The Role of Agriculture in the Development Process: Recent Experiences from Ghana

Economic policies have had important implications for the role of agriculture in the socio-economic development of Ghana because of agricultures dominance of the economy. The performance of the agricultural sector has generally directed the overall economic performance since independence. The policy of market deregulation in Ghana, including agricultural markets, has not achieved the expected results due to many constraints, the key of which are institutional failures and the slow response of the private sector to take up the agricultural input markets. These have been compounded by the rain-fed agriculture that is predominant in Ghana, such that bad rainfall years have been characterized by low harvests of staple food crops and high food prices, and vice versa. This has resulted in high price volatility during the post liberalization years. In addition, under developed rural financial markets make it such that farmers are unable to invest much in new technologies and agricultural land development, thereby increasing pressure on farmlands as population increases. The paper highlights the key role of agriculture, including environmental, poverty alleviation, food security, buffer, social viability, and cultural perceptions. The failure of policy to adequately address the myriad of problems confronting agriculture has been in part because of institutional failure, and in part due to bottlenecks in the distribution system. Future agricultural research and policies should therefore target developing rural institutions, in particular, agricultural institutions, to respond adequately to new technologies and improvements in agricultural production, processing and distribution.International Development,

Reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and its usefulness in soil microbial ecological studies - A review

The reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is a highly specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method that allows one to detect very low transcription levels of functional gene(s) in soil. RT-qPCR helps us to know the active members of the microbial community, and their activities can be linked with other ecological processes in soil. If after the extraction of RNA from soil, the mRNA is converted to cDNA which is then sequenced, one would analyze directly the active members of the microbial community.Key words: Complementary DNA (cDNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), soil microbial study, microbial community

Benefit-Cost Analysis and Socio-Economic Considerations of Trypanosomiasis Control and Treatment in Northern Ghana

The paper estimates the cost of tsetse control and treatment of trypanosomiasis and the benefits involved, using benefit-cost analysis. It also estimates the extent to which socio-economic characteristics of farmers affect the use of tsetse control techniques, using a maximum Likelihood-Binary Logit model. The results show that farmers will benefit if they invest in control and treatment of the disease. We find that the farmer accepting the challenge that the tsetse fly is a threat to cattle production, the number of dependants the farmer has, and the farmer agreeing that the bite of the tsetse fly causes the nagana disease are significant factors that affect adoption of control practices including the use of prescribed drugs. Our findings suggest that there is potential for farmers’ response and participation in tsetse control activities in Northern Ghana. What seems to be lacking is the relevant information that farmers need to encourage them to participate. We recommend therefore that more extension services be provided livestock farmers to help them derive maximum benefit from disease control practiceAgricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Policy Initiatives and Agricultural Performance in Post-independent Ghana

The central role agriculture plays in the development of Ghana’s economy has been recognized by several authors, particularly because Ghana’s economy is basically agrarian. Nevertheless, the contributions agriculture can make to economic development depend on the policy environment within which agriculture thrives. Several policies, both general and specific to agriculture, which have been pursued under various governments have either promoted or mitigated against the performance of agriculture in Ghana. This paper reviews the various policies under which Ghana's agricultural sector has operated since independence, and provides a synthesis of the major existing policies and recent changes and how these have affected the agricultural sector. The analysis shows that the socialist model of the 1960s contrasted sharply with the liberalized market approach of the 1980s and 1990s, particularly under structural adjustment. These differing policy orientations have had significant effects on agricultural performance in Ghana, and the roles of agriculture at different periods. For instance, the policy effects of agricultural activities on the environment, such as the promotion of export commodities, the exploitation of timber and forest resources, mining, and indiscriminate sale and use of agro-chemicals in Ghana have been negative. On the other hand, promotion of cash and export crops through government policy incentives have improved rural incomes for farmers that cultivate such crops, and helped to reduce poverty among this group. In general, the policy effects on agriculture in Ghana have been mixed

EFFECTS OF MORE OPEN TRADE ON CATTLE PRODUCTION, BEEF CONSUMPTION, AND WELFARE IN THE CENTRAL CORRIDOR OF WEST AFRICA

The magnitude and direction of trade flows in cattle and beef, and how cattle production and beef consumption adjust in response to more open trade in the Central Corridor (an acronym for the sub-region that includes Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Burkina Faso) have been estimated. A mathematical programming approach was used to model trade in cattle and beef in the West African Central Corridor. Quadratic programming which maximizes the net social surplus in the Samuelson sense under a competitive market framework when farmers are risk averse was applied. Estimates of consumer surplus, producer profits, and government revenue changes were used as welfare indicators. The different scenarios analyzed indicate that there would be an increase in trade in cattle and beef consumption in the sub-region, as well as an overall welfare gain.International Relations/Trade,

Has Imported Rice Crowded-out Domestic Rice Production in Ghana? What has Been the Role of Policy?

