Farm-specific Factors Research Articles

Decision Support Systems adoption in pesticide management

This paper presents the findings from a survey on factors influencing the adoption of agricultural Decision Support Systems (DSS). Our study focuses on examining the influence of behavioural, socioeconomic and farm specific characteristics on DSS adoption. Using two structural equation models, we investigate how these factors influence the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to adopt. Our analysis reveals nuanced insights into the user and farm-specific factors that influence the decision-making process of DSS adoption and WTP. Notably, farm size significantly influences both adoption and WTP, with larger farms more likely to adopt and exhibit higher WTP. To promote adoption, it is important to adapt promotion strategies, with a focus on productivity benefits for large-scale farms and addressing price barriers for smaller ones. Additionally, the main crop type grown impacts WTP and adoption, with arable crop farmers exhibit a lower WTP but more likely to adopt, especially in large-scale operations. Conversely, small-scale arable farmers exhibit higher WTP but lower adoption rates due to scale constraints. Farmer characteristics such as experience and attitudes also play a crucial role, with experienced users and those perceiving productivity improvements due to DSS showing higher WTP. In addition, adoption is also influenced by ease of use and pricing, underpinning the importance of user-friendly designs and clear cost justifications. DSSs with user-centric designs and clear cost justifications can enhance adoption rates.

Decision Support Systems adoption in pesticide management

This paper presents the findings from a survey on factors influencing the adoption of agricultural Decision Support Systems (DSS). Our study focuses on examining the influence of behavioural, socioeconomic and farm specific characteristics on DSS adoption. Using two structural equation models, we investigate how these factors influence the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to adopt. Our analysis reveals nuanced insights into the user and farm-specific factors that influence the decision-making process of DSS adoption and WTP. Notably, farm size significantly influences both adoption and WTP, with larger farms more likely to adopt and exhibit higher WTP. To promote adoption, it is important to adapt promotion strategies, with a focus on productivity benefits for large-scale farms and addressing price barriers for smaller ones. Additionally, the main crop type grown impacts WTP and adoption, with arable crop farmers exhibit a lower WTP but more likely to adopt, especially in large-scale operations. Conversely, small-scale arable farmers exhibit higher WTP but lower adoption rates due to scale constraints. Farmer characteristics such as experience and attitudes also play a crucial role, with experienced users and those perceiving productivity improvements due to DSS showing higher WTP. In addition, adoption is also influenced by ease of use and pricing, underpinning the importance of user-friendly designs and clear cost justifications. DSSs with user-centric designs and clear cost justifications can enhance adoption rates.

One-Year Monitoring of Prevalence and Diversity of Dairy Propionic Acid Bacteria in Raw Milk by Means of Culture-Dependent and Culture-Independent Methods.

Even low levels of dairy propionic acid bacteria (dPAB) can cause cheese defects, resulting in severe economic losses for the producers of selected raw milk cheeses. Therefore, routine quality control of raw cheese milk for dPAB contamination is essential if propionic acid fermentation is undesired. Although knowledge of dPAB contamination of raw milk is important to understand cheese spoilage, long-term dPAB screening data are outdated, and studies taking into account different farm management parameters and their potential influence on dPAB levels are scarce. This study aims to provide insight into the dPAB levels of raw milk over time, to identify farm management factors that potentially influence dPAB levels, and to compare a cultural yeast extract lactate agar (YELA) and lithium glycerol agar (LGA) and a culture-independent method (qPCR) for dPAB quantification with respect to their applicability in routine quality control for the dairy industry. For this purpose, bulk tank milk from 25 dairy farms was screened for dPAB contamination over a one-year period. We were able to identify significant differences in the dPAB contamination levels in raw milk depending on selected farm-specific factors and observed relationships between the different types of milking systems and dPAB contamination levels in raw milk. When dPAB were quantified by cultivation on YELA, strong overgrowth of commensal microbiota impeded counting. Therefore, we conclude that quantification on LGA or by qPCR is preferable. Both methods, colony counting on LGA as well as quantification of dPAB using qPCR, have advantages for the application in (routine) quality control of raw milk, one being low-tech and inexpensive, the other being fast and highly specific, but the detection of (low level) dPAB contamination in raw milk remains a challenge.

