Agricultural Labor Force Research Articles

Effect of climate change on fruit by co-integration and machine learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the impacts on production of five fruit crops from 1961 to 2018 of energy use, CO2 emissions, farming areas and the labor force in China.Design/methodology/approachThis analysis applied the autoregressive distributed lag-bound testing (ARDL) approach, Granger causality method and Johansen co-integration test to predict long-term co-integration and relation between variables. Four machine learning methods are used for prediction of the accuracy of climate effect on fruit production.FindingsThe Johansen test findings have shown that the fruit crop growth, energy use, CO2 emissions, harvested land and labor force have a long-term co-integration relation. The outcome of the long-term use of CO2 emission and rural population has a negative influence on fruit crops. The energy consumption, harvested area, total fruit yield and agriculture labor force have a positive influence on six fruit crops. The long-run relationships reveal that a 1% increase in rural population and CO2 will decrease fruit crop production by −0.59 and −1.97. The energy consumption, fruit harvested area, total fruit yield and agriculture labor force will increase fruit crop production by 0.17%, 1.52%, 1.80% and 4.33%, respectively. Furthermore, uni-directional causality is correlated with the growth of fruit crops and energy consumption. Also, the results indicate that the bi-directional causality impact varies from CO2 emissions to agricultural areas to fruit crops.Originality/valueThis study also fills the literature gap in implementing ARDL for agricultural fruits of China, used machine learning methods to examine the impact of climate change and to explore this important issue.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORKFORCE IN AGRICULTURE IN ROMANIA

The labor force in agriculture, especially in a considerably rural society and economy, as is the case of Romania, constitutes an important subject of study, based on the measurement and analysis of the main indicators. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the main indicators revealing the employment in agriculture, the evolution of this sector in the last decades and the potential problems created by the decrease of the labor force in agriculture. Data analyzed in this paper are extracted mainly from the European Union Open Data Portal and from the World Bank, covering a long period of time, more precisely 1991-2018. The data refer to the main indicators regarding the employment in agriculture in Romania in absolute figures and as a percent of the total employment, as well as to other variables relevant for the current research. Employment in agriculture is an important indicator for acknowledging the trend of the work force in this sector. The statistical processing of the raw data clearly indicates that the employment in agriculture has decreased constantly and considerably since 1991, both in absolute figures and as a percent of total employment, although Romania remains the country of the European Union with the biggest number of employees involved in agricultural or agriculture-related productive activities. The size of the decrease varies from year to year, yet it clearly indicates a significant decline, requiring a comprehensive investigation and proper measures taken by the responsible official authorities.

Integration in export marketing channels and farms' labor force composition: Female agricultural workers in the Moroccan vegetable sector

AbstractThe Moroccan agricultural sector employs around 40% of the country's total working population. Since the early 1990s, there has been a striking increase in the proportion of female wage laborers. This article investigates the effect of the gendered composition of the agricultural wage labor force on horticultural farms. We draw on an original data set collected in 2010, comprising 240 agricultural holdings located in the region of Souss Massa. The results suggest that local labor shortages do not play a major role in explaining the ratio of female hired wage laborers. Instead, it seems that quality requirements are encouraging farm holdings to hire a female labor force. [EconLit citations: Q12, O13, J43]

Immigration and integration in rural areas and the agricultural sector: An EU perspective

Immigrants in rural areas and immigrant employment in the agricultural sector have been studied from a variety of perspectives. However, we currently lack a bird's-eye view of these two phenomena covering all EU member states through time. This paper tackles that gap, first by describing the main features of immigrant settlement and economic integration in rural areas in the EU. Second, it offers an EU-wide overview of immigrants' integration in the agricultural sector. Then, it investigates empirically the degree to which the different characteristics of agricultural production in two member states – Italy and Spain – are associated with a migrant presence in the area. The study finds that, in the context of a shrinking agricultural labour force, the share of migrant workers in that sector in several regions is increasing over time. Migrants living in rural areas are more likely to be unemployed and face economic hardship than locals. Migrants employed in agriculture are, also, more likely to work in elementary occupations and temporary jobs. Finally, the case studies on Italy and Spain demonstrate that the relative size of the migrant population is related to the typology of agricultural land use and to the labour intensity and seasonality of cultivation.

