CONSERVATION TILLAGE AND PESTICIDE USE IN THE CORNBELT

Adoption of conservation tillage can lead to substantial environmental benefits from reduced soil erosion. But benefits may be partially offset if adoption increases reliance on agricultural chemicals. Using area study data from the Cornbelt, this study examines factors affecting adoption of no-till and other conservation tillage systems and their effect on chemical use and corn yield. The results find no evidence that herbicide or fertilizer application rates are higher on fields with conservation tillage systems compared with conventional tillage. However, insecticide use may increase somewhat and yield may be lower. Current demographic trends in U.S. agriculture favor continued diffusion of conservation tillage.conservation tillage, multinomial logit model, pesticides, technology adoption, Crop Production/Industries,

Investing in Agricultural Productivity in Indonesia

EnglishInvestment in agricultural research is a key to agricultural productivity growth. In Indonesia, public investment in agricultural research has expanded significantly in the past two decades, although many agricultural research institutions remain underfunded. The private sector contributes substantially to the financing of public research on plantation crops and forestry. The past decade has also seen a doubling in real terms of agricultural research investment by private companies, although this private investment remains small compared with other developing countries in Asia. Multinational seed, chemical, and animal companies are playing a growing role in transferring new technology to Indonesia. Recent policy shifts have increased private-sector incentives to invest in agricultural research and technology transfer. IndonesianInvestasi dalam riset pertanian adalah kunci bagi peningkatan produktivitas pertanian. Di Indonesia, investasi pemerintah dalam riset pertanian telah berkembang pesat dalam dua dekade terakhir, sekalipun banyak lembaga riset pertanian tetap mengalami kekurangan dana. Sektor swasta memberikan sumbangan yang sangat besar terhadap pembiayaan riset pemerintah dalam bidang tanaman perkebunan dan kehutanan. Dalam dekade terakhir juga telah terjadi perlipatan dua di dalam nilai riil dari investasi dalam riset pertanian yang dilakukan oleh perusahaan-perusahaan swasta, walaupun investasi swasta ini tetap kecil dibandingkan dengan negara-negara berkembang lainnya di Asia. Perusahaan-perusahaan bibit, bahan kimia, dan ternak multunasional memainkan peranan yang semakin besar di dalam transfer teknologi baru ke Indonesia. Perubahan-perubahan kebijakan yang terjadi baru-baru ini telah meningkatkan dorongan bagi sektor swasta untuk melakukan investasi dalam riset pertanian dan transfer teknologi

THE PERFORMANCE OF BIOLOGICAL NITROGEN FIXATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE TROPICS: EVIDENCE FROM NORTHEAST THAILAND

Crop Production/Industries,

"Vent-For- Surplus" as a Source of Agricultural Growth in Northeast Thailand, 1950-1986

This paper reviews the "vent-for-surplus" model of agricultural development, in which access to foreign markets allows "surplus productive capacity" to be exploited. The "indirect effects" of trade contribute to long-term economic growth even after the direct gains from trade are realized. How the new income streams are distributed amongst the population may also carry implications for long-term growth prospects. The model is used to explain the rapid expansion in export crop production that has taken place in the Northeast Region of Thailand over the past twenty-five years. It is shown that the growth in export production was achieved at very little expense to the subsistence sector by employing previously underutilized land and labor resources. Growth indices are constructed to quantify the contribution of "vent-for-surplus" to the growth in agricultural product. Institutional factors play a major role in realizing growth potential. The major demand-side impetus for Thai cassava production came from agricultural policy adjustments in the European Economic Community. Thai policies on trade and foreign investment encouraged foreign and domestic entrepreneurs to invest in marketing and processing improvements. The private sector also played a leading role in extending production technology to the farm level. The public sector played a substantial role in improving transportation services. Future growth will probably require a larger role for the public sector, particularly in agricultural research and human capital development.International Development,

PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN ASIA

This study addresses the questions of future sources of technology for increasing food and agricultural production by considering the situation in Asia. This region of the world is particularly appropriate for studying these questions because of the dynamic changes in population and incomes. How much private research is there and what is it producing? Will the private sector compensate for declining public agricultural research investments in Asia? What can governments do to stimulate private research and protect farmers from harmful or defective technology? Agribusiness firm's R&D investments were evaluated in selected developing countries during 1996 and 1998 and compared with data from a similar study conducted in the mid-1980s. The largest amount of private research was in India where investment was about $55 million per year in the mid-1990s, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, and China. China's private R&D spending represents less than one one-hundredth of 1 percent of agricultural gross domestic product. In contrast, in Thailand and Malaysia, firms spent about 0.1 percent. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, private sector R&D grew in real terms in the countries in our sample. However, at this rate, private research will not fill the gap needed to support rapid growth in demand for agricultural products. Foreign firms made an important contribution to private research in all of these countries. The most important policy that helped induce this growth was liberalization of industrial policy that allowed private and foreign firms to operate and expand in agricultural input industries. A second important policy was investments in public research. Patents and tax incentives seem to have had little effect so far, but could be important in the future.Agricultural research and development (R&D), private sector R&D, technology transfer, Asian R&D, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN JOINT PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