Colibacillosis in Modern Poultry Production

Colibacillosis, a bacterial infection caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, poses significant challenges to contemporary poultry farming. This paper provides a succinct overview of key aspects related to the disease. Colibacillosis manifests with respiratory, enteric, and systemic clinical signs, impacting broilers, layers, and breeders. The etiology involves virulent E. coli strains with specific adhesion and invasion mechanisms. The avian immune response plays a crucial role, influenced by factors such as age, stress, and vaccination. The epidemiology exhibits global prevalence, influenced by geographical, seasonal, and farm-specific factors. Control strategies encompass biosecurity measures, vaccination, responsible antimicrobial use, genetic selection, and environmental management. Comprehensive understanding and proactive management of colibacillosis are essential to mitigate economic losses and sustain the health and productivity of poultry in modern production systems. In conclusion colibacillosis remains a significant challenge in modern poultry production, with economic implications for the industry. Efforts to control and manage colibacillosis in poultry production should take into consideration these multifaceted factors and focus on prevention, early detection, and responsible antimicrobial use.

Shortened first regrowth interval of grass silage as a harvesting strategy to improve nutrient supply for dairy cows: a case study

Dairy cows have a highly valuable ability to convert grass into milk. A modification of the normal three-cut harvesting strategy was evaluated consisting of shortened first grass regrowth period to increase the energy value of the silage crop over the whole growing season under Boreal conditions. Grass was ensiled from timothy-meadow fescue-red clover swards over two years at three consecutive harvests within the growing season. Diets based on the silages (D1, 1st cut; D2, 2nd cut and D3, 3rd cut) were fed to dairy cows in two milk production experiments using change-over designs and an average concentrate proportion of 0.41 on dry matter basis. Consistently high energy value in silages was achieved and despite minor differences in silage D-values, feed intake was highest for D1. The differences in energy-corrected milk yield between treatments were limited to an increase for D2 in Exp 2 so that feed energy conversion into milk was decreased with D1. A shortened first regrowth interval for grass silage harvest was a viable option, but forage area per animal and other farm specific factors should be considered when choosing the silage harvesting strategy.

Technical efficiency and technology gap in Kenya’s tea industry: accounting for farm heterogeneity

ABSTRACT The study used a cross-county survey from Kenya to investigate smallholder tea farmers’ performance using a stochastic metafrontier framework. According to the results, farmers in all four regions are falling short of their potential with the mean technical efficiency ranging from 0.69, 0.77, 0.61, and 0.74, respectively, for the Nandi, Mau, Kisii, and Kericho regions. Comparing its performance with the technology available in the industry, each region faces a technology gap. Even though some variables were not statistically significant, a combination of socioeconomic and farm-specific factors were identified as sources of technical inefficiency among farmers. The farmers in all regions, however, possess the potential to overcome technological constraints and achieve higher levels of productivity. Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd should, therefore, enhance its efforts to help the farmers improve their management and technical skills on how to use their resources more efficiently.

Sustainable land management practices and its correlates among smallholder food crops farmers in Ogbomoso agricultural zone of Oyo state

The increasing declination of the soil nutrient, land degradation and loss due to desertification has called for sustainable land management (SLM) practices. Smallholder farmers who are the major food producers in Nigeria faced challenges of land management due to land tenure security and fragmentation. However, this study examines SLM and its correlates among smallholder food crops farmers in Ogbomoso Agricultural zone of Oyo State. About 240 smallholder farmers were proportionately sampled from the study area. Using Focus group discussion, the needed information for this study was collected from the farmers. Both Descriptive statistics and Multivariate probit model was applied to analyse the information collected from the sampled farmers. About 40.8% of farmers practice mixed cropping, 27.5% and 15% practice minimum tillage and crop rotation respectively. Although, most (45.8%) acquire the farmland through inheritance, 18.3% rent the farmland while 14.2% purchase the farmland but the choice for the SLM depends on factors such as age, gender, household-size, education, farm-size, tenure security, extension contact, experience, number of farm plots and farm distance. In conclusion, demographic factors, farm-specific factors and tenure security are important drivers of the choice of SLM; therefore an urgent need to prioritize tenure security for increasing sustainability of agricultural land is required.

