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The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that affect farm acceptance of the new seeds. This paper develops a Bivariate Probit model with adjusted sample selection bias to analyze Chinese farmers' sequential decision‐making process in their adoption of plant new varieties (new seeds) under the new Variety Property Right Protection System.

Face‐to‐face interviews with farm households in 22 provinces were used to gather questionnaire information. A total of 341 surveys were collected and analyzed using a Bivariate Probit model adjusted for sample selection bias problems. Descriptive statistics for each selected variable used in the model are also presented.

This study concluded that farm location, land size, farm perceived dealer reputation, and farmer‐to‐farmer word‐of‐mouth information were found to be important factors that affect farm adoption of new seeds.

This study is based on first‐hand survey information collected by the researchers. Thus, the results are original and were not published elsewhere.

This study aims to explore possible ways to promote uptake and integration of climate-smart agriculture (CSA)-Technologies, Innovations and Management Practices (TIMPS) into policy and practice in Nigeria through the development of actionable roadmaps to facilitate the process.

Two hundred and fifty-two stakeholders for the policy discourse and survey were purposively drawn from both government and private agencies, NGOs and community-based associations from the six geo-political zones of the country. Data collection was done using a mixed method comprising questionnaire administration, in-depth interviews and panel discussion. Data collected was summarised using descriptive statistics.

The major findings were lack of existing policies on CSA, lack of farmers’ awareness of CSA-TIMPs, neglect of extension programmes that can help to enlighten farmers on the importance of CSA and insufficient extension personnel to cater for farmers’ needs. Challenges to CSA-TIMPs uptake in Nigeria were: insufficient funding and support by government in programme planning and implementation, policy inconsistencies and poor farmers’ attitude and resistance to change.

This research will facilitate CSA uptake and integration through the provision of data for informed decision and action by the responsible agencies.

Suggested actionable roadmaps across the zones were robust awareness campaign and advocacy on uptake of CSA-TIMPs through e-extension, community TV/radio in local dialects; revitalisation of policy programmes such as monthly meetings should be reintroduced and creation of CSA Departments/Stations in each state; increased budget allocation to a minimum of 10% for agriculture, revitalisation of Researchers-Extension Agents-Farmers Linkage, employment of qualified extension agents and retraining of extension agents.

The purpose of this paper is to assess farmers’ willingness to participate and pay for weather-based index insurance in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and what factors influence the participation and purchase of crop insurance schemes.

A survey of 200 farmers in the region was carried out in 2018 to measure demographic information, farm characteristics, risks and risk-management practices and attitudes to crop insurance programs. The survey also captured maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for crop insurance. The double-bounded contingent valuation technique was used to estimate the WTP for crop insurance and the variables that affected WTP.

Farmers, in general, had an indifferent attitude to crop insurance in the region, but were willing to participate in the crop insurance programme, and were willing to pay between 7.5 and 12.5 per cent of the cost of growing maize as a premium for crop insurance. Demographic and economic variables did not impact WTP, but attitude towards crop insurance, farm diversification and frequency of drought negatively impacted on the WTP for crop insurance.

Education programs could be undertaken to improve the attitude and understanding towards crop insurance, as some farmers perceived the programme as not trustworthy, and others did not truly understand the operation of the programme.

Drought can have a significant impact on household welfare, particularly in food insecure countries or regions. Crop insurance can provide a method of securing income for farmers allowing them to purchase food rather than other choices, such as removing children from education to reduce household expenses, improving the long-term welfare of the farm household.

This paper considers willingness to participate and WTP for a crop insurance programme in Ghana, it is one of a small number of papers that consider attitude to, and willingness to participate and WTP for crop insurance in developing countries. The value of the research is the expanded understanding of farmer attitude to crop insurance and their lack of knowledge of crop insurance operations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between US farmers’ adoption of organic farming and direct marketing, both of which are increasingly important practices in the US agricultural and food sector. In addition, the effects of the two practices on farm income are evaluated.

