Farm Labor Research Articles

A novel end-to-end vision-based architecture for agricultural human–robot collaboration in fruit picking operations

In the agricultural sector worldwide, there is a need for more human labor in fruit harvesting and processing operations, requiring advanced technologies like human–robot collaboration (HRC), where robots collaborate with humans to improve safety, efficiency, and productivity. In this context, we propose a new end-to-end vision-based detection, tracking, and classification (DTC) architecture enabling robots to assist human pickers in fruit-picking operations. The proposed solution includes using RGB-D camera perception, customized convolutional and recurrent neural network models, and pose estimation to detect, track, and classify the activities of human pickers from continuous streaming data captured in different seasons. It also provides a module for location estimation of the human pickers, allowing the robot to navigate to the estimated goal and assist them in real-time with logistic tasks during harvesting. The authors contribute a new video dataset of real fruit-picking operations under suboptimal conditions, which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solution. Simulation results, obtained from the collected experimental dataset, show that the overall time required to compute insights-to-action is around six seconds for challenging scenarios such as multiple human pickers in the scene. This research aims to establish a baseline, end-to-end AI pipeline of insight predictions to prescriptive robot actions in fruit-picking operations to reduce workers’ working time and physical fatigue in logistics operations in the field. The authors expect this study to be used further to improve and develop anticipatory scheduling of robots methodology to save time and energy for pickers in logistics activities. The vision-based DTC architecture presents a reliable and cost-effective solution to address the scarcity of human labor in agriculture by facilitating the collaboration between humans and robots in fruit-picking tasks, as shown by simulations in the ROS-Gazebo framework.

Is Brucella excreted in cattle faeces? – Evidence from Punjab, India

Brucellosis is a neglected zoonosis that affects animals and people in much of the underdeveloped world. The disease is endemic in cattle in Punjab, India and controlling it is a public health challenge. Dairy farmers and farm labour commonly handle cattle faeces with bare hands and personal protective equipments are not used. No studies have been conducted about the shedding of Brucella species in faeces of sero positive cattle in the state. This study aimed to isolate and identify the Brucella species from faeces of sero positive cattle in Punjab, India. Faecal samples were collected from 350 Brucella sero positive cattle in Ludhiana district of Punjab, India. Isolation was performed using a pre-enriched Brucella selective broth medium as well as Brucella selective medium agar plates containing horse serum and Brucella selective supplements. Isolates were identified using Gram staining technique and rapid slide agglutination test, and then confirmed by using bcsp31 and 16s rRNA genus specific PCR. Isolates were further identified up to species level by using Bruce-Ladder multiplex PCR. Fourteen Brucella species were isolated, all of which showed coccobacilli on gram staining, positive rapid slide agglutination test and amplification of bcsp31 and 16s rRNA genes. Of the 14 isolates, 11 were identified as Brucella abortus and 3 were identified as Brucella melitensis. The study demonstrates that animal faeces could pose a potential risk for animal and human health and faeces of seropositive cattle must be handled with care.

Review of Harvesting freedom: The life of a migrant worker in Canada by Gabriel Allahdua

The question of migration, land, labour, and food are intricately intertwined. In this book Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Farmworker in Canada is a living narrative that recounts life in St. Lucia, and gradually reveals the enmeshed connections of slavery, colonialism, and racial capitalism manifested in Canada’s farm labour system. The book narrated by Gabriel Allahdua, a migrant farmworker becoming an incomparable migrant justice activist, is evocative of the power of critical research methodologies and knowledge production. Edward Dunsworth in his collaboration with Allahdua, brings to us, a first-hand account in a book format, all while setting up the stage and weaving a rich scholarship in the introduction. This is how decolonizing knowledge can look like in academia.

