Comparative marketing performance between the Peruvian Cooperatives and the Intermediaries: Acopagro cooperative vs. Intermediaries- a Case Study

In the Peruvian jungle, there are two main cocoa marketing channels: the intermediaries and the cooperative. For example, the Acopagro Cooperative, a Peruvian organization, has contributed to the shift from illegal crops like coca to an alternative crop like cocoa which gives small scale farmers a sustainable welfare. Despite the fact that the Acopagro cooperative benefits their members by paying a fair price, supplying technical assistance and credit, many farmers still prefer commercializing their cocoa via the intermediaries. A further analysis of cocoa prices was carried out through personal interviews and a survey made between December 2009 and January 2010, of 243 farmers in Juanjui, San Martin, Peru's main cocoa production area. The outcomes demonstrate that there is not so much difference between the cocoa price that the farmers receive from the Cooperative versus through the intermediaries. The main difference is that Acopagro cooperative divides its surplus income among its members at the end of each fiscal year. These results are consistent with previous analysis1 that proved participant farmers are better paid for their product than non-participants. Moreover, there are significant differences in the agri-marketing functions performed by each marketing channel. Farmers who prefer to commercialize via the intermediaries do not choose this marketing channel mainly due to their desire to be independent in the market or their low cocoa production. Because high economies of scale are required for large volumes of produce, the cooperative should attract small scale farmers who distribute cocoa through intermediaries to become Acopagro members in order to satisfy international market demands.Acopagro cooperative, Peruvian jungle, intermediaries, cocoa, price, agri-marketing channel, marketing channel., Agribusiness,

Depth Dependency of Hardness Change of Ti-Mo Alloys

We investigated the effects of resolved interstitial oxygen or nitrogen atoms and of quenched-in strain on the hardening of the single crystals grown from molten Ti-14 and 20wt pct Mo alloys. The aging treatment at 623K in atmosphere much more increased in the hardness of specimen surface than that in argon atmosphere. The quenched-in compressive stress enhanced age hardening due to omega formation. We surveyed in detail the hardness changes toward the center of plate-shaped single crystal

The Suppression of Radiation Reaction and Laser Field Depletion in Laser-Electron beam interaction

The effects of radiation reaction (RR) have been studied extensively by using the ultraintense laser interacts with the counter-propagating relativistic electron. At the laser intensity at the order of $10^{23}$ W/cm$^2$, the effects of RR are significant in a few laser period for a relativistic electron. However, the laser at such intensity is tightly focused and the laser energy is usually assumed to be fixed. Then, the signal of RR and energy conservation cannot be guaranteed. To assess the effects of RR in a tightly focused laser pulse and the evolution of the laser energy, we simulate this interaction with a beam of $10^9$ electrons by means of Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method. We observed that the effects of RR are suppressed due to the ponderomotive force and accompanied by a non-negligible amount of laser field energy reduction. This is due to the ponderomotive force that prevents the electrons from approaching the center of the laser pulse and leads to the interaction at weaker field region. At the same time, the laser energy is absorbed through ponderomotive acceleration. Thus, the kinetic energy of the electron beam has to be carefully selected such that the effects of RR become obvious.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure