Contribution of Garcinia kola to the Productivity and Economic Profitability of the Community Agricultural Area of Kedougou: Financial and Comparative Analysis of Production Factors

Inland fishing predominates in the Kedougou region, which has no coastline. This type of fishing does not yet meet the local population’s demand for fish products. In response to this concern, a Community Agricultural Estate housing an integrated fish farm was set up in the commune of Bandafassi, in the village of Itato. Since its creation, this production unit has been faced with the problem of sourcing high-quality, low-cost, monosex male Oreochromis niloticus fry. In order to overcome this constraint, the present research focuses on the contribution of Garcinia kola to the productivity and economic profitability of the Itato farm. The aim of the research is to assess fish production in the experimental set-up and the production costs of tilapia in a controlled environment. The comparative study of the various production factors shows disparities only in the input factor, where scenarios 2 and 3 use additional products. These are 17-α-methytestosterone for scenario 2 and Garcinia kola for scenario 3. These products significantly interfere with fish production, with a fairly high mortality rate for scenario 2 (25% for two production cycles/ cohort2 (B5, B6, B7 and B8) treated with 17-α-methytestosterone). As for scenarios 1 and 3, mortalities are 5% with or without recourse to additional products (G. kola). In addition, average fish production for the three (03) scenarios is estimated at 28687.5 kg/2 cycles. It varies from one scenario to another, i.e. 30937.5 kg/2 cycles for scenarios 1 and 3 and 24187.5 kg/2 cycles for scenario 2. It is therefore higher in scenarios 1 and 3 than in scenario 2. This difference is due to the fairly large losses of individuals in scenario 2. Furthermore, the analysis of the profit and loss accounts for tilapia production varies from one scenario to another depending on the type of farm: 476 Franc CFA for scenario 1, 610 Franc CFA for scenario 2 and 472 Franc CFA for scenario 3 (F CFA = franc of the French Colonies of Africa). The Average operating income for all the fish farming units is 34,726,142 Franc CFA. The highest (41,638,075 Franc CFA) and lowest (29,281,075 Franc CFA) ERs were observed in scenarios 3 and 2 respectively. It was 33,259,275 Franc CFA for scenario 1. The difference between the NERs of the three scenarios is more or less significant in terms of results. The operating result (OR) is positive in all 3 scenarios in our study. However, the scenario 3 system generates a higher rate of return (the ratio between an income and the capital employed to obtain that income) (74%) than that generated by the scenario 1 system (69%). As for the scenario 2 system, it generates a lower financial return than the two previous systems (67%). Above all, this work made it possible to construct an approach that would make it possible to answer such a question by relying successively on various methods: a typology, according to the production factors involved in the operation of the Community Agricultural Estate fish farm.

The Economic Profitability of Cereal Production Systems in the Context of Adaptation to Climate Change:the Case of Millet

This article studies the economic profitability of the millet production in a context of adaptation to climatic changes by considering the techniques of adaptation to soil protection,namely,low wall girdles tree and halfmoon in order to determine their impact on the economic profitability of the production of this cereal.

Mechanical Harvesting Effects on Seed Yield Loss,Quality Traits and Profitability of Winter Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.)

China is one of the most important rapeseed producing countries in the world. Effective mechanical harvesting time for decreasing harvesting loss of winter oilseed rape has been becoming a critical factor. An elite cultivar Zhongshuang 11 （Brassica napus L.） was employed in two rounds of field experiments from 2009 to 2011. Seeds were sown with machine, three combine harvesting times namely combine harvesting A, B, and C （CHA, CHB, and CHC） were designed and manual harvesting （MH） as control was performed at maturity. The harvesting treatments were determined according to color of pod and seed in the field. Seed yield loss and quality in different treatments were evaluated. Results showed that both seed yields and harvesting losses in 2009-2010 were higher than that in 2010-2011, whereas seed oil contents in 2010-2011 were higher than that in 2009-2010. The highest yield appeared in CHB, which was significantly higher than that in MH. Furthermore, harvesting loss in CHB were 50% that in MH. Seed oil content and chlorophyll exhibited no obvious difference between CHB and MH. Economic profit analysis demonstrated that mechanical sowing/combine harvesting （MS/CH） showed an input/output ratio of 1：1.6, and it was 1：1.2 in mechanical sowing/manual harvesting （MS/MH）. Labor-cost accounted for more than 70% of the total cost in MS/MH, which led to low profitability to a great extent. Our results suggested that CHB was the optimum harvesting time for winter oilseed rape along the Yangtze River.

