Improved weed management for transplanted aman rice

Rainfed transplanted rice grown in the monsoon aman season accounts for more than 50% of the total area planted to rice in Bangladesh. Because of rising input costs, including labor, farmers are searching for ways to maintain income, by either increasing yields or reducing costs or both. On-farm trials in the High Barind Tract indicated that one-third of the farmers would be able to gain 0.5 t ha–1 or more additional grain by undertaking more intensive or timelier weeding than is usual under current management practices. Higher yields were observed on-farm from a preemergence application of butachlor(1.25 kg a.i. ha–1) compared with hand weeding twice. In Comilla District, trials of a range of weed management practices demonstrated that the yield advantage over the farmers’ practice, either one or two hand weedings, was on average 355 ± 18 kg ha–1 for Rifit (pretilachlor), 281 ± 39 kg ha–1 for Machete (butachlor), and 210 ± 34 kg ha–1 for Ronstar (oxadiazon), each followed by one hand weeding in aman 2003. Partial budgets calculated for inputs and returns showed that hand weeding was less profitable than herbicides in rainfed rice,incurring US$72 ha–1 lower return. Use of a push weeder plus one hand weeding was less profitable than herbicides, incurring$49 ha–1 lower return. To date, herbicides have been largely promoted for irrigated rice in Bangladesh. The trial results demonstrate that under rainfed conditions early in the aman season, water levels are adequate for herbicides to work effectively. The use of herbicides allows timely weed control when there is a shortage of labor and avoids transaction costs, such as the provision of meals and time needed to source laborers. Herbicides are likely to be adopted by growers experiencing labor shortages, particularly on large farms and for farmers seeking to reduce input costs. Sharecroppers and tenant farmers who pay rent are primarily concerned about obtaining a high aman yield, so innovations that raise aman yields (such as herbicides that will have a similar effect as a timely first weeding) are also likely to be adopted on sharecropped plots, even when costs are not shared between the landlord and tenant

Livestock ownership, commercial off-take rates and their determinants in Ethiopia

This study is conducted to assess the commercial off-take rates for cattle and shoats in the highland and pastoral areas of Ethiopia in order to complement the limited empirical information related to the off-take rates. The specific objectives are: (a) estimate off-take rates for cattle and shoats in mixed crop-livestock systems in the predominantly highland regions and in the pastoral systems in the lowlands, (b) estimate extent and nature of market participation by households and identify factors affecting the nature and extent of market participation for live animals in mixed crop-livestock systems, and (c) quantify the extent of demand for cattle and shoats for domestic consumption to assess how much of the aggregate commercial off-take is absorbed by domestic consumption and the balance left for live animal and meat export. The remaining sections of this paper are organized as follows. Section Two discusses the conceptual framework and empirical model for this study. The data sources and descriptions are given in Section Three. In Section Four the results and discussions of the descriptive and econometric analyses are presented. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are made in Section Five

Consumer preferences and demand for livestock products in urban Bangladesh

Demand for animal products has been increasing rapidly in Bangladesh due to urbanization and increases in per capita income. There are rudimentary indications that demand for improved food quality and safety has also been increasing and that consumers were willing to pay higher prices for such attributes of products. However, there is little empirical evidence on the criteria and indicators of quality and safety that consumers use in their buying decisions, or that suppliers use in differentiating products to promote sales, or the extent to which consumers are willing to pay for such attributes. This study is the first attempt to comprehensively characterize and quantify Bangladeshi urban demand for animal products with a focus on quality and safety. Based on a multi-stage sample survey of 900 households from Dhaka and Mymensingh cities, successive analyses present statements of preference based on ratings, identified quality criteria, stated sources of supply and recent purchasing behaviour both at home and away from home, and econometric analysis of relationships between price ratings and quality ratings across attributes, so as to generate willingness to pay for those attributes. The findings show that officially defined grades and quality standards of livestock products are either absent or poorly defined and enforced. On the other hand, producers and consumers in the market use specific attributes or criteria and indicators to differentiate quality and safety of livestock products and they also charge and pay different prices based on those attributes. Although targeted at urban populations, considerable variation between locations in terms of the product preferences and attributes used to differentiate quality was identified. Establishment of standards and grades will become necessary to meet consumer demand on the one hand and facilitate producers and market agents to respond to consumer demand on the other. Whether smallholders will have any comparative advantage in supplying an expanding market requiring more homogenous and better quality and safer products need to be studied regularly along with studies on consumer demand because of the dynamic nature of the emerging and evolving market, the industry and the sector

Demand for livestock products in developing countries with a focus on quality and safety attributes: Evidence from Asia and Africa

Rising developing country demand for livestock products propelled by income and population growth, and by urbanization offers poverty reduction opportunities to actors in the supply chain. The increase in volumes demanded also features diversification and increased demand for quality attributes. Reliable food safety and information on animal husbandry and geographic origin have long been recognized as value-adding differentiation mechanisms in the developed world. Anecdotal accounts suggest that this is also the case in developing countries. However, little consistent rigorously researched evidence has been published on this subject. This report presents results based on case studies conducted in a number of developing countries in Asia and Africa—Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Tunisia, and Vietnam. An overview of the theoretically consistent methods used and a synthesis of the results obtained in the various case studies are presented first followed by the case studies each describing a study of specific commodities in specific developing country locations. A consistent set of results emerges, wherein consumers exhibit willingness to pay for quality and safety in animal-origin foods, and within which this willingness to pay is strongest amongst the wealthy and the urban dwellers. However, the intricacy and variety of quality definition and measurement are demonstrated fully, as they occur between and within countries, commodity groups and other settings. The key message from the results is the evidence that quality and safety considerations in products of animal origin food provide commercial opportunities for developing country producers, market actors and industry participants

Adoption pathways for new agricultural technologies: An approach and an application to Vertisol management technology in Ethiopia

The literature on technology adoption distinguishes between diffusion (generally viewed as a dynamic process) and adoption (usually seen as static and specific to a point in time). Consistent with this, empirical studies on agricultural technology adoption generally divide a population into adopters and non-adopters, and analyse the reasons for adoption and non-adoption at a point in time, principally in terms of the socio-economic characteristics of the studied population. This study discusses the deficiencies of static approaches to technology adoption, particularly at the early stages of diffusion. It proposes a dynamic approach to technology adoption in which information gathering, learning and experience play pivotal roles. The characteristics of both the user and the technology are considered important in explaining adoption behaviour and the resultant pathway of adoption. The proposed approach has implications for the time frame and potential impact of new technology adoption