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country. On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice productionGhana, market integration Policy, Rice, Production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Responding to Economic Shocks in Ghana: The Agricultural Sector as a Social Safety Net

The objective of this paper is to document, assess and characterize the role Ghana's agriculture has played as a safety net when the urban labor market suffered economic shocks. The study explores how agriculture influences non-agricultural dependent households. Specific attention is given to the implicit value of the informal insurance role that rural households play in supporting family members who lose jobs acquired after migrating to urban areas. The paper analyses Ghanaian agriculture's social security role in the late 1980s and 1990s. This well documented period in Ghanaian economic literature, coincides with both natural and macro policy shocks and the policy measures taken to cope with the shocks.Ghana, labor, migration, rural development, safety nets, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

The Use of Rock Phosphate and Phosphate Solubilising Fungi (Aspergillus niger) to Improve the Growth and the Yield of Upland Rice on Typic Kandiudalf

Field experiment was conducted to study the effect of rock phosphate (RP) and phosphate solubilizing fungi application on upland rice yield  intercropped with pigeon pea from 2009 to 2011 at the Agricultural  Research Centre, Kade, University of Ghana. In the first year, the main plot treatment consisted of five levels of phosphate fertilizer viz. 0 kg/ha P2O5, 40 kg/ha P2O5 RP, 80 kg/ha P2O5 RP, 120 kg/ha P2O5 RP and 45 kg/ha P2O5-triple super phosphate (TSP), while the planting dates of pigeon pea was set up as subplot (40 DAS –pigeon pea planted 40 days after sowing rice seed and 80 DAS- pigeon pea planted 80 days after sowing rice). In the second year, phosphate fertilizer was the main plot treatment,  consisting of (0 kg/ha P2O5, 45 kg/ha P2O5 RP, 90 kg/ha P2O5 RP and 45 kg/ha P2O5 TSP), and the subplot treatment was inoculated and uninoculated with phosphate solubilising fungi Aspergillus niger. The highest grain yield of 1.051 t/ha was obtained with the 120 kg P2O5 /ha RP followed by the 40 kg P2O5 /ha RP. Phosphate levels did not  significantly influence the grain yield in the first year (p = 0.08) but planting pigeon pea as an intercrop at the different planting dates had a significant positive effect on both the grain and straw yields of rice (p = 0.016, .07). There was no significant interaction between the use of different phosphorus levels and the different planting dates of pigeon pea (p = 0.348). In the second year, phosphate levels had significant influence on grain yield (p = 0.014) and the highest grain and straw yields occurred where TSP and Aspergillus niger were used to plant rice. Inoculating rice with or without Aspergillus niger had no significant influence on grain yields (p = 0.447). No significant interaction existed between phosphate levels and level of inoculation (p = 0.206). The use of TSP and Aspergillus niger to grow rice improved rice yield followed by 45 kg P2O5/ha RP + Inoculation

The response of Anabaena-free Azolla and the symbiotic Azolla to temperature

The performance of Anabaena-free (algae free) and symbiotic types of three speeies of Azolla (A. filiculoides, A. pinnata and A. microphylla) were studied in a phytotron at two average temperatures (22 and 33 oC). The growth of both the Anabaena-free and symbiotic types were depressed at a high temperature (33 DC) to varying degrees for all species of Azolla tested. There was a marked reduction of both growth and nitrogen-fixing ability (pereent N) of the symbiotie Azalia compared to its Anabaena-free counterpart suggesting that the low tolerance of A. jiliculoides No.1 0 I to high temperature was probably dictated by the symbiont Anabaena azollae. A. azollae of both A, microphylla No. 418 and A, pinnata No.2 appeared more tolerant to high temperature than that of A. filiculaides No. 101

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE FRUIT TREE SPRAYERS IN MICHIGAN ORCHARDS

Changing orchard sprayer technology and rising pesticide costs to fruit growers raise the need to analyze the profitability of alternative sprayer investments. This study analyzes investments in four orchard sprayers for use in Michigan apple production: an air blast sprayer, a tower boom sprayer, a tower boom sprayer equipped with electronic sensors that activate spray nozzles when foliage is detected, and an air curtain sprayer that targets spray with a layer of forced air. Assuming equal pest control efficacy, the study calculates the annualized net present cost per acre of owning and operating each sprayer for ten years using a baseline discount rate of 10 percent over 200 acres of semi-dwarf apple trees. The analysis found the annualized net present cost per acre, from least to greatest, to be $287 for the air curtain sprayer,$312 for the tower sprayer with electronic sensors, $345 for the plain tower sprayer, and$391 for the conventional air blast sprayer. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the ranking of these cost results was sensitive to farm size, but not to percentage of funds borrowed, discount rate, loan interest rate, or pesticide costs within the ranges investigated. The air curtain sprayer was lowest cost for orchards of 25 acres or more; the conventional air blast sprayer was lowest cost for 10-acre orchards.Crop Production/Industries,