Categories Of Farmers Research Articles

Determinants of household food security in Nepal: A binary logistic regression analysis

The study reveals that 10.2% of the sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic food insecurity, i.e., neither are they able to produce sufficient food from their farms nor earn the food security threshold income for deficit months. With the highest and the lowest exponential value of coefficient obtained from binary logistic regression model, it is concluded that any program targeting occupational caste and small landholding farm category or landless will contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. The provision of employment opportunities for economically active age group, thus, reducing dependency ratio from 1.2 (economically active population) to 0.7 (economically active age group) can also contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. Significant positive coefficient of family size squared shows the increase in the probability of being foodinsecure with the increase in family size. In addition, an increase in irrigation availability can contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. A significant proportion of male-headed households and households residing in Tarai are food-secure. This justifies the need to target female-headed households and households residing in Mountain and Hill in any program aimed at resolving food insecurity. A negative and significant association of household’s participation in community organizations and food insecurity fortifies the need for inclusion of vulnerable groups such as occupational caste, female-headed households, households with illiterate heads, small landholding farm category or landless, and households residing in Mountain and Hill (including some target communities in Tarai) in community organizations. Furthermore, making these communities a target of food security programs can help significantly to reduce the incidence of food insecurity.

A STUDY ON PROFITABILITY OF RAINBOW TROUT (Oncorhynchus mykiss) FARMS IN MARMARA REGION, TURKEY

In this study, annual income-expenditure data of land based rainbow trout farms in Marmara Region is evaluated. The farms in the region are classified as small, middle and large farms ac- cording to their production capacities. Profitability calculations are conducted on the base of production capacities of farms and integration level of farms from hatchery to restaurants. Data are received from farms through inquiry forms filled by owners and laborers after visits and interviews. Calculations show that the juvenile fish trading income in large farms provides 24.7% of the total income in average. The portion fish trading income in the middle farms is 78.4% of the total income. The average income obtained from fish sales to customers by serv- ing in their own restaurants is 46.6%. These percentages are the highest income parameter for each capacity class. Expenditure calculations show that juvenile fish purchase, feed consump- tion, investment and labor costs reach approximately 75% of total expenditure for all categories of farms. Therefore, the expenditures obtained from juvenile fish purchase, feed consumption, investment and labor costs are the main parameters of total expenditures. Juvenile fish and feed expenditures increase with the increase in farm capacity but labor and investment costs don't increase with the scale of the farms. The net profitability percentages of small, middle and large farms are 58.7%, 67.3% and 76.0%, respectively. The results showed that the economic profitability of land based rainbow trout farms in Marmara Region of Turkey significantly in- creases with increasing production capacities of farms.

Piggerywaste management and profitability of pig farming in Imo State Nigeria

The indiscriminate dumping of piggery waste especially in areas where pig farms are located necessitated this study which assessed piggery waste management systems and profitability of pig farming in Imo state Nigeria. Piggery waste management systems in the study area were identified and described, the farm profitability were assessed based on these systems. Primary data were colleted from 60 pig farms selected using multi -stage sampling technique. Cost-route approach was used to collect information on the income statement of the farmers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, operating net returns and benefit cost ratio. Net profits of the different categories of pig farms based on their waste management systems were compared using ANOVA statistics. The result shows that 75% of the pig farms managed their waste by open dumping, produced an average annual output of 67952. 4kg of dung with an average net profit of N863252.98 and a BCR of 1.66. Those that manage their waste by using it for crop and fish production constituted 20% of the farms studied. This group produced an average annual out put of 40447kg of dung with an average net profit of N711858.08 and a BCR of 1.67. Also, 5% of the pig farmers dumped their waste into moving streams. They produced an average annual output of 27470kg of dung with an average net profit of N592035.83 and a BCR of 1.74. Statistical analysis indicated that the net profits did not differ significantly across the systems of wastemanagement. Therefore pig farming is profitable in the study area and the profit is not significantly influenced by the waste management systems.Keywords: piggery waste management, profitability, pig farming, net profit

