Primary Agricultural Commodities Research Articles

Response of F1 arabica coffee genotypes descending from disease resistant Ethiopian accessions to coffee berry disease

Coffee is one of Tanzania’s primary agricultural export commodities but is seriously constrained by Colletotrichum kahawae which causes significant yield losses in Arabica coffee during high infection seasons. Using resistant varieties rather than chemical fungicides, which are costly and cause environmental pollution, is a more sustainable approach to controlling the disease. Several F1 hybrid genotypes developed from Ethiopian accessions of Arabica coffee of known Coffee berry disease (CBD) resistance were evaluated under CBD pressure to observe acquired resistance. Eight Arabica coffee genotypes were inoculated with three types of CBD pathogen isolates. Results revealed high resistance on two F1 genotypes (F90/64/4660 x KP423 and F89/64/4660 x KP423) with no infection to all C. kahawae isolates. Two Genotypes (F45/64/2049 x KP423 and F24/64/902 x KP423) revealed resistance moderately by scoring less than 50% infected berries, while F45/64/2061 x KP423 and F24/64/886 x KP423 demonstrated moderate susceptibility. The F1 genotypes with less infection are to be included in the breeding program to develop resistant varieties. Pathogenicity of three C. kahawae isolates obtained from different coffee growing areas in Tanzania was also observed for their effects on the tested genotypes. Isolate 2006/14 from Kibosho – Kombo was more aggressive in terms of infected berries, followed by isolate 2019/16 from Ugano-Mbinga. Isolates found to be more aggressive are potential for screening resistance to develop coffee berry disease varieties in Tanzania.

Tree corridor planning for the ecological sustainability of agricultural area in Sekaran Village, Bojonegoro Regency

Drought is the main problem faced in agricultural activities in Sekaran Village, Bojonegoro Regency. The primary agricultural commodities in Sekaran Village are corn and cattle breeding. Tree corridor planning is one of the proposed solutions to overcome this problem. This study aimed to develop a tree corridor plan for the agricultural area’s ecological sustainability in Sekaran Village by improving the quality and quantity of green open space. Spatial data obtained from the field survey using drone technology. Environmental variables used for corridor plan analysis were land cover, slope, road, and orthomosaic imageries. This study produced a tree corridor planning along 156.57 km located in agriculture land, roadsides, and valley/basin. The proposed tree species has ecological functions such as water absorption and improving microclimate, production functions (food and cattle feed), and aesthetic functions. Tree corridors will use a hedgerow model to form an integrated corridor system in Sekaran Village. Tree species recommended such as Swietenia mahogani, Delonix regia, Spathodea campanulata, Gliricidia sepium, Centrosema pubescens, Leucaena leucocephala, Mangifera indica, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Psidium guajava.

Determinants of Ethiopia‘s Coffee Bilateral Trade Flows: A panel Gravity Approach

Ethiopia‘s export earning is heavily dependent on primary agricultural commodities and raw materials. Coffee has been the principal export commodity of Ethiopia for many years and continued to be the leading export commodity. The objective of this paper was, therefore, to identify the determinants of Ethiopia‘s coffee export to the major trading partners. Eighteen countries were selected based on the importance of the country as Ethiopia‘s coffee export destination and availability of the required data. Annual panel data from 2001 to 2016 was collected from FAO database and other relevant sources. After appropriate econometric tests had been applied, random effect model was selected and used to analyze the data. From the seven variables entered into the model, four variables were found to affect Ethiopia‘s coffee export significantly. GDP of the importing countries and population size of Ethiopia affect Ethiopia‘s coffee export positively as expected. Weighted distance between Ethiopia and its trading partners was also found to have an expected effect, negative, on Ethiopia‘s coffee export. Contrary to the hypothesis, foreign direct investment flows to Ethiopia affected Ethiopia‘s coffee export negatively. Based on the results, the study draws conclusion and policy implications. To increase Ethiopia‘s coffee export, government and other stakeholders should give prime attention to countries where there is high demand for Ethiopia‘s coffee. Moreover, coffee exporters should exploit the existing nearest market opportunities. Finally, favourable conditions should be created for the large unemployed labor of the country to increase coffee production and export.