Fruit production and exploited labor in northern Italy: Redefining urban responsibility toward the agrarian ground

AbstractImmigrants play a crucial role in the development of capital‐intensive, industrialized agriculture and often find themselves living in derelict, stigmatized neighborhoods where they become not only objects of fear and exclusion but also objects of racketeering, exploitation, and profit‐making dynamics. Global trends and migration flows trigger new concerns among policymakers who realize that food production is not only a rural issue. Discussing the Italian case of the Saluzzo Fruit District and the Prima Accoglienza Stagionali (PAS, First Reception of Seasonal Workers) project, this contribution focuses on the role that cities as institutional complexes can have in preventing illegal recruitment and exploitation of labor in agriculture as well as improving the living conditions of migrant field hands through the activation of urban–rural synergies for multifactor and multilevel cooperation. Results offer an overview of the potentiality of the abandonment of an emergency approach limited to the sole provision of shelters to migrant workers for adopting a more structured and holistic approach to territorial planning.

Why did agriculture's share of Australian gross domestic product not decline for a century?

AbstractThe agricultural sector's share of gross domestic product (GDP) in growing economies typically declines but, for a century from the early 1850s, Australia's did not. Drawing on recent structural transformation literature, this paper seeks explanations for this unusual phenomenon, which is all the more striking because agriculture's share of employment continued to decline throughout and growth in manufacturing was being stimulated by tariff protection from imports. Several factors contributed, including a huge land frontier that took more than a century for settlers to explore, rapid declines in initially crippling domestic and ocean trade costs for farm products, the absence of a need to do any processing of the two main exports during that period (gold and wool) and innovations by farmers and via a strong public agricultural R&D system that contributed to farm labour productivity nearly doubling over those 10 decades. The ban on iron ore exports from 1938 and low export prices for fuels, minerals and metals during the two world wars and in the intervening decades also contributed.

Air pollution and agricultural labor supply: Evidence from China

Research on avoidance behaviors related to air pollution, particularly among low-income groups in developing countries, is relatively limited. This study aims to analyze the connection between air pollution and farmer labor supply in China, while also examining the labor relocation effect. The identification strategy relies on a widely used instrument variable, namely that thermal inversion exerts a plausibly exogenous shock on air quality. Two-stage least squares regression results indicate that at the intensive margin, farmer working hours in agricultural work during their busy farming seasons are reduced by 0.4 h/day for a 10 μg/m3 increment in PM2.5, whereas at the extensive margin, their working days in agricultural work throughout the year are reduced by 2.7 days for a 1 μg/m3 increase in the yearly average PM2.5 concentration. We also consider the labor relocation effect, as farmers are likely to shift their labor supply from agriculture to indoor off-farm work to avoid pollution damage. These findings add to the negative social externality of air pollution and expand the determinants of the agricultural labor supply.

Tobacco Farming and Women Labor in Samsun from the Republic to the Present

Bu makalenin amacı Cumhuriyet’ten günümüze kadar Samsun şehrinde toplumsal ve ekonomik ortamı, tütüncülüğün ve bu dönemde faaliyet gösteren tütün fabrikalarının toplum üzerinde yarattığı etkileri, geçirdiği dönüşümler ve karşılaştığı sorunları ortaya koymaktır. Bu çalışma, Samsun’da tütüncülük deneyimleri ile ilgili öznel bazı bilgilere ve deneyimlere yer verdiği için ilgili literatüre katkısı bakımından önemlidir. Çalışmanın yöntemini sözlü tarih tekniğine dayalı yapılan iki görüşme ve sosyal medya ile ilgili literatürden edinilen bilgilerin derleme olarak sunulması oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre, tütüncülük ve sigara fabrikaları ilgili dönem içerisinde Samsun’un ekonomik ve toplumsal hayatına çok önemli katkılarda bulunmuştur. Öyle ki, Samsun geçimini tütün üzerinden ve dolayısıyla çoğunlukla kadın emeği üzerinden sağlamıştır, denilebilir. Zaman içinde uygulanan farklı politika ve uygulamalar, köylüyü ve kadın emeğini de tütüncülükten uzaklaştırmıştır. Ülkenin Cumhuriyet’in ilanını izleyen yıllarda yerli üretimi ve köylüyü destekleyen politikalarının hem bölgesel hem de ulusal kalkınma üzerindeki olumlu etkisi reddedilemez. Bu çalışma, Samsun’da tütüncülüğün ve tütün fabrikalarının içinden geçtiği zorluklar ve darboğazlara da yer vererek yapılacak yeni politikalar, toplumsal analizler ve bölgesel kalkınma haritaları için yol gösterici olacaktır.

