A Ricardian analysis of the climate change impact on Nepalese agriculture

This paper applies Ricardian approach to measure the effect of climate change on crop production in Nepal using cross-section data of Nepal Living Standard Survey 2003/04 and climate data from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. The study examines the relationship between net farm revenue and climate variables using 656 households of 14 districts covering all climatic zones of Nepal. Net farm revenue is regressed on climate and socio-economic variables. The findings show that these variables have significant impact on the net farm value per hectare. More specifically, relatively low precipitation and high temperature seem to have positive impact on net farm income during the fall and spring seasons. Net farm income is likely to be increased by summer precipitation, but not by temperature. Marginal impacts are mostly in line with the Ricardian model, showing marginally increasing precipitation during summer and winter would increase net farm income, but reduce by the quarter terms and temperature of these seasons. Moreover, marginally increasing precipitation would increase farm income in the hilly region, but reduce in Terai region. Other variables such as ratio of irrigated farm land and obtaining credit are found to be positive impact on net farm value but not by farm size. Conclusively, the impact of climate change on agriculture seems to be varied with the temperature and precipitation in different climatic zones.climate change, agriculture, Ricardian approach, marginal impact, Nepal

A Ricardian analysis of the climate change impact on Nepalese agriculture

This paper applies Ricardian approach to measure the effect of climate change on crop production in Nepal using cross-section data of Nepal Living Standard Survey 2003/04 and climate data from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. The study examines the relationship between net farm revenue and climate variables using 656 households of 14 districts covering all climatic zones of Nepal. Net farm revenue is regressed on climate and socio-economic variables. The findings show that these variables have significant impact on the net farm value per hectare. More specifically, relatively low precipitation and high temperature seem to have positive impact on net farm income during the fall and spring seasons. Net farm income is likely to be increased by summer precipitation, but not by temperature. Marginal impacts are mostly in line with the Ricardian model, showing marginally increasing precipitation during summer and winter would increase net farm income, but reduce by the quarter terms and temperature of these seasons. Moreover, marginally increasing precipitation would increase farm income in the hilly region, but reduce in Terai region. Other variables such as ratio of irrigated farm land and obtaining credit are found to be positive impact on net farm value but not by farm size. Conclusively, the impact of climate change on agriculture seems to be varied with the temperature and precipitation in different climatic zones

A Ricardian analysis of the climate change impact on Nepalese agriculture

This paper applies Ricardian approach to measure the effect of climate change on crop production in Nepal using cross-section data of Nepal Living Standard Survey 2003/04 and climate data from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal. The study examines the relationship between net farm revenue and climate variables using 656 households of 14 districts covering all climatic zones of Nepal. Net farm revenue is regressed on climate and socio-economic variables. The findings show that these variables have significant impact on the net farm value per hectare. More specifically, relatively low precipitation and high temperature seem to have positive impact on net farm income during the fall and spring seasons. Net farm income is likely to be increased by summer precipitation, but not by temperature. Marginal impacts are mostly in line with the Ricardian model, showing marginally increasing precipitation during summer and winter would increase net farm income, but reduce by the quarter terms and temperature of these seasons. Moreover, marginally increasing precipitation would increase farm income in the hilly region, but reduce in Terai region. Other variables such as ratio of irrigated farm land and obtaining credit are found to be positive impact on net farm value but not by farm size. Conclusively, the impact of climate change on agriculture seems to be varied with the temperature and precipitation in different climatic zones

Factors Influencing Food Insecurity in Nepal

Nepal has been persistently encountering food insecurity and under-nutrition. It is therefore utmost important to determine the factors responsible for influencing food insecurity in Nepal. This study examines the factors determining food insecurity in Nepal applying binary logistic models for food poverty, household with inadequate food consumption and poor dietary diversity using data from Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/11. Food security was determined to be strongly associated with education level and age of household head, household with higher female education level, larger farm size with higher ratio of irrigated land, better access to markets, roads and cooperatives, better household assets and remittance recipient households. Food insecure is relatively more prevalent in rural areas with higher dependent on rain-fed agriculture, higher dependency ratio and larger family size. Improving both physical and economic access to foods, together with investment in education and agriculture could help to reduce food insecurity and hunger from Nepal

Determinants of Per Capita Food Expenditure to Assess Food Security Status of Nepal

