Analysis on the Impact of Cattle Fattening Technology on Farmer Households in Atabae Timor-Leste

Agriculture is one of the priority sectors in Timor-Leste. Introducing new agriculture technology is crucial to enhance agricultural production. Practicing cattle fattening can increase beef cattle body weight and generate income to the beef cattle farmers. As farmers face problems including agricultural production decline, lack of forages and information and weather unfavourable. The study’s purpose was to examine the impact of adoption of cattle fattening technology on farmer households in Atabae administrative post, Bobonaro municipality in Timor-Leste. There were 200 beef cattle farmers households where randomly selected in four villages in Atabae. It consisted of 65 farmers practicing cattle fattening and 135 farmers non-practicing cattle fattening. Face to face interviews used structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis such as t-test and descriptive analysis were used to examine impact adoption of cattle fattening technology by farmers and factor constraints of cattle production and the solutions of it. The results indicated the average value of cattle and profit were significant different from zero and it is associated with practicing of cattle fattening. The average of labour used on cattle activities, the average of cattle sold, and total cost spent on cattle were not significant different from zero. The percentage of farmers said that factors constraints cattle production were shortage of water and forage (53%) and spend time on culture ceremony and lack of capital (33%). The number of farmers said that they collected water from river, feed cattle with sago and forage (55.3%) and cultivated forage (23.4%). This finding contributes information to the farmers, traders, and Timorese government to continue implementing cattle fattening activities as it enhances farmers’ income and developing cattle production.

Small-Scale Household Biogas Digesters as a Viable Option for Energy Recovery and Global Warming Mitigation--Vietnam Case Study

Biogas from livestock waste is considered as clean and renewable energy in Vietnam. In the last 20 years, in rural and remote areas of Vietnam, there has been a significant increase of small-scale household biogas digesters. Biogas digesters create the benefits of replacing energy and mitigation of climate change caused by greenhouse gas （GHG） emission and deforestation for firewood and charcoal. Livestock waste produces approximately 85 million tonnes every year and continues to increase, meaning there are huge feedstocks for biogas digesters to meet the energy demands in households. However, there are also many constraints on the development programme for small-scale household biogas digester. In Vietnam, the socio-economic situation and the lack of a sustainable energy policy for biogas from livestock sector are hindering the growth of the biogas digester industry. Government subsidies are needed to encourage farmers to participate. This paper will be helpful not only for the sustainable development of household biogas in Vietnam, but also for the developing program of biogas generation in developing countries with similar agricultural economies to Vietnam.

An Evaluation of the Introduction of Modified Cropping Practices in Yunnan Province,China,Using Surveys of Farmers’ Households

Problems associated with land degradation are serious in China. Sloping land in South China has experienced a decline in crop productivity by 30-60% due to soil erosion and it has been predicted that most topsoil will be lost within the next 100 years if current erosion rates continue. Considering these situations, an agro-environmental research and development project （Sustainable Highland Agriculture in South-East Asia- SHASEA） was conducted in a catchment in Yunnan Province, China, to address the objectives of increasing crop productivity in sustainable and environmentally-friendly ways. A range of cropping practices was developed and implemented in a rural upland catchment （Wang Jia）. At the end of the project, farmers were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. All farmers from Wang Jia Catchment, who were involved in project implementation, were surveyed. A sample of farmers working in an adjacent catchment （not associated with the project） was surveyed for comparative purposes. Farmers had different perceptions of the cropping practices employed. Contour cultivation was preferred and likely to be adopted. Others practices such as straw mulching and intercropping were seen as less appropriate and unlikely to be adopted. Polythene mulch was recognized as effective, but likely to be adopted only if financial returns were favourable. The availability of relevant information had an important impact on the extent of technology testing by farmers and their willingness to adopt the practices in the future.