Animal Production Strategies in Southern Region of Bangladesh

A survey was conducted in different districts of Barisal division in Bangladesh during May-June, 2008 to assess the production, consumption and marketing of livestock and their products. A total of 114 farmers were interviewed, of which 26, 24, 21, 10, 10 and 9 % were in Patuakhali, Barisal, Barguna, Bhola, Jhalakati and Pirojpur districts, respectively under Barisal division of Bangladesh. The livestock keeping patterns of farm household’s were cattle, buffalo, goat, chicken or duck or any combination of these. Cattle and chicken population was high in all farm categories and due to marshy area duck was higher in number compared to other region. Cattle and buffaloes were also reared by share system. Average milk production per cow was found 2.25 liter per day. The small and large farmers sold the highest portion of the product and the medium farmers consumed most of their products. On an average, all farm households spent 29, 18 and 19 % income generated through livestock for their daily expenses, agricultural inputs and food, respectively. On an average, health and veterinary expenditure per household was 6.95 US$ (1US$=70BDT). Black quarter (23 %) and Foot and mouth disease (35 %) in cattle, Diarrhoea (39 %) and PPR (29 %) in goat, ranikhet (40 %) and fowl pox (34 %) in poultry were the common disease.

Non-Parametric Energy Use Efficiency, Energy Ratio and Specific Energy for Irrigated Wheat Crop Production

In this paper, non parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was subjected to the energy data of wheat producers in Punjab state, India, and technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies were calculated for farms both category wise and zone wise. The main objective was to determine the strength of the correlation between non-parametric efficiencies and indices such as energy ratio and specific energy. Results revealed that larger farms had a higher energy ratio and lower specific energy as compared to smaller ones. Frequency distribution of technical efficiency scores revealed that large farms were more consistent on efficiency scores, and the dispersion of technical efficiency was highest on medium farms followed by semi Medium and small farms. The correlation coefficients between energy ratio and each technical, pure and scale efficiency, as well as those between specific energy and each technical, pure and scale efficiency showed that energy ratio and specific energy are not appropriate indices for explaining farm efficiencies in different farm categories and zones.

Personal, Farm and Value Orientations in Conversion to Organic Farming

Despite the 20% annual increase in consumption of organic foods, the price premiums for organic produce, and the critical mass of organic production and producers in North Dakota, the level of adoption of organic farming remains quite low. The goal of this research is to assist organic farming agencies and organizations in developing programming targeted to potential adopters of organic farming. It accomplishes this by identifying variables which classify producers as either organic or conventional. While environmental-ethical motivating factors explained the classification of producers into organic and conventional farming categories, none of the farm structural variables and only one personal demographic variable were able to classify producers. In examining the logistic regression analysis, the three most important classificatory factors were environmental-ethical reasons, production orientation, and farming orientation. The implications of the results for programming to target potential adopters of organic farming are discussed.

Purchasing foods produced on organic, small and local farms: A mixed method analysis of New England consumers

AbstractResearch focused on consumer behavior and attitudes toward organic, small-scale and locally produced foods can help organic producers understand consumer values, and in turn develop production and marketing approaches that match these values. This research on New England area food shoppers included focus groups, individual interviews, and a mail survey, all of which helped us to identify relationships between organic food buying and consumers' views of the food system. Comments made in focus groups and individual interviews revealed a frequent blending of the concepts of local, small-scale and organic, and their associated benefits. Subsequent mail surveys identified similar tendencies, although respondents made some distinctions among the reasons why they bought food from the three farm categories. When there were differences, respondents tended to attribute greater importance to reasons to buy from local farms, as compared to organic or small farms. The six questions for which the differences across farm categories had the lowest P-values were related to the environment, rural economy, rural landscape, farmers, product freshness and product taste. However, freshness, taste, nutritional quality and safety were some of the most compelling reasons that were attributed to all three farm categories. The challenge for the small, local and organic producer will be to continue to hold the consumer's attention as the general perception of organic farming shifts to a more industrialized model.

