The aggregate economic benefits of the national cultivar trials for maize in South Africa with specific reference to the Highveld region

The South African maize sector has been revolutionised from a system of production with low use of modern technologies to a leading maize producer in the African continent. That transformation is in part attributable to South Africa’s investment in the national maize cultivar trials, which have facilitated the adoption and use of maize cultivars that are highly adapted to commercial farmer localities, causing considerable gains in yields. The economic value of the public investment in the trials remains unknown. This study uses experimental yields spanning 1977 - 2012 to attribute the influence of the national maize cultivar trials to maize yield improvement on farmer localities in the Highveld region of South Africa. Using attribution methods, the study estimates that 24.3 kg per hectare of extra maize yields accrued to commercial maize producers because of the national maize trials. The economic value of these investments was found to be R1.4billion (in 2012 currency values). The study estimates that South Africa received R37 of benefit for every rand invested by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in the trials.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragr202016-09-30hb201

The history of language learning and teaching in Britain

This article provides an introduction, based on the most recent research available, to the history of language learning and teaching (HoLLT) in Britain. After an overview of the state of research, I consider which languages have been learnt, why and how that has changed; the role of teachers and tests in determining what was taught; changes in how languages have been taught (and why); and the emergence of the modern infrastructure of language teaching policy and practice. I conclude with case study of the contribution of Walter Rippmann, a key figure, in the period 1895 to ca. 1920, a time of professionalisation of language teaching and of efforts towards innovation and change, which set the agenda for many of the major developments of the twentieth century, including a call for scientifically based language teaching and a greater emphasis on the spoken language

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