Impact of Agricultural Labor Transfer on Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution: A Case Study of Jiangxi, China

A large proportion of the rural labor force in China will continue to transfer to non-agricultural sectors in the near future, which will inevitably lead to the transformation of the agricultural production mode and the structure of the farmers' livelihood. The Chinese government is making great efforts to govern agricultural nonpoint source pollution (ANSP), and farmers' environmental behavior is a key factor that must be considered in the formulation of agricultural environmental policies. Based on a set of micro survey data on farmers in the study area and econometric methods, this study investigates the impact of agricultural labor transfer on ANSP by considering the substitution effect of agricultural factors and the effect of agricultural economies of scale. The results show that the increase of the agricultural labor force will not be conducive to reducing ANSP, while the income increase brought by agricultural labor transfer will improve the input structure of agricultural factors and have a positive impact on ANSP reduction. Government departments should provide subsidies or incentive measures to help agricultural social service organizations to expand their coverage and increase the frequency of socialized agricultural services, in order to guide farmers in the use of environment-friendly agricultural technology to reduce the ANSP caused by agricultural factors at the source. Furthermore, it is necessary to facilitate the development of small-sized agricultural machinery suitable for small-area land cultivation.

Acquisition of Agricultural Land by Foreigners and Family Agricultural Holdings in Croatia

This paper presents two important aspects of the structural transformation of the agricultural sector of the Republic of Croatia. First, there is an analysis of the legal regulation of the acquisition of agricultural land by foreigners by which Croatia has aligned its rules on the acquisition of real property with EU law. In particular, attention is drawn to the differences in the legal position of foreigners depending on whether they are nationals or legal persons of EU Member States or from third countries, as well as on the grounds on which they acquire agricultural land in Croatia. Second, the author points to the new regulation of family agricultural holdings of 2018 (Family Agricultural Holdings Act) and highlights the importance of the separate regulation of family agricultural holdings for the development of Croatian agriculture, particularly with regard to the existing structure of agricultural holdings and the structure of the farm labour force.

Economic Structural Transformation in Emerging Market Countries

This article analyzes the structural transformation in 30 emerging market countries (E30) on the dimensions of industry, trade, and urbanization. It finds that first, in the agricultural sector, E30 have contributed greatly to the increase of the global agricultural productivity and the transfer of labor force from the agricultural sector to industry or the service sector. However, these countries still feature a high percentage of agricultural employment, which means there is vast room for shifting the agricultural labor force. Second, in the industrial sector, E30 have made remarkable contributions to the world’s industrial development but have also displayed a trend of premature “deindustrialization.” Third, the service sector has picked up speed and gradually turned into a new driver of economic development in E30. Against this backdrop, E30 face the major challenge of how to cope with the premature deindustrialization and smoothly shift the economic growth engine from the industrial sector to the service sector. Fourth, E30 have become an important force in the world trade, with their trade structure switching from simple, primary, low-value-added goods to sophisticated, high-grade, and high-value-added goods and services. However, some emerging market countries are more susceptible to the impacts of the anti-globalization trend because of their high reliance on foreign trade and improper trade structure. Therefore, how to diversify the economy and enhance its economic resilience holds the key to the sustainable economic development of E30. Fifth, E30 have contributed greatly to world urbanization. As urbanization relies more on the service sector than on the industrial sector, it is vital to properly strike a balance between industrialization and urbanization, and between industrialization and service sector development.

Analysis of the agricultural labor force and its impact on agricultural products obtained in the South-Muntenia region

This paper aims to highlight the impact that the labor force in the agricultural sector has on the production obtained from the main crops in the South-Muntenia development region, Romania, in the period 2014-2018. Following the study of theoretical aspects in the fields mentioned above and combining these studies with the interpretation and analysis of statistical data, an analysis will be established to establish the level at which the agricultural labor force in the South-Muntenia region impacts the productions of five important crops. Romanian agricultural sector, respectively: wheat, corn, sunflower, rapeseed and soybeans. In the South-Muntenia region, made up of Argeș, Călărași, Dâmbovița, Giurgiu, Ialomița, Prahova and Teleorman counties, the percentage of people working in the agricultural sector in 2018 was 27.8% of the total population of this region.