The research uses the Agricultural and Resource Management Survey from the US Department of Agriculture. Farmers’ adoption of the two practices is modeled with a simultaneous linear probability model, which accounts for the possible linkage between the adoption of the two practices in farmers’ decision-making process. Farm income is modeled with a linear regression model, accounting for the possible endogeneity of the adoption of the two practices.

The main finding is that farmers’ adoption of organic farming decreases their probability of adopting direct marketing, whereas the reverse effect is insignificant. In addition, organic farming helps to improve gross farm income, whereas the effect of direct marketing is insignificant.

These results facilitate better coordination among numerous government programs aimed at promoting organic farming or direct marketing in the US.

This paper extends previous literature by specifically accounting for the possible linkage between farmers’ adoption of organic farming and direct marketing, and demonstrates that farmers do not make the decision to adopt one particular practice in isolation.

Aside from oil, the Nigerian economy is largely agrarian, which is rain-fed. Hence the criticality of understanding climate change and its impact on agricultural output is more pressing than ever. This is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 13 which is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Regardless, Nigeria has in the past five decades experienced a significant increase in temperature, in the range of 10 to over 30 degree Celsius. Therefore, managing the effect of climate change on agricultural output now has the colouration of a developmental challenge.

In light of this, this study gives due consideration to the impact of climate change on agricultural output between the years 1986 and 2015. For the purpose of analysis, descriptive statistics, unit root test and the ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique were employed.

Findings from the study reveal that the average annual rainfall, temperature and forest area positively influence agricultural output, whereas drought, floods and agricultural nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions have negative impact on agricultural output. The study suggests the need for a regulatory framework and also an explicit national agricultural policy essential to offset the negative effects of climate change especially on agricultural output.

As Nigeria look to diversify her economy which relied on oil, agriculture is among the alternative sector hoping to drive her economic growth, therefore, it is pertinent to examine the current output in the sector given the effects of climate change.

The study aims to identify the dynamic complexities and development points of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) in the agricultural sector of Iran to improve production factors' productivity, including arable land, water resources and human capital.

First, the EE of the agricultural sector in Iran was designed following Isenberg's framework. Then, the main variables and interrelationships of the variables in each context of the ecosystem, called subsystems, were formulated using the system dynamics (SD) approach. Next, the model was simulated and validated. Afterward, different policy options were identified, embedded into the model structure and simulated. Finally, the best policy group was selected.

According to Isenberg's EE model, three groups of policies were identified and evaluated, including “entrepreneurship development financing and investment policy,” “agricultural ecosystem's supportive services development policy” and “production factors productivity development policy.” According to the simulation results, the best combination of the solution strategies was recognized. The presented SD-EE model has a generic nature in the agricultural sector and could be modified to be applied in different regions for policy-making purposes.

The main contribution of the study is twofold. First, Isenberg's EE framework is applied to structure the main subsystems and interrelationships of the subsystems in the agricultural sector that has previously received limited attention. Second, the research is the first to operationalize the basic theory of Isenberg's EE in practice applying a robust systemic modeling methodology like SD.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the endogenous relationship between production specialisation and market commercialisation with an empirical study of farmers in Northwest China.

The three-stage least squares were used to address simultaneity and over-identification problems in comparison with two-stage least squares (2SLS). The Durbin-Wu-Hausman test was employed to identify the endogeneity of the commercialisation and specialisation variables. The validity, relevance, and strength of the instruments were tested using the Stock-Yogo weak instrument diagnostics test.

A two-way interrelationship between specialisation and commercialisation were confirmed, and suggest that farmers’ decisions on farm commercialisation and production specialisation are actually separate and interacting.

By demonstrating that a virtuous cycle exists between agricultural commercialisation and on-farm specialisation, policies can be formulated to complement these two effects that may help increase small holders’ income. Farmers’ market participation can be indirectly improved by combining market improvement and risk management tools to encourage production specialisation.