Contribution to the Energy Situation in Tajikistan by Using Residual Apricot Branches after Pruning as an Alternative Fuel

A lack of access to energy in the rural areas of Tajikistan is one of the current problems of the country. Tajikistan’s goal is to reach energy independency, and the main prospects for the country’s energy sector, which relies on energy imports during the long heating periods, are: higher exploitations of hydropower and development of other renewables, mainly biofuels. Tajikistan is a highly agrarian country, where agriculture is the dominant source of income for the majority of the population. Apricot belongs to the primary agricultural commodities; however, the cultivation and management of apricot orchards is associated with the annual accumulation of significant amounts of wood waste (residual branches after pruning), which represent a source of easily available biomass. Thus, the main focus of the present research was to investigate the properties (physical, chemical and mechanical) of densified briquettes and pellets from the residual apricot tree branches through the laboratory measurements by the standard methodologies and to calculate the energy yield and potential of this material for Tajikistan as a similar study has not been conducted yet. The results showed a good quality of apricot-based biofuels characterised by the high calorific value (NCV dry basis of 19.3 MJ kg−1), relatively low ash content (1.7%) and suitable values of the main chemical elements that fulfil the standard requirement on graded wooden biofuels. The total yearly energy yield of residual apricot branches was calculated to be 3245 TJ.

Multicriteria land index for determining primary commodity in agricultural landuse planning

Regional development usually start with identifying regional potencys. Defining a local potencies such as primary agricultural commodities is a basic capital in developing regional economic. The concept of determination is pointed by Barlowe (1986), which include bio-physically suitable, economically feasible and institutionally acceptable. The approach (analysis) used in this research is Geographic Information System (GIS), commodity base analysis (LQ), differential shift (SSA), gross margin (GM), distance to market location, process hierarchy analysis (AHP), and multicriteria land index. This research is located in transmigration area of Rawa Pitu Sub District, Tulang Bawang Regency, Indonesia. This research aims to identify basic commodities for each village. The results shows that several land parameters which include land suitability and accessibility, comodity parameters which include LQ and SSA as well as economic parameters which include GM can be used to determine primary commodity in a region. They composed what we call as multicriteria land index. There were some basic commodities identified using such index, which include paddy, maize, rubber, and oil-palm. Paddy is a primary comodities in certain villages. Whereas maize and oil palm is a primary comodities in another villages. Rubber is not a primary comodities in any village.

Analyzing the Export Performance of the Horticultural Sub-Sector in Ethiopia: ARDL Bound Test Cointegration Analysis

High dependency on traditional primary agricultural commodities and recurrent world market price fluctuations had exposed Ethiopia to foreign earnings instability. To reduce the high dependence on primary agricultural commodities and the associated vulnerability of negative price declines, diversification of trade from primary agricultural commodities into high-value horticultural commodities has attracted the attention of policy makers. The developments made in this area have brought the sector to the position of fifth largest foreign revenue generator for the country. However, given the comparative advantage in marketing and the potential to achieve trade gains that the country possesses, the benefit from the horticultural sub-sector is far below its potential. In this regard, knowledge of the determinants of the industry’s development is very important. So far, no attempt was made to examine factors influencing the export performance of the sector, taking the long period performance of the sector into consideration. Consequently, this study was proposed to examine the factors that have influenced the horticultural export performance of Ethiopia for the period from 1985–2016. Secondary data collected from National Bank of Ethiopia, Ethiopia Horticulture Producer Exporter Association, Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia, FAOSTAT, UNCTAD, and the World Bank were used in this study. The short-run and long-run relationships among the series were investigated using the autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) bound test cointegration approach. The model result of the Error Correction Model (ECM (-1)) was revealed as negative and significant, whereby it confirmed the existence of cointegration among the series. Its coefficient value was 0.472, which showed 47% of the adjustment will be made in the first year and it will return to its long-run equilibrium after 2.12 years. The model results also showed that the real effective exchange rate, the real GDP of Ethiopia, foreign direct investment (FDI), prices, and the structural break had significantly influenced the horticultural export performance both in the short-run and the long-run. Foreign GDP and real interest rates were revealed significant only in the long-run. Finally, important policy measures deemed to improve the horticultural export performance of Ethiopia were recommended.

Kinerja Agribisnis Komoditas Pertanian: Kemampuan Penciptaan Output, Nilai Tambah dan Keterkaitan Antar Sektor (Analisis Komparasi I-O Tahun 2005 dan 2010)