Federal technology transfer legislation has encouraged increased collaboration between the public and private sectors, including joint research ventures known as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). While several economically important technologies have been developed through CRADAs, there is concern that CRADA may divert public research from its central research missions. This study compares the pattern of research resource allocation for CRADA projects at the U.S. Department of Agriculture with research priorities of public and private intramural agricultural research. The findings suggest that CRADAs have attracted considerable private co-financing of joint research projects, and may have enabled public research to concentrate more resources on research areas where private incentives are relatively weak.agricultural research, CRADA projects, research priorities, technology transfer, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Uncovering Productivity Growth in the Disaggregate: Indonesia's Dueling Agricultural Sub-Sectors

The success of seed-fertilizer technologies and government subsidies in attaining nearly self-sufficient rice production in the mid-1980s encouraged the Indonesian government soon afterward to shift resources away from food crops and toward export-oriented crops. These shifts were reinforced by trade liberalization and a sharp devaluation of the rupiah after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which exerted Indonesia’s comparative advantage in tropical perennial products. In the present paper, we ask whether such events have altered Indonesia’s agricultural growth strategy from a food-crop to an export-crop one. With an innovative multi-output stochastic distance frontier model and provincial production and policy-related data from 1985 to 2005, we estimate technology growth by agricultural subsector and efficiency improvement by political jurisdiction. The perennial-crop sector is found to have achieved the highest technology growth rate, followed by the livestock and annual-crop sectors. We find overall productivity growth to have been moderate, and suggest that little of it can be attributed to Indonesia’s public research efforts.agricultural research, Indonesia, Shephard distance function, stochastic frontier, technical change, technical efficiency, International Development, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Productivity Growth in U.S. Agriculture

Innovation and changes in technology have been a driving force for gains in productivity growth in U.S. agriculture. USDA's Economic Research Service has developed annual indexes of agricultural inputs, outputs, and total factor productivity (TFP) for 1948 through 2004. American agriculture relies almost entirely on productivity growth to raise output. By lowering the cost of agricultural commodities, productivity growth benefits not only farmers but also food manufacturers and consumers.Agriculture, productivity, productivity growth, total factor productivity, TFP, labor, farm economy, prices, agricultural research, agricultural output, technology, ERS, USDA, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis,

VOLUNTARY VERSUS MANDATORY AGRICULTURAL POLICIES TO PROTECT WATER QUALITY: ADOPTION OF NITROGEN TESTING IN NEBRASKA

Agriculture is among the principal contributors of nonpoint source pollution, a major cause of impaired water quality (Puckett). The amount of agricultural pollution depends in part on agricultural practices or technologies that farmers employ. In the United States, policies for changing farmers\u27 practices related to soil conservation and water quality protection have usually relied on voluntary adoption of new practices. Policy tools to promote voluntary adoption include extension education, technical assistance, and cost sharing. In recent years, both state and federal water quality projects have been initiated targeting these different approaches to different areas. Increasingly, however, regulation is being used by the Federal Government and by states to mandate the adoption of practices by farmers (United States Environmental Protection Agency 1993; Ribaudo and Woo). To date, little research has been undertaken on the relative effectiveness of regulatory and incentive approaches. While the immediate goal of adoption may be more easily achieved by regulation, that regulation will not necessarily principal contributors of nonpoint source pollution, a major cause of impaired water quality (Puckett). The amount of agricultural pollution depends in part on agricultural practices or technologies that farmers employ. In the United States, policies for changing farmers\u27 practices related to soil conservation and water quality protection have usually relied on voluntary adoption of new practices. Policy tools to promote voluntary adoption include extension education, technical assistance, and cost sharing. In recent years, both state and federal water quality projects have been initiated targeting these different approaches to different areas. Increasingly, however, regulation is being used by the Federal Government and by states to mandate the adoption of practices by farmers (United States Environmental Protection Agency 1993; Ribaudo and Woo). To date, little research has been undertaken on the relative effectiveness of regulatory and incentive approaches. While the immediate goal of adoption may be more easily achieved by regulation, that regulation will not necessarily lead to the proper or desired use of the practice. This article investigates the relative effectiveness of incentive projects and regulation to promote both adoption of nitrogen (N) testing and the use of information from the tests to adjust N fertilizer use