Exploring Farm Investment Behaviour in Transition: The Case of Russian Agriculture

AbstractThis paper analyses the investment behaviour of Russian farms during the period of economic stabilisation that followed Russia’s financial crisis of 1998, and is the first to apply the error‐correction investment model to describe farms’ investment behaviour in the transitional context. Additionally, the paper employs the error‐correction and the adjustment‐cost model to test for differences in the investment behaviour between various farm categories. The results show that in general Russian farms exhibited an error‐correcting behaviour in the period under investigation. From 1999 to 2005 the output–capital gap was closed by an average rate of 10% per year. Estimates of the adjustment‐cost model show that Russian farm investments are very sensitive to the sales–capital ratio, suggesting that Russian farms exhibit increasing returns to scale and positive expectations about future revenues. Yet, such farm characteristics as ownership structure, access to input markets and also regional specifics were found to be decisive for farm investment not only in the short but long term too. Finally, the results show that the adjustment‐cost model is adequate for the evaluation of differences in short‐term investment behaviour, whereas it is noticeably less powerful for investigating differences in the farms’ long‐term investment behaviour.

Efficiency of Resource Use in Selected Farms in Kwara State of Nigeria:

This study was carried out to compare the efficiency of production among small, medium and large farm categories in Kwara State of Nigeria by using the normalized profit-function approach. A sample of 180 respondents consisting of 60 from each of the three farm classes were selected using the multi-stage stratified random sampling method. The data collected from each class of farm were subjected to gross margin and profit-function analyses. The result shows that the average age of the respondents was forty-three years and the average household size was eight. About 19% of the respondents have no formal education, while 44.5% have one form of education or the other. The average farm size was 1.63ha and each respondent on the average has three farm plots in different locations. Gross margin analysis shows that large farms earn #29,500/ha, medium farms #18,524/ha and small farms #14,092/ha during the 2000/2001 cropping season. In the three farm categories, farm size and fertililizer input have positive and significant relationship with farm productivity and profitability. Labour input positively affect output on large farms while it negatively affects productivity in small and medium farms. The use of agrochemicals and seeds contributed positively to output in the three classes of farm. Returns to scale and technical efficiency were highest in the large farm category and lowest in the small farm category. The indirect estimates of input elasticity show that large farms are technically more efficient than medium and small farms. It is recommended that apart from providing adequate supply of fertilizer and other input to farmers, policies supporting large farms should be put in place and farmers should be enlightened on the benefits of using agrochemicals and improved seeds on their farms. JARD Vol. 3 2004: pp. 47-60

Study on energy use efficiency for paddy crop using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique

The energy-ratio (output energy to input energy ratio) and specific energy (input energy to yield ratio denoted by MJ/kg) of farmers in crop production systems are indices, which can define the efficiency and performance of farms. Technical efficiency (weighted output energy to weighted input energy ratio) is another way to explain the efficiency of farmers. In this paper non-parametric method i.e. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was subjected to data of paddy producers in Punjab state (India). Technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies were calculated (by using CCR and BCC models) for farmers category-wise and zone-wise. Results revealed that small farmers had high energy-ratio and low specific energy requirement as compared to larger ones at paddy farms. Energy-ratio was 10 in zone 2 and 8.6 in zone 3 and was highest as compared to other zones and it depicted that the farmers in these zones had more efficiency than other zones. There was strong correlation between energy-ratio and technical efficiency in both category-wise and zone-wise with correlation coefficient 0.98 and 0.99, respectively. Also it was observed that the correlation coefficient between specific energy and inverse technical efficiency was 0.97 and 0.99, respectively for operation-wise and source-wise energy inputs for paddy crop. Although there was high correlation between technical efficiency and energy-ratio, however comparison between correlation coefficient of farmers in different farm categories and different zones showed that energy-ratio and specific energy are not enhanced indices for explaining of all kinds of the technical, pure technical and scale efficiency of farmers.