In the perspective of agribusiness, the agricultural commodity has become an economic entity for the actors of businesses to develop the integration of products from upstream to downstream. This paper aimed to analyze any agricultural commodity that had grown into agribusiness commodities in the period 2005 and 2010. The methodology used was to conduct a comparative table of I-O in 2005 and 2010 to identify any agricultural commodity that had: (a) the capability in the creation of high economy through the creation of output; (b) the creation of high added value, and (c) the forward and backward relationships. Growing an agricultural commodity that has been cultivated, the higher the forward and backward linkages with other sectors. Similarly, when the ability of an agricultural commodity in creating added value is higher, the ability in creating economic value is also higher. The results showed that the groups of food commodities had lower capabilities as agricultural commodities compared with the groups of horticulture, plantation, and livestock commodities. The development of primary agricultural commodities into final products can enhance the role of agribusiness commodities. The implication is that the development of downstream industries for the commodities of food, horticulture, plantation and livestock is a strategic step in the creation of output, value added and linkages among the economic sectors. Keywords: agribusiness, agricultural commodities, linkages between sectors, output, added value

Indonesia Agroindustry Growth Acceleration through Export Tax Policy: CGE Comparative Static Model

The purpose of this research is to analyze wether export tax policy on primary agriculture commodity can stimulate the growth of agroindustry. The model used in this research is a comparative static CGE model. The data used is the Input-Output Table in 2008, the System Accounting Matrix (SAM) Table in 2008, and other relevant supporting sources. Simulations carried out by applying export taxes on primary agricultural commodities, adjusted by government policy to accelerate the growth of agroindustry. The simulation indicates that it can inhibit the export growth on taxed commodities so that accelerate the long term agroindustrial output growth. Although it has negative effect on the short term. On the other hand, the policy doesn’t pro the economic growth and aggravate the export competitiveness.

Impact of diseases on export and smallholder production of banana.

Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the world's most valuable primary agricultural commodities. Exported fruit are key commodities in several producing countries yet make up less than 15% of the total annual output of 145 million metric tons (MMT). Transnational exporters market fruit of the Cavendish cultivars, which are usually produced in large plantations with fixed infrastructures and high inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. In contrast, smallholders grow diverse cultivars, often for domestic markets, with minimal inputs. Diseases are serious constraints for export as well as smallholder production. Although black leaf streak disease (BLSD), which is present throughout Asian, African, and American production areas, is a primary global concern, other diseases with limited distributions, notably tropical race 4 of Fusarium wilt, rival its impact. Here, we summarize recent developments on the most significant of these problems.

Shifting rights, property and authority in the forest frontier: ‘stakes’ for local land users and citizens

Customary land and forests are more embedded in the global economy than ever. With globally significant supplies of land and raw materials and favorable terms for foreign investors, developing countries – particularly in Africa – have become increasingly attractive trade partners and destinations for investors. Increasing competition over land is placing new pressures on vast tracts of forest and woodland, areas often considered ‘under-utilized’ by national governments despite their critical role in supporting local livelihoods. While increased demand for primary agricultural, forest and mining commodities in the context of forest tenure reforms and decentralized decision-making could create unprecedented economic opportunities for forest-dependent communities, increased ‘stakes’ over forest resources and land will undoubtedly heighten governance challenges. This is in no small part due to the political dynamics of property, and to the role of the ‘recursive constitution of property rights and authority’ in the evolution of the modern nation-state. By identifying the social ‘stakes’ associated with different pathways through which sectoral and extra-sectoral commodities shape forests, this paper provides a conceptual framework for analyzing how shifting contours of rights, property and authority in the context of forest-related trade and investment shape human well-being for affected communities and the wider citizenry of host countries. It then illustrates the use of the framework through its application to two brief case studies from southern Africa: tobacco production in Malawi and copper mining in Zambia. It is hoped that this framework will provide a meaningful contribution to growing scholarship on the political dynamics of property, and implications for rights-based approaches to agricultural investment and large-scale land acquisitions.

The Predictability of GARCH-Type Models on the Returns Volatility of Primary Indonesian Exported Agricultural Commodities

Agricultural sector plays an important role in Indonesia’s economy; especially for the plantation sub-sector contributing high revenues to Indonesia’sexporting sectors. The primary agricultural commodities in Indonesian export discussed in this study would be Crude Palm Oil (CPO), Natural Rubber TSR20, Arabica Coffee, Robusta Coffee, Cocoa, White Pepper and Black Pepper. Meanwhile, the returns volatility nature of agricultural commodity is famous. The volatility refers to heteroscedasticity nature of the returns which can be modeled by GARCH-type models. The returns volatility can be describe by the residual of the mean equation and volatility of error variances in the previous periods. The aims of this study are to examine the predictability of GARCH-type models on the returns volatility of those seven agricultural commodities and to determine the best GARCH-type models for each commodity based on the traditional symmetric evaluation statistics. The results find that the predictability of ARCH, GARCH, GARCH-M, EGACRH and TGARCH, as type of GARCH models used in this study, are different for each commodity.

