Determinants of Rice Variety Diversity on Household Farms in the Terai Region of Nepal

Crop genetic resources are the building block of sustainable agricultural development as these can be used to develop crop varieties adaptable to heterogeneous environmental conditions. Nepal is considered the center of origin and diversity for Asian rice, which still has many landraces. However, there has been continuous loss of genetic diversity and concern over it has grown in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to identify the determinants of variety diversity on-farm in the rainfed ecosystem of Nepal by using two-limit Tobit procedure. The diversity on farm appeared to be quite high evaluated based on the number of named varieties grown by the farmers. Majority of the farmers cultivated both modern varieties and landraces simultaneously and the rice production is also getting commercialized gradually. The results showed that the motivating factors for variety diversification are the heterogeneous production environments, risk consideration and farmers' participation in the markets. However, the farmers' dependency on formal extension system for the seed of limited varieties led to reduction in diversity. Diverse crop genetic resources on-farm can generate both commercial and noncommercial benefits. As economies develop, markets play an important role in shaping farmers' choices and use of cultivars diversity. Therefore, the public investments are needed in developing the infrastructures to support the formation of niche markets and increasing the farmers' participation in crop breeding and improvement programs. Also, the formal extension system should be mobilized for the production and distribution of seeds of many varieties including the landraces.diversity, market, Nepal, rice, variety, Crop Production/Industries,

Back to principles: Dezentralisierung und Neuausrichtung der ländlichen Regionalpolitik

Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

The Impact of Corruption on Farmers' Efficiency in Rice Production: A Natural Experiment from Bangladesh

Crop Production/Industries,

DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL CROPS TRADE SECTOR OF SUDAN UNDER THE INCREASING WORLD FOOD PRICES

The agricultural trade of the Sudan is expected to develop under the recent dramatic increase of world food prices. Sudan as one of the developing countries and as price taker on the world agricultural market has been affected greatly by the world price increase. This paper aims at studying the impact of the increasing world food prices on developments of the agricultural crops trade sector of Sudan. In this paper a multimarket model is used as the main tool to estimate the increase of the world food prices on the crop trade sector. Multi-market analysis is a tool for simulating the effects of agricultural price policies on outcomes considered of interest to policy makers. The model under consideration takes the normal specification of a standard partial equilibrium model; it is static and consists of a set of demand and supply equations for each commodity with the level of production and demand determined by factors including prices, income, and demand and supply-shift variables, in addition to various other assumptions about policies. Price transmission equations in the model establish links between the domestic price, the producer price (for producers of exportable products and of import-substitute products), the consumer price and the world market price. The model has been developed to calculate the impact of high food prices on the main economy variables including supply and demand of the major agricultural commodities. The scenario of high world food prices showed on one hand, an increase in farmers' incentives resulting in higher levels of production of agricultural commodities, on the other hand, consumers demand has decreased significantly, and trade indicators reflect a positive effect on the agricultural crop trade sector.Trade, Multi-market model, Sudan, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Farmers’ Choice of the Modern Rice Varieties in the Rainfed Ecosystem of Nepal

In an effort to increase the productivity of rice in Nepal, several modern varieties have been released. Farmers have adopted these varieties to varying degrees depending upon the types of production environment and the considerations for attributes. This paper attempts to identify factors that condition the adoption of selected modern varieties of rice using a multinomial logit model including both production and consumption attributes valued by the farmers and farm and farmer related variables. The results show that both categories of variables are significant in determining the demand for a specific variety. The results of this paper have implications for crop improvement and the modern variety adoption. Research approaches that incorporate farmers’ preferences for various attributes of rice in breeding programs and extension strategies have to be adopted. Various types of methods such as demonstration and farmer- participatory trials could be effective vehicles in this regard. Also the research system should develop a range of varieties in order to meet the multiple concerns of the farmers as a single variety may not be able to fulfill all of their concerns

Determinants of Adoption and Labour Intensity of Stone-terraces in Eastern Highlands of Ethiopia

Stone-terrace construction is among the most common methods for conserving soil and water resources in the intensively cultivated highland parts of Ethiopia. Human labour is the scarcest input required for construction as stones are freely available on the farm. Consequently, adopting terraces may not be enough by itself unless adequate amount of labour is devoted for its construction. In an effort to assess factors impeding adoption of stone terraces and its labour use intensity, this study uses a household- and plot-level data collected from 211 farm households and applies a double-hurdle model for analysis. A number of variables are found to be statistically significant in affecting adoption of stone-terraces and its labour use intensity. Among important implications of this study are gradually relaxing the limited land tenure security; designing programs for enlarging parcel size and minimizing fragmentation; and launching and strengthening farm training and education activities. Keywords: soil conservation, double-hurdle model, Ethiopia, labour use intensity, terrace

Does Land Tenure Security Promote Manure Use by Farm Households in Vietnam?

Facing widespread poverty and land degradation, Vietnam started a land reform in 1993 as part of its renovation policy package known as “Doi Moi”. This paper examines the impacts of improved land tenure security, via this land reform, on manure use by farm households. As manure potentially improves soil fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil surface, it might contribute to improving soil productive capacity and reversing land degradation. Random effect regression models are applied to a panel dataset of 133 farm households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam collected in 1993, 1998, and 2006. The results confirm that land tenure security has positive effects on manure use, but the levels of influence differ depending on whether the land has been privatized or whether the land title has already been issued. In addition, manure use is also influenced by the number of cattle and pigs, the education level and ethnicity of household heads, farm land size and non-farm income. The findings suggest that speeding up land privatization and titling, encouraging cattle and pig rearing, and improving education would promote manure use in farm production. However, careful interpretation of our research findings is required as land privatization, together with economic growth and population pressure, might lead to overuse of farm inputs.DF

Die Politik ist gefordert

Nachhaltigkeit erfordert, auch externe und intergenerativ wirksame Effekte in wirtschaftliches Handeln einzubeziehen. In der Landwirtschaft finden derzeit allerdings weder ihre negativen noch ihre positiven Externalitäten hinreichend Berücksichtigung. Um den Strukturwandel der Landwirtschaft in eine nachhalti­ge Richtung zu lenken, ist insbesondere der politische Rahmen zu verändern

Nur wenig Neues

Handlungsfeld Gesund produzieren – gesund ernähre

Agrarplanung

Agrarplanung ist darauf ausgerichtet, den permanenten Strukturwandel in einer wachsenden Gesellschaft einerseits zu fördern und zu unterstützen und andererseits sozial abzusichern. Dazu dienen verschiedene Maßnahmen auf Bundes- und Landesebene (Gemeinschaftsaufgabe zur Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes) sowie zunehmend auch auf EU-Ebene (Europäischer Landwirtschaftsfonds für die Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums (ELER)). Die klassische Agrarplanung entwickelt sich mehr und mehr zu einer Politik für den ländlichen Raum unter Berücksichtigung von Umwelt- und Naturschutzbelangen