Agricultural Competitiveness Research Articles

Competition, trade, and sustainability in agriculture and food markets in Africa

Abstract Food and agriculture accounts for around one-third of global emissions reflecting the effects of consumption in high-income countries on production and land use around the world. These effects include those transmitted through international trade such as in the constituents of animal feed for meat. African countries face a dual challenge of adapting to the growing effects of climate change in the shape of extreme weather, and increasing agriculture and food production as part of developing their economies. At the same time, there is increasing concentration in the production and trading of agriculture and food products, globally and within Africa. This article considers the interaction of concentration and responses to climate change in food markets through a focus on meat and animal feed, and the developments in maize and soybeans in East and Southern Africa. The possible role for competition policy as part of a wider reform agenda is proposed.

MODEL FOR ASSESSING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF REGIONAL AGRICULTURE

Starting from 2014, the agri-food sector, like other sectors of the Russian economy, has been developing under the influence of economic and other sanctions aimed at reducing its competitiveness, reducing foreign trade turnover. The world community puts pressure on countries where food, agricultural raw materials and other Russian-made goods are exported. The problems of ensuring food independence, which directly affects the Russian Federation’ national security, the development of interregional food ties, increasing the level of self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs in regions that have unfavorable conditions for agriculture, are becoming increasingly important. Such regions include the vast majority of Siberia and the Far East territories, the assessment of the competitiveness of which in terms of the efficiency of agricultural production was carried out in this work. The authors propose a model for assessing the competitiveness of regional agriculture, taking into account the role of digitalization in the development of the rural economy, by introducing for this a block of indicators characterizing the penetration of ICT. The dynamics of the development of regional agricultural production in the conditions of the sanctions economy and the introduction of digital solutions in the agro-industrial complex are analyzed, priority areas for increasing the competitiveness of agriculture in Siberia and the Far East are identified. Implementation of these suggestions will increase the level of food self-sufficiency of the population and create conditions for its consolidation in rural areas.

Effect of farmland cost on the scale efficiency of agricultural production based on farmland price deviation

The relationship between agricultural production factor prices and production performance has long been a topic of academic discussion. However, current research has paid relatively little attention to the problem of scale efficiency losses in agricultural production caused by deviations in farmland prices. In order to explore the development direction needed to improve China's agricultural competitiveness, we analyzed the deviation mechanism of farmland prices in China and the loss of scale efficiency of agricultural production due to high farmland prices, starting from the perspective of farmland price deviation. Accordingly, based on 1188 micro-farm household survey samples, a threshold regression model was used to provide empirical support for our theoretical analysis in two dimensions: full samples and differentiation of farmland use types. The empirical results show that the problem of high farmland prices prevails throughout China, with the mean farmland price deviation (abbreviated as DEV) in Chinese provinces reaching 1.42, and it is especially high in Shandong (1.88), Henan (1.67), and Heilongjiang (1.59). The deviation is mainly caused by China's special resource endowment and farming culture. At the same time, the current scale efficiency of agricultural production in Chinese provinces is inadequate, with a mean value of only 0.70, and approximately 65% of farmers' actual input size is significantly lower than the optimal input size. The threshold effect test shows that the effect of farmland cost increase on agricultural production scale efficiency exhibits a structural shift from promoting to inhibiting as the degree of farmland price changes from low to high. In particular, in the scenario of overpriced farmland (DEV ≥ 1.16), farmland cost increase inhibits the growth of China's agricultural production scale efficiency. In addition, there is heterogeneity across farmland uses, with grain crops being more likely to be scale-efficient (0.74) than nongrain crops (0.62). The threshold regression results between the grain and nongrain groups further reveal that in the high farmland price scenario, grain crops are more severely inhibited by the rising cost of farmland than nongrain crops. Ultimately, we propose an optimal solution to improve the performance of agricultural production in China in two dimensions: reducing farmland cost and promoting service scale operation.

