Primary Agricultural Products Research Articles

The influence of some selected variables from accounting system on profit or loss of agricultural companies in the Slovak republic

The article presents the influence assessment of significance of some selected variables from the entrepreneurs' accounting system on the achieved profit or loss of the agricultural companies in the Slovak Republic. Accounting information serves as an active tool for internal users for operational as well as strategic company management, and for external users the information is determined as legally binding output information which is a subject to disclosure. Individual financial statements of assessed agricultural companies are considered to be the relevant source of information. Agricultural companies are represented by commercial companies and agricultural cooperatives. Profit or loss after income tax presents the final complex effect of economic company's performance. The existence and development of companies is conditioned by assets which amount and structure depend on focus and the range of subject activity but as well as on specific factors set by the production process in the agricultural primary production. The increase in liabilities is notable by the influence of unsufficient amount of own company funding sources, mainly the increase in trade payables. The continuance of company reproduction process is secured by a bank loan drawdown. The income situation of companies of agricultural primary production is favourably influenced by the subsidies of non-investment character. During the observed period of years 2004 - 2014 the examined variables were assessed by means of statistical methods. The obtained results of rate determination of statistical correlation between selected variables by means of classical canonical analysis and non-parametric correlation analysis secured that in the assessed group of companies all analysed variables influenced statistically significantly profit or loss after income tax, mainly the total value of assets and non-investment subsidies, except for years 2010, 2012 a 2013, when the statistically insignificant correlations was determined between profit or loss and especially short-term trade payables and current bank loans. As regards the existence point of view it is recommended to companies to maintain the optimal assets and capital structure as well as the achievement of suitable profitability of company's activity. Only the complex attitude towards the subject issue can be the assumption of sustainability for companies of agricultural primary production in the Slovak Republic and the increase in their performance.

Analysis on the Development of E-business of Fresh Agricultural Products in China

The fresh agricultural products refer to the primary agricultural products which aren’t through deep processing methods such as cooking, manufacture and so on, including vegetables, fruits, meats, aquatic products, milk, flowers, etc. The electronic business of fresh agricultural products, (e-business of fresh agricultural products for short), refers to the direct sales of fresh agricultural products to meet the need of consumers on Internet platforms by all the means of electronic business. The traditional transportation of the fresh agricultural products from farmers to consumers generally includes four or five circulation links. The circulation cost remains high because of the excessive circulation links and wastage. E-business of fresh agricultural products [1] helps to directly transport the agricultural products from the producers to consumers and accelerate the circulation of fresh agricultural products owing to the decrease of circulation links. Meanwhile, e-business of fresh agricultural products can solve the information asymmetry problem and informationize the circulation of agricultural products, which can lift the restriction of time and space to some extent. Therefore, it’s necessary to understand the operating mode of e-business enterprises of fresh agricultural products and probe the ways they profit. This article is aimed to draw a conclusion after analyzing the e-business of fresh agricultural products in China from four aspects—the current situation of e-business of fresh agricultural products, the problems in purchasing fresh agricultural products online, the case study of e-business of fresh agricultural products (take Tmall’s business of fruits for example) and four suggestions concerning the development of e-business of fresh agricultural products in China.

Managing social responsibility in Chinese agriculture supply chains through the “a company + farmers” model

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) has received a large amount of attention in research and in practice. As a response to the growing awareness of and concern about social and environmental issues, an increasing number of companies are integrating their supply chains and building an alliance of “a company + farmers”. The overall research question of this study is derived from the literature, and this paper aims to identify factors that influence the integration of the agriculture supply chain and to explore the relationship between these factors and quality performance.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on questionnaire survey data collected from 462 Chinese farmers under the organization pattern of “a company + farmers”. A structural equation model is applied in the empirical analysis of the relations among trust, relationship commitments of different types (normative and instrumental), supply chain integration and quality performance.FindingsAn understanding of the various influences on supply chain integration and quality performance is important in relation to CSR in Chinese agriculture. The results show that supply chain integration has positive effects on quality performance. Moreover, farmers’ normative relationship commitment to the company is positively related to supply chain integration. However, farmers’ instrumental relationship commitment to the company does not significantly affect the degree of integration between farmers and companies. Furthermore, trust has positive influences on the two types of relationship commitment and on supply chain integration.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide a theoretical basis and practice guidelines for agricultural enterprises to manage CSR under the pattern of “a company + farmers”. The results help enterprises to acquire detailed information about the entire process of agricultural production, improve the quality and safety of primary agricultural products and enhance the competitiveness of Chinese agricultural products in the market.Originality/valueThe e-book shows that enterprises working within Chinese agriculture supply chains have a long tradition of working with CSR and supports cooperation between the European Union and China on food and agriculture.

IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS ON AGRICULTURAL SECTOR GROWTH IN KENYA

Purpose: The study was an examination of the impact of structural adjustment programs on agricultural growth in Kenya.Methodology: The study examined the short run and long run determinants of agricultural sector performance in Kenya. To achieve this, the study use time series regression modeling for data spanning from 1975 to 2010. Tests of normality, unit roots test and cointergration test was applied to determine the properties of the data. Upon proof of cointergration, an error correction model was estimated to link the short run and the long run relationships.Results: The results indicated that structural adjustment programme (SAPs) had a negative and significant long run effect on per capita agriculture GDP. The study concluded that Post Election Violence had a negative and significant long run effect on the per capital agriculture GDP. The study also concluded that the lagged per capital agricultural performance had a positive and significant effect on the per capita agricultural performance. The results also led to the conclusion that the long run per capita agricultural growth may be linked to the short run growth by an error correction term of -0.242583 which indicates that 0.242% of the disequilibria in short run per capita agricultural sector GDP achieved in one period are corrected in the subsequent period. The results also led to the conclusion that weather indicators (temperature and precipitation), and per capita infrastructure did not have a significant effect on the short run and long run per capita Agricultural GDP.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that some harmful policies need to be eliminated such as the removal of subsidies. Other policy recommendations are to enhance the adaptation of privatized agricultural institutions; encouragement of value addition in primary agricultural products; non price mechanisms such as infrastructure should be encouraged especially in the rural areas; and enhancement of the political stability of the country especially during electioneering years.

Financing of permanent working capital in agriculture

In this paper, we attempted to present the problem of establishing adequate structure of fnancing medium agricultural enterprises and to point out the necessity for permanent working capital in those agricultural enterprises which can’t cover fxed assets, long-term placements and portion of inventories (raw material and spare parts, production in process) with own equity and long-term sources of fnancing. For the purpose of analysing adequate structure of fnancing medium agricultural enterprises, we will use one of the most popular methods, such as case study and ratio analysis. Results of the research show that in primary agricultural production, next to standard long-term investment loans and short-term loans for investment in agricultural production, there is a necessity for fnancing in the permanent working capital which could assist continuity of production process and enable conditions for more proftable business in agriculture. It also should be noted that real and book value on this level of permanent working capital differs substantially.

Tanzanian Controversy on Resources Endowments and Poverty

This paper examines the existing resources curse in Tanzania with detailed analyses on the controversy. A country with high resources endowments: i.e. about 44 million hectares of arable land, precious minerals, forests resources, water and wildlife but is among the poorest countries in the planet Earth. Here we reviewed over 25 reports, journal papers and books and found that all precious natural resources have insignificant contribution to socio-economic development of the people. The resource curse is confirmed in about all resources as there is no correlation between the quality of life and resources endowments. In recent years, the country has recorded the lowest per capita income at $ 960 with weak purchasing power parity. This declares that all consumptions, investments and government spending are insignificant. In addition, approximately 75% of the population depends on under-developed smallholder primary agricultural production, small-scale mining and other micro economic sector. Under such a situation, about 51% of the Tanzanians are poor and roughly one-third of these people live in abject poverty. Similarly, despite of the recent discovery of 2.17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas deposit, more than 50% of households have no access to basic requirements such as electricity, medical care etc. The human development index = 0.521 (low) i.e. life expectancy has decreased to about 50 years, illiteracy rate is about 68%, high rates of malnutrition and poor access to safe water both in urban and rural areas are other acute problems to the Tanzanians. Food insecurity is about 41% of households due to poor yields. The major causes for all these misfortunes are poor governance, policy failure, interference of political interest in professionalism, inadequate technology and corruption just to mention a few. Despite of the efforts as stipulated in section 7 of this paper, it is further projected that competition over resources use is expected to elevate being from within and outside the country. This will exacerbate the level of poverty among the poor and increase their vulnerability. To address the problem, the government needs to undertake serious and sustainable measures over the control and use of natural resources.