Disappearing Dalit Haruwa-Charuwa labor in Tarai Agriculture: Causes and Consequences of Land Fragmentation

This research is conducted in Tarai agriculture practice in Baijanathpur village of Morang District in eastern Tarai to explore why Haruwa-Charuwa labor has been disappearing from Tarai agricultural works? It is based on qualitative historical methodology; field observation, key informant and life history interview method to collect reliable and valid data from field. This study manifested the problem why Dalit labor has disappeared in agriculture and how they are getting survive without proper livelihood opportunity. It has signified to acknowledge that Tarai is changing its agriculture structure in its relation of labor disappearing from agriculture works. After the continuation of change and development in Tarai (migration, population growth, technology), agriculture could not consume enough labor power, so that, Dalit Haruwa-Charuwa labor has been facing job scarcity and livelihood problem due to causes of land fragmentation. This study provides a deeper conceptual understanding linkage between land fragmentation and consequence of farm labor declining in rural Tarai and investigates this relationship empirically.

Artisanal small-scale mining, farm labour attraction and household welfare in Ghana

The discourse on the impact of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) has often concentrated on land degradation, and surface water pollution. How ASM is increasingly attracting farm labourers (FL) in mining communities is rarely discussed. Drawing insight from selected mining communities, which combines the perspectives and experiences of small-scale miners, farmers, academics, and policymakers, this article uses the endogenous switching regression model to identify the determinants of FL attraction to ASM as well as the drivers of labour welfare. The model estimated the impact of labour supply on consumption expenditure per adult equivalent. The results show that FL decision to shift to ASM sector is constructed around welfare incentives. For instance, FL who joined ASM increased their consumption expenditure per adult equivalent by 66.6 percent. The article established that ASM provides crucial livelihoods to rural households. Meanwhile, if proper incentives such as fertilizer subsidy and agriculture extension intensification are not put in place, the labour attraction by ASM will have detrimental effects on food security. Therefore, proper regulatory frameworks should be enforced by duty-bearers to regulate the activities of ASM as it provides welfare improvements to farmers. Lastly, further studies should investigate the decency of labour supply services to ASM.

Kontribusi Tenaga Kerja Perempuan Pada Usahatani Jahe Merah Di Desa Mokobang Kecamatan Modoinding Kabupaten Minahasa Selatan

This study aims to determine the contribution of female labor to ginger farming in Mokobang Village, Modoinding Sub-district, South Minahasa Regency. The research was conducted for three months from May to July 2023. The location was determined purposively, the research was conducted in Mokobang Village, Modoinding Sub-district, South Minahasa Regency. The data used in this research are primary and secondary data. Primary data was obtained from direct interviews with farmers using a list of questions that had been prepared. Secondary data were obtained from relevant agencies, as well as other literature related to the research. The method used in sampling is by purposive sampling. Intentional sampling or purposive sampling based on criteria. Some of the farmer criteria taken such as red ginger farmers in Mokobang Village who employ female labor. The number of samples in this study was 15 respondents from a population of 105 farmers. The data analysis method used in this research is descriptive analysis. The contribution of female labor to red ginger farming in Mokobang Village is 51.98%. The contribution of female labor in red ginger farming is greater than male labor.