Farmers, Markets and Contracts: Chain Integration of Smallholder Producers in Costa Rica

The agrarian production structure of Costa Rica is characterized by a high diversity of farm types, with a predominance of family-based enterprises. This historical inheritance makes the country significantly different from its Central American neighbours (Hall 1985, Seligson 1980). 1 Large capital-intensive plantations that produce for the international markets coexist with extensive livestock haciendas and small and medium-sized, owner-operated farms. Within the latter category of family farms, two types of producers can be distinguished: (1) a traditional peasant sector 2 , comprised of low-income farmers living in former agrarian frontier zones and in rural settlements created by the Agrarian Development Institute (IDA), and (2) an important group of semi-commercial farmers that produce both traditional crops (such as coffee, bananas, sugar cane) and non-traditional crops (for example, tropical fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants) usually reaching competitive production performance. Both groups differ with respect to typical farm-household characteristics (age, education, family size, and dependency rate), production scale, resource endowments, spatial location (access to infrastructure) and market characteristics (access to inputs and information). Rural development policies in Costa Rica thus require rather differentiated incentive regimes to address the needs of the wide range of production units operating under different market and institutional conditions. During the period 1950-1980, a large number of state-funded programmes – with subsidized credits, price guarantees for staple crops, input subsidies, and public research and extension activities – supported the agricultural sector in general and the traditional peasant sector in particular. After 1980, agrarian policies in Costa Rica suddenly changed their former import substitution orientation towards the progressive incorporation of the agricultural sector into an open-market economy with limited state interventions (SEPSA 1999, Pomareda 1996). In fact, the share of non-traditional agricultural production in the agricultural gross product increased from 10 per cent in 1980, to 19 per cent in 1990, 30.8 per cent in 2001, and 57 per cent in 2006 (Umana 2002, SEPSA 2007). The change from import-substitution schemes to a more open market-oriented model brought both opportunities and threats to the agricultural sector of Costa Rica. Whereas the competitiveness of many new activities certainly increased, at the same time a lack of coordination between the government and the private sector became apparent, inhibiting many peasant producers from taking advantage of the new challenges (SEPSA 1999, Doryan-Garron 1990). Consequently, within the smallholder sector, both winners and losers are found. The former moved into agro-export activities, using new production technologies and achieving vertical integration, capital accumulation and economic diversification, while the latter

Understanding farmer adoption of agricultural best management practices

I n an ideal world, we would have a complete understanding about what motivates farmers to adopt best management practices (BMPs). With this knowledge in hand, conservation promoters and educators could deliver the perfect set of incentives and messages to each individual producer. If we knew that certain farmers would never be interested in adopting practices, we would not waste scarce time and resources on these individuals but could focus our energy on more amenable farmers. For over 25 years, researchers have been trying to address this complex issue. Unfortunately, human behavior is difficult to predict, and even when studies ask similar questions, they often find different answers. In an attempt to understand the complete state of our knowledge about farmer adoption, we conducted a meta-analysis of all the relevant literature in the United States. We included all studies that presented some sort of statistical analysis with conclusions about the significance (or insignificance) of the relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable, BMP adoption. A total of 55 articles met our criteria. As studies often include very similar variables and test similar hypotheses, we were able to organize the independent variables into summary categories of capacity, awareness, attitudes, and farm …

Czech agriculture after the accession to the European Union - impacts on the development of its multifunctionality

The article presents the evaluation of multifunctionality of Czech agriculture and its individual farm categories in the period of 2003–2005. It compares the situation before and after the EU accession. The assessment is based on the set of indicators for the three elementary axes of multifunctionality: economic efficiency, relations to environment and relations to rural development. Applying the presented method of multi-criterion evaluation and during the period of 2003–2005 on average, the highest level of multifunctionality is found in the category of farms of physical persons with 101–300 ha (score 174) and the lowest level in the category of collective farms – cooperatives and joint stock companies (score about 115). However, compared with the pre-accession period, the collective farms show the highest growth of the score (by 17%) after the EU accession.

