AJAD Volume 9 Issue No. 2 December 2012

As one of Thailand's economic crops, rice plays an important role in generating national income and creating domestic employment for the country. Its production has been increasing because of the expansion of areas planted to rice and not due to increases in productivity. The national average yield is considerably low compared with that of other rice-producing countries.

This study measured the technical efficiency of rice farmers in the central region of Thailand and identified the factors causing technical inefficiency using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach specified as a translog production function. Cross-sectional data were randomly collected from 384 sampled farmers from nine provinces of central Thailand who generally operated their farms using pre-germinated broadcasting method in the major rice crop year 2009/2010.

Results reveal that technical efficiency ranged from 49.69 to 97.17 percent, with a mean of 85.35 percent. Gender, farming experience, good agricultural practices (GAP), and cropping intensity were found to contribute positively toward farm technical efficiency. Farmers should be provided knowledge of GAP and should adopt GAP in their farms' activities. Agricultural extension officers should organize knowledge and experience exchange between successful farmers and other farmers, and promote the use of certified seeds to improve farm efficiency and farmers' income.

This study assessed the economic impacts of direct seeding of rice as an alternative crop establishment method for farmers in rice-wheat systems in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, India. Specifically, it examined the changes in farmers’ inputs (labor and materials) and level of productivity and incomes between direct-seeded (DSR) and transplanted (TPR) rice, and measured the economic returns on investment in direct seeding. Analyses included comparison of means, cost and return, and economic surplus framework.

The average yield of DSR across sample farms in all three states was 5 percent lower than that of TPR. On the other hand, wheat yield increased by 9 percent after adopting DSR. The net present values (NPVs) of direct seeding in rice-wheat systems in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar were USD 41 million, USD 32 million, and USD 44 million, respectively. The corresponding benefit-cost ratios were estimated at 46, 36, and 50. The NPVs of direct seeding in rice production alone in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar were USD 33 million, USD 23 million, and USD 31 million, respectively. Hence, the greater proportion of benefits from DSR adoption was derived from the change in rice production. In sum, DSR is a profitable option in rice-wheat systems and is appropriate for diffusion.

The study explored the response of aggregate farm output, input use, and farm investment decisions to output and input prices, wages, technological change, public investments, and climatic factors using district-level panel data of over 39 years from Andhra Pradesh. It confirms the low, short-run aggregate output supply elasticity of Indian agriculture as found in the literature. It validates the hypothesis that the relationships between public investment, financial institutions, and farm investment of labor and capital in agriculture have not changed over the years. The empirical estimates of aggregate output supply elasticity with respect to output price (0.2), roads (0.2), markets (0.11), and net irrigated area (0.05) are higher than previous findings for selected states in India. Aggregate agricultural output responds positively to credit availability (represented by banks) and canal irrigation, each with an elasticity of 0.01. The wage elasticity (0.3) on aggregate output is higher than price elasticity (0.2), indicating that the effects of rising wages outweigh the incentives offered by output price support.

Climatic factors (e.g., rainfall) significantly affect fertilizer use and aggregate output while deviation from normal rainfall adversely affects aggregate output. The study substantiates previous findings that public investment in infrastructure and financial institutions respond to the agriculture potential and agro-climatic endowments of an area. A renewed focus, therefore, is required for better targeting of public investments in areas that are relatively resource poor and have harsh agro-climatic conditions for a more inclusive growth and rural poverty reduction.

Contract farming is seen as one of the measures to facilitate participation of farmers in commercial agriculture, adding more value to agricultural products. Vietnam, however, shows mixed evidence on the well-known advantages of contract farming to small farmers such as reduced cost of accessing the market; access to credit information on market opportunities or new technologies, inputs, and product markets; and reduced price fluctuations. This study analyzed the impact of contract farming on farmers and identified policies that may facilitate farmers’ entry into beneficial contractual relationships. In addition to the literature review, an intensive case study of cassava contract farming was conducted. Data were analyzed using a dual-method approach—governance and institutional analysis and a pro-poor analysis. Factors found to be important to contract farming are extension services, farmer empowerment (technical and managerial), and capacity building of the farmer organization. The results from the study have direct relevance to stakeholders of contract farming, either through practical field support or through policy advocacy.

This paper investigates the determinants of total household income in selected rice-based farming villages in the Philippines. A quantile regression approach was applied on cross-section data obtained from 656 farming households across four provinces. Determinants of household income were examined using an ordinary quantile regression approach, which, unlike conditional mean regression, allows parameter variation across income quantiles. The quantile regression approach also enables the analysis of income determinants for extreme categories such as low-income households. Results indicate that coefficients estimated through ordinary least squares (OLS) could be misleading. The quantile estimates preserved their signs in most cases but their magnitude varied across quantiles. The paper particularly emphasizes the determinants of income for poor households. The quantile estimations show that education of the male head and the existence of migrant workers in households are the most important determinants of income for poor households.

To promote devolution and participation in natural resource governance, the government of Indonesia encourages the collective management of natural resources through self-governed local communes. It also promotes consensual decision-making over the use and allocation of natural resources at the village, district, and regency level. This approach, when coupled with the commercialization of Indonesia’s natural resources, is believed to encourage social inclusion, economic welfare, and ecological responsiveness.
The case of Sinjai’s mangroves suggests that the presence of social institutions can stimulate social sensibility, encourage attachment to the natural landscape, and instigate collective responsibility for protecting the local mangroves. Community initiatives for mangrove planting within the village of Tongke Tongke emerged due to wave intrusion, soil erosion, and material loss. The hope to create new land and own mangrove trees sustained the motivation for land restoration and led to the initiation of the Aku Cinta Indonesia (ACI) mangrove organization. The ACI organization, whose aim is to establish clearly defined property and user rights for safeguarding the cultivators’ hard work, provides community members with pride, identity, and platforms for mangrove conservation. Although the mangrove plots are privately owned by the 117 ACI members, they are also collectively managed and conserved by the multiple resource users across the landscape.
In Tongke Tongke, social institutions and local rules came into play and the people committed to protect the mangroves on behalf of the community. These social institutions took the form of kinship ties, collective identity, symbolic reciprocity, social responsibility, and ecological sensibility. The mangroves were not free access, but governed by formal and informal rules to maintain its benefits for the good of the community. The community, through the elders, determined the access and made decisions about management on behalf of them all. Community members acted in a way that benefited the overall good even when they were avowing individual rights. Individuals evolved behaviors that were commensurate with their responsibilities, leading to innovative power structures that were locally sensitive and environmentally appropriate.