The Effect of Good Agricultural Practices on the Technical Efficiency of Chili Production in Thailand

While recognition of the positive influence of good agricultural practices (GAP) on reducing negative externalities due to conventional farming and providing more export opportunities is growing, there is some doubt about the effects of GAP on the economic performance of chili farms. In this regard, this study’s principal objectives are to assess the impact of GAP and to examine farm-specific and environmental factors regarding the technical efficiency (TE) of chili farms in Thailand. This study employed a stochastic meta-frontier input distance function to measure and explore the effects of farm-specific and environmental factors on TE using 2018 farm-level survey data from Thai chili farms. The sample of 100 farms includes GAP and non-GAP farms. The empirical results highlight three critical findings. First, there is confirmation that GAP positively influence the TE of chili farms. Second, family labor intensity and small farm size also positively impact the TE of farms. At the same time, completion of a technical training course positively affects the TE of non-GAP farms only. Finally, education, experience, training courses, and crop diversification negatively affect the TE of GAP farms only. Thus, policymakers need to focus on GAP adoption and farm-specific factors to promote the sustainable development of Thai chili farms.

Technical, Economic and Allocative Efficiencies of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Growing Farmers in Intermediate Zones of J and K

The study was carried out in two intermediate zones of Jammu and Kashmir to identify both farm specific and socio-economic factors that influence the technical efficiency (TE) and also to analyze the economic (EE)and allocative efficiency (AE) of wheat growing farmers to assess the level of possibilities to gain the desired level of productivity by improving all three types of efficiencies(TE, AE and EE)by estimating Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Production Function and Stochastic Profit Function. The study revealedthat how different cost components affect the profitability of production of wheat crop and also proposes that at how much level of efficiency, the farmer is producing the wheat crop and how much level of efficiency is yet to be obtained. The maximum likelihood estimates of the stochastic production function revealed that fertilizer and farmyard manure showed a negative and significant effect on wheat production. The coefficients of the frontier profit function revealed thatall input shows a negative and significant impact on wheat farmer profitability. Socio-economic factors show positive and significant relation with technical efficiency except cultivated area. The mean technical, economic and allocative efficiencyof farm households was found out to be 86 per cent, 71 per cent, and 83 per cent indicated that there is still scope for wheat growers to increase all the three efficiencies by operating at a full efficient level by proper utilization and allocation of existing resources and technology. This study provides crucial information for the farmers and also to the government about to formulate effective policy measures for attaining the sustainability of wheat crop in rainfed hilly areas of Jammu division.

The relationship between on-farm environmental conditions inside and outside cow sheds during the summer in England: can Temperature Humidity Index be predicted from outside conditions?

Heat stress is a growing problem in dairy cows, and interest is developing in calculating heat stress risk (Temperature Humidity Index – THI) without using specific farm data and in forecasting THI changes a few days in advance. Previous workers have shown that calculating THI values inside cattle sheds using data from local Meteorological Stations is not sufficiently accurate. Weather forecasting is becoming more local and can forecast on-farm temperature and humidity. This work looked at how well THI inside a cow shed could be predicted from data collected outside the cow shed on British farms. Six farms were monitored from 1 May 2021 to 30 Sept 2021 using bespoke data monitors that uploaded the data to the cloud in real time through the cellular network. Calculated THI values for inside and outside the cow shed were highly correlated (P < 0.001), and a regression predicting THI inside the shed from the THI outside the shed was highly significant (P < 0.001). However, farm-specific regressions had significantly different regression intercepts. Including calving pattern type (autumn or all year round) and calendar month separately or together improved the regression. The 95% confidence interval (CI) of the prediction was 10.8 THI units for the simple one-component model (THIoutside) and 7.8 for the three-component model (THIoutside, calendar month, calving pattern type). Farm-specific regressions had the lowest CI values suggesting there are farm-specific factors affecting THI that had not been captured. As a predictive model, the simple single component regression would be the most applicable but the relatively high CI means that predictions will not be that accurate with the risk of heat stress either under- or overemphasised on different farms. With one THI unit equating to approximately a 200 ml drop in milk yield in heat-stressed cows, such errors will be of biological and commercial significance. This in part may be due to the THI equation only considering temperature and humidity and ignoring solar radiation, shade, wind and animal factors such as milk yield, stage of pregnancy, weight and genetic variability. Further work is underway to develop an index that quantifies how the cow is responding to the combined heat-loading factors which may improve the prediction of heat stress.