Productivity and Efficiency of Small and Large Farms in Transition: Evidence from Moldova

Transition to market-oriented agriculture has been characterized in all the CIS countries by a massive shift from large-scale "agricultural enterprises" to small family farms. The comparative efficiency of these two categories of farms is thus a topical issue for agriculture in transition counties. This article uses national agricultural statistics for Moldova for 1990-2006 and cross-section data from three farm surveys conducted in 2000-2003 to analyze the productivi29ty of small individual farms and large corporate farms in Moldova. Partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency scores are calculated for farms of different organizational forms. This evidence has a direct bearing on the issue of comparative performance of large and small farms.

From ‘weak’ to ‘strong’ multifunctionality: Conceptualising farm-level multifunctional transitional pathways

Building on normative conceptualisations of multifunctionality as a decision-making spectrum bounded by productivist and non-productivist action and thought, this paper analyses farm-level multifunctional agricultural transitions. First, the paper suggests that it may be possible to categorise different farm types along the productivist/non-productivist multifunctionality spectrum, and that transitional potential from weak to strong multifunctionality often differs between different categories of farms and types of farm ownership. Second, the paper conceptualises multifunctional transitional processes at farm level over time, and introduces the notions of multifunctional path dependency and decision-making corridors, the latter of which can be understood as ‘bundles’ of decision-making opportunities bounded by productivist and non-productivist action and thought. The analysis suggests that system memory plays an important role in defining the likelihood of multifunctional actions, and argues that transitional ruptures—sudden breaks in transitional pathways—often characterise farm-level transitions. The paper concludes by highlighting the methodological challenges awaiting future researchers of multifunctional agricultural transitions.

Correlations between Campylobacter spp. prevalence in the environment and broiler flocks

To investigate (i) possible correlations between the presence of Campylobacter spp. in the surroundings of broiler farms and their incidence in flocks, and (ii) possible associations between weather conditions and the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. Farms were selected according to previous results from the Swedish Campylobacter programme. Samples were collected in and around broiler houses during the rearing period from 131 flocks on 31 farms, including sock samples from the ground outside, from the floor in the broiler houses and anterooms, and samples from insects, water, feed and ventilation shafts. As expected, there was a difference in Campylobacter isolation rates for different categories of farms regarding samples taken in the houses. However, there were no differences regarding the presence of Campylobacter spp. in the environment between producers that often deliver Campylobacter-positive slaughter batches and those that rarely deliver positive batches. Campylobacter spp. were more frequently found in the surroundings on rainy days when compared with sunny days. Physical barriers between outside and inside the houses appeared to be important for preventing Campylobacter spp. in the environment to be transferred into the broiler houses.

Linear programming-based optimization of the productivity and sustainability of crop-livestock-compost manure integrated farming systems in midlands of Vietnam

Farmers’ livelihood in the midlands of the northern part of Vietnam relies mainly on crop production and livestock rearing. Green manure and animal dung are commonly used for crops, particularly in rice culture a staple food crop, and sugarcane a cash crop. Due to the small-scale livestock systems, the animal dung is limited, which results farmers in preferring a smaller sugarcane cultivation area. This research study was to investigate and to optimize the effect of animal and green manures and their combination together with heat-compost technique on the improvement of the quality of organic manure, soil fertility and yield in three farm categories. The study revealed that the farmers in the small, medium and large farm categories should raise livestock up to 4 pigs and 3 buffaloes, 7 pig and 5 buffaloes, and 20 pigs and 13 buffaloes, respectively to match with the available resources. The optimized livestock herd holding and sugarcane cultivation area resulted in 88.7% increase of the return from livestock and 62.5% from crops in the small farm size, 25% from livestock and 9% from crops in the medium farm size and 171% from livestock while unchanged from crops in the large farm size.

