Fertilizer Prices Research Articles

Continuous design and economic analysis of a Sargassum muticum biorefinery process

This work assesses scale effects in designing a biorefinery from Sargassum muticum seaweed by applying a detailed process modeling methodology. Two process conversion units were simulated: one considering anaerobic digestion steps for producing biogas and generating electricity (base project), and the other with residual seaweed solids sold as fertilizer (alternative project). A comprehensive economic analysis was performed to estimate the minimum selling price of the process's main product (fucoidan extract). Results indicated that capital expenditures are up to 12.7% times higher in the base project. Minimum selling prices of the fucoidan extract product demonstrate the biorefinery’s economies of scale for both projects. Seaweed’s low methane potential reduces the economic attractiveness of electricity generation from biogas in the base project. Conversely, organic fertilizer price was more influential in the alternative project. Nonetheless, risk analyses show similar results for both scenarios, mainly due to fucoidan extract selling price and CAPEX estimates uncertainties.

Empowerment of Women's Farmer Groups of “Kembang Lestari” in the Processing of Organic Waste from Various Fruit Peels as Liquid Fertilizer


 
 
 
 Partners in the implementation of Community Service is the Kembang Lestari Peasant Women's Group located in Taman Village, Abian Semal Subdistrict, Badung Regency. This group has problems with the high price of chemical fertilizers and vegetable pesticides for the treatment of cultivated crops. This condition causes an increase in production costs and decreased profits. They have yet to find a solution to get cheaper, environmentally friendly plant-based fertilizers and pesticides that they will use in their organic farms in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an alternative to organic fertilizers while serving as vegetable pesticides that are easy to make, cheap, and environmentally friendly. The alternative is an eco-enzyme that can be made from organic waste in the form of fruit peels. Eco-enzymes have the same benefits as liquid fertilizers, compost, anti-bacterial, midges, and disinfectants. Women's Farmer Groups of Kembang Lestari are given knowledge of eco-enzymes and their benefits, how to make and how to apply them to plants. The methods carried out in the implementation of this activity are by interviewing, face-to-face, counseling, and practice methods directly. First, the authors held general counseling on what an eco-enzyme is, its benefits for plants, and environmental sustainability. Second, the authors provide hands-on training in the manufacture of eco-enzymes and how to implement them and conduct several evaluations to ensure farmers can make eco-enzymes independently and see what percentage of the increased production and increased profits earned by the farmer group after the implementation of these eco-enzymes. Third, it motivates farmers to keep using eco-enzyme fertilizers continuously in cultivating crops.
 
 
 
 

Trends in Tobacco Production and Prices in Malawi.

Diversification away from tobacco production has been identified as a priority for Malawi, historically one of the world's most tobacco-reliant countries. This paper refers to a nationally representative data set to characterize broad trends in production since 2000 to understand whether Malawi is shifting away from tobacco and how production has changed over time. From 2004 to 2019, the share of Malawian crop farmers producing tobacco fell from 16% to 5%, and tobacco's share of the total value of crop production also declined sharply. Tobacco farms are generally growing larger (in size and scale of production) over time. However, land productivity remains low, with net returns of 93 000 MWK (128 USD) per hectare at the median. Farm-gate prices for tobacco have declined relative to the prices of maize or fertilizer, rendering tobacco a less lucrative avenue to generate the cash income needed to purchase these key items. In addition, the share of the export price received by farmers has also declined over time, with the median farm-gate price representing 32% of the export price in 2004 and 18% in 2019. In some respects, a transition away from tobacco has already occurred. Additional research is needed to understand why the farm-gate share of tobacco export prices has declined over this period and how the livelihoods of smallholder farm-households that exited tobacco production have been affected. To the extent that tobacco prices appear to be declining, there is a need to rigorously assess whether farmers have suitable crop alternatives (with established markets) and other livelihood options. Likely, investments are yet needed to foster strong alternatives to tobacco; such investments include research and development in on-farm technologies to raise the productivity of non-tobacco crops, as well as improvements in non-tobacco value chains to reduce transportation costs and promote private investment.

Fertilizer and grain prices constrain food production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Crop yields across sub-Saharan Africa are much lower than what is attainable given the environmental conditions and available technologies. Closing this 'ecological yield gap' is considered an important food security and rural welfare goal. It is not clear, however, whether it is economically sensible for farmers to substantially increase crop yields. Here we estimate the local yield response of maize to fertilizer across sub-Saharan Africa with an empirical machine-learning model based on 12,081 trial observations and with a mechanistic model. We show that the average 'economic yield gap'-the difference between current yield and profit-maximizing yield-is about one-quarter of the ecological yield gap. Furthermore, although maize yields could be profitably doubled, the economic incentives to do so may be weak. Our findings suggest that agricultural intensification in sub-Saharan Africa could be supported by complementary agronomic approaches to improve soil fertility, lowering the fertilizer cost, and by spatial targeting of fertilizer recommendations.

