The subsidy fertilizer supply chain challenges in Malawi

The high cost of fertilizer left many small holder farmers unable to access fertilizer which resulted in low agricultural production in Malawi. To solve this problem, the government introduced the Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) in 2004/2005 growing season. The subsidy program constituted about 60% of all fertilizer imports into the country. But besides huge investment into this program, food insecurity situation had not been eliminated leaving many smallholder farmers depending on food handouts to take them to the next harvesting season. Policy makers had been exploring options on how to exploit the benefits of FISP. It is for that reason that an investigation was conducted on transportation challenges in fertilizer supply chain, as late delivery was reported to be one of the problems in the distribution process. Because of that, three research objectives and research questions were formulated, and a pragmatic philosophy was adopted. Through this philosophy, both qualitative as well as quantitative research methods in data collection were employed. A snowball sampling method was used with the assistance of Road Transport Operators Association (RTOA) in Malawi. Three managers from both public as well as private fertilizer companies were interviewed while 38 questionnaires were administered to transporters that had previously been involved in subsidy fertilizer distribution. The findings of the research spotted logistical problems in the process of awarding contracts to fertilizer importers as well as transporters as not effective because of bribery, political interference and bias claims, as the main causes of the inefficiencies. Other findings included problems with beneficiary identification, high transportation costs, not utilizing ICT, ITS and lack of Research and Development as other challenges affecting productivity. This research came up with a Roadmap to Fertilizer Supply Chain as a reference material to future fertilizer supply chain studies, proposed “group fertilizer procurement” in future fertilizer procurement policies and provided empirical evidence of transportation challenges affecting fertilizer distribution in Malawi

Impact of production method and production area on energy balance of rye consumed in Helsinki

The results of the study show that production of fertilizers is the biggest factor in the rye production chain. Therefore organic rye tillage is not as intensive in energy usage as conventional practices. The energy consumed for transportation does not play a big role in total energy consumption of rye consumed in Helsinki

Transfer of manure from livestock farms to crop fields as fertilizer using an ant inspired approach

Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal excrements, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to distant crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a single-objective optimization problem, in regards to finding the best solution for the logistics process of satisfying nutrient crops needs by means of livestock manure. This paper proposes a dynamic approach to solve the problem, based on a decentralized nature-inspired cooperative technique, inspired by the foraging behavior of ants (AIA). Results provide important insights for policy-makers over the potential of using animal manure as fertilizer for crop fields, while AIA solves the problem effectively, in a fair way to the farmers and well balanced in terms of average transportation distances that need to be covered by each livestock farmer. Our work constitutes the first application of a decentralized AIA to this interesting real-world problem, in a domain where swarm intelligence methods are still under-exploited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Transfer of manure from livestock farms to crop fields as fertilizer using an ant inspired approach

Intensive livestock production might have a negative environmental impact, by producing large amounts of animal excrements, which, if not properly managed, can contaminate nearby water bodies with nutrient excess. However, if animal manure is exported to distant crop fields, to be used as organic fertilizer, pollution can be mitigated. It is a single-objective optimization problem, in regards to finding the best solution for the logistics process of satisfying nutrient crops needs by means of livestock manure. This paper proposes a dynamic approach to solve the problem, based on a decentralized nature-inspired cooperative technique, inspired by the foraging behavior of ants (AIA). Results provide important insights for policy-makers over the potential of using animal manure as fertilizer for crop fields, while AIA solves the problem effectively, in a fair way to the farmers and well balanced in terms of average transportation distances that need to be covered by each livestock farmer. Our work constitutes the first application of a decentralized AIA to this interesting real-world problem, in a domain where swarm intelligence methods are still under-exploited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

AN APPLICATION OF THE PHOSPHORUS CONSISTENT RULE FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE COST-EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF BROILER LITTER IN CROP PRODUCTION