Heat stress on agricultural workers exacerbates crop impacts of climate change

The direct impacts of climate change on crop yields and human health are individually well-studied, but the interaction between the two have received little attention. Here we analyze the consequences of global warming for agricultural workers and the crops they cultivate using a global economic model (GTAP) with explicit treatment of the physiological impacts of heat stress on humans’ ability to work. Based on two metrics of heat stress and two labor functions, combined with a meta-analysis of crop yields, we provide an analysis of climate, impacts both on agricultural labor force, as well as on staple crop yields, thereby accounting for the interacting effect of climate change on both land and labor. Here we analyze the two sets of impacts on staple crops, while also expanding the labor impacts to highlight the potential importance on non-staple crops. We find, worldwide, labor and yield impacts within staple grains are equally important at +3 ∘C warming, relative to the 1986–2005 baseline. Furthermore, the widely overlooked labor impacts are dominant in two of the most vulnerable regions: sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. In those regions, heat stress with 3 ∘C global warming could reduce labor capacity in agriculture by 30%–50%, increasing food prices and requiring much higher levels of employment in the farm sector. The global welfare loss at this level of warming could reach $136 billion, with crop prices rising by 5%, relative to baseline.

How Vulnerable Are U.S. Crop Workers?: Evidence from Representative Worker Data and Implications for COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objectives This paper examines health profiles and work environments of hired U.S. farmworkers to understand the risk to essential workers and their employers, to the food supply, and to rural health systems such as what is possible with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Large-sample statistical methods and proprietary data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey from 2000 to 2018 were used to assess factors associated with exposure to COVID-19 and vulnerabilities associated with medical complications. Results An aging workforce and increased access to health care within the crop worker population has been associated with a higher reported incidence of diabetes, asthma, and heart disease among workers over time. These trends confirm a vulnerable, but essential, workforce with higher risks for COVID-19 complications than would have been true of U.S. farmworkers as a group in earlier years. Conclusions Increasing age and disease burden in the U.S. agricultural labor force puts workers at increased risk for developing COVID-19 complications. Limits to field sanitation and housing quality inflate the probability of the development of COVID-19 hotbeds in rural communities that could further compromise the physical health of workers, the economic health of farm establishments, the agricultural supply-chain, and rural health capacities. Additional and more targeted worker protections may minimize public health and economic costs in the long run.

Household perspective on cropland expansion on the Tibetan Plateau

Cropland expansion has become a prominent feature in developing countries and regions. A comprehensive clarification of the causes of cropland expansion is conducive to the adoption of appropriate actions to intervene and adapt to climate change, support rational land use, and balance ecosystem services. Using the Pumqu River Basin (PRB) in the Tibetan Plateau as the study area, we constructed a conceptual model that emphasizes the role of households and explored the causes of cropland expansion based on field survey data. Our results indicate that households’ perception of climate change, families’ non-agricultural income, the numbers of agricultural labor force, and the population pressure faced were the causes of cropland expansion in the PRB. Based on these findings, corresponding policy recommendations to limit the spontaneous cropland expansion behaviors of local households and reduce the ecological loss caused by cropland expansion are proposed.

Assessing the Sensitivity of Main Crop Yields to Climate Change Impacts in China

Quantitatively assessing the spatial divergence of the sensitivity of crop yield to climate change is of great significance for reducing the climate change risk to food production. We use socio-economic and climatic data from 1981 to 2015 to examine how climate variability led to variation in yield, as simulated by an economy–climate model (C-D-C). The sensitivity of crop yield to the impact of climate change refers to the change in yield caused by changing climatic factors under the condition of constant non-climatic factors. An ‘output elasticity of comprehensive climate factor (CCF)’ approach determines the sensitivity, using the yields per hectare for grain, rice, wheat and maize in China’s main grain-producing areas as a case study. The results show that the CCF has a negative trend at a rate of −0.84/(10a) in the North region, while a positive trend of 0.79/(10a) is observed for the South region. Climate change promotes the ensemble increase in yields, and the contribution of agricultural labor force and total mechanical power to yields are greater, indicating that the yield in major grain-producing areas mainly depends on labor resources and the level of mechanization. However, the sensitivities to climate change of different crop yields to climate change present obvious regional differences: the sensitivity to climate change of the yield per hectare for maize in the North region was stronger than that in the South region. Therefore, the increase in the yield per hectare for maize in the North region due to the positive impacts of climate change was greater than that in the South region. In contrast, the sensitivity to climate change of the yield per hectare for rice in the South region was stronger than that in the North region. Furthermore, the sensitivity to climate change of maize per hectare yield was stronger than that of rice and wheat in the North region, and that of rice was the highest of the three crop yields in the South region. Finally, the economy–climate sensitivity zones of different crops were determined by the output elasticity of the CCF to help adapt to climate change and prevent food production risks.

The impact of urbanization and aging on food security in developing countries: The view from Northwest China

Different from the urbanization and aging population challenges experienced by developed countries, developing countries face huge impacts of these challenges on food security. Previous studies on the effects of urbanization and an aging population in developing countries on food security were mostly qualitative discussions and focused on individual aspects of grain production or consumption. In this paper, we combine rural household survey data with statistical data to comprehensively assess and reveal the impact of these two factors on food security in developing countries. Their impact on food security has both negative and positive aspects. Taking Northwest China as an example, the grain yield of every family will increase by 26.0 and −9.4 kg (P < 0.05) for every 1% increase of these two factors. For every 1% increase in urban and elderly population, regional grain consumption will increase by 0.07% and −0.09%, respectively. The negative impact of urbanization on the agricultural labor force and farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain is gradually increasing. Along with urbanization, food consumption of urban and elderly populations increased by 1.3 and 0.5 times, respectively, from 2000 to 2016. Coupled with the preference of urban residents for animal-based food products (the average annual consumption growth rate is 2.7%), the per capita food demand continues to increase, which brings about food security challenges. However, the improvement of these two factors promotes the development of agricultural mechanization and water-saving technology. This not only addresses the negative impact of labor shortage in grain production, but also reduces the grain water footprint and promotes its sustainable development. Based on the above research results, this paper proposes to use the economic benefits of urbanization to feedback to rural areas: strengthen technical guidance, train farmers and invest in machinery and equipment to promote the development of smart agriculture, and increase and refine agricultural subsidy policies to ensure the sustainable development of food production. The study can serve as a reference for other developing countries and ultimately contribute to ensuring global food security.

Assessment of the Degree of Factors Impact on Employment in Ukraine’s Agriculture

Agriculture is an important branch in Ukraine’s economy. The share of agriculture’s GDP in the national economy is more than 10%. The development of agriculture stimulates the development of other sectors in national economy. According to the results of the analysis of the employment dynamics in Ukraine’s agriculture, it was concluded that there was a negative tendency. That is why the aim of the article is to specify the factors of impact on employment in Ukraine’s agriculture and to assess the degree of their influence. To achieve this goal, the different methods were used: system analysis—for determination the factors influencing employment in agriculture; factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, principal components method—for evaluating the impact of various factors on the employment in agriculture of Ukraine. It was found that the most significant social-demographic factors of impact on employment in Ukraine’s agriculture include the total rural population at the age 16–64 and the demand for labor force in agriculture, and the most important economic factor is labor productivity. Determining the factors and measures of their impact on employment will substantiate public policy measures, methods and mechanisms for their implementation to solve employment problems in Ukraine’s agriculture.