ANALYSIS OF TASKS OF MONITORING AND AUTOMATIC CONTROL OF AGRICULTURAL MOBILE ROBOT

The work is devoted to the consideration and analysis of a set of tasks of monitoring and automatic control of modern mobile robots, designed for automation of various types of technological operations in agriculture. Studies indicate high activity of manufacturing companies and scientists in the development of structures and remote control systems for various types of agricultural robots due to the general increase in demand for food in conditions of limited unleavened water reserves, high prices for mineral fertilizers and wages of the staff. The paper presents the classification of modern agricultural robots according to the degree of mobility, type of control system, working environment, industry and functional purpose. It is determined, that such robots are equipped with built-in development boards with microcontrollers or microprocessors, which everyone has on board, regardless of the design and type of the control system. In addition, remote control methods and tools are most often used to automate agricultural works, but automatic and autonomous mobile robots independently perform a much wider list of tasks, because they work on the basis of adaptive-intelligent control methods. The authors formulate the main tasks of monitoring and automatic control for the generalized agricultural mobile robot, in particular monitoring and automatic control of vectors of spatial motion parameters, operating parameters of technical equipment of movers, manipulators, gripping devices, as well as parameters of specified agricultural works and operations. The functional structure of the generalized agricultural mobile robot as a multi-coordinate control object, which takes into account the interaction of controlled coordinate vectors, control signals of propulsors, manipulators, grippers and process equipment, as well as perturbing effects on its individual components (body, propulsions, manipulators, gripping devices and technological equipment) is proposed in the paper.

Prospects for the Cultivation of Vicia Sativa L. in Mixed Crops on Green Manure in Novgorod Region

Interest in the cultivation of mixed crops increases every year in proportion to the growth of the appearance of problems associated with the deterioration of soil fertility, the rise in the cost of resources and the strengthening of weather anomalies in the country. The problem of decreasing soil fertility and the continuing increase in prices for mineral fertilizers will eventually lead to the introduction of alternative methods of accumulating humus in the soil using low-cost technologies in forage production. In our country, in which the path of intensive development of animal husbandry has been chosen as the main industry in agriculture, feed should make up 80% of all products obtained from agriculture. Studies on the cultivation of vetch (Vicia sativa L.) for green manure purposes have shown that thanks to the deep root system of the vetch-green manure, the soil loosens naturally without the need to dig up arable land. Rotting in the ground, the root leaves empty areas filled with water and air. The conducted studies of the use of vetch in mixed crops for green manure purposes allow recommending joint sowing 1:1 (through a row) vetch with oats as an alternative way to single-species sowing of vetch.

Phosphate Rock Frontiers: Nature, Labor, and Imperial States, from 1870 to World War II

This comparative historical study examines the three main frontier regions of phosphate rock from the period after the US Civil War until World War II: the American South, French North Africa, and the South Pacific. Imperial states mobilized nature, labor, and capital in the frontier regions to cheapen the rock enough to galvanize fertilizer manufacturing and the budding chemical industry in the metropoles. The unit of analysis of nineteenth-century chemical fertilizer is the international division of labor—of a generalized wage labor force in the metropolitan centers and coerced labor in the frontier regions and of energy flows from the commodity frontiers to the metropolitan farming regions and the buildup of life chemicals in soils and waterways generations later. In the post-2009 era of food security fears with volatile fertilizer prices, this article addresses the question of how and why commercial agriculture systems began to use and depend on phosphate fertilizers.

Dynamic relationships among phosphate rock, fertilisers and agricultural commodity markets: Evidence from a vector error correction model and Directed Acyclic Graphs

The finite supply of phosphate rock, as well as rising fertiliser prices, are key topics in the discussion around global food system resilience. Our paper contributes to this discussion by conducting an analysis of the dynamic causal relationships between phosphate rock, fertilisers, and wheat prices to provide insights on how farmers and policymakers might respond to phosphate rock supply shocks for sustainable and resilient food systems. The linkages between 147 monthly price observations spanning from March 2007 to April 2019 were analysed by combining Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG), a recently developed modelling technique, and a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The findings suggest that there are five long-run cointegrating relationships between these three key components of the food supply chain. Price shocks to the phosphate rock market, over a two-year period had a knock-on positive impact on phosphorus fertiliser prices and to a lesser extent on wheat prices. Interestingly, an increase in wheat price had a sizeable impact on both fertiliser and phosphate rock prices, providing empirical evidence that increases in the price of phosphate rock are driven by demand factors, as well as supply factors.