Food security is the global issue as the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) has explicitly considered zero hunger in the Goal 2. Nonetheless, in the recent years, the number of hunger population is in constant rise. Therefore, the paper attempts to estimate the determinants of the per capita food expenditure from the household expenditure. The data of National Living Standard Survey 2010/11 by the Central Bureau of Statistics Nepal has been used for the study. The multiple regression analysis has been performed. The per capita food expenditure has been used as the dependent variable. The model was found significant and the R-squared value was found 0.77. All the explanatory variables – except gender and education level (completed grade 5-7), were found significant. The number of households, area related variables urban rural and few development regions were found negatively associated with the per capita food expenditure

Primary Black Hole Spin in OJ 287 as Determined by the General Relativity Centenary Flare

OJ 287 is a quasi-periodic quasar with roughly 12 year optical cycles. It displays prominent outbursts that are predictable in a binary black hole model. The model predicted a major optical outburst in 2015 December. We found that the outburst did occur within the expected time range, peaking on 2015 December 5 at magnitude 12.9 in the optical R -band. Based on Swift /XRT satellite measurements and optical polarization data, we find that it included a major thermal component. Its timing provides an accurate estimate for the spin of the primary black hole, ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/2041-8205/819/2/L37/apjl523055ieqn1.gif] $i =0.313pm 0.01$ . The present outburst also confirms the established general relativistic properties of the system such as the loss of orbital energy to gravitational radiation at the 2% accuracy level, and it opens up the possibility of testing the black hole no-hair theorem with 10% accuracy during the present decade.Peer reviewe

Authenticating the Presence of a Relativistic Massive Black Hole Binary in OJ 287 Using Its General Relativity Centenary Flare : Improved Orbital Parameters

Results from regular monitoring of relativistic compact binaries like PSR 1913+16 are consistent with the dominant (quadrupole) order emission of gravitational waves (GWs). We show that observations associated with the binary black hole (BBH) central engine of blazar OJ 287 demand the inclusion of gravitational radiation reaction effects beyond the quadrupolar order. It turns out that even the effects of certain hereditary contributions to GW emission are required to predict impact flare timings of OJ 287. We develop an approach that incorporates this effect into the BBH model for OJ 287. This allows us to demonstrate an excellent agreement between the observed impact flare timings and those predicted from ten orbital cycles of the BBH central engine model. The deduced rate of orbital period decay is nine orders of magnitude higher than the observed rate in PSR 1913+16, demonstrating again the relativistic nature of OJ 287's central engine. Finally, we argue that precise timing of the predicted 2019 impact flare should allow a test of the celebrated black hole "no-hair theorem" at the 10% level.Peer reviewe

Authenticating the Presence of a Relativistic Massive Black Hole Binary in OJ 287 Using Its General Relativity Centenary Flare: Improved Orbital Parameters

© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Results from regular monitoring of relativistic compact binaries like PSR 1913+16 are consistent with the dominant (quadrupole) order emission of gravitational waves (GWs). We show that observations associated with the binary black hole (BBH) central engine of blazar OJ 287 demand the inclusion of gravitational radiation reaction effects beyond the quadrupolar order. It turns out that even the effects of certain hereditary contributions to GW emission are required to predict impact flare timings of OJ 287. We develop an approach that incorporates this effect into the BBH model for OJ 287. This allows us to demonstrate an excellent agreement between the observed impact flare timings and those predicted from ten orbital cycles of the BBH central engine model. The deduced rate of orbital period decay is nine orders of magnitude higher than the observed rate in PSR 1913+16, demonstrating again the relativistic nature of OJ 287's central engine. Finally, we argue that precise timing of the predicted 2019 impact flare should allow a test of the celebrated black hole "no-hair theorem" at the 10% level

Authenticating the Presence of a Relativistic Massive Black Hole Binary in OJ 287 Using Its General Relativity Centenary Flare: Improved Orbital Parameters

Results from regular monitoring of relativistic compact binaries like PSR 1913+16 are consistent with the dominant (quadrupole) order emission of gravitational waves (GWs). We show that observations associated with the binary black hole (BBH) central engine of blazar OJ 287 demand the inclusion of gravitational radiation reaction effects beyond the quadrupolar order. It turns out that even the effects of certain hereditary contributions to GW emission are required to predict impact flare timings of OJ 287. We develop an approach that incorporates this effect into the BBH model for OJ 287. This allows us to demonstrate an excellent agreement between the observed impact flare timings and those predicted from ten orbital cycles of the BBH central engine model. The deduced rate of orbital period decay is nine orders of magnitude higher than the observed rate in PSR 1913+16, demonstrating again the relativistic nature of OJ 287's central engine. Finally, we argue that precise timing of the predicted 2019 impact flare should allow a test of the celebrated black hole "no-hair theorem" at the 10% level