Religious Festivals and Economic Development: Evidence from Catholic Saint Day Festivals in Mexico

Societies worldwide spend substantial resources celebrating religious festivals. How do festivals influence economic and social outcomes? We study Catholic patron saint day festivals in Mexico, exploiting two features of the setting: (i) municipal festival dates vary across the calendar and were determined in the early history of towns after Spanish conquest, and (ii) there is considerable variation in the intra-annual timing of agricultural seasons. We compare municipalities with “agriculturally-coinciding” festivals (those that coincide with peak planting or harvest months) to other municipalities, examining differences in long-run economic development and social outcomes. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals have negative effects on household income and other development outcomes. They also lead to lower agricultural productivity and higher share of the labor force in agriculture, consistent with agriculturally-coinciding festivals inhibiting the structural transformation of the economy. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals also lead to higher religiosity and social capital, potentially explaining why such festivals persist in spite of their negative growth consequences.

Agriculture 4.0? Studying the evidence for automation in Chilean agriculture

In recent decades, computing-based technologies have been large contributors to the current digital and knowledge economy. This process has led to changes in the structure of employment and variations in relative wages across workers in skill distribution, with computing-based technologies representing the technological shift shaping current and future labor demand. In this regard, how job tasks might be replaced or complemented by computing-based technologies becomes a new and critical aspect in explaining how technological progress drives labor demand. Agriculture, as well as other sectors, has taken advantage of this technical progress, with emergent technologies contributing to the shift toward Agriculture 4.0. In the case of Chile, the evidence points to an overall reduction in the agricultural labor force and to an increase in the relative number of salaried workers within agriculture, particularly those in temporary jobs. However, nothing has been said about the types of tasks being performed in the sector, its evolution over time, and its relationship with automation. If agriculture is under a technological upgrading process, then we should expect the reduction in the number of salaried workers to be accompanied by an increase in the relative skillset of those still in the industry performing non-routine tasks. Contrary to what one might expect, our results suggest that the participation of routine tasks in agriculture has only increased over time, pointing to a low adoption of computing-based technologies compared to other economic sectors within the Chilean economy.

Exploratory analysis of women's right of access a land case of Mali

The relevance of the study: Several factors combine to explain this situation, including the poor equipment of farms and the lack of supervision and strong support from the public authorities. In addition to these factors, the lack of security of land tenure is a major problem facing farmers [1]. This problem of land rights is exacerbated by women's poor access to farmland despite the fact that they make up a very large part of the agricultural labor force. Mali is a country whose economic structure is strongly dominated by the primary and tertiary sectors. In 2017, the contribution of the primary sector accounted for 38.34% of GDP, with a large share for agriculture (19 % of GDP). In 2019, it is estimated at 38.43% of GDP [2]. Malian agriculture remains largely dependent on rainfall. It is characterized by low agricultural yields. Problem of the research. Low access to agricultural property rights is a source of demotivation for women who paradoxically constitute the main agricultural workforce. This lack of a consecrated and explicitly recognized right to land ownership reflects the lack of incentives for women and would explain in part the low productivity and low total agricultural production. Subject of the research: women's right of access to agricultural property and its impact on the country's production. The aim of this paper is to reveal the problems women's right of access to land. The following tasks: is to identify the legal arsenal relating to land law directly and to women's right of access to land ownership and to highlight the practical, social and customary difficulties encountered in the implementation of this right. Subsequently, it is necessary to highlight the link between this poor access to agricultural property rights and the low level of agricultural production in Mali. Methods. To deal with this theme we had adopted a feminist and critical posture. The novelty the adoption of the feminist posture helps us to understand women's discourse in a context marked in practice by the implicit denial of women's right to access agricultural land ownership. The paper concluded that he critical approach makes it possible to go beyond this observation to try to understand the relations of force and power between men and women in the particular context of the country. As the result women's right to access land ownership is a recognized and inalienable right in Mali. However, sociological, customary and religious constraints make the implementation of this right on the ground problematic. As a result, despite their significant weight in the agricultural labor force, women have little access to land, farms, inputs and equipment. The corollary of this situation is their low agricultural yield and their low contribution to agricultural value added.