Influence of conditions of mineral nutrition, clean and occupied fallows on the fertility of the chestnut soil of the Eastern Ciscaucasia

In conditions of a shortage of manure and high prices for mineral fertilizers, the preservation and improvement of soil fertility is an urgent problem of agriculture. The studies were carried out at the Prikumsk experimental selection station in two 6-field crop rotations from 1969 to 2019 The purpose of the research is to study, in a long­ term stationary experiment on various nutritional backgrounds, the effect of grain crop rotations with clean and busy fallow on the fertility of the chestnut soil in the arid zone of the Stavropol Territory. In the grain-and-row crop rotation with 16.6% of pure fallow, the decrease in the humus content in the control was 0.10%, the humus reserves were 2.6 t/ha, against the fertilized background — 0.09%, 2.3 t/ha, and with the occupied fallow on the contrary, it increased by 0.10%, 2.6 t/ha and 0.11%, 2.8 t/ha. The content of mobile phosphorus in the topsoil in the control with clean fallow increased by 1.7 mg/kg, stocks — by 4.3 kg/ha, with occupied fallow — 3.4 mg/kg and 8.7 kg/ha, and on the fertilized variant — 7.5 mg/kg, 19.1 kg/ha and 7.4 mg/kg and 18.9 kg/ha. The content and reserves of exchangeable potassium increased by 3 — 46 mg/kg and 8 — 115 kg/ha. In the crop rotation with clean fallow, they were 4.2-4.1 times lower on the control, and 13.7-13.0 times lower on the fertilized background, compared with the occupied fallow. The application of fertilizers contributed to a decrease in the potassium content in the crop rotation with clean fallow by 3.7 times, reserves by 3.5 times, and with busy fallow by only 12.2 and 10.6%. Sainfoin fallow significantly increased the content and reserves of potassium in the soil in the control and significantly reduced its consumption in the fertilized variant.

Soybean production response: A study of Jambi’s acreage response under policy program

Research purpose was to analyse effect of agricultural business in soybean crop. Effect government policy program has be seen through high trend of soybean production in Jambi for three decade (1986-2018). Those policy programs include support price, also input subsidy programs. Differentiation on input acreage, yield, also output has been affected by input price like fertilizer price. Successfulness policy programs can be seen through crucial indicator among important coefficients of policy programs. In some research result, it can be found some policy implications. The first policy implication stated that price support policy is much credible also important for program improvement. Impact of this program of soybean is crucial to analyse response production. In analysing acreage response, method of measuring price expectation is used when variation of market phenomena was affected by price support. Then, results also found that if support price is low from riel price, truncation effect has no effect and price support program has low effect on acreage decisions. On other hand, if price support rate is high, truncation effect is getting higher, and it is much better impact to make acreage decisions. Price soybean elasticity was 0.091 also 0.105 for short-run acreage response and long run respectively. Moreover, it was acceptable on economic and statistical aspects.

The risk of Arabica coffee farming in Enrekang Regency, South of Sulawesi, Indonesia

This study aims to determine the risks faced by Arabica coffee farmers and the factors that influence them. The site selection was carried out by purposive sampling, and two villages were selected in Enrekang Regency, South Sulawesi. The sample size of the study was 100 farmers, taken by random sampling and using the interview method and field visits. The results of the study using the coefficient of variance showed that the average value variability in the risk of Arabica coffee production was 0.407 or 40.7%. Factors that influence production risk are estimated by the Least Square Method, and the results show that the production factors of Urea and SP36 fertilizers are risk inducing, while KCl fertilizer and manure are risk reducing. The price of urea fertilizer and the price of pesticides are risk inducing.

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on vegetable farmers in North Sumatra

This research was conducted from June to August 2020 with the research locations were the two main vegetable producer regencies in North Sumatra, namely Karo Regency and Simalungun Regency. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the vegetable farmer’s income, to determine which factors most influenced vegetable farmer’s income during the pandemic, and to recommend policies to reduce the impact of the pandemic on vegetable farmers in North Sumatra. Data were collected through interviews with 53 vegetable farmers in two districts whose locations were selected purposively while the respondent farmers were selected by judgment. The data in this study were analyzed using descriptive methods through a quantitative approach. The results show that as many as 92.9% of respondents stated that their income had decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Factors causing a decrease in farmers income were rising prices for fertilizers and pesticides (89,3%), worries about activities due to the pandemic (98,2%), limited transportation for marketing among provinces (23,2%), regional transportation restrictions (46,4%), and time restrictions on selling in the market (26,8%), several government policies towards farmers during a pandemic must be implemented immediately.