MERCOSUR enlargement: predicting the effects on trade in primary agricultural commodities

This article estimates the effects of a hypothetical enlargement of the Mercado Comun del Sur (MERCOSUR), depicted by granting MERCOSUR associate member countries a full membership status, on trade in primary agricultural commodities. The empirical investigation is implemented through the multiplicative form of the gravity model. The estimated gravity parameters are used to carry out scenarios that predict the effects of MERCOSUR enlargement on trade in primary agricultural commodities. The predictions reveal that MERCOSUR enlargement would generate significant increases in exports from the full members to the associate members. The predictions also show relatively smaller increases in exports from the associate members to the full members (in value terms), but some important increases in trade among the associate members. Trade diversion effects of MERCOSUR enlargement, which influence trade between full members and from non-member countries to full and associate members, are found to be limited.

Cholesterol lowering activity of soy‐derived glyceollins in golden hamster model

Soybean is one of the primary agricultural commodities in the United States. Consumption of soy foods is associated with lowering the risk of age‐associated diseases, including cardiovascular disease. The exact components of soy that contribute to these effects remain largely unknown. Glyceollins are major phytoalexin in soybean. We tested the potential effect of glyceollins in lowering circulating cholesterol in a golden hamster model of cardiovascular disease. Male hamsters (n=10 per group) were fed diets containing 1) 36% kcal% fat diet, 2) 36% kcal% fat diet + 25 mg/kg body weight/day glyceollins, or 3) standard chow for 28 days. We measured hepatic total and free cholesterol, hepatic total lipid content, plasma lipoproteins, fecal bile acid and total cholesterol. We found that daily feeding of glyceollins significantly reduced hepatic total and free cholesterol, but not hepatic total lipid content. This effect was associated with lower plasma VLDL, but not changes in plasma LDL and HDL, and fecal bile acid and cholesterol. These results suggested that the cholesterol lowering activity of glyceollins is associated with VLDL metabolisms and not through increased excretion.

Trade Liberalization in Primary and Processed Agricultural Products: Should Developing Countries Favour Tariff or Domestic Support Reductions?

Developing Countries (DCs) have remained firm in the current WTO negotiations regarding their demand for significant agricultural trade liberalization. This stance has undoubtedly delayed the conclusion of the Doha Round and one might wonder whether DCs are not depriving themselves from valuable gains from trade by holding out. In line with the theory of second best, we show that too little liberalization could be immiserizing for DCs through numerical simulations of a three-country theoretical trade model of primary agricultural commodities and processed foods. Our model departs from most other models by accounting for vertical linkages and by linking welfare outcomes to parameterized supply-side rigidities at the farm level, which imply that primary goods cannot be substituted costlessly across export destinations, and imperfect substitution between processed foods. While in simpler models DCs can get larger welfare gains from multilateral tariff reductions than from domestic support reductions, our simulations show that this instrument ranking can be reversed. Under a wide range of parameter values, the DC would support a trade agreement only if the latter calls for ambitious tariff cuts. This outcome is consistent with the positions of DCs in the current round of multilateral negotiations over agriculture.

Market Impacts of Technological Change in Canadian Agriculture

Market impacts of technological change in Canadian agriculture are measured within a computable general equilibrium framework using 2001 input-output data with agriculture disaggregated to six sectors and 13 commodities. Technological change is modeled as productivity rises in the use of intermediate inputs and of primary factors. Impacts on output, intermediate use of output, foreign trade, final consumption, returns to primary factors, and relative prices are calculated for primary agricultural commodities and processed food products. Impacts are summarized as three general outcomes. First, supply managed sectors adjust to technological change differently than other agricultural sectors. In the former, quota rents increase while in the latter, outputs, exports, and final consumption increase along with declines of relative supply prices. Second, large relative price declines for other commodities lead to consumer gains. Third, producer gains increase when the international competitiveness of agriculture increases. Finally, we compare the differential impact of technological change with and without supply management. L'impact que le changement technologique au sein de l’agriculture canadienne a sur le marche est evaluea l’aide d’un modele d’equilibre general calculable (EGC) qui utilise des donnees entrees-sorties de 2001 pour six secteurs agricoles et treize produits de base. Le changement technologique est modelise en termes de hausses de productivite dans l’utilisation d’intrants intermediaires et primaires. L'impact sur les extrants, l’utilisation intermediaire d’extrants, le commerce exterieur, la consommation finale, les rendements des intrants primaires et les prix relatifs sont calcules pour les principaux produits de base agricoles et produits alimentaires transformes. L'impact est classe en trois categories de resultats. Premierement, les secteurs soumis a la gestion de l’offre s’adaptent differemment des autres secteurs au changement technologique. Dans le premier cas, les rentes de contingentement augmentent tandis que dans le second, les extrants, les exportations et la consommation finale augmentent et les prix relatifs de l’offre diminuent. Deuxiemement, les chutes importantes du prix relatif d’autres produits de base entrainent des avantages pour le consommateur. Troisiemement, les gains du producteur augmentent lorsque la competitivite de l’agriculture sur la scene internationale augmente. Finalement, nous avons compare l’impact differentiel du changement technologique dans les secteurs soumis et non soumis a la gestion de l’offre.