The insights of this study cast further light onto the farm market participation theory by emphasising that higher asset endowments enable small farmers to specialise in production with comparative advantage.

Farming in Bangladesh is confronted with various types of uncertainties, which contribute to farmers’ income volatility over the years. As a result, cereal, mainly rice, which is a less riskier crop remained dominantly planted in the current farm plan. But the return generated from rice cultivation has not been able to improve the livelihood of the poor, as rice profitability is low compared to some profitable but risky crops like jute and vegetables. To investigate the behavioral pattern of the farmers towards risk, Dhaka division, largely known as central region of Bangladesh, is selected. The prevailing farm plan of Dhaka division is compared with the efficient one at the current level of expected return in order to check whether the current farm plan is risky or otherwise. Quadratic and MOTAD as well as linear programming techniques have been employed for the analysis. The result of the study reveals that the prevailing farm plan in Dhaka division is risky compared to the efficient plan. Since the current return level is low, the study has recommended that more jute and vegetables should be planted to achieve higher remuneration.

Many nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria have initiated programmes targeted at addressing food insecurity, but without any major significant breakthrough. This necessitates the call for inclusion of social network institutional framework into the food and nutrition security policy of many developing countries. This is touted as an important social safety net needed for farming households’ economic advancement and welfare. Consequent on this, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of social networks in building resilience against food insecurity among farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Data collected from a sample of 297 smallholder farmers during 2015/2016 agricultural production season were analysed using descriptive statistics to describe farmers’ notable characteristics. However, Foster–Greer–Thorbecke indices vis-à-vis food consumption expenditure-metrics technique was used to evaluate the food security profile of the respondents. Similarly, ordinary least square and two-stage least square (2SLS) models were applied to investigate the effects and “reverse causality” in the social networks food security model.

The study findings indicated that about 48.15 per cent of the smallholder farmers are food insecure. Similarly, the study revealed that age (p<0.01), years of formal education (p<0.05), marital status (p<0.05), number of persons in the family (p<0.01), executive status in social groups (p<0.05), aggregate social networks (p<0.1) and non-food consumption expenditure (p<0.01) made significant contributions to food security status of farming households. Importantly, 2SLS estimation indicated non-existence of reverse causality effect of social networks components and households’ food security status.

There is an urgent need for pragmatic policies that support systematic and organized social groups and networks formation in the rural/agrarian areas across Nigeria.

A widely accepted view of economic theory posits that traditional capitals (physical, economic/financial and human) drive households’ welfare including food security status. However, this study has established the relevance of social networks as an important component of human well-being. Apparently, this study also established the exogeneity of social networks in the framework of households’ food security status.

Outgrower scheme as a contractual agreement between farmers and some funding entities has in recent times found proliferation among resource poor farmers in Ghana, especially in northern Ghana. This contractual arrangement, which involves the provision of farm inputs, and in some cases, technical support by the implementing company and the repayment by farmers with portions of their harvest, is often regarded as an effective way to mutually improve the outcomes of both smallholder farmers and outgrower companies. The study aims to analyse. the level of awareness, nature of input package, determinants of participation and intensity of participation in input credit scheme by smallholder rice farmers in the Mamprugu Moagduri District of Ghana’s North East Region, using the Integrated Water Management and Agriculture Development (IWAD) scheme as a case.

Using a quantitative analytical approach, the study gathers information from 233 randomly selected smallholder rice farmers consisting of 150 participants and 83 non-participants using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, as well as the Tobit model, are the methods used in the analysis.

The results show that while factors such as age, marital status, number of dependents and farming experience only influenced participation in the scheme, religion, age, sex, number of dependents and farming experience influenced intensity of participation.

This study calls for the adoption of sustainable approaches by input credit companies in their credit support to smallholder farmers rather than the current ad hoc support during each cropping season.