Rethinking Blended High Yielding Seed Varieties and Partial-Organic Fertilizer Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Productivity and Farm Income Gains in the Drylands of Zimbabwe

Most blended climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies focusing on seed-fertilizer combinations have either been marginally adopted or dis-adopted by smallholder farmers due to the nature of design and implementation. A data science research approach was used with 380 households in the mid-Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe. The study examines impact of adopting a farmer initiated CSA practice combining improved sorghum seed variety and partial-organic fertilizer on household income and productivity among smallholder farmers in the drylands of Zimbabwe. A cross sectional household survey using multi stage sampling with purposive and stratified proportionate approaches was conducted. A structured questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) model was utilized to account for self-selection bias of sampled farmers. Overall, a combination of farm specific factors (arable land, variable costs) and external factors (distance to the market, value of aid) have a bearing on the adoption decision and the associated impact on productivity and income. The counterfactual analysis shows that farmers who adopt the technology are relatively better off in productivity and income. Our findings highlight the significance of improving access to CSA practices which are initiated by the farmers using a bottom-up approach since they suit their operating contexts better. Tailor-made supporting programs including farmer networking platforms and decentralized markets need to be designed and scaled up by policymakers to encourage farmers to adopt blended soil fertility CSA practices in their farming practices. Networking arrangements need to be strengthened through local, government and private sector partnerships along the sorghum value chain.

Market participation behaviour among urban okra producers in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria

The study examined market participation behaviour among urban okra producers in Ojo Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria. A two-stage sampling procedure was adopted in selecting 120 vegetable farmers during the dry season extending from November to March 2018/2019. Data on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, farm-specific factors, and marketing and production output activities were collected using a well-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics (such as mean, standard deviation and percentage) and a Tobit regression model. Most of the urban farmers were young and educated and in their economic active age. The mean market share of okra marketed by the respondents was 7,662.17kg (representing 89.8% of okra produced). Sex, primary occupation, per capita land size, cost of seed, price of okra per unit, distance to nearest market and cost of labour significantly determined market participation (p&lt;0.05). The study recommends policies that facilitate access to production resources like land, seed or planting material and farm labour at lower costs. The land policy that makes access to marginal land in an urban area available for agriculture should be as a form of empowerment to the vulnerable in society. Also, upgrading farm-to-market roads to reduce transportation costs to distant urban markets which offer better prices and encourage farmers to produce more marketable produce.

Barriers and levers of enhancing animal welfare in organic and low-input outdoor production: Insights from a supply chain survey

Animal welfare is an essential part of the sustainability of animal production. While low-input farming, such as organic animal production, is often considered animal-friendly, several ways to enhance animal welfare in low-input animal production exist. However, currently there is little information on how farmers and other supply chain actors view different innovations and tools which may influence animal welfare in low-input outdoor and organic production systems. The aim of this study was to examine farmers’ and experts’ reactions to new approaches to pig and poultry production, with special attention to their animal welfare-related measures. The reactions were tested formally in by using a quantitative survey instrument in nine European countries (Finland, UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania). In the survey, respondents’ views on production practices and novel measures were asked. These included aspects such as applicability and advantages and disadvantages of various measures such as avoiding mutilations, using dual-purpose or local breeds, or in-ovo sexing. The data included altogether 218 responses from nine countries. Differences between countries were tested and groups of respondents were identified. The results suggest that supply side stakeholders foresee the welfare benefits and some disadvantages of welfare improving measures proposed to them. However, they also indicate that several measures were considered inapplicable despite their benefits. Inadequate financial provisions to adopt a measure was considered as one of the most important reasons for inapplicability of a measure. This may imply either high costs of implementing measures of low market incentives or perceived low demand for animal-friendly products. Other barriers for adopting welfare-friendly measures included farm-specific factors such as limitations imposed by housing. The respondents indicated a high relative preference for feeding, breeding, shelter from predators and the use of vaccines and anti-parasitic treatments to the provision of enrichments and nesting material to pigs, and to mutilations. Farmers agreed that environmental enrichments are important welfare-improving levers and preferred their use in low-input pig and poultry production. Animal breeding-related measures in pig production were perceived quite favorably by supply side stakeholders. Despite their welfare benefits, farmers in some countries had quite high preference towards maintaining castration and tail docking in pig and beak trimming in broiler production as part of their production method.