The Relationship between Oil, Exchange Rates, and Commodity Prices

Exchange rates have long been thought to have an important impact on the export and import of goods and services, and, thus, exchange rates are expected to influence the price of those products that are traded. At the same time, energy impacts commodity production in some very important ways. The use of chemical and petroleum derived inputs has increased in agriculture over time; the prices of these critical inputs, then, would be expected to alter supply, and, therefore, the prices of commodities using these inputs. Also, agricultural commodities have been increasingly used to produce energy, thereby leading to an expectation of a linkage between energy and commodity markets. In this paper, we examine the price relationship through time of the primary agricultural commodities, exchange rates, and oil prices. Using overlapping time periods, we examine the cointegration relationship between prices to determine changes in the strength of the linkage between markets through time. In general, we find that commodity prices are linked to oil for corn, cotton, and soybeans, but not for wheat, and that exchange rates do play a role in the linkage of prices over time.

Agro-food trade sustainability in Central and Eastern Europe

The article applies recent methodological developments in international trade to evaluate agro-food trade sustainability in selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries with the European Union and their implications for sustainable agro-food sectors and rural development. Trade in bulk primary raw agricultural and wood commodities is found to perform the best and consumer-ready foods the least. The empirical results imply a clear sign of an inefficient agro-food trade adjustment for the analysed CEE countries, but with large variations across countries, by product groups and over time.

THE IMPACTS OF DEREGULATION AND AGRICULTURAL RESTRUCTURING FOR RURAL AUSTRALIA

As a leader in the Cairns Group of Nations, Australia has been advancing deregulation in agri‐food trade. Successive governments have assumed that Australia would benefit from a greater deregulation of international trade because this would allow increased access to world markets for primary agricultural commodities. But regulation exists, at least in Europe, to protect the social value of the rural landscape. Australian governments, strongly influenced by economic rationalist ideology, have given insufficient consideration to the rural social landscape. Little critical reflection has taken place about whether Australia, and its farmers, would actually benefit from deregulation, or what the social impacts of this trend might be. Deregulation inevitably invokes structural adjustment, forces farmers out of agriculture, depopulates rural areas, and creates social hardship. There are also environmental ramifications. The exit of farmers from agriculture has not been as fast as was expected by economists and policy‐makers, with many farmers adapting to new situations.

Tracing the Effects of Agricultural Commodity Prices on Food Processing Costs

Although food processing sector production is inherently linked to the availability and prices of agricultural materials (MA), this link appears to be weakening due to adaptations in input costs, technology, and food consumption patterns. This study assesses the roles of these changes on food processors costs and output prices, with a focus on the demand for primary agricultural commodities. Our analysis of the 4-digit U.S. food processing industries for 1972-1992 is based on a cost-function framework, augmented by a profit maximization specification of output pricing, and a virtual price representation for agricultural materials and capital. We find that falling virtual prices of MA and input substitution have provided a stimulus for MA demand. However, scale effects have been MA-saving relative to intermediate food products, and disembodied technical change has strongly contributed to declining primary agricultural materials demand relative to most other inputs.

Evaluation of external market effects and government intervention in Malaysia's agricultural sector: a computable general equilibrium framework

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of changes in the external trade environment and domestic economic policies on the agricultural development of Malaysia. The scope of this research also includes providing further insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the computable general equilibrium (CGE) methodology for agricultural policy analysis. The first analysis focuses on the export agriculture sector which encompasses Malaysia's two primary agricultural commodities, rubber and palm oil. Heavily dependent on exports of rubber in the 1950s and 1960s, Malaysia has since built a more diversified economy with strong emphasis on manufacturing. Export agriculture, however, is still an important component of the national economy. The second objective examines the influence of domestic policy on agricultural development. The simulation results demonstrate the growing resiliency of the Malaysian economy to external shocks. Also, they point to the domestic economy's ability to buffer internal policy-induced distortions.