Factors affecting technical efficiency of small-scale apple farms in Balochistan Plateau, Pakistan

In Balochistan, Agriculture is dominated by small-scale farmers and the apple production sector is confronted with the chronic constraint of low output per unit of input. Although some agricultural policies have been implemented in this province, studies on effectiveness and impacts of such policies over apple production and farmers' performance are still limited. This study is an effort to bridge the research gap on this potential crop in the plateau by investigating technical and scale efficiency of 181 officially designated small-scale apple farmers in mountainous district Mastung in Balochistan; then explored factors that underlie differences in production inefficiency. A two-stage input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) methodology was employed to evaluate technical and scale efficiency followed by truncated bootstrapped regression framework to analyze the correlative determinants to efficiency. Average technical and scale efficiencies of larger landholders were higher than medium and small landholders. Analysis indicated that there is still ample scope for inefficient sample farmers to reduce the input use by 33% without compromising the given yield level. Maximum contributions to the total input savings were from the use of urea, farm yard manure(FYM) and labor-use. Farmer's experience, farm ownership, irrigation constraints, and farmer's access to trainings, credit and extension services significantly affected apple farmers' technical efficiency. Based on the findings of this study, strategies are suggested to enhancing efficiencies by farmers' capacity development through effective extension services and trainings and provision of adequate credit.

Diagnosis of Soil Nutrient Constraints in Small-Scale Groundnut （Arachis hyopaea L,） Production Systems of Western Kenya Using Infrared Spectroscopy

Wise decision-making on resource allocation and intervention targeting for soil management cannot rely solely on trial and error methods and field observations used by small-scale farmers： cost-effective soil fertility survey methods are needed. This study aimed to test the applicability of infrared spectroscopy （IR） as a diagnostic screening tool for making soil fertility recommendations in small-scale production systems. Soil fertility survey of 150 small-scale groundnut farms in western Kenya was conducted using a spatially stratified random sampling strategy. Soil properties examined were pH in water （pHw）, total carbon （C）, total nitrogen （N）, extractable phosphorus （P）, exchangeable potassium （K）, calcium （Ca）, magnesium （Mg） and texture. These properties were calibrated to mid-infrared （MIR） diffuse reflectance using partial least square regression （PLSR）. Cross-validated coefficient of determination （r2） values obtained from calibration models were 〉 0.80 for all properties, except P and K with 0.66 and 0.50 respectively. Soil nutritional deficiencies were evaluated using critical nutrient limits based on IR predictions and composite soil fertility indices （SFIs） developed from the soil properties using principal component analysis. The SFIs were calibrated to MIR soil spectral reflectance with cross-validated r： values 〉 0.80. The survey showed that 56% of the groundnut farms had severe soil nutrient constraints for production, especially exchangeable Ca, available P and organic matter. IR can provide a robust tool for farm soil fertility assessment and recommendation systems when backed up by conventional reference analyses. However, further work is required to test direct calibration of crop responses to spectral indicators and to improve prediction of extractable P and K tests.

Research on Factors Influencing Fertilizer Application of Farmer Households in Anhui Province

Known as the " food of grain",chemical fertilizer plays a very important role in increasing the output of agricultural products. In the meantime,its negative externalities such as soil and water environment pollutions as well as the quality and safety hazards caused to agricultural products have been revealed gradually. Taking 126 farmer households in 5 counties( districts) of Anhui Province as samples,the fertilizer application behaviors of farmer households are analyzed. Research shows that farmers applying fertilizer are generally older in age with relatively lower degree of education,inveterate farming habits and small area of cultivation. Besides,the farmer households wish to receive training and guidance on techniques of fertilization,but very few of them have attended the trainings on agricultural technology. Moreover,the individual characteristics and family factors of farmer households have a significant impact on their fertilizer application behaviors. And the degrees of impact are also different for the fertilizer applying behaviors in different stages. Therefore,improving the educational level of farmer households,strengthening the training and promotion of agricultural techniques and accelerating land transfer among farmer households will play a fundamental role in regularizing the fertilizer application behaviors of farmer households and improving the quality and safety of agricultural products.

Agricultural Policy, Climate Factors and Grain Output: Evidence From Household Survey Data in Rural China

This paper estimates a stochastic frontier function using a panel data set that includes 4 961 farmer households for the period of 2005-2009 to decompose the growth of grain production and the total factor productivity （TFP） growth at the farmer level. The empirical results show that the major contributor to the grain output growth for farmers is input growth and that its average contribution accounts for 60.92% of farmer’s grain production growth in the period of 2006-2009, whereas the average contributions sourced from TFP growth and residuals are only 17.30 and 21.78%, respectively. The growth of intermediate inputs is a top contributor with an average contribution of 44.46%, followed by the planted area （18.16%）, investment in fixed assets （1.05%）, and labor input （-2.75%）, indicating that the contribution from the farmer’s input growth is mainly due to the growth of intermediate inputs and that the decline in labor inputs has become an obstacle for farmers in seeking grain output growth. Among the elements consisting of TFP growth, the contribution of technical progress is the largest （32.04%）, followed by grain subsidies （8.55%）, the average monthly temperature （4.26%）, the average monthly precipitation （-0.88%）, the adjusted scale effect （-5.66%）, and growth in technical efficiency （-21.01%）. In general, the contribution of climate factors and agricultural policy factor are positive and significant.