Usage of antimicrobials on seven farms of beef producers in Switzerland

It was the objective of this study to evaluate morbidity, mortality, use of veterinary drugs and production output on seven representative Swiss beef fatteners, who bought on a regular basis batches of calves from traders (mean age and weight: 31 day, 75 kg) and practised an all in-all out system. From March 2015 until May 2016, 51 batches with a total of 1307 calves were included. The use of drugs during the first eight weeks following delivery of calves from the trader, casualty rate and carcass performance of 837 bulls. The administration of antimicrobials was calculated per calf as the number of days with effective therapeutic concentrations (daily doses per animal; DD/A). The average weight of the calves at arrival on the fattening unit was 75 kg and the age 31 days. The group size was between 13 to 47 calves (median 22, Q1 = 21, Q2 = 30). In 36 batches (70,6 %), a veterinary entry examination was performed which demonstrated that at admission 20 % of the calves suffered from a relevant disease. The median for the number of DD/A was 16 for the first 56 days on the farm (Q1 = 11, Q3 = 21); 68 % of these DD/A were attributed to metaphylactic medications after delivery. Thereafter, pneumonia (54 %), diarrhea (33 %) and otitis (10 %) were the most frequent indications for subsequent therapeutic interventions. Over all batches, a median of 71 % (Q1 = 47, Q3 = 85) of all DD/A were due to critically important antimicrobials (CIM) and drugs containing several antibiotics including a CIM. The losses due to death or euthanasia averaged 3,7 % of all calves. The median for daily weight gain for the total fattening period (median 354 days; Q1 = 328, Q3 = 379) accounted for 1325 g (Q1 = 1216, Q3 = 1425). The profound variation between the farms in respect to the results of drug use and production output reveals evidence for the strong impact of farm-specific factors (such as pen space per calf, barn climate, vaccination protocol, supervision). Concurrently, the remarkable differences between the results of different batches on one farm depict that there are further important risk factors which are beyond the control of the farmer (in particular season of the year, transport). It is concluded that a systematic minimization of risk factors as part of a continuous veterinary consultation is useful two improve herd health and to reduce the input of drugs in the production of beef.

Administration of internal teat sealant in primigravid dairy heifers at different times of gestation to prevent intramammary infections at calving

Intramammary infections (IMI) are common in primigravid dairy heifers and can negatively affect future milk production. Bismuth subnitrate-based internal teat sealants (ITS) have been used to prevent prepartum IMI in dairy heifers by creating a physical barrier within the teat, preventing pathogens from entering the gland, though determination of when to administer ITS in heifers has yet to be investigated. The objectives of this study were to determine if administration of ITS in primigravid heifers reduced the odds of IMI at calving and if administration of ITS at different stages of gestation (75 vs. 35 d prepartum) affected the odds of IMI at calving. A total of 270 heifers were used at a single farm. One quarter of each heifer was randomly chosen to be aseptically sampled and administered ITS 75 d prepartum (ITS75), another quarter of each heifer was sampled and received ITS 35 d prepartum (ITS35), whereas the remaining 2 quarters of each heifer served as control quarters (CON) and were not sampled before calving. Within 12 h of calving, aseptic colostrum samples were collected from all quarters to determine quarter infection status. When an IMI was caused by mastitis pathogens other than non-aureus staphylococci (NAS), CON quarters were 3 times [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4-6.3] and 2.5 times (95% CI: 1.2-4.9) more likely to be infected at calving than ITS75 and ITS35 quarters, respectively. For IMI with NAS, CON quarters were 5.8 (95% CI: 3.2-10.5) and 6.4 (95% CI: 3.4-12.0) times more likely to be infected than ITS75 and ITS35 quarters, respectively. Odds of IMI at calving was similar between ITS75 and ITS35 quarters for both NAS (odds ratio = 0.9) and other pathogens (odds ratio = 1.2). Results indicate that ITS administration at either 75 and 35 d prepartum reduced IMI prevalence at calving in primigravid dairy heifers. Farm specific factors may influence prevalence and timing of heifer IMI and earlier administration of ITS provides an extended period of protection for the developing gland.

Direct Payment Subsidies for Environmentally-Friendly Agriculture on Rice Production in Shiga, Japan

Environmentally-friendly agriculture has been promoted for over two decades as a response to environmental degradation and biological loss. Lake Biwa, which is a major water source in Kinki region, has suffered eutrophication resulting in occurrences of freshwater red tide and blue-green algae bloom. As a result, Shiga Prefectural government has implemented a direct payment subsidy system which would promote the environmentally-friendly agricultural (EFA) practices in order to reduce pollution load and improve the quality of Lake Biwa eco-system. This study aims to determine profit efficiency among EFA rice farmers in Shiga Prefecture using the Stochastic Frontier Approach. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 82 farmers from top rice-producing cities in Shiga Prefecture, using a structured questionnaire. Results showed that EFA farmers increased their net farm income by 99 %, amounting to 652,414 JPY/ha compared to the 658,553 JPY/ha income of conventional farmers. However, production costs were also found to be higher among EFA farmers, especially on labor costs, which accounted for 42 % of the total production cost. The study investigated the farmer and farm-specific factors affecting deviations from the profit frontier and discussed the policy implications for the promotion and popularization of EFA in the future.

