Income potential and stability of diversified Tennessee farms with emphasis on environmental horticulture plants

Generally, there is a considerable variability in year-to-year farm income for the typical farmer. Variation in farm income poses a risk in agricultural decision making. Diversification among enterprises in farm production has been practiced by producers as one measure against risk. Diversification in farm production involves adoption of a number of production activities instead of a single activity by the producer. Production diversification can potentially be successfully employed to manage price, yield and income risk if different crops, livestock, and or other alternative enterprises react differently to events. The inherent logic has applications in any situation where choice must be made with respect to a future characterized by imperfect knowledge. Variation in prices and/or yields of various enterprises are not in many cases highly positively correlated. Therefore, a combination of enterprises may result in a more stable income than one enterprise alone. Farmers are diversifying by growing a combination of traditional commodities or enterprises such as crop-livestock mixes on their farms to enhance their incomes and/or to manage risk. However, there are other alternative enterprises available that can be considered for inclusion in farm diversification plans other than traditional commodities. These alternatives are the nontraditional agricultural commodities or enterprises that include environmental horticulture plants (EHPs), flowers, vegetables, and fruits. Other nontraditional enterprises include fish, poultry, forestry products, small animals, etc. Income potential of many of these commodities has not been fully explored by researchers and producers. However, nontraditional agricultural commodities are being grown by farmers in the southern region of the United States. Plath and Matthews compiled a list of approximately 250 such nontraditional agricultural commodities that are being raised by many producers in the southern region. One of these nontraditional commodity groups is HHPs that can be identified as alternatives enterprises for inclusion in farm diversification plans. This study explored the potential of environmental horticulture plants for inclusion in farm diversification plans as possible alternative(s) to traditional crop-livestock enterprise(s) in Tennessee. A risk programming model, minimization of total absolute deviations (MOTAD) is used to analyze risk-return tradeoffs when EHPs are included as alternative(s) with conventional farm enterprises in the model. The results from the analysis showed that three out of five specie of EHPs, euonymus, maple, and dogwood appear to be potential alternatives as enterprises in farm diversification plans. The optimal farm plans generated by MOTAD in which risk was considered frequently included euonymus and maple. Inclusion of EHPs with other conventional enterprises in farm plans for farms with different endowments can reduce risk. Therefore, can be managed more effectively if EHPs are combined with other conventional enterprises on farms across a variety of different resource situations

Recent Evidence on Farm Size and Land Productivity: Implications for Public Policy

Agricultural productivity is low in most of the developing countries including Pakistan. Moreover, slow and meandering agricultural growth is unable to keep pace with the fast and persistently growing population pressure in these countries. That in turn, has, continued to result in malnutrition and recurrent famines [Cornia (1985)]. Worse than this are the results of an ILO (1977) study, which has shown that food consumption inequalities have actually increased overtime not only in the food deficit countries but also in countries experiencing rapid agricultural growth. This points to the ever-hanging shadows of food deficiency and resulting malnutrition over the countries characterised by slow or negative growth in per capita food production and perverted income distribution [Cornia (1985)]. The only choice with these countries is to enhance food production and provide better access to food consumption for the poor masses. In order to achieve this objective policy-makers consider various options including increased use of modern inputs—mechanical and biological technologies, and removal or reform of the prevalent socio-economic power structure in agriculture that is considered to be an impediment to growth. It may not be desirable to apply these options separately in order to achieve the objective of reducing rural poverty [Cornia (1985)]. Growth in agriculture—that is sustainable and appropriate, is possible when all factors of production are accessible to all strata of the farming community. This is particularly so in the case of access to land. In this regard, land redistribution accompanied by increased input supply is the preferred policy option.

Regeneration Ecology of \u3ci\u3eChrysopogon aucheri\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eCymbopogon jwarancusa\u3c/i\u3e in Grasslands of Upland Balochistan, Pakistan

Field experiments were conducted to investigate the seed attributes, movements and fates of dispersal units, and seedling establishment of Chrysopogon aucheri and Cymbopogon jwarancusa in a representative grassland ecosystem in upland Balochistan, Pakistan. Cymbopogon jwarancusa had more filled and viable caryopses than Chrysopogon aucheri. Seeds (spikelets) of both species had similar morphological features. Chrysopogon aucheri had one dispersal unit, a triplet spikelet. Cymbopogon jwarancusa had four types of dispersal units: a paired spikelet, a partial raceme, an entire raceme, and a partial inflorescence comprised of two racemes. Paired spikelets and partial racemes of Cymbopogon jwarancusa had greater mean dispersal distances (94 and 101 cm) from the edge of the basal crown of marked plants to the ground surface than triplet spikelets of Chrysopogon aucheri (79 cm). Spikelets of Cymbopogon jwarancusa and Chrysopogon aucheri moved mean distances of 26 and 32 cm, respectively, on the ground surface before becoming trapped in a microhabitat. The mean angle of dispersal for both species was toward the northeast, according to the prevailing wind direction. An ant (Tica verona) was the only detected seed (spikelet) predator for Chrysopogon aucheri. Both species had a weakly persistent soil seed bank, with higher amounts of seeds found under plant canopies compared to open interspaces. The recruitment of Chrysopogon aucheri and Cymbopogon jwarancusa seedlings from the natural seed bank was monitored in seven different microhabitats under natural and above-normal precipitation regimes . Above-normal precipitation increased seedling recruitment for both species in all microhabitats. Cymbopogon jwarancusa had higher seedling densities than Chrysopogon auchfiri. Seedling survival and tiller development for both species were greatest in the gravel microhabitat in the natural precipitation treatment. Monsoon rains in late July enhanced emergence of both species from recently dispersed seeds but emerged seedlings did not survive to the end of the growing season. The field studies indicate that Cymbopogon jwarancusa has a greater regeneration potential than Chrysopogon aucheri in this grassland ecosystem in upland Balochistan. It may be difficult to increase the composition of Chrysopogon aucheri, the more desirable species in these grasslands, when using management techniques that rely on natural regeneration