Modern Farming Methods Research Articles

Restricted Randomization: A Practical Example

Abstract A method of restricted randomization, which avoids bad patterns in the treatments but retains validity in the analysis, is demonstrated on an example that exhibits many features of real agricultural experiments, such as untidy treatment structure and uncertainty about blocking. The method uses permutation groups. Modern farming methods force agricultural experimenters to use long thin lines of plots for blocking, rather than more compact areas. Ordinary randomization of a long thin block can produce a plan with, say, all low levels of nitrogen at one end of the block. The first section of the article discusses why simple rerandomization is not a satisfactory method of avoiding poor layouts. Restricted randomization has been developed as a method of avoiding badly patterned plans while ensuring validity of the usual analysis. One method of restricted randomization uses special groups of permutations of the plots. Catalogs of good restricted randomizations have been given for symmetric factorial designs. The example described here is fairly typical of agricultural experiments in that the treatment structure is a full factorial plus control and the treatment factors do not have equal numbers of levels. In addition, there is some confounding of treatments with subblocks. The general method of restricted randomization can still be used, even though the catalogs contain nothing relevant. The method uses group theory in two distinct ways. For subblocks of size 13 the first step is the choice of a suitable group G of permutations of 13 objects. Then the factorial structure of the treatments in a subblock is elucidated. Lattice diagrams prove particularly helpful and show how to match the noncontrol treatments to the elements of an abstract group C of order 12. The experimenter specifies which layouts he would like to avoid. An initial arrangement of the 13 treatments is sought with the property that no permutation in G transforms it into any of the specified bad plans. In principle each possible initial arrangement would have to be tested on every permutation in G: the purpose of the previous matching of the treatments to C is to reduce the number of tests by a factor of 12. Typically, the first specification is too stringent and there is no solution. Alternatively, an initial arrangement that satisfies the original specification may exhibit some other pattern that the experimenter then decides he wishes to avoid. In the light of the experience gained during the searching procedure, the specification is relaxed or strengthened until a satisfactory initial arrangement is found. Once a good initial arrangement is known, plans can be quickly produced for a large number of trials with the same experimental structure.

Progress in the conservation of Nigeria's Wildlife

Wildlife conservation in Nigeria from 1914 to the present day is reviewed, and both the historical and socio-economic reasons for the lack of effective conservation measures are outlined. These include: official apathy during the colonial times; the low priority rating of wildlife as reflected in inadequate funding and administrative arrangements; weak enforcement of, and inadequacies in, existing wildlife laws; excessive demand for land, bushmeat and fuelwood by a rapidly expanding human population, and a traditional lack of concern for the welfare of wild animals. The most significant developments in the last decade include the creation of the Kainji Lake National Park (area 5341 km 2) at New Bussa (1975), the signing of agreement with the Republics of Chad, Niger and Cameroon for the joint control of the fauna and flora of the Lake Chad basin (1977), the launching of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, a private conservation lobby affiliated to the WWF (1982), the promulgation of a law to control international traffic in endangered species (1985), the drawing-up of a draft national conservation strategy (1985) and the creation of a rain forest sanctuary in Bendal State (1985). Since these measures in themselves do not guarantee the preservation of wildlife, it is suggested that more funds be provided for recruitment of manpower, procurement of anti-poaching equipment and infrastructures, and conservation education, while modern farming methods should be encouraged in order to combat habitat destruction through slash-and-burn agriculture.

Les villages de la vallée de l'Irrawaddy (Birmanie centrale)

Villages in the Irrawaddy Valley (Central Burma). For the author, the Irrawaddy gave birth to Burmese civilization. In this article he attempts to show how the river influences the agrarian structures of five insular villages, affecting field and settlement patterns as well as religious and social organization. After explaining how the cycle of agricultural activities — especially planting and harvesting of rice and peanuts — is determined by rains and floods, the author compares traditional and modern farming methods and provides a brief analysis of peasant diet. The life of a typical family is described, and details are given concerning not only their living quarters (floor plan, furniture) but also their financial situation (income, taxes). In the last part of the article, the author discusses the parcelling out of village land into small holdings and the demographic problems which encourage rural emigration. He concludes by distinguishing three types of villages according to their emphasis on different economic activities : (1) villages of artisans, especially those whose inhabitants specialize in pottery production ; (2) villages whose population is composed almost equally of artisans and peasants ; (3) villages where practically everyone is engaged in agricultural activities.