Technical Efficiency of Maize Producer Smallholder Farmers in Alefa Woreda, North Western Ethiopia

Efficient uses of the existing resources by farm households improve their productivity and thereby increase their output. Maize is one of the dominant crops in the study area; however its productivity is very low. This shows that it is possible to raise output from existing inputs used if resources are properly used and efficiently allocated. The productivity of maize can be changed due to differences in the efficiency of the production process. Hence, this study aimed to analyzing the technical efficiency of maize production in Alefa District of central Gondar in Ethiopia. The objective of study was to measure the level of technical efficiency of maize producers and to identify the determinants of technical efficiencies in maize production among smallholder farmers in the study area. To address the objective of the study both primary and secondary data were collected. The primary data were collected from 152 maize producer farmers by two- stage sampling technique during 2019/20 production season. For data collection personal interview through a structural interview scheduled was employed. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Technical efficiency of sampled farmers in maize production was estimated and analyzed by Cobb-Douglas functional form in stochastic frontier model (SFM) with single stage estimation method. The estimated SFM indicated that input variables (land, labor, oxen and DAP) were found significantly and positively influence maize production. The production of maize by sampled farmers was characterized in constant return to scale (1.08). The estimated gamma (γ) parameter was 0.91, which measures the relative deviation of output from the frontier level due to inefficiency. This implies that about 91% of the total variation in maize output was due to technical inefficiency effects. The estimated mean level of TE of maize producers was 0.82. This implies that production can be increased by 18 percent given the existing technological level. The results of this study indicated that among the farm specific, socioeconomic and institutional factors hypothesized to affect TE, age, family size, education status, frequency of extension contact, off farm income and credit access were significant determinants of the production level of maize. The findings obtained in this study could be quite useful to policy makers. Policy interventions should focus more on timely supply of DAP, and socioeconomic significant variables such as education, age, credit access, off farm income, family size and extension contact improve farmers’ efficiency in production of maize. Key words/Phrase: Maize Production, Single Stage Estimation, Stochastic Frontier Model, Technical Efficiency DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/68-05 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

Impact of land registration and certification on land rental by Chinese farmers

This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the impact of the Rural Land Registration and Certification Program (RLRC) on land rental among farmers in China. Propensity Score Matching and an IV-Tobit estimation are used in the estimate to overcome endogeneity problems caused by sample selection bias and reverse causality. The China Labor-force Dynamics Survey provides the data. Results show that the RLRC is associated with an increase in the rental scale of cultivated land (especially dryland) but has no significant impact on scale of irrigated land among farmers. Policy recommendations include consideration of village- and farm-specific factors that have been shown to affect adoption including village-support and level of natural endowment for agricultural land.

Profitability Analysis of Ginger Value Addition in Abia State, Nigeria

This study analyzed the profitability of ginger value addition in Abia State, Nigeria. This study identified the ginger value-added products common in the area, the cost implications of the value addition process, and the socio-economic and farm-specific factors affecting ginger value addition. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 60 (sixty) respondents and a well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the necessary data. The results revealed that the value ginger products were dried ginger, salted ginger, ginger flakes, ginger oil, and ginger paste. The factors affecting the profitability of ginger value addition from the linear regression model shows that education, income, capital, and collateral were significant. It is, therefore, recommended that youth and entrepreneurs should invest in ginger value addition as it is profitable and it is a sure way to economic empowerment and fight against hunger.

Technical efficiency and technology gap in Ghana’s cocoa industry: accounting for farm heterogeneity

ABSTRACTThis study employs a stochastic metafrontier framework to examine the performance of smallholder cocoa farmers using cross-country survey from Ghana. The results indicate that the output of farmers from all the regions lags behind their potential with the mean technical efficiency of 0.65, 0.76, 0.60 and 0.74 for Western, Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti and Eastern regions, respectively. Each region faces a technology gap when their performances are compared with the technology available in the industry as a whole. The study identified sources of farmers’ technical inefficiency emanating from a combined effects of socioeconomic and farm-specific factors although effects of some variables were not significant. However, farmers in all the regions have the potential to overcome technological constraints and achieve the highest attainable productivity levels. It is, therefore, important that Ghana cocoa board strengthened its strategies to the latter to improve farmers’ technical and managerial skills on the efficient use of resources.