Does rural livelihood change? Household capital, climate shocks and farm entry-exit decisions in rural Pakistan

Agriculture is a primary source of livelihoods in developing countries. The process of entry and exit of farming activities continues to play an important role in maintaining competition in agriculture and allocating resources between agriculture and other sectors. However, climate changes and other economic and social shocks have been severely affecting farmers’ livelihoods. This article examines rural household livelihood transition in the context of farm entry and exit decisions in rural Pakistan. Using 1867 rural household survey data, we brought insights into how livelihood assets, climate shocks, climate investment and locational characteristics affect their farm entry and exit decisions. The results indicate that the proportion of farm entry (24%) was higher than that of farm exit (15%). The major factors were crop inputs using as credit with a huge markup, crop inputs sold by farmers on net cash in financial crisis, climate shocks and poor climate investment that contributed to farm exit. They were household head characteristics, land ownership (family farm), and livestock ownership that increased the likelihood of farm entry decisions. Farm exit decisions were significantly and positively associated with household migration status, irrigation water shortage, off-farm income, crop input used as credit, crop diseases, climate shocks and lack of local government role in sharing climate knowledge. Furthermore, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) results found that the entry decision significantly decreases household income, while the exit decision significantly increases household income and food security status. These findings provide insights into farm entry and exit for those who are planning livelihood transition, and offer recommendations on how to overcome the constraints faced by farming businesses, agricultural sustainability, self-sufficiency and food security during the transition nationally and internationally.

Deliver Smart, Not More! Building Economically Sustainable Competitiveness on the Ground of High Agri-Food Trade Specialization in the EU.

Competitiveness has always been a multifaceted illusive concept, which has made it a real challenge for scholars and practitioners to find the most suitable measurement tools to completely encapsulate all the complex nuances of competitiveness. This becomes even more of a challenge when approached in relation to particular economic sectors. The agri-food sector is no exception, especially when considering all its interconnections with the other sectors: water, energy, transport, waste. All of them impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Similarly, scholars have been debating the meaning of sustainability for decades, some even arguing that it is a political, subjective, and, in some cases, self-contradictory concept. As far as the sustainability of agricultural competitiveness is concerned, the literature is still developing. It is much more focused on fostering environmental competitiveness, and less attention was paid to the strategies designed to capitalize on sustainable economic competitiveness-a concept that has attracted divergent opinions in the literature, mainly due to ambiguity. Thus, instead of falling into the pitfall of vagueness, this paper was aimed at bringing its contribution to this field by undertaking the research objective of exploring a single facet of sustainable agricultural competitiveness: the economic facet. Hence, this paper proposes the construction of the sustainable economic competitiveness index (SECI) with direct application for agri-food value chains. It consists of three attributes: (a) factor endowments, resource independence; (b) agricultural chain performance; and (c) national agricultural chain strategies and policies. In this study, SECI was tested against the cereal chain for a selection of EU countries, based on the data taken over from FAOSTAT and INTRACEN Trade Map, in the case of the 2011-2020 period. Various statistical and econometric methods were used to test the robustness of SECI. Results stand as proof that building sustainable agricultural economic competitiveness relies on a mix of strategic actions. The key vector in this mix is that trade flow patterns and policies must be calibrated in accordance with national factor endowments in order to achieve high levels of SECI. To add more managerial implications, this paper argues for the smart delivery of agri-food products with high added value instead of focusing on exporting big volumes of raw agricultural materials with little added value.

QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF STATE POLICY ON COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

It is impossible to get a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the factors determining the competitiveness of agriculture without a regression model and a quantitative assessment of that impact using econometric calculations, which allows to isolate the factors that have a greater or lesser impact. However, the range of result and factor indicators that have a statistical relationship with the competitiveness of the Republic's agriculture is not comprehensive (taking into account that not all of them may have such a relationship), which limits the possibilities of quantitative assessment of the joint impact of all factors on the said competitiveness. In this case, it is necessary to limit to the quantitative assessment of the impact of specific factors on individual characteristics of agricultural competitiveness. Taking into account the special role of the state policy factor in increasing the competitiveness of agriculture in terms of creating the necessary conditions and a favorable environment, the article highlighted and revealed the individual characteristics of the competitiveness of RA agriculture in the studied period: the value of the gross production of agriculture, the index of the volume of agricultural products, the productivity and commodity of agriculture. the statistical relationship between the level and the factor of budgetary allocations to agriculture considered as the bearer of the above-mentioned policy as a result of regression analysis. It made it possible to identify the characteristics of agricultural competitiveness on which the mentioned factor had more or less influence.

QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMPACT OF VARIOUS FACTORS ON SOME INDICATORS CHARACTERIZING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE IN RA

It is impossible to get a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the factors determining the competitiveness of agriculture without a regression model and a quantitative assessment of that impact using econometric calculations, which allows to isolate the factors that have a greater or lesser impact. However, the range of result and factor indicators that have a statistical relationship with the competitiveness of the Republic's agriculture is not comprehensive (taking into account that not all of them may have such a relationship), which limits the possibilities of quantitative assessment of the joint impact of all factors on the said competitiveness. In this case, it is necessary to limit to the quantitative assessment of the impact of specific factors on individual characteristics of agricultural competitiveness. Taking into account the role of productivity, yield and grain yield as the main result indicators characterizing the competitiveness of agriculture and its sub-sectors, the article highlighted and revealed the statistical relationship between these indicators and the individual factors affecting them in the period under study as a result of regression analysis (including considering the yield of wheat, and grain yield with the example of milk yield of cows). This made it possible to identify the factors that have a greater or lesser influence on the magnitude of the indicated indicators and to direct efforts to the mitigation of specific negative factors and to make the most of the possibilities of positively influencing factors.

EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT FOR THE MAIN DIRECTIONS OF PROPOSED STATE POLICY TO INCREASE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The implementation of an effective state policy of increasing the competitiveness of agriculture of the Republic of Armenia requires not only clarifying the directions of this policy, but also evaluating the effectiveness of their implementation. In this context, a number of the most important directions of the state policy of increasing the competitiveness of RA agriculture, presented in the article with specific calculations, are highlighted, in particular, the introduction of the drip irrigation system, the use of mechanisms for providing targeted subsidies for arable land cultivation, the realized milk subsidy mechanism, the newest models of digital agricultural technologies, DJI Agras T 50 agricultural evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of the drone and the IMETOS 3.3 weather station (taking into account their comparative advantages over others), the use of which can significantly contribute to the increase of the competitiveness of the mentioned sector.

ІННОВАЦІЙНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ В ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННІ МІЖНАРОДНОЇ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ СІЛЬСЬКОГОСПОДАРСЬКИХ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ

