidimensional problem encompassing several forms of contaminants and several environments (e.g., surface water and groundwater). Environmental risk indices can account for differences in chemical attributes and aggregate environmental outcomes across several forms of contaminants and environments. The objective of this analysis is to develop three environmental risk indices and use the indices to compare the environmental risk and economic returns associated with alternative production systems in the Oklahoma Panhandle region of the Central High Plains. Three environmental risk indices are developed that incorporate different information concerning the environmental effects of pesticide use. The first index-the environmental impact quotient (EIQ)-incorporates only chemical properties into the environmental risk assessment, while the two other indices-chemical environmental index (CINDEX) and chemical concentration index (CONC) also factor in estimates of expected annual runoff and percolation loadings and concentrations, respectively. Both statistical and graphical comparisons indicate that the three indices provide similar rankings of alternative production systems based upon their potential environmental consequences. The CONC index is characterized by greater volatility than the other indices, and its rankings of the production activities are least correlated with those derived from the two other indices. Results suggest some potential for reduction in environmental risk without large reductions in net returns. Application ofthe EIQ index, which does not explicitly incorporate chemical loading or concentration estimates, provides the highest estimate of income reductions. Environmental risk can be reduced by the greatest amount without significant income losses when CONC is used as the risk measurement. Therefore, although the three indices generate similar rankings of alternative production activities, their application can provide very different estimates of the economic consequences of attaining environmental objectives.

Economic Marginalisation of Peasants and Fishermen Due to Urban Expansion: The JNP Project of New Bombay, India

The Central and State Governments in India have actively intervened in redefining land use pattern, often to the detriment of the peasant cultivators. In most situations, the real beneficiaries were the speculators, developers, builders, bureaucrats, and the planning and executing body. The case of New Bombay is a classic example of state intervention that completely redefined the relationship between land and peasant-cultivators. The New Bombay project acquired large amounts of agricultural and saltpan land from peasants in 95 villages for meagre cash compensation. The objective of the paper is to trace the origin of the idea-for the creation of New Bombay and a port to attract people and industry so as to decongest Bombay-and assess the condition of peasants who had lost land to the project. The study shows that the port, like most other modem industrial projects, seriously undermined the economic position of a large number of households. The small and marginal farmers and the fishermen were seriously affected due to others' land acquisition and their own loss of access to the sea, as well as denial of employment in the project. The project also failed to assess the skills and capacities of the affected people and facilitate them to engage in alternative productive activities. Women were productively engaged in agriculture, saltpan- and fishing-related activities in the affected villages. The loss of land and access to the sea have led to a greater degree of pauperisation of women, and increasingly confined them to the margins of the labour market.

Linear programming and financial cost models for industrial enterprises

Linear programming models of complex interrelated manufacturing enterprises have improved production planning decisions. With a linear programming formulation, the planning engineer concerned with specifying levels of production activity need not be concerned with cost accounting formulations of product costs to make his production decisions. He is only concerned with examining alternative production activities in terms of the added production costs the activity incurs, and the amount of product that is fed or consumed. The financial analyst, however, is concerned with development of budgetted average product costs. He must roll the costs of feed and intermediate products down to the final stage products. This paper bridges these two interests by demonstrating a methodology for the direct translation of the solution of the linear programming model to the development of rolled product standard costs.