Low-Skilled Migrant Labor Schemes in Japan’s Agriculture: Voices From the Field

Abstract Despite rapid demographic decline, until recently, low-skilled migrant workers have been welcomed only through ‘side-doors’ such as technical interns (TITP). Yet pressure for change comes from two sides: the moral critique of the ‘side-door’ scheme, and the growing economic pressures of a dwindling labor force. In 2018 Japan put in place a short-term bona-fide labor scheme (Specified Skilled Worker; hereafter, SSW) in fields previously largely inaccessible to foreign labor. In combination with the TITP schemes, these workers are allowed to stay longer. But what do these changes mean, how do the farmer-employers see them, and will the SSW lead to a sustainable farm labor supply going forward? We explore stakeholders’ views of the current schemes and their opinions on how low-skilled labor migration should proceed in agriculture. Businesses are desperate for labor, but not at any cost. Under SSW, employers are being asked to change the ways they envision and treat migrant labor. The tensions between their expectations and the realities on the ground reflect the contradictions that Japan’s migration policies inherit, based in the bureaucratic fiction that only ‘skilled’ labor is necessary. Data for this paper come from qualitative interviews conducted from 2018 to 2022 in Kyoto, Aichi, and Tokyo.

Farm Labour Preferences among Small-scale Arable Crop Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria

Human labour is critical in the survival and sustainability of the small-scale farm production system in developing countries. Following the imperfection in the rural labour market and the mounting rural poverty, labour demand among resource-poor small-scale farmers has shifted from its traditional surplus supply market pattern to a more competitive labour market. In Nigeria for instance, human labour is not readily available to farmers in most rural farming communities compared to the previous decades. Considering the fact that more than 60% of agricultural production is done by small-scale farmers in the country; there is an overwhelming need to identify ways of increasing labour utilization by the small-scale farmers in the southern region of Nigeria. Premised on these facts, the study primarily examined the prominent labour sources available to small-scale cassava-based farmers and identified determinants of their demand or adoption. The study was conducted in Akwa Ibom State in the southern region of Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) cassava-based farmers were randomly sampled using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and multinomial Logit models were employed to analyse the data and objectives of the study. The findings revealed hired labour, family labour and group labour as the major human labour sources for the small-scale farmers in the region. Also, farmers’ age, educational attainment, farm income, farming experience, non-farm income, farm size and social capital formation were identified as factors that increase the probability of adopting hired labour relative to the family labour in the region. Similarly, farmers’ age, education attainment, social capital formation, farmers’ sex and non-farm income were found to increase the probability of using group labour relative to the family labour source. However, household size impacted negatively on the probability of using both hired and group labour relative to family labour. It is recommended that farmers’ formal education, farm income and social capital formation should be enhanced to help them in making efficient choices on labour demand in the rural labour market.

The Income Risk of Salak Nglumut Farming in Srumbung District, Magelang Regency

Salak Nglumut is a potential horticultural crop to be cultivated in district Srumbung, Magelang regency. The high potential is expected to increase the income of salak farmers. However, farmers’ income is influenced by the level of income risks that arise. This study aims to determine the level of income risks and factors that affect the income risk of salak Nglumut farm in district Srumbung Magelang regency. The research location is determined by a purposive sampling method, while the research sample of 50 farmers was determined by a simple random sampling method. The analysis method used to determine the level of income risk is the coefficient of variation (CV), and methods to determine the factors that affect the risk of income is by using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that the risk of salak Nglumut farming income in district Srumbung Magelang regency is about 41.73% or categorized as medium risk. The factors that affect the income risk of salak Nglumut farm in Srumbung district Magelang regency include farming experience, labor cost, and farmer’s age.

Farmers response to climate variability and change in rainfed farming systems: Insight from lived experiences of farmers

Climate adaptation, while urgent, is complicated by a slew of unknowns and uncertainties through insufficient scholarship. This study addresses these slews of unknowns surrounding local adaptation to climate change and associated determinants among rainfed smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. We utilized a mixed-method approach to collect primary data from 410 households, 15 key informants and 10 focus group participants coupled with meteorological data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency, Accra (GMet). Results from meteorological analysis from 1989 to 2020 and farmers' perceptions showed a consistent pattern exemplifying a temperature rise, and a decline in rainfall pattern in the study area over the period. Rainfed smallholder farmers employed multiple coping strategies including—cognitive restructuring, resource seeking, experiential avoidance, expressive coping, capital disinvestment and relying on social networks to deal with current and future climate shocks. Also, key adaptation interventions implemented by rainfed smallholder farmers based on lived experiences include farm and crop management, soil and water conservation, conservation agricultural practices, smart-farming practices and cropping decisions, livelihood diversification and indigenous knowledge application. Market access, access to climate information/services, access to extension services, use of indigenous knowledge and practice, risk perception, and government support, livestock ownership, asset ownership, credit access, and farm insurance significantly increase rainfed smallholder farmers' decision to cope/adapt to climate variability in rural Ghana. However, improved soil fertility and farm labour significantly influenced rainfed smallholder farmers' adaptation response but not coping. The findings have implications for developing effective adaptation interventions to build resilient agricultural systems and sustainable livelihood in rainfed farming areas.