Article is dedicated to the study of the role of innovative technologies in ensuring the international competitiveness of agricultural enterprises. The authors analyze the current state of agriculture, its problems, and prospects for development. The article discusses the appropriateness of using innovative technologies in agriculture, priority innovative technologies in agriculture, as well as tools for their implementation. The authors describe the importance of innovative technologies in agriculture and emphasize that the application of modern technologies is an important factor in increasing production efficiency and ensuring competitiveness in the international market. The article describes various innovative technologies that can be applied in agriculture, such as smart agriculture, artificial intelligence, energy-efficient technologies, digitization, automation, integrated production systems, biotechnology, ecology, and others. The authors study the tools for implementing innovations in agriculture, including various funding programs, foreign investments, government grants for research, preferential loans for agricultural producers, subsidies, state support for small and medium-sized businesses in the agricultural sector. The positive impact of innovations in the agricultural sector on production and export of products is analyzed using Ukraine as an example. It is noted that innovative technologies are a key element in ensuring international competitiveness in agriculture. They allow for increased production capacity, improved product quality, reduced costs, and increased efficiency in resource use. Many studies have also shown that the use of innovative systems in agriculture can lead to a 15% increase in profits for agribusinesses. However, implementing innovative tools requires significant costs, which are often unattainable for small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. Therefore, the authors recommend that the government provide support for agricultural enterprises and create favorable conditions for the implementation of innovative technologies.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE STATE POLICY OF RAISING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE AND THE POSSIBILITIES TO LOCALIZE IT IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The article is devoted to the analysis of the international experience of the state policy of increasing the competitiveness of agriculture and the evaluation of its localization possibilities in the Republic of Armenia. The study of that experience shows that for this purpose, in all countries, almost the same direct and indirect instruments of state aid to agriculture are used, among which different mechanisms of subsidies, the use of a system of guaranteed prices, targeted lending, tax benefits, etc. are typical. In terms of increasing the competitiveness of agriculture, the difference lies in the directions of application of these instruments in specific countries, the size, the selection of manifestations, the mechanisms of tax and credit privileges. In the observed countries, the state support to agriculture and increasing its competitiveness is carried out in certain directions, in particular: stabilization of the income of agricultural producers, price support and establishment of balance, promotion of export of agricultural products, financing of agricultural research and innovations, increasing the level of technical saturation of agriculture. The difference between the approaches used in different countries in relation to these directions lies in the scales, mechanisms, implementation methods, complications, obstacles and opportunities of their manifestation in individual countries. In terms of the above, the Republic of Armenia is not an exception either, which for various objective and subjective reasons does not use the opportunities available in the above directions. In this case, it is necessary to localize the best practices from international experience as much as possible, to identify and evaluate its possibilities and the mechanisms of their use. The full use of the mentioned opportunities requires studying the applied mechanisms of the state policy, and based on that, the primary ones that regulate problematic relations in the republic's agriculture and are considered the most justified and possible have been nominated. Among the elements of that experience can be the application of cluster policy, the expansion of the insurance field, the improvement of their approaches and mechanisms, the mechanisms of technical re-equipment, the introduction of technologies and innovations, the approaches of encouraging businessmen, etc. At the same time, the article presented recommendations on the use of the possibilities of localizing the international experience of state support for agriculture and the state policy of increasing competitiveness in our republic.

Information systems in organic agriculture: foreign experience

The article is devoted to the relevant topic of the application of information systems and technologies in organic agriculture. The authors substantiate the importance of using such systems to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of farms in the context of green economy development. There is a need to implement IT solutions to optimize business processes, accounting, data analysis, logistics, and sale of organic products. Based on the study of the positive experience of countries with developed organic production on the use of specialized information systems, it is concluded that the introduction of digital technologies, technologies involving automation of production, technological and management processes, will contribute to the long-term development of organic agribusiness, will produce better products with less harm to the environment, and will also increase the efficiency of organic production due to more economical use of resources. At the same time, the author points out a number of limitations: high cost of implementation, lack of qualified personnel among farmers, insufficiently developed infrastructure in rural areas. Nevertheless, the author sees the prospects for the development of organic agriculture in the creation of cloud solutions, integration with mobile technologies, the use of big data and artificial intelligence at all stages of the movement of products from the manufacturer to the consumer. In general, the article is of practical value, gives an idea of the current level and prospects of organic agriculture digitalization.

