Growth and yield performance of some exotic clones of Hevea brasiliensis in North Kerala region

The growth and yield performance of a set of exotic clones from Malaysia and Ivory Coast was evaluated in comparison with RRII 105, a popular high yielding indigenous clone, for their adaptability in the northern tract of Kerala. The region is characterised by absence of sufficient summer showers and relatively long dry spells. Analysis of growth up to 16 years after planting revealed significant clonal differences in growth pattern, only from the 10th year of planting. Girth and girth increment was the highest in IRCA 130, followed by PB 330. The lowest girth was observed in RRIM 703. The clone IRCA 130 also exhibited significantly high annual and summer yield followed by PB 255. Peak rubber yield was recorded in the month of September irrespective of clones. IRCA 130 showed significantly superior branching height and bole volume followed by PB 255. Incidence of tapping panel dryness (TPD) and pink disease in IRCA 130 was comparable to clone RRII 105. The suitability of the newly introduced clones for the region is discussed

Large-Scale Energy Projects: Assessment of Regional Consequences

A major component of this study is a review of models and inference structures used in analysis of energy project impacts (economic, institutional, and environmental) -- the supporting databases, and the uses of such information in pertinent policy analysis. In this effort, the study emphasized the regional dimension of impact analysis. Second, in order to capture the rich and complex pattern of energy initiatives, their multidimensional impacts, and methods of assessment of such impacts, five case studies of large-scale energy projects in four countries were commissioned. Large-scale adjustments in energy supply and demand, and in economic and environmental systems are inherently surrounded by technological and political uncertainties. Further, these countries -- Canada, the USA, Sweden, and the USSR -- vary considerably in the objective conditions of energy supply and demand, in their policy formulation and decision frameworks, and in their policy implementation settings. The case studies were consequently intended to elucidate, in these diverse decision-making and implementation contexts, the antecedents and development of the energy investments: how energy crises were perceived; how they were transformed into public policy issues by the various national and regional interest groups; how the scope of energy impact assessment studies were defined; what methods and databases were used in impact analysis; and how these technical study results interfaced with policy-making groups or influenced the energy investment outcomes. The overall study attempted to integrate these two prongs of analysis -- the comparative study of impact assessment models and management methods and the rich, complex delineation of energy development case studies -- into a broad understanding of the process of policy formulation and decision making on large energy initiatives. This book attempts to capture the salient features of the process of assessment and decision making on large-scale energy initiatives, from initial specifications of the energy problem, through impact assessments, to the final stage of using such studies in policy decisions

The Wider Economic Benefits of Transportation: An Overview

Economic contributions of investments of transport infrastructure are typically assessed from a microeconomic perspective, which tries to identify the link between specific transport infrastructure improvements and the productivity of specific production units. The traditional economic tool of the microeconomic perspective is cost benefit analysis (CBA), an ex ante tool which tries to capture the benefits of time and cost savings --- as well as further gains from logistical improvements and facilities consolidation made possible by transport improvements --- and the associated costs including external costs. The objective of this Round Table sponsored by OECD / ECMT and Boston University is to identify and move towards methods which incorporate the wider economic benefits of transport infrastructure, not typically captured in the CBA estimates of benefits and costs. The aim of this brief paper is to offer an overview of such wider economic benefits ensuing from transport infrastructure investments.

Highway-Induced Development: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Summary When transport investments are made in relatively infrastructure poor newly industrializing regions, the consequences extend beyond growth effects to some transformational changes. This paper empirically estimates the direction and the magnitude of some of the consequent transformational changes induced via a highway project in Sri Lanka. These changes were estimated at the firm and household level via a series of production function and multivariate analyses. In light of the observed results it is likely that traditional impact studies, by failing to incorporate transformational shifts (i.e., working under the assumption of a non-changing economic structure) significantly underestimate project benefits and costs.South Asia Sri Lanka induced development transport infrastructure impact studies