Beyond adoption: the interaction between organic and inorganic fertilizer application, and vegetable productivity in Ghana

AbstractThis study explores the causal association between organic and inorganic fertilizer application and vegetable productivity in Ghana. Primary data were obtained from 300 pepper, cabbage and lettuce producers. To correct for self-selection bias and endogeneity, Heckman selection and three-stage least-squares models were estimated. More producers used inorganic fertilizers for pepper, cabbage and lettuce production than those who used organic fertilizers. Vegetable producers applied higher quantities of organic fertilizers (2830 kg) per acre than inorganic fertilizers (880 kg). Organic cabbage and lettuce producers recorded higher productivity than inorganic producers, but inorganic pepper producers had higher productivity than organic producers. However, vegetable producers who applied either organic or inorganic fertilizers, or both, recorded higher productivity than those who did not apply fertilizer. Factors that enhance the application of organic and inorganic fertilizers and vegetable productivity are education, farm size and production for export, land ownership, farmer association membership and perception about fertilizer price. Organic and inorganic fertilizer application improves vegetable productivity, and productivity promotes fertilizer application. Private agencies and government should subsidize fertilizers, improve producers' access to agricultural information, and train producers on productivity-enhancing agronomic practices.

Impacts of price, weather and policy changes on maize and rice farming in Togo

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how climatic, market and policy factors interact to determine food production in Togo. Specifically, we estimate acreage and yield response to market prices, weather and policy changes for maize and rice.Design/methodology/approachWe use panel data estimators in a Seemingly Unrelated Regressions Equation (SURE) model with region-level data from the Food and Agriculture Organization statistics department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of commerce.FindingsWe found lower fertilizer price and higher grain price effects on maize acreage and yield. In addition, we found a positive effect of expected rice price on both its acreage and yield. As expected, rainfall during planting months has a significant impact on both maize (April) and paddy (May) acreage allocations. Similarly, total rainfall during the growing season has a positive impact on both maize and paddy yields. Moreover, recent agricultural policy initiative designed to boost domestic food production has significantly increased acreage and yield for maize, and yield for paddy, especially the strategy for agricultural growth.Research limitations/implicationsThe dataset includes region-level observations from 1991 to 2012 which limits the observation span. However, we had enough variability in key variables to determine the estimated coefficients.Practical implicationsAlthough the dataset is limited in time (1991–2012) and uses national-level output prices, this investigation reveals that cropland allocation to maize and rice is sensitive to fertilizer and grain prices, weather expectations and policy interventions. These findings provide evidence for sustainable food production and productivity enhancement in Togo.Social implicationsUnderstanding drivers of cropland allocation and cereal yield contribute to better food security and poverty reduction in developing countries, especially Togo.Originality/valuePrior to this study, little was known on the effect of price, climate and policy on cropland allocation in Togo. This investigation contributes significantly to filling this knowledge gap and provides insights for effective interventions.

Demand and supply of shallot in North Sumatera Province

Shallots have a fluctuating demand therefore this is not balanced by a continuous supply. The purpose of this study was to see what factors influence the demand and supply of shallots in north Sumatera province. The method of analysis used is a simultaneous equation approach using data from 1989-2018 and processed with the help of software programs. 10. The results show that the price shallots, population together had a significant effect on the demand of shallots in north Sumatera province. The price of shallots, harvested area and fertilizer prices together had effect on the supply of shallots north Sumatera. Per capita income and fertilizer prices together have effect on the price of shallots in north Sumatera province.

Pembuatan Bokasi Berbahan Dasar Jerami Bagi Masyarakat Kelompok Tani Di Desa Borikamase Kabupaten Maros

The large number of rice fields in Borikamase Village, resulting in high production of hay, requires an appropriate effort to use straw into organic fertilizer or bokashi which is environmentally friendly as well as safe for plants. The use of straw into bokashi or organic fertilizer needs to be taught to the farming community, so the community service team focuses on providing assistance and training to the community in utilizing straw as a raw material in making bokashi by using microorganisms as the source of fermentation. In addition, the high price of synthetic fertilizers on the market makes farmers in Borikamase Village feel heavy in providing nutritional supplies to their agricultural areas, so that this training is expected to help farmers by obtaining fertilizers that are cheap, safe, and of good quality to fertilize. The existence of biotechnology applications, provides the right solution in overcoming the damage to bald mountains and the scarcity and high price of synthetic fertilizers, namely by processing straw into bokashi or organic fertilizers with high nutrient content and are safe for the environment. In addition, providing knowledge and skills for farming communities as agents of reform in restoring ecosystem balance through the application of bokashi made of straw on rice fields.
 