Vegetable production under COVID-19 pandemic in China: An analysis based on the data of 526 households

The COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the vegetable supply chain in China.Effective evaluation of the pandemic’s influences on vegetable production is vital for policy settings to enhance the security of vegetable supply.Based on first-hand data from 526 households,we explored regional differences in different types of loss and potential factors affecting the severity farmer households suffered during the pandemic.The results underline that sales contraction and price volatility in the context of interruption of supply chain dominate the total losses during the pandemic.Such losses differ across provinces and are more substantial in provinces with stricter confinement measures.Farmer households’participation in local market and modern marketing methods helps mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 shock,while labor hiring and facilities adoption in production widen the losses due to the shortage in the workforce.In the future,the vegetable industry practitioners and relevant government departments should work together to coordinate the development of short and long supply chains and strengthen the stability and security of the vegetable supply chain.

Analysis of Farmers Adoption Behaviour of CRIG Recommended Technologies as a Package: The Case of Some Self Help Cocoa Farmer Associations in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Adoption of recommended technologies as a package is the prelude to increase cocoa productivity per unit area. This is due to the interactive benefits of individual technologies which have been recommended by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG). However, many surveys among cocoa farmers have reported low adoption of technologies resulting in low productivity of cocoa with an average of 450 kg/ha among small holder cocoa farmers in Ghana. The current study investigates the adoption behavior of some cocoa farmers belonging to some self help farmer associations in the Eastern Region who are being monitored by CRIG since 2011. Primary data was collected from 131 respondents using questionnaires to interview farmers between 2013 and 2015. The results showed that adoption of recommended cocoa technologies as a package was still low. Respondents, however, identified a number of challenges including high cost of inputs, lack of finance and access to credit, high cost of labour and old age as some factors hampering composite adoption of the full CRIG technologies. It is recommended that small-scale cocoa farmers need a sustainable and convenient microfinance that can motivate and help them afford the cost associated with the full package of technologies. Farmers’ savings culture should also be nurtured to enhance their financial capabilities and investment in the cocoa farm.

Agricultural production structure,market conditions and farmers’nutritional intake in rural China

Nutrition poverty alleviation is an effective measure to improve the nutritional status of economically disadvantaged individuals,fundamentally improving their health and reducing poverty.Based on the Entitlement Theory and using the China Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS)data,this paper examines the relationship between farmers’nutritional intake,production structure and regional market conditions.Results show that farmers with diversified production have better nutritional intake than those who specialize.Furthermore,the correlation between regional market conditions and nutritional intake varies between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged households.Market conditions significantly influence the carbohydrate and fat intake of economically disadvantaged households and are positively associated with the dietary structure and nutritional intake of non-economically disadvantaged ones.Moreover,income is positively correlated with the nutritional intake of non-economically disadvantaged households but not with economically disadvantaged ones.

Sustainable Potato Production in the Mountain Area of Ecuador, an Approach to Increase Productivity with Small Scale Farmers

Ecuador potato crop is family based production system. Potato production has two roles in their economy, the first is providing food for their families and the second is a source of income for the household. However small scale farmers have limited access to local markets and most of the sales are through intermediates’ who purchase directly in the field at the lowest price possible. Potato production challenges for the small-scale farmers are among others availability of quality potato seed, direct sales, purchase of agrochemical inputs to maintain their crops and lack of education. In 2021, only 4% of potato farmers used certified seed. Potato yield is still low around 16.1 t·ha-1, in the last 10 years the total potato cultivated area was reduced by at least 50%. The farmers produce “Bokashi” and other organic fertilizer and these are effective to improve soil fertility and plant health. Homemade bio-pesticides reduce agrochemical pesticides. The Decision Support System (DSS) is a handheld device to control late blight, minimizes fungicide applications and improve fungicide rotation. In 2018 Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso), the causal agent of zebra chip, and its vector, the potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli, together created havoc for farmers and researchers. Promotion of early potato varieties INIAP—Libertad is an alternative to lower the impact of this newest pest.