Labor productivity and employment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa

Drawing on a new set of nationally representative, internationally comparable household surveys, this paper provides an overview of key features of structural transformation – labor allocation and labor productivity – in four African economies. New, micro-based measures of sector labor allocation and cross-sector productivity differentials describe the incentives households face when allocating their labor. These measures are similar to national accounts-based measures that are typically used to characterize structural change. However, because agricultural workers supply far fewer hours of labor per year than do workers in other sectors in all of the countries analyzed, productivity gaps shrink by half, on average, when expressed on a per-hour basis. Underlying the productivity gaps that are prominently reflected in national accounts data are large employment gaps, which call into question the productivity gains that laborers can achieve through structural transformation. Furthermore, agriculture’s continued relevance to structural change in Sub-Saharan Africa is highlighted by the strong linkages observed between rural non-farm activities and primary agricultural production.

Strategy for SMEs in the area of primary agricultural production

Strategy for SMEs in the area of primary agricultural production

Agricultural Land and Land Tax – Significant Indicators of Agriculture Business Activities in the Slovak Republic

Abstract The article is focused on the consideration between the agricultural land acreage and the amount of land tax in the selected sample of companies of agricultural primary production in the Slovak Republic within the period from 2010 to 2014 based on the data from departmental database of enterprises with primary agricultural production drawn from the factsheets of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic presented by the selected statistical methods. In particular, the article presents the agricultural land and land tax from the accounting and tax perspective of the Slovak Republic and the European Union. It can be resulted that a slightly declining trend of the mean acreage of agricultural land was recorded for the evaluated group of agricultural enterprises within the reported period, while the mean land tax value per hectare of agricultural land had increasing trend. Results of the survey on significances of differences in the values of the dependent variables at the level of combinations of factors of year and enterprise indicate that the acreage of agricultural land and the volume of the land tax are statistically dependant at the level of year, however there are not dependent at the level of combination of factors of year and enterprise within the surveyed period.

Business performance of 15 largest exporters in food-processing industry in the period 2008-2014

Agricultural export in Serbia is dominated by primary agricultural products with highly processed products having only 20% share in total exports. Low share of the processed agricultural products in total exports provides an opportunity to increase export and change its structure towards higher value-added products. In order for it to happen, the food-processing industry focused on processing domestic agricultural products needs further development. In this paper, we have analyzed business performance of 15 largest exporters in the food-processing industry with the aim to get insight into their export competitiveness. The paper concludes that these companies are large net exporters that provide high added value to the country's economy. However, business performance of the exporters under analysis are not satisfactory and their export competitiveness needs the improving. According to projections, the upcoming period will bring the most difficult challenges for the sugar-producing companies while the fruit-processing sector has the best long-term potential for export growth.

Pathogenicity of Aspergillus spp. isolates originating from Serbia

Species of the genus Aspergillus, section Flavi are facultative plant pathogens with the capability to contaminate primary agricultural products in the field, at harvest, in warehouses, and during processing. Infection is done through silk or injuries on maize ears. The objective of this study was to test pathogenicity of 25 A. parasiticus isolates on barley leaves. A parasiticus was isolated from maize kernels collected from 22 locations in Serbia during 2013-2015. Inoculation of the first barley leaf was done by the spore suspension of the fungus A. parasiticus. The spot sizes were statistically compared and this comparison showed that the isolate MRIZP 3930 was the least virulent. The isolate MRIZP 3819 was the most virulent seven days after inoculation and together with the isolate MRIZP 4265 was classified into the most aggressive group rated as 5. Pathogenicity was confirmed in all isolates.

Excise Tax on Alcohol According to Legal Law of Slovak Republic In Terms Of Eu Secondary Law Transposition / Spotrebná Daň Z Liehu V Právnom Poriadku Slovenskej Republiky Z Hľadiska Transpozície Sekundárneho Práva Eú

Abstract Distilling industry is among the traditional sectors of the food industry. It is a significant producers of agricultural primary production and the most stable component of demand in the labour market. Among all the sectors of the food industry, however, it is subject to the greatest extent of the regulation of the business by state, when a crucial component of regulation is the legal regulation of the selection of the excise tax on alcohol. Given the considerable degree of regulation of excise taxes on alcoholic beverages by one of the secondary law of the EU, it is considered appropriate to assess the level of transposition of basic elements of excise tax on alcohol, as defined by literature, into the legal order of the Slovak Republic.