The portrayal of Africans in agricultural films of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe): 1940s to 1950s

One of the most effective cultural tools used by the colonial governments in Africa to make their rule acceptable to African indigenous populations was film. In Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) the colonial government created the Central Film Unit whose major aim was to teach Africans new agricultural methods. The response by Africans to this colonial initiative was mixed. Some welcomed and enjoyed the films and made use of the skills that the films popularised, but others were cynical and viewed these films as a tool to consolidate British white settler rule in Rhodesia. This article analyses six colonial films produced in the 1940s and 1950s. The article argues that through the use of colonial films, the Rhodesia government was able to persuade African communal farmers to adopt modern methods of farming. The irony of this is that the use of modern farming methods made it possible for the same colonial authorities to later blame Africans for the ecological disaster in the communal areas.

THE IMPACT OF TAXATION ON AGRICULTURE

This paper considers the impact of taxation on British agriculture. Its purpose is to provoke thought into an important aspect of agricultural adjustment which has been largely overlooked, with consequential mis‐direction of thought and effort.consideratio is restricted to the limited number of large farmers who are responsible for the major proportion of production.It is shown that the tax structure inhibits the acquisition and maintenance of personal wealth at the ever‐increasing levels required by modern farming methods and conditions.With the problem accentuated by inflation, there is no solution other than to accept the inevitability of corporation farming.

A test for chlorate residues

Modern farming methods have brought into play the use of defoliants to knock the leaves off of plants before the use of harvesting machines to harvest the crops produced by the plants involved. The advent of the cotton-picking machine in particular has brought on a large increase in the use of defoliants. One of the most popular groups of these is the chlorate defoliants. These are sprayed on the cotton plants just before harvest in order that the leaves will fall off of the plants and make it easier for the machines to pick the cotton and produce a cleaner product free of chaff from cotton leaves and stems

The Marginal Peasant in Rural Brazil

IN DESCRIBING the structure of their agricultural economy, Brazilian writers customarily distinguish four major types of crop and livestock establishments. First, there is the plantation which is the large estate devoted to the production of a single crop, a large part of which finds its way to foreign markets. In many cases, considerable amounts of capital are invested in processing equipment and to some extent in agricultural machinery, and, here, wage-earning agricultural labor is widely employed. Good examples of plantation agriculture are the large sugar cane, coffee, cacao, and rice fazendas. Second, there is the cattle ranch producing beef cattle for sale to meat packing and meat drying plants. Small numbers of workers are employed, the principal investment being in land and livestock. In this class, we would also find the sheep ranches. Third, there is the Minas-type ranch-farm, where cattle are not only raised for beef but the cows are milked to produce cheese and creamthe whey and skim milk being used for feeding hogs. Corn is produced for hog feed, along with rice and beans as subsistence crops. Fourth, there is the small operator who may be an owner or a renter who produces food crops and often a cash crop, using the labor of himself, his family, and sometimes laborers. The family-type farms of the German, Italian, Polish, Ukranian, and Japanese immigrants belong to this type, but it can be found in other parts of Brazil as well. The type of land use varies from modern farming methods, found to some extent in the south, to the most primitive fire agriculture which exists in all parts of the country. Although not meriting the title of establishment, there is also a fifth type of operation, namely, that of the individual who lives on and cultivates small patches of land on the property of others under a bewildering array of tenure regulations. He is the small subsistence producer, rogeiro, who cultivates such primary food crops as corn, rice, beans, and manioc, and raises a few hogs and chickens, and sometimes owns a riding mule or horse. He is the shifting slash-and-burn cultivator, the historic prototype of the Brazilian food producer. Originally he was the agregado, or retainer or near-serf. Today, he can be a squatter, a sharecropper, or an agricultural laborer, depending upon the wishes of the owner. Thus, strictly speaking, he is not a renter, sharecropper, or permanent agricultural laborer, although he might exercise these functions on, occasion. It it this fifth type which I would like to call the marginal peasant; although he is nothing like the peasant of Europe or Asia. If you took away his hogs and chickens he would be like the wild Indian; for he practices the most primitive kind of agriculture in the world. But his livestock and his dependence upon the market, although limited, bring him into the outer

Some Responses of Rice Farmers to the Package Program in Tanjore District, India

This study reports on the participation of Tanjore district rice farmers in India's Package Program and the extent to which they are adopting the recommended “package of improved production practices” in moving toward the use of modern farming methods. Participation in the program by size of farm is about normally distributed among the farm population and is not limited to the larger and more progressive farmers. The smaller as well as the larger farmer contributes to the market supply of rice. Progress in increasing yields and production is substantial but there is little evidence that the doubling of crop yields in a short time is a logical expectation under Tanjore conditions.