农村人居环境整治中妇女参与的组织路径与实践机制——以赣州“清洁家园”活动为例

农村人居环境整治是满足人民对美好生活的向往,实施乡村振兴战略的重要任务。作为面向农民生活的治理,其在实践中遭遇农民冷漠和不满的困境,需要激活和重建农民主体性,实现外部行政力量与内部自治力量的融合。在村妇女的“主内”特性及上升地位使其成为重要的治理主体资源,赣州“清洁家园”活动表明借助制度吸纳、事务匹配和双重激励等方式将妇女组织起来后,妇女能够通过调动村内治理资源,明确治理单元,累积自身治理权威等方式参与农村人居环境整治,实现治理的低成本与高效能。基于此,面向农民生活的治理要充分重视并推动在村妇女参与,但同时也应警惕生活化治理事务带来的固化女性家庭角色的风险,真正推动妇女参与公共事务,让妇女在村庄治理中发挥更大治理效用。

唐前期对农“四位一体”制度建构及其废毁

唐朝前期制定推行了控制广大均田农户的均田制、赋役制、计帐户籍制和州县乡里制。这四项制度密切关联,协调配套,建构起一个整体制度体系,形成“四位一体”组合结构。这是针对农户和农民制定的基本制度,也是维护国家治理的重要制度保障。但这一制度体系和组合结构具有理想化特色,在实际的关联配套中出现了多方面脱节失调,表现在均田制与赋役制脱节日益严重,全国性农户逃亡脱籍持续恶化,计帐户籍编制日渐紊乱,州县乡里官司腐败残暴等,这些造成了制度体系的结构性运行日趋失序混乱。到玄宗开天时期,实际结构性运行陷入废弛失效,整体制度体系也陷入废毁瓦解。唐朝前期对农“四位一体”制度建构由完善到废毁的过程,反映了唐王朝对农制度体系建构的兴废沿革和国家治理的由盛转衰。

劳动投入水平、要素禀赋与农户行为可分性检验——基于南方稻农地块层次数据的验证

生产和消费行为交织在一起是农户的重要特征。农户的生产和消费行为是否可分成为众多农户行为模型的基本假设前提,直接影响农户行为分析的结论和政策建议的合理性。通过构建农户模型,从农户农业生产劳动投入水平与家庭人地禀赋关系的视角切入,分析不同要素市场条件下农户行为可分和不可分特征。在此基础上,利用2015、2019年对中国南方稻农地块层次调研的混合截面数据对农户行为可分性进行实证检验。结果表明,当前中国南方稻农行为呈现出可分性特征,在处理了内生性、替换核心解释变量、替换被解释变量,结果依然稳健。进一步分析表明,劳动力市场越完善,农户行为可分性特征越明显;随着时间的推移,农户行为由不可分性向可分性发生转变。与前期关于农户行为可分性检验从劳动力配置视角切入不同,从劳动力投入强度和要素禀赋之间的关系来验证农户可分性,并利用一手调研的地块层面数据进行验证,为基于要素市场识别农户行为可分与不可分的具体情境研究提供了新的视角和经验证据。

农旅融合背景下休闲农业对农户收入的影响

已有研究表明,农旅融合背景下休闲农业对地区经济和社会发展具有重要作用,但从微观主体视角对农户收入的影响尚未得到足够重视和验证。本文以扬州、泰州和镇江地区草莓种植户为调查对象,将休闲农业纳入家庭收入模型,探讨了农户家庭收入的影响因素,并采用倾向得分匹配分析方法克服样本自选择性偏差,研究了休闲农业对其家庭收入的影响效应。研究表明,农户参与休闲农业对家庭收入具有显著的促进效应,平均年增收为1.272万元;农户所拥有的资源禀赋对家庭年收入有重要影响,以生产性固定投资和耕地面积为代表的物质资本、以技能培训为代表的人力资本,以家庭礼金支出和社会网络水平为代表的社会资本,以乡村旅游景点为代表的外部资本,对草莓种植户家庭年收入有显著正向影响,这对于农户减贫增收、改善经济状况具有重要意义。

新发展阶段粮食安全与农民增收路径

运用2010-2021年我国26个省份的面板数据,以粮食产量为产出变量,以劳动力、资本、水资源、土地资源、农药、化肥为投入变量,计算粮食生产效率,运用回归模型分析粮食生产效率对农民收入的影响。回归分析结果显示粮食生产效率对农民收入具有正的影响,据此提出降低农业生产成本、促进城镇化与农业现代化协同发展、优化财政支农形式等建议,以提高粮食生产效率,促进农民增收。