 Keywords: Training, Mentoring, Boricamase, Straw

THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE INCOME OF SOYBEAN FARMING IN KULON PROGO REGENCY

This study aims to determine the factors that affect the income of soybean farming. This research was conducted in Kulon Progo Regency with the number of respondents as many as 50 farmers. This study uses the Cobb-Douglas profit function with the technique Unit Output Price or UOP of Cobb Douglas Profit Function ( UOP-CDPF). This research has been declared valid, reliable, the data is normally distributed, free from multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity problems, so that multiple linear regression analysis can be carried out. The results showed that the R2 value was 36.7%, so the variation in soybean income could be explained by the eight independent variables and the rest explained by variables outside the model. The results of the F test show that the independent variables of seed prices, NPK fertilizer prices, manure prices, Gandasil fertilizer prices, pesticide prices, labor wages, land area and the rate of adoption of GAP (Good Agriculture Practices) together have an effect on soybean income. The t test results show that the increase in soybean farming income is influenced by the increase in labor wages, land area and the level of GAP adoption. Keywords : Cobb-Dauglas, Profit Function, , Soybean, Income

A Simple Agro-Economic Model for Optimal Farm Nitrogen Application under Yield Uncertainty

Farmers in the developed world tend to over-apply fertilizer, and we explore a model for decision-making under uncertainty in yields. This article proposes an agro-economic model for farmer decision-making based on subjective expected yield and crop response to fertilization. The model explores subjective yield probability distributions that are both better suited to subjective crop yields than the previously proposed probability distribution and is easier to extract from farmers. The model allows the analysis of the impact of changes in fertilizer price and variance of expected yields. The model result is consistent with observed farmer behavior based on the rule of “fertilizing for the good years” that appears, according to our model, as rational and consistent with expected profit maximization under yield uncertainty since the cost of over-application is lower than that of the opportunity cost of under-application. The goal of increasing the efficiency of nitrogen use requires both technical innovation and an expansion of the knowledge on the socioeconomic factors underlying excessive crop fertilization that must be improved both to meet future food demands and to prevent environmental degradation and climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with four types of fertilization for corn crops in a Mediterranean basin

AbstractThe environmental impacts associated with the intensification of agricultural practices have become an emerging issue, and new techniques are being developed to satisfy public demands. The application of fertilizers is a crucial step for agriculture practices. Building upon previous studies at a Mediterranean basin, the objective of the research presented herein was to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions associated with four different types of fertilization in the production of corn: traditional (NPK 8–15‐15 and urea), controlled‐release (NPK 8–15‐15, and a combination of urea and encapsulated urea), and two types of fertilization with pig slurry (NPK 8–15‐15, pig slurry and different amounts of urea). The Life Cycle Assessment methodology was employed, with the Ecoinvent database and the IPCC 2013 GWP 100y impact assessment method. The results revealed that traditional fertilization emitted 3251 kg CO2‐eq/ha·year, against 2191 kg CO2‐eq/ha·year for controlled‐release fertilization. Pig slurry fertilization emitted 2160 kg CO2‐eq/ha·year, and its alternative with less urea, only 1030 kg CO2‐eq/ha·year. The utilization of pig slurry solves the issue of its disposal and entails lower costs (commercial fertilizer prices follow the prices of oil and gas). The results demonstrated the potential of controlled‐release fertilization and pig slurry to contribute to climate change mitigation.

Using EPIC to simulate the effects of different irrigation and fertilizer levels on maize yield in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Growing water scarcity and increasing Nitrogen (N) fertiliser prices in South Africa require more prudent N fertiliser and irrigation water use approaches. If the goal of sustainable agricultural intensification is to be realised, it is vital to develop location-specific agricultural land management strategies that promote increased crop productivity while minimising negative environmental impacts. In this study, a calibrated and validated Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model was used to simulate a range of N fertiliser and irrigation water levels on maize (Zea mays L.) yield in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Results showed that a fertiliser and irrigation water management schedule combining approximately 200 kg N ha-1 and 580 mm irrigation water per maize growing season provided the highest average maize yield of 12.2 Mg ha-1 (an increase of +69% above farmers’ current maize yield levels). Nitrogen fertiliser application levels greater than 160 kg N ha-1 resulted in potential N fertiliser leaching losses of more than 35 kg N ha-1. The EPIC model can be considered a valuable tool to aid decision-makers in identifying optimal, site-specific irrigation water and N fertiliser application levels that contribute to increased maize crop productivity while maximising water use.