Preface

International Conference on Ecosystem, Biotechnology agriculture and Environmental Science We are very happy to bring you the proceedings of the first International Conference on Ecosystem, Biotechnology agriculture and Environmental Science conjunction with International Conference on Agriculture and Environmental Science. This conference is intended to maintain knowledge exchange on policy support that allows for improving resource management for agricultural competitiveness towards progressive, self-reliance, and modern agriculture. The conference was held virtually, hosted by the Forum Kerjasama Pendidikan Tinggi and UPN “VETERAN” JAWA TIMUR.Agriculture and rural sector remain to be major economic drivers at which agricultural producers and rural economies need to be supported through appropriate policies. Policy support should allow a fair agricultural product competitiveness, both for local markets and for global trade. With all challenges faced by stakeholders in rural areas, the availability of resources needs to be inclusively managed to meet the right balance between economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. High recognition on this condition would lead to key elements as foundation to recreate appropriate policy, institutional role, and financial support to promote agricultural resource competitiveness for sustainable and inclusive development of rural sector.With expressing experiences and analyses from different angles, various sound policy recommendation in respect to the conference theme have been drawn for the interest of all concerned. The outbreak of coronavirus since 2020 has been vastly scattered and extremely influence almost all aspects of human life. Agricultural sector has also been affected with quite large of disadvantages. Concern on the current health situation and its impact in agricultural sector, the influence of pandemic COVID-19 has also been raised in any of the topics of this conference. Its impact on efforts to accelerate improvement of agricultural competitiveness would be valuable in addressing agricultural sustainability.Holding a conference during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a series of hard work to bring the most advanced technology at all stages of the conference. The International Conference on Ecosystem, Biotechnology agriculture and Environmental Science event is virtually implemented with a model that all invited speakers are given time to present their material for about 30-40 minutes each. It then followed by a question and answer by the participants with a direct questioning system, and through chat feature with Q&A forums provided by the zoom application. Moreover, the presentations were organized through recorded materials followed by live Q&A along with chat feature of the virtual meeting.We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all Science Committee members who come from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, as well as authors who contribute significant thoughts and ideas through the papers written in collaboration with respective counterparts not only from Indonesia but also from different countries, such as those from Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and USA.We also want to thank the publisher for publishing the proceedings. May the readers could enjoy the gain some valuable knowledge from it. We are expecting more and more experts and scholars from all over the world to join this international event in the future. Editors Robbi Rahim Host Organizer Forum Kerjasama Pendidikan TinggiUPN Veteran Jawa Timur

PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF FOOD PRODUCTS: CONTEMPORARY DINENSIONS AND ISSUE

One of the sources for the formation of Bulgaria's food resources is the production of food products from agriculture and the food industry. It provides raw materials for the processing industry, for export and for meeting the food needs of society. The extent to which national production can meet these needs in terms of quantity, quality and range largely determines national food security. The level and structure of food consumption is in turn important for the health status of both the individual and the nation as a whole. In recent years, the production and consumption of food products in the country have been evolving in a complex and dynamically changing environment, linked to challenges posed by overlapping crises (pandemic, economic). The aim of this paper is to examine the production and consumption of staple food products in the context of national food security and in the context of crises. For its realization, changes in the parameters of their production and consumption are consistently assessed, problems are highlighted on this basis and recommendations for their future development are substantiated. Special attention is paid to the competitiveness and sustainable development of Bulgarian agriculture as an important prerequisite for the country's food security.

INFLUENCE OF THE STATE SUPPORT ON THE PROFITABILITY OF THE COOPERATIVES IN THE SOUTH-EAST REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

Agriculture is important for the sustenance of any country. But the incomes realized by agricultural producers are lower compared to those obtained in other sectors. The predominant representatives in the sector are micro and small enterprises. They do not have sufficient financial means to make the necessary investments in the enterprise's activity process, and their access to external financing is very limited. This necessitates the key role of state intervention in order to preserve the well-being and development of agriculture in the country. By providing state support to cooperatives, the sustainable development of agricultural producers is promoted. It aims to support the economic development of rural areas and to increase the competitiveness of agriculture in general. Based on the results obtained from the applied regression model with fixed effects, evidence is found for the positive influence of state support on the profitability of agricultural cooperatives in the South-East region of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is established that the innovation and investment activity, as well as the size of the agricultural cooperatives in the South-East region of Bulgaria, are statistically significant indicators that influence the receipt of state support.