We calculated the profitability of using broiler litter as a source of plant nutrients using the phosphorus consistent litter application rule. The cost saving by using litter is 37% over the use of chemical fertilizer alone to meet the nutrient needs of major crops grown in Alabama. In the optimal solution, only a few routes of all the possible routes developed were used for inter- and intra- county litter hauling. If litter is not adopted as the sole source of crop nutrients, the best environmental policy may be to pair the phosphorus consistent rule with taxes, marketable permits, and subsidies.Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics,

AN EVALUATION OF AN ECONOMIC STRATEGY FOR PREVENTING WATER POLLUTION USING A PHOSPHORUS CONSISTENT TRANSPORTATION MODEL: A CASE OF BROILER LITTER MANAGEMENT

We calculated the profitability of using broiler litter as a source of plant nutrient using a phosphorus consistent litter application rule. We found that each ton of litter can be transferred cost effectively up to 164 miles from the production facilities. The minimum cost phosphorus consistent transportation model developed to meet the nutrient needs of 29 counties in North Alabama revealed that not all the litter can be utilized in the region. The total cost for nutrient supply increased when transportation of litter from heavily surplus counties were prioritized. The effect of chemical fertilizer price change minimally affected the total litter use.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Sustainable Land Use and Water Management in Mountain Ecosystem - Case Study of a Watershed in the Indian Himalayas

The paper proposes to analyze the problem of choice of land use and technology for forest regeneration with minimum adverse impacts on the ecosystem. As the nature of the problem of such choice of land use and technology would depend upon the local characteristic of the ecosystem we propose to take up a case study through developing a model of analysis at the watershed level economies in the Himalayan mountains. The issue of choice, which is involved in the analysis of the particular case study, is supposed to yield valuable analytical and policy insights, which can be generalized for rural situations with similar geomorphic, eco-regional and agro-climatic conditions. This work develops a quantitative optimization framework of analysis using the mathematical tool of linear programming for structuring and articulating the problem of choice. The modeling framework essentially focuses on optimal use of land and energy resources in two alternate exercises of net revenue maximization and cost minimization. The range of options that the model would attempt to articulate through the case study would cover the following aspects: (a) Use of land for agriculture, pasture and forestry including conversion from one use to the other. (b) Choice of technology as determined by (i) seed (ii) water (iii) fertilizer (iv) animal energy and (vi) human labour. (c) Choices in commercial and non commercial fuel use for household and agriculture in the rural system taking account of the nexus between food and energy linked with the pattern of land use. The scope of analysis also covers the implication of choice in terms of the following impact on the global and local ecosystem. (a) Emissions in the form of carbon di oxide and methane from agricultural process and fuel use. (b) Soil erosion. While the model based case study work out the total water requirement for any land use pattern it has not considered any choice of source of water use, as there was no effective choice for the case study considered. The constraint of water availability has been taken into account to show how it drives the choice of technology and land use. A dynamic analysis of the problem would have been insightful however due to paucity of time series data on certain variables dynamic analysis wouldn’t be possible, instead the attempt here is to determine an alternate combination of inputs and land use pattern in an optimization exercise for a given year under different technologies. The attempt is to identify cost effective technologies, optimal land use pattern, input combinations and prescribe policies for adopting these technologies and help in attaining the optimal land use and input combinations for various outputs such that the impact on ecosystem is minimal.

Too Litter, Too Late: Economic Logistics of Transporting Nutrient-Rich Poultry Litter Out of Nutrient-Saturated Regions

Export of excess litter from concentrated animal production regions has become a pressing issue. A break even price for poultry litter in nutrient-deficient areas was identified through a math programming model using willingness to pay data from crop producers. Results indicate that a $16 subsidy is needed to sustain a long-term poultry litter market.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Economics of Transporting Poultry Litter from Northwest Arkansas to Eastern Arkansas Croplands

Applying baled litter from northwest Arkansas shipped by truck with backhauls, supplemented with chemical fertilizers provided the most cost-efficient method to supply nutrients to crops in eastern Arkansas, according to a GAMS optimization. Shipping raw litter by truck and barge is the optimal choice when backhauls or baling is unavailable.Public Economics,