The authors explore how Latin American livestock farmers adapt to climate by switching species. They develop a multinomial choice model of farmer's choice of livestock species. Estimating the models across over 1,200 livestock farmers in seven countries, they find that both temperature and precipitation affect the species Latin American farmers choose. The authors then use this model to predict how future climate scenarios would affect species choice. Global warming will cause farmers to switch to beef cattle at the expense of dairy cattle.
Abstract: The authors explore how Latin American farmers adapt to climate by changing crops. They develop a multinomial choice model of farmer's choice of crops. Estimating the model across over 2,000 farmers in seven countries, they find that both temperature and precipitation affects the crops that Latin American farmers choose. Farmers choose fruits and vegetables in warmer locations and wheat and potatoes in cooler locations. Farms in wetter locations are more likely to grow rice, fruits, and squash, and in dryer locations maize and potatoes. Global warming will cause Latin American farmers to switch away from wheat and potatoes toward fruits and vegetables. Predictions of the impact of climate change must reflect not only changes in yields or net revenues per crop but also crop switching.
Here in one easy-to-understand volume are the statistical procedures and techniques the agricultural researcher needs to know in order to design, implement, analyze, and interpret the results of most experiments with crops. Designed specifically for the non-statistician, this valuable guide focuses on the practical problems of the field researcher. Throughout, it emphasizes the use of statistics as a tool of research—one that will help pinpoint research problems and select remedial measures. Whenever possible, mathematical formulations and statistical jargon are avoided. Originally published by the International Rice Research Institute, this widely respected guide has been totally updated and much expanded in this Second Edition. It now features new chapters on the analysis of multi-observation data and experiments conducted over time and space. Also included is a chapter on experiments in farmers' fields, a subject of major concern in developing countries where agricultural research is commonly conducted outside experiment stations. Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research, Second Edition will prove equally useful to students and professional researchers in all agricultural and biological disciplines. A wealth of examples of actual experiments help readers to choose the statistical method best suited for their needs, and enable even the most complicated procedures to be easily understood and directly applied. An International Rice Research Institute Book
The first premise of this book is that farmers need access to options for improving their situation. In agricultural terms, these options might be manage ment alternatives or different crops to grow, that can stabilize or increase household income, that reduce soil degradation and dependence on off-farm inputs, or that exploit local market opportunities. Farmers need a facilitating environment, in which affordable credit is available if needed, in which policies are conducive to judicious management of natural resources, and in which costs and prices of production are stable. Another key ingredient of this facilitating environment is information: an understanding of which options are viable, how these operate at the farm level, and what their impact may be on the things that farmers perceive as being important. The second premise is that systems analysis and simulation have an impor tant role to play in fostering this understanding of options, traditional field experimentation being time-consuming and costly. This book summarizes the activities of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnology Transfer (IBSNAT) project, an international initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IBSNAT was an attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of understanding options through systems analysis and simulation for the ultimate benefit of farm households in the tropics and subtropics. The idea for the book was first suggested at one of the last IBSNAT group meetings held at the University of Hawaii in 1993.
This book assesses recent developments in the analysis of agricultural policy and water resource management, and highlights the utility and theoretical rigor of quantitative methods for modeling agricultural production, market dynamics, and natural resource management. In diverse case studies of the intersection between agriculture, environmental quality and natural resource sustainability, the authors analyze economic behavior - both at aggregate as well as at individual agent-level - in order to highlight the practical implications for decision-markers dealing with environmental and agricultural policy. The volume also addresses the challenges of doing robust analysis with limited data, and discusses the appropriate empirical approaches that can be employed. The studies in this book were inspired by the work of Richard E. Howitt, Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of California at Davis, USA, whose career has focused on the application of robust empirical methods to address concrete policy problems.
This textbook integrates three related fields in economics, namely agricultural/forestry economics, environmental economics, and international trade, by foregrounding cost-benefit analysis as a significant policy tool. Exploring how welfare measures can be used in the analysis of agricultural, trade, and other economic policies, Applied Welfare Economics, Trade, and Agricultural Policy Analysis fills a gap in the literature on agricultural policy analysis by explaining the economic efficiency improvements and income transfers of various agricultural policy reforms in the United States, Canada, and the European Union. G. Cornelis van Kooten addresses methods of identifying and measuring economic surpluses (costs and benefits), the precautionary principle, identification of an appropriate discount rate, the importance of non-market values, and the role of agriculture in trade negotiations and climate change. Applied Welfare Economics, Trade, and Agricultural Policy Analysis draws on new research, brings attention to the existing literature, and includes review questions that challenge programming skills. The techniques developed in this text can be applied to the development and reform of agricultural policies in various regions in response to trade negotiations and many other situations involving government policy.
Abstract: This paper examines whether the choice of crops is affected by climate in Africa. Using a multinomial logit model, the paper regresses crop choice on climate, soils, and other factors. The model is estimated using a sample of more than 7,000 farmers across 11 countries in Africa. The study finds that crop choice is very climate sensitive. For example, farmers select sorghum and maize-millet in the cooler regions of Africa; maize-beans, maize-groundnut, and maize in moderately warm regions' and cowpea, cowpea-sorghum, and millet-groundnut in hot regions. Further, farmers choose sorghum, and millet-groundnut when conditions are dry; cowpea, cowpea-sorghum, maize-millet, and maize when medium wet; and maize-beans and maize-groundnut when wet. As temperatures warm, farmers will shift toward more heat tolerant crops. Depending on whether precipitation increases or decreases, farmers will also shift toward drought tolerant or water loving crops, respectively. There are several policy relevant conclusions to draw from this study. First, farmers will adapt to climate change by switching crops. Second, global warming impact studies cannot assume crop choice is exogenous. Third, this study only examines choices across current crops. Future farmers may well have more choices. There is an important role for agronomic research in developing new varieties more suited for higher temperatures. Future farmers may have even better adaptation alternatives with an expanded set of crop choices specifically targeted at higher temperatures.
Risk and uncertainty are inescapable factors in agriculture which require careful management. Farmers face production risks from the weather, crop and livestock performance, and pests and diseases, as well as institutional, personal and business risks. This revised third edition of the popular textbook includes updated chapters on theory and methods and contains a new chapter discussing the state-contingent approach to the analysis of production and the use of copulas to better model stochastic dependency. Aiming to introduce agricultural decision making, probability and risk preference, this book is an indispensable guide for students and researchers of agriculture and agribusiness management.
Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.
This book contains 12 chapters focusing on: (i) experimental planning; (ii) sample preparation; (iii) weighing and dispersing; (iv) acid-digestion, ashing and extracting procedures; (v) analysis of soil and compost; (vi) analysis of fertilizers; (vii) analysis of animal feed and plant materials; (viii) analysis of silage; (ix) near infrared spectroscopy; (x) methods in equine nutrition; (xi) methods for organic farmers and growers; and (xii) quality assurance and control.