农户参与农耕文化保护和传承意愿研究

农耕文化作为中华文明发展的根基,对文化强国和农业强国建设具有重大意义和关键价值。基于计划行为理论剖析影响农户参与农耕文化保护和传承意愿的因素,以蚌埠市五河县刘朵村为研究区域,通过走访调查收集数据,利用二元Logistic回归模型进行实证分析。研究结果表明:农耕文化的经济价值、社会价值、邻居朋友的带动、基层政府的宣传、参与农耕文化活动的精力和能力以及受教育水平对于农户参与农耕文化保护和传承意愿有显著的正向影响。因此,在推动农耕文化发展中,要切实增强农户的主体意识,加强政府的宣传和推广力度,显现农耕文化的经济价值和社会价值,鼓励农户参与农耕文化发展事业,发挥村干部的示范带头作用,提高农户的自我效能感,调动农户的参与积极性,保障农耕文化稳步有序发展。

外出务工经历对农户创业绩效的影响--基于CHFS2019的实证分析

【目的/意义】通过实证分析外出务工经历对农户创业绩效的影响,以促进农户的高质量创业,推进返乡创业的可持续发展,助力乡村振兴战略目标的实现。【方法/过程】基于2019年中国家庭金融调查(CHFS)数据,运用OLS模型和中介效应模型,考察外出务工经历对农户创业绩效的影响。【结果/结论】研究发现:(1)外出务工经历能够显著提升农户的创业绩效;(2)家庭社会资本在外出务工经历影响农户创业绩效过程中发挥部分中介作用;(3)外出务工经历对农户创业绩效的影响存在初始投资规模差异和地区差异,外出务工经历能够显著提升大规模投资项目的创业绩效,而且只对东部地区的农户创业绩效的提升具有显著的正向作用。据此提出鼓励外出务工人员返乡创业;加强返乡创业者的创业培训;提升返乡创业公共服务供给水平等建议。

数字乡村发展水平对农民获得感的影响

提升农民获得感,对于助力乡村振兴、促进共同富裕至关重要。选取2020年3816个样本数据,采用最小二乘法,深入分析了数字乡村发展水平对农民获得感的影响。结果表明:(1)数字乡村发展总指数在0.01水平上显著提升农民获得感。(2)数字基础设施、乡村经济数字化、乡村治理数字化分别在0.05、0.1、0.01水平上显著正向影响农民获得感。(3)中介检验中,农民家庭收入水平能够显著提升农民获得感。(4)异质性检验中,中部地区的数字乡村发展总指数在0.01水平上显著正向影响农民获得感;数字乡村发展总指数分别在0.1、0.05水平上显著正向影响低学历、高学历农民获得感,说明学历越高的农民对数字技术的接受程度越高,其学习和掌握数字技术的能力也越强。根据研究结果,提出以下对策建议:深入推进数字乡村建设,加快数字技术在农村地区的应用;提升政务服务数字化水平,激发农民参与乡村治理的积极性;加快发展农村电商,持续推动“数商兴农”。

农村集体经济组织成员“以户行权”的规范成因与理性回归

农村集体经济组织成员享有财产性以及非财产性的复合型成员权,集体成员个人需借助其所在“农户”实现成员权,即“以户行权”。该权利行使规则在历次土地制度改革中均得以保留,新颁布的《农村集体经济组织法》(2024)亦对此规则加以沿袭。其成因主要包括“家户制”文化的内生动力、集体土地所有制下成员权制度始终粗糙以及受到改革开放前“政法法学”理念的影响。在集体成员权制度尚未完善之前,这种特殊的权利行使规则还将长期保留,这既是由制度变迁逻辑中显示出来的强大文化惯性与功能属性所致,也是基于我国“家户制”传统本源等历史文化的理性回归。在重视文化惯性的前提下,亦应正视“以户行权”之痼疾,即集体成员依赖于“户”并长久地受制于“户”、成员个体的成员权也易隐匿于“户”,这些现实问题不可回避。在党的二十届三中全会提出巩固和完善农村基本经营制度、深化土地制度改革的背景下,基于社会公平正义以及现代财产法追求的产权明晰等目标,“农户”不应被认定为成员权之权利主体,未来应以完善成员权制度等作为改革方向。