A comprehensive approach for assessing the economic contribution of forage and livestock improvement options to smallholder farming enterprises

The importance of livestock production activities to improving the livelihoods of smallholder farming households and the efficiency of their underlying farming systems is increasingly recognized.A rapid increase in livestock numbers, especially beef cattle, and special purpose forages is being promoted for smallholder farms which have traditionally undertaken subsistence cropping activities or simple livestock rearing activities using low quality feedstuffs.Because limited plantings of specialized forages combined with a poor knowledge of animal nutrition are a challenge to establishing sustainable livestock enterprises, much public policy and research is now being focused on the use of new forages and improved feeding practices.A number of economic studies have suggested that specialized forage growing and livestock feeding activities can make a positive contribution to smallholder welfare.The studies have typically compared the total level of farm or household income with and without livestock activities.Little attention is given to how much the new forage or livestock activities actually contribute to or draw resources from other farm activities to assess their real economic contribution to the enterprise, and the availability of simple tools to assist in making such assessments are limited.This paper describes a simple modelling approach that was developed for an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research（ACIAR）-supported project to explore the real as opposed to apparent economic impact of integrating improved forages and livestock within smallholder farming systems in the Red Soils region of south-central China.Application of the model is demonstrated using a simple case study of a smallholder enterprise that plans to introduce a new beef cattle rearing activity to its existing farm activity mix.The case study highlights the importance of explicitly valuing transfers of resources between different farm activities to gauge the real contribution of those activities to economic returns.

Economical Analysis of Flexible Machining

From the point of view of market economy, aiming at the flexible machiningproblem,this paper discusses how to determine the maximum profit-orientedoptimum preduction quantity, optimum cutting speed and optimum price underthe condition of single machines,single type of product and limited resources.

The Ecological Effects of Young Elm Trees Belt-Pumpkin Strip Intercropping System at the Agro-Pastoral Ecotone in Northern China

Young elm trees belt-pumpkin strip intercropping was studied to solve the actual problem of resource losses in the large barren area resulted from reconverting cultivated land into forest in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China. The final objective was to realize effective utilization of the barren land with both ecological improvement and economic development. Field experiments were conducted together with laboratory analysis. The results indicated that the soil moisture level was remarkably increased in young elm trees belt-pumpkin strip intereropping because the pumpkin vines covered the gap between pumpkin planting-furrow and elm trees belt. The water use efficiency of the intercropping system was increased by 23.7-163.3% as compared with the single cropping. Elm trees belt-pumpkin strip intercropping changed the sequential succession trend of the grasses growing in the gap of the pumpkin planting-furrow. The annual grasses become the dominant vegetation. The nutritive value as fodder and yield of the annual grasses were also increased remarkably. The biomass of pumpkin, elm trees and grasses under intercropping increased by 24.4, 28.4 and 144.4%, respectively, as compared with those under single cropping. The land use efficiency was increased by 132%. It was also indicated that the soil erosion from the intercropping land was not increased due to pumpkin plantation. The differences in the soil erosion among intercropped area, elm trees belt and pumpkin strip with single cropping were not remarkable. Therefore, it was concluded that young elm trees belt-pumpkin strip intercropping is an effective way to utilize the barren land between the young elm trees belt and realize synergistic enhancement of ecological benefit and economic profit.

Profit Showing Upward Trend The analysis of economic performance of China's cotton textile industry in first half 2010(Part A)

Output continued recovery China’s cotton textile industry saw a a slight slump in growth rate of cotton yarn production and cotton cloth production in the first half of 2010 comparedto the Jan.

Profit Showing Upward Trend The analysis of economic performance of China's cotton textile industry in first half 2010(Part B)

Profit turned positive According to data collected from 11,773 statistics-worthy Chinese cotton textile enterprises surveyed by National Bureau of Statistics of China,