Role Of Agriculture Research Articles

Small holder farming in Africa — Lessons from the African regional symposium on small holder irrigation

The five main topics discussed at the African Regional Symposium on Small Holder Irrigation are reviewed in this paper. Particular attention is directed to those points raised during the meeting that are relevant to small holder agricultural development in general, and that may serve as a guide to rural development researchers, planners and implementers in South Africa and its independent and self‐governing national states. The central theme of the various papers dealing with the design and selection of appropriate small holder schemes, country specific case studies, project evaluation and the role of farmers, was undoubtedly the need to involve farmers in a meaningful way throughout the entire process of project formulation and implementation.

Fish, Fires, and Foresight: Middle Woodland Economic Adaptations in the Abbott Farm National Landmark

The “Abbott Farm site,” now known as the Abbott Farm National Landmark, is known for its unique and abundant artifact assemblages from presumed Middle Woodland contexts. Several researchers attributed the presence of large quantities of argillite raw material, argillite and chert blades and blade caches, cut and uncut mica, and aberrant zone-decorated ceramics to either Hopewellian manifestations or to the Abbott Farm's role in the regional redistribution of argillite. On the basis of a cultural resource survey conducted by Louis Berger and Associates prior to the proposed construction of I-195 and I-295 and New Jersey Routes 29 and 129, a specialized economic adaptation focused upon the intensive procurement, processing, and storage of anadromous fish, especially sturgeon, is hypothesized.

Failures in technology transfer: Are farmers overlooked?

Technology transfer and attempts to improve farming systems in the Middle East and North Africa have not yet succeeded in significantly improving production of cereals and livestock. The authors suggest that the problem may be in the communication between expert and farmer, with the role of farmers being underestimated in the transfer process. The development and dissemination of the South Australian integrated cereal/livestock system both in South Australia and in North Africa and the Middle East as an example of how the demonstration of farming skills is ignored by policy makers.

Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus/Besprechungen

Book reviewed in this article:BARLETT, P. F., editor (1980), Agricultural Decision‐Making: Anthropological Contributions to Rural DevelopmentCLAYRE, A., editor (1980), The Political Economy of Cooperation and Participation. A Third SectorHORN, PAMELA (1980), The Rural World 1780–1850: Social Change in the English CountrysideNEATE, S. (1981), Rural Deprivation: An Annotated Bibliography of Economic and Social Problems in Rural BritainCLARK, S. (1979), Social Origins of the Irish Land WarHOWELL., J., editor (1980), Borrowers and Lenders. Rural financial markets and institutions in developing countries.FUKUTAKE, T. (1980), Rural Society in JapanFREDERICKS L. J., G. KALSHOVEN & J. R. V. DAANE (1980), The Role of Farmers' Organizations in Two Paddy Farming Areas in West MalaysiaDEWALT, B. R. (1979), Modernization in a Mexican Ejido ‐ A study in Economic Adaptation, Cambridge Latin American SeriesBERGER, H. (1980), Untersuchungsmethode und soziale Wirklichkeit. Eine Kritik an Interview und Einstellungsmessung in der SozialforschungPETERSON, M. (1979, International Interest Organisations and the Transmutation of Postwar SocietyMCKAY, MARGARET M., Editor (1980), The Rev. Dr. John Walker's Report on the Hebrides of 1764 and 1771

Les agriculteurs sarthois dans les conseils municipaux

ABSTRACT The role of farmers on the municipal councils of la Sarthe. The author has made a study of the professions exerted by municipal councillors in the communes of La Sarthe (excluding Le Mans) in 1971, 1953 and 1935. The results show that few mayors belong to the former landed aristocracy ; there are increasingly fewer farmers on municipal councils, which mirrors their disappearance from rural society : whereas farmers and land-oOners formed the majority in almost every commune in 1935 and in 80 % of them in 1953, this was the case in only 58 % of the communes in 1971. However, farmer-mayors or mayors whose professions are closely linked with the agricultural milieu are more numerous than one might expect : farmers have thus retained a certain prestige while factory-workers are very poorly represented among councillors and are even fewer among mayors. Virtually no farmers' wives are to be found on councils. Thus there is still a discrepancy between the social reality and its reflection in the composition of these municipal councils.

A sociological analysis of some broader developmental implications of vertical integration in agriculture: Indian and Ghanaian data compared

Data were obtained from samples of farmers who grow tobacco in a high-technology mode, under contract conditions, in each of two countries, India and Ghana, and also from samples of other farmers, not operating under contract conditions, but matched with the growers on farm and personal characteristics. The analysis addresses questions of impact on various aspects of farmers' lives of the involvement in an integrated system of production, treated as a rural analogue of the urban factory. Results show that the integrated production system may have a spillover effect on other aspects of farming, in that growers are more likely to use modern inputs, including technical advice, on both their secondary cash crops and personal consumption crops than other farmers. Tobacco growers are also somewhat more likely than other farmers to hold a positive view of the farmer's role and to want their sons to become farmers. At a more basic level, however, regarding impact on a range of values, tobacco growers are not different from other farmers. The lack of any general value impact raises questions about the assumption that factory experience is a powerful modernising agent for workers in developing countries.

Perceptions of Occupations in a Newly Industrializing Region of Mexico

Surveys conducted in the region of a new industrial Mexican town in 1958 and 1967 provided information regarding perceptions of three occupational roles—the two traditional roles of farmer and shopkeeper, and the recently introduced occupation of factory worker. Comparison of the results of the interviews reveals that there have been radical changes in conceptions of the three occupations during the nine intervening years. Farmers and shopkeepers have greatly devalued their own roles, while developing much more positive attitudes towards factory work. While these changes have not affected their own job preferences, their aspirations for their sons' occupations reflect the alterations in their perceptions of occupations. No immediate change in the relative status of the three occupations is apparent or predicted, but the growing disillusionment of farmers and shopkeepers with their traditional occupations suggests future political repercussions.

Agricultural Development and Economic Growth edited by Herman M. Southworth and Bruce F. Johnston. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1967.

The literature on agricultural development and economic growth is vast and varied; it ranges from theoretical discussion of the role of agriculture in economic development to empirical studies of economic behaviour of the farm¬ers. There is, however, no agreed theory of agricultural development. Different economists hold different view-points, advance different hypotheses and provide different empirical evidence on the questions involving agricultural development and economic growth. The book under review gives a wide cover¬age of the issues, problems and complexities of agricultural development and economic growth. It is a collection of fourteen papers written by eighteen scholars who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields. Each paper has been commented upon by one or two equally reputed scholars. The author of each paper gives a critical survey of the literature on the subject and provides an extensive bibliography at the end of the paper. The topics surveyed are: agricultural development, barriers to change, infrastructure, education and training for agricultural growth, farm size and agricultural productivity, land reform, food and nutrition, marketing institutions, export of agricultural pro¬ducts, agricultural taxation, agricultural price policy, and programming of agricultural development.

The Farmer's Role in the Development of the National Economy

The Farmer's Role in the Development of the National Economy

Agriculture's Role Is Crucial

Agriculture's Role Is Crucial