Development status and trend of agricultural robot technology

In the face of the contradiction between the increasing demand for agricultural products and the sharp reduction of agricultural resources and labor force, agricultural robot technology is developing explosively on the basis of decades of technical and industrial exploration. In view of the complexity and particularity of the development of agricultural robot technology, it is of great value to summarize its development characteristics and make reasonable judgments on its development trend. In this paper, the type of agricultural robot systems was first discussed. From the classification of agricultural robot systems, the development of main types of monitoring robots, non-selective and selective working robots for crop farming, livestock and poultry farming and aquaculture were introduced in detail. Then the scientific research, core technology and commercialization of different types of agricultural robots were summarized. It is believed that navigation in complex agricultural environments, damage-free robot-crop interaction and agronomy-robot fusion have high scientific value and significance to promote the revolutionary advances in agricultural robot technology. The characteristics of inter-discipline between agricultural robot technology and new materials, artificial intelligence, bionics, agronomy are research focus. The fast damage-free operation, autonomous navigation for complex environments, target detection for complex backgrounds and special design for agricultural robots are considered to be the key technology of agricultural robot development, and the development path is given. Finally, robot-crop interaction simulation, big data support and artificial intelligence are regarded as paths to realize the breakthrough of key agricultural robot technologies. The summary and prospect of this paper are of positive significance to promote the overall development of agricultural robot technology. Keywords: agricultural robot, type, selective, non-selective, trend DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211404.6821 Citation: Jin Y C, Liu J Z, Xu Z J, Yuan S Q, Li P P, Wang J Z. Development status and trend of agricultural robot technology. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(4): 1–19.

Do climate uncertainties trigger farmers' out-migration in the Lower Mekong Region?

Many rural communities in the Lower Mekong region are vulnerable to the climate uncertainty induced by climate change due to high rate of poverty, lack of agricultural technology, and heavy reliance on the environment for their livelihoods. Rural people are likely to migrate to urban areas in response to the climate impacts and thanks to the rises in the number of cities, urban areas, and industrial zones in this region over the last decades. We selected a rural area in Cambodia to examine the link between climate impacts and rural out-migration because the majority of Cambodian territory is located in the Lower Mekong Basin which has experienced long-term climate change. Through an empirical study which consisted of an integrated quantitative and qualitative research approach in Kampong Cham province, we found the temperature showed a significant (α = 0.05) trend of +0.027C°/year, while rainfall showed a non-significative trend, but it had a marked inter-annual variability over the last two decades. The migration trend increased: most farmers' families of small and medium sized farms and who experienced more climate impacts had more family members who migrated. Migration is one of the solutions for farmers trying to maintain their livelihoods and incomes, but mass migration causes gaps in the agricultural and rural labour force. This study implies that enhancing farmers' adaptive capacity in agriculture will contribute to improving the migration landscape.

Assessment of Empowerment of Women Farmers in Decision Making in Agriculture and Livestock Activities

In Pakistan, women constitute about 67% of the agricultural labor force, engaged in agriculture and its sub-sectors to support their families. Because of the patriarchal society, women have been discriminated against in acquiring fundamental rights and decision-making in numerous aspects of life, including various farm and livestock-related activities. No or very limited studies have been conducted regarding women farmers' empowerment, especially in the Ghotki, Naushahro Feroz, and Badin districts of Sindh. Hence, this qualitative study was carried out in districts Ghotki, Naushahro Feroz, and Badin, Sindh to determine women farmers' perceptions about their empowerment regarding decision-making in agriculture activities. Thirty IDIs and nine FGDs were conducted through purposive sampling, and the collected data were analyzed through thematic analyses. This study reveals that women farmers perform various agricultural and livestock tasks for about 6 to 8 hours a day with their man folks. Illiteracy and poverty were the main reasons behind their engagement in the sector, and they worked as unpaid labour with their men. Women farmers have limited decision-making authority in various crop activities, the sale and purchase of agricultural goods, livestock, and its by-products, due to cultural constraints, they have no access to the agricultural market. This study suggests that education, professional training, and property ownership rights may be provided to women farmers to grow economically and be productive for future generations, society, and the country.