Ecological and geographical aspects of land using in forming agrolandscapes

The study of agro-landscapes for agricultural use is of the utmost importance in assessing their potential and premeditatedly organizing their change as a result of anthropogenic impacts. The use of nature in the irrigated lands of the Kashkadarya oasis is illustrated in terms of nature protection for landscapes restoration. The article discusses the role of the principles of optimizing the use of natural and anthropogenic resources in highly developing landscapes in order to increase the competitiveness of agriculture in landscape development. The scientific significance of the research results is the scientific-theoretical conclusions, recommendations, cartographic and other primary materials in the dissertation, the separation, description, evaluation of agrolandscapes in the Kashkadarya region for agricultural purposes, and strict control in order to eliminate the negative effects of desertification processes on the environment. it is determined by taking it under and serving to eliminate the problems related to them. The landscape-ecological conditions of the irrigated areas for use in the activities of agricultural departments, ecology and environmental protection were evaluated and described on the example of the Karshi deserts.

THE PROSPECTS OF SOLVING THE ISSUESS OF THE STATE POLICY ON INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

The implementation of an effective state policy of increasing the competitiveness of agriculture of the Republic of Armenia requires clarifying the main problems of this policy and providing a solution to them. It is advisable to separate the problems based on certain approaches, in particular: improvement of the state of use of the main resources of the sector, provision of primary seed production and genealogical work ensuring the vitality of the main branches of agriculture, introduction of technical saturation and modern technologies in the sector, sale of agricultural raw materials and products, improvement of production and service infrastructures of the sector, from the point of view of ensuring the financial stability of farmers in agriculture, improving the state programs implemented in agriculture and launching new, effective programs. In this case, a nember of problems is presented in the article and the ways of their solution were identified. • Main problems of the policy of improving the state of use of the main resources of agriculture. • Policy problems of the best use of the biological possibilities of the main branches of agriculture: plant breeding and livestock breeding. • Policy issues of technical saturation and introduction of modern technologies in the agricultural sector of the Republic. • Problems of policy for the sale of agricultural raw materials and products, improvement of production and service infrastructures of the sector. • Problems of the policy of ensuring the financial stability of economic operators in the field of agriculture. • Policy issues of improving state programs implemented in agriculture and launching new, effective programs.

Strategic communication and sustainable agricultural competitiveness: a Greek case study

Strategic communication and sustainable agricultural competitiveness: a Greek case study

Strategic communication and sustainable agricultural competitiveness: a Greek case study

Strategic communication and sustainable agricultural competitiveness: a Greek case study

Kazakhstan Food security at the present stage of development

In this article, the authors consider the current state of food security in Kazakhstan. The main purpose of the article is to assess food security in Kazakhstan. Today, 9.2% of the world's population faces food insecurity, namely the consumption of insufficient food, as a result of which a person experiences hunger. It is worth noting that the economic consequences of the epidemic and the measures taken to prevent it have led to an increase in food prices and there is often an economic unavailability of healthy food in the world. In the course of the study conducted by the authors, it was revealed that in the conditions of recent events, the severity of food insecurity is aggravated. Therefore, in the context of innovative development, Kazakhstan is increasingly focusing on food security issues. The article considered the current state of agricultural production development: namely, the gross harvest of agricultural crops and the production of certain types livestock products in Kazakhstan for 2018-2022. The authors also analyzed Kazakhstan profile in more detail according to the data of the global food security index. The global food security index is considered in more detail, which includes the level of availability and consumption of food, the availability and accessibility of food, the level of food quality and safety. In the course of the analysis, the main directions of ensuring food security were proposed, such as: the growth of agricultural competitiveness and product quality, the development of export-oriented production, the development of breeding and genetic and technical and technological modernization of the agro-industrial complex, the introduction of high-tech technologies, etc.

About Governance, Production, and Territorial Dimensions of Farm Competitiveness – The Case of Bulgaria

About Governance, Production, and Territorial Dimensions of Farm Competitiveness – The Case of Bulgaria