Labor elasticities, market failures, and misallocation: Evidence from Indian agriculture

AbstractThis article presents evidence of misallocation across households in rural Indian agriculture. I show that household demographics predict own farm labor demand for smallholder farmers but not non‐smallholder farmers. A simple model of labor allocation predicts a clear consequence of this duality: smallholder farmers will reallocate labor across plots less in response to price changes than non‐smallholders. Detailed household panel data confirms this theoretical prediction. Three additional facts suggest that a lack of off‐farm labor opportunities may be partly responsible for the behavior of smallholders, leading smallholders to over allocate labor to agricultural production. First, smallholders report fewer hours of involuntary unemployment when their own crop prices increase. Second, yield is substantially higher for smallholders on plots of the same size. Finally, estimated marginal revenue products of labor are consistently lower for smallholders.

ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN INTEGRATED CROP-LIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEM IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

The study was conducted to determine the best efficient integrated crop-livestock farming system in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained through structured questionnaire and interview schedule. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 7 LGAs (Ikara, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Soba, Sabon-Gari and Zaria) purposively in stage I for prevalence of integrated crop-livestock farming, 28 villages were selected purposively also for the same reason in stage II while at last stage 400 crop-livestock farmers were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression model were used to achieve the objective of this study. Results of the socio-economic characteristics revealed that about 92% of the integrated crop-livestock farmers were found to be male with mean age of 44 years and household size of 7 persons per farmer. Results from the DEA showed that the mean total efficiency, pure efficiency and scale efficiency were found to be 0.74, 0.89 and 0.83, respectively. The DEA results further revealed that farmers can reduce the quantity of farm size, labour, seed, fertilizer, manure and agrochemical inputs by 0.18%, 10.97%, 14.43%, 5.28%, 26.93% and 18.48%, respectively. Furthermore, the findings revealed that 19.9, 30.19 and 65.11% of farmers operated at optimal, sub-optimal and super-optimal scale, respectively. Tobit regression model used to determine factors influencing technical efficiency established that coefficients of age (0.201), household size (0.0204), education level (0.206), farming experience (0.321), extension contact 0.311) and cooperative membership (0.1801) were statistically significant variables at different level of probability. There should be synergy between crop and animal scientists; extension agents and agricultural economists to bring into bearing the needs for farmers to imbibe integrated crop-livestock farming to achieve optimum level of efficiency.

Ecological shocks and children’s school attendance and farm work in Ghana

Accelerating the education of children and reducing child labor in agriculture remains an important development pathway to preventing intergenerational poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals. While several studies have analyzed the impact of ecological stressors on yield, income, and food security, there is limited understanding of the linkages of prevailing ecological shocks to child education and farm work. In this paper, we examine the effect of ecological shocks of pest and weed invasion on children’s school attendance and working hours on the farm using the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS). We employ a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model that corrects for selection bias and endogeneity originating from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The results show that double shocks (pests and weeds) reduced the number of children attending school by 11% and increased children’s on-farm working hours by 0.75 h. Comparatively, the decline in the number of children attending school due to weed invasion (0.88) is higher than the decline due to pest invasion (0.43). Furthermore, weed invasion increases children’s on-farm working hours by 0.05 h while pest invasion reduces children’s on-farm working hours by 0.08 h. Increasing access to improved agricultural technologies bundled with credit and policies are critical to reducing the threats from ecological shocks and improving farmers’ welfare. To avert the decline in school attendance and children’s working hours requires training farmers to reduce the practice of continuous cropping and to embrace crop rotation and fallow to reduce the spread of pests and weeds.