EXTERNALITIES, INSTITUTIONS AND THE LOCATION CHOICES OF SHELLFISH PRODUCERS: THE CASE OF BLUE MUSSEL FARMING IN THE MONT-SAINT-MICHEL BAY (FRANCE)

ABSTRACT Most marine aquaculture activities remain strongly dependent on coastal ecosystems. In the case of shellfish farming, this dependency is related mainly to water quality and to the various ecological interactions resulting from the dynamics of coastal food webs. Such ecological constraints have influenced the overall evolution of blue mussel farming in the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, leading producers to negotiate collective arrangements regarding production capacity and techniques and to develop production strategies at the farm level. This article presents an analysis of the location choices of mussel farmers in the Mont-Saint-Michel Bay based on an empirical investigation conducted in 2002. A typology of farms with respect to their land structure is developed in which some farms choose to concentrate their activity in a single part of the bay while others distribute their activity more widely. Determinants of the location choices of each farm category, including distance to port, natural productivity differentials, and predation of mussel stocks, are analyzed. The role of the institutional arrangements allowing mussel farmers to develop these location strategies is also discussed.

An investigation into the energy use in relation to yield of rice (Oryza sativa) in Assam, India

Abstract Energy use scenario and resulting rice yield of 576 farms belonging to six agroclimatic zones of Assam, India were investigated. Input energy from eight distinct sources, viz ., human, animal, diesel, commercial chemical fertilizer, farm yard manure (FYM), seed, pesticide chemical and machinery were determined on the basis of collected data and using standard procedure. Based on the power sources used and application of commercial chemical fertilizer, four categories of farms were delineated: (i) animal power without commercial fertilizer (APNF), (ii) animal power with commercial fertilizer (APF), (iii) mechanical power without commercial fertilizer (MPNF) and (iv) mechanical power with commercial fertilizer (MPF). The best-fit curve of energy versus yield indicated that use of commercial chemical fertilizer and mechanical power resulted in higher rice yield at higher level of input energy. Moreover, as the use of energy increased the yield increased up to maxima and then declined at higher levels of energy. This was observed in all four categories of farms with variation in yield–energy values. The average values of energy input (MJ ha −1 ) and corresponding yield (kg ha −1 ) for the APNF, APF, MPNF and MPF type of farms were (5220, 1980); (9050, 3170); (5100, 2360) and (8320, 3800), respectively. Renewable energy dominated the rice cultivation in Assam contributing more than 50% of the total input energy with the exception of MPF category of farm where share of renewable and non-renewable were found to be almost equal. Among the farm operations, tillage was the highest energy consuming operation followed by threshing, harvesting and transplanting for all four categories of farms. However, it was observed that rice yield was not positively correlated with tillage energy.

Livestock carrying capacity evaluation in an integrated farming system: A case study from the mid-hills of Nepal

The crop livestock integrated farming system practiced in hilly regions of developing countries largely depends on the ecosystem as a whole. More especifically, the livestock component of the farming system relies heavily on natural resources such as forest, grazing and agricultural land for the supply of feed and fodder. The importance of animals as agents of nutrient recycling, sources of rural energy in terms of draft power and fuel, as well as being major contributors to the farm economy, has resulted in an increased population of ruminants in these regions, creating a threat to the sustainability and productivity of these land resources. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the livestock carrying capacity of land resources and to formulate the optimum herd size compatible with the differently resourced farm categories within the sub-watershed region of the mid-hills in Nepal. Our analysis reveals that the livestock carrying capacity of the land resources at the watershed level is 11696 Livestock Units (LU), whereas current stocking is 12985 LU, suggesting an overstocking of 1289 LU at the watershed level. Total feed supply from different sources is 12668 mt/yr whereas current Total Digestive Nutrient (TDN) demand is 14060 mt/yr, a negative balance of 1393 mt/yr. The excess livestock at the sub-watershed level directly implies excess livestock holding, producing a poor nutritional status for the farm household. Linear programming analysis reveals that the farmers of large, medium and small category farms can optimize their livestock holding by a combination of 3 LU buffaloes and 4 LU goats, 2 LU buffaloes and 4 LU goats and 1 LU buffaloes and 4.4 LU goats, thus giving maximum return to the farm family without exerting pressure on fragile natural resources.