Critical success factors for governing farmer-managed public goods in rural areas in the Netherlands

Multifunctional land use has become a widely supported pathway for Europe's countryside. Brussels and the national governments stimulate farmers to integrate primary production with non-agricultural practices from which they can also benefit. In favour of this development different stakeholders are encouraged to collaborate to produce the so-called farmer-managed public goods. This paper explores critical success factors for the production and maintenance of these public goods. In two Dutch case study regions we show a chronology of major events from 1975 leading to a shift from primary agricultural production towards a successful multifunctional land use. We evaluated which critical success factors crucial for managing public goods manifest themselves in our case study regions. Besides six critical success factors described in literature (Property rights, Asymmetric information, Administrative complexity, Governance, Time lags and Market structure) four other factors appear to be crucial in governing farmer-managed public goods: (1) establishing a system of rewards; (2) a mix of governance forms; (3) visionary leadership with networks in both the public and the private sectors and (4) time for new ideas to mature and to build commitment among the actors.

Taxation of exports - theory and practice

Taxation of export has been used by many countries. As of June 2014, there are 53 member countries of the WTO using export tariffs or taxes. Theoretically, a large country which is able to influence the world price of the given commodity could be better off by the export tax levied on it. Practically, there are many problems with implementing this tool of trade policy. Empirical case studies have shown that usually the objectives of this policy were not accomplished. Th e key problem connected with the export taxation of primary agricultural products is that it can even harm the poor because of the significant share of these products in their consumption. From the point of the world economy as a whole, this policy leads to distortions and efficiency losses. Therefore, it can never be the first-best policy.

Ekonomicko právní aspekty vymezení podnikového majetku a analýza jeho účinnosti

The thesis “Economic-legal aspects of business assets definition and its effectiveness analysis” analyses the contribution of business assets in joint-stock company Svornost Těmice. The company operates in the field of agricultural primary production. Focus of plant production still keeps the traditional composition of plants grown. In connection with increasing the quality of effectiveness of the machinery the area of corn-production will be expanded. In animal production, the company specialises on the pig-feeding and milking-cows.The theoretical part includes the opinions of the world economists and managers on the definition of basic concepts related to business assets. These opinions are confronted with those of Czech authors, in order to acquaint students of the Faculty of Business and Economics with them – focusing on students of the Trade Management specialisation.The practical part is focused on analysis of effectiveness of business assets in the selected company. It have confirmed that managers of this business have to improve the intensity of exploitation of the asset base and thus to reach its higher effectiveness. This task is necessary for operation in the intensive-competition environment formed after the entrance into the European Union.

The Environmental and Energy Potential of Incinerating Various Biomass Mixtures

In recent years, research has shown the advisability of seeking new types of biofuel. It has been shown that apart from one-component fuel, it is also advisable to use mixtures composed of basic raw materials. These mixtures may have a favourable effect upon the overall recovery of such fuels. This paper focuses upon options for the energy use of various mixtures of biomass waste. Biomass waste originates from primary agricultural production and countryside maintenance. This mainly consists of plant residues, i.e. straw and hay. Pellets were made using the given biomass. The pellets were prepared by mixing plant residues with spruce shavings as well as from pure materials, i.e. wheat straw, hay and sawdust. Individual types of biomass were mixed in various ratios: 50% wheat straw + 50% hay, 50% wheat straw + 50% sawdust, 50% hay + 50% sawdust, 33% wheat straw + 33% hay + 33% sawdust. The following basic parameters of the prepared samples were monitored: humidity, calorific value and ash content. These parameters influence the environmental as well as economic aspects of options for using these plant residues as fuel. It was discovered during the tests that the highest calorific value was achieved using a sample of biomass prepared by mixing 50% straw and 50% hay. The highest humidity was found in a sample of sawdust and the highest ash content in a sample prepared by mixing 50% straw and 50% hay.