Blessings or curses? – The bittersweet impacts of the mining industry on rural livelihoods in China

Mineral resource development is essential for poverty reduction, but its potential blessings or curses are contentious. Micro-level studies on this topic have been limited, failing to thoroughly analyze the impact pathways on local livelihoods. This study employs the sustainable livelihood framework and statistical techniques to investigate how mineral resource development affects farmers' livelihoods in China and explore the micro causes of the “resource curse”. Data from the Chinese Rural Microeconomic Survey Database in 49 counties across 13 provinces are used for analysis. Our findings show that mining boosts physical capital but depletes nature capital. Mining reduced the proportion of the farming household labor force engaged in pure agriculture by 2.21% and increased the proportion in mixed work by 9.65%. The mining industry directly caused a 14.21% decrease in the proportion of farming household laborers working in their own townships and a 11.61% increase in the proportion working outside the county. Both direct and indirect impacts of mining on livelihoods are identified. The irreversible destruction of agricultural livelihoods by the mining process and the long-term labor outflow may lead to population migration, exacerbating the hollowing out of rural areas in mining areas, and be an important microscopic cause of the “resource curse”. Policy recommendations derived from our analysis include enhancing nature capital in mineral resource development areas, providing sustainable alternative livelihoods, and encouraging the return of labor force to rural regions.

Almajiranci: A Challenge to National Development in Northern Nigeria

The study examined Almajiranci and its challenge to national development in northern Nigeria. Three research questions were raised and answered through descriptive survey using purely qualitative research design. The sample of the study is 44 Almajiri, their mallams, parents and community members from 2 Local Government Areas in Sokoto State. Structured interview was used for data collection, after which it was transcribed, coded and arranged in themes and sub-themes with detailed explanation. The study reveals that, Almajiris engaged in petty business and services like; nail cutting, selling potatoes, selling sugar cane, wheel-barrow services, selling perfume, shoe shiners (cobbler), selling date (dabino), farm labour or garden work, selling of pure water, selling of ice block, roasted groundnut, upload and unload goods, selling forage, mason, labourer, carpentry, tailoring, travelled to southern Nigeria for trade, selling shoes, sewing caps, sticker and leather, which could not contribute meaningfully to national development. Therefore, people are of the opinion that Almajiri Qur’anic Education should be accompanied by formal and or vocational education for them to contribute meaningfully to public service in northern Nigeria and Sokoto state in particular, because there is no much to say about the initiatives of Almajiris in Sokoto state. A significant number of the respondents believed that Almajiris have no initiatives. The study therefore recommended that, government should integrate Almajiri education into the mainstream formal education properly and proscribe the Almajiris from roaming the streets. Alternatively, there should be government intervention to re-organize Almajiri education in Sokoto state and Northern Nigeria in general, where functional skills and knowledge are acquired.

Does economic agglomeration affect the sustainable intensification of cultivated land use? Evidence from China

The sustainable intensification (SI) of cultivated land use (CLU) is important for achieving global sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, in the rapid advancement of agglomeration economies, it remains unclear whether economic agglomeration (EA) affects SI. Combined with emergy theory, this study utilized socioeconomic and natural environment data from 31 provincial administrative regions from 1990 to 2017 to evaluate the SI level in China. It further analyzed the impact of EA on SI using a spatial econometric model that includes mediating effects. The results showed that the EA level in China continued to rise, whereas the SI level continued to decline from 1990 to 2017. The mediating effect analysis showed that fiscal support for agriculture and agricultural labor productivity have a suppression effect of |−4.186|% and |−2.002|% in the local region, while cultivated land-use intensity has partial mediation of 6.350% in the local region; and agricultural labor productivity has a suppression effect of |−4.680|% on the surrounding region, while cultivated land-use intensity has stronger partial mediation relative to the local region, even up to 10.402% on surrounding regions. This implies that the impact of EA on SI involves complex paths and spatial differences. This study provides a better understanding of the reasons for the continuous decline in the SI in agglomeration-type economic development and feasible policy proposals.