INFORMAČNÍ A KOMUNIKAČNÍ TECHNOLOGIE V MALOOBCHODĚ V ČESKÉ REPUBLICE

Besides agricultural primary production, the food industry and all other branches of the economy /services/ it is the information and communication technology used in retail that is one of the factors that markedly influence food retail. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the effect of electronic tran­sa­ctions that are used by food retail to attract and acquire other target groups of the consumers purchasing food. Though globally the retail companies (for ex. in Great Britain) invest in this technology heavily in order to increase their competitiveness on the market the food e-business in the Czech Republic has been more or less stagnating, though the recent years have been showing slight increase of interest in this form of shopping. This article identifies both the positive and the negative reasons of this situation. The technological level of computer network and its high accessibility proven by the fact that the vast majority of consumers can use internet for purchasing any kind of goods incl. food can be considered the positive reason. On the other hand the poor offer of food presented on the internet by retailers who – for fear of low demand for other kinds of food – focus mainly on be­ve­rages and dry food can be considered one of the negatives. The weakest point here is the timely delivery of goods in unchanged quality. Despite these facts the purchasing of food via internet can still serve well for busy or handicapped customers with limited mobility.

Making the CAP Fit: Responding to the Exploitation of Migrant Agricultural Workers in the EU

Much work in primary agricultural production is low-skill, temporary and seasonal in nature, and in the EU it attracts a large proportion of migrant workers, both from within and outside the Union. Work is often precarious, and cases of rights infringements, exploitation and forced labour have been reported across the Union. A recent step by the EU has been to confront these problems through immigration law, with the adoption in February 2014 of the Seasonal Workers Directive, which creates narrowly drawn possibilities for a legal right to work and reside for third-country nationals undertaking seasonal work. Reflecting on the tendency in practice for immigration status to trump employment rights, this article argues that a more effective response could be found within the EU's longstanding Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Farm subsidies are conditional on compliance with a body of existing EU legislation, in respect to environmental protection, public health and animal welfare. While highlighting the limited engagement with social concerns to date under the CAP, it is argued that space should be made for social conditionality in the CAP, with subsidies made conditional on respect for employment rights for all workers.

English

This paper assesses the short and long run effects of currency devaluation on output growth in Ethiopia. The study is conducted by using quarterly time series data over the period ranging from 1998.Q1 to 2010.Q4 and employing a vector auto regression (VAR) model. By controlling the monetary and fiscal policies, it is found that currency devaluations are contractionary in the long run and neutral in the short-run. Other results are that monetary policy has positive effect on output growth, while total government expenditure has negative effect. Moreover, this study clarifies that devaluation explains a considerable part of real gross domestic product change in Ethiopia. Since the Ethiopian export is dominated by primary agricultural products, it is insensitive for the change in exchange rate; it is not also possible for the government to allow market forces to determine the value of Ethiopian birr. Policy intervention is needed to balance the adverse impact of exchange rate movements until the economy is well transformed from agricultural sector to industrial sector and then, the economy becomes less dependent on imported raw materials. Thus, monetary policy plays a bigger role since it affects the total output positively and significantly. Key words: Currency devaluation, output, vector auto regression (VAR).

The analysis of individual Visegrad group members' agrarian export sensitivity in relation to selected macroeconomic aggregations

This paper analyzes the development of agricultural trade of the countries of the Visegrad Group with emphasis on development of the value of agricultural exports of the individual countries. The subject matter of the analysis is the sensitivity of the commodity structure of agricultural exports of individual countries and the identification of aggregations that are the least and the most sensitive to changes to the external and internal economic environment. From the conducted research, agricultural trade in the V4 countries was found to have developed very dynamically from 1993 to 2008, while the commodity structure of exports has constantly narrowed as the degree of specialization of the individual countries has increased (this applies especially to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary). From the results of analysis of sensitivity to changes of selected variables relating to the development of the value of agricultural exports of the individual V4 countries, it appears that the aggregations that react most sensitively to changes are those that are the subject of re-exports, followed by the aggregations that are characterized by a high degree of added value. In general it can be said that products of agricultural primary production exhibit less sensitivity in comparison with grocery industry products. This is confirmed by the general trend arising from the very nature of consumer behaviour.