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This study aims to examine the effects of climate change and agricultural technologies on crop production in Vietnam for the period 1990–2018.

Several econometric techniques – such as the augmented Dickey–Fuller, Phillips–Perron, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test, variance decomposition method (VDM) and impulse response function (IRF) are used for the empirical analysis.

The results of the ARDL bounds test confirm the significant dynamic relationship among the variables under consideration, with a significance level of 1%. The primary findings indicate that the average annual temperature exerts a negative influence on crop yield, both in the short term and in the long term. The utilization of fertilizer has been found to augment crop productivity, whereas the application of pesticides has demonstrated the potential to raise crop production in the short term. Moreover, both the expansion of cultivated land and the utilization of energy resources have played significant roles in enhancing agricultural output across both in the short term and in the long term. Furthermore, the robustness outcomes also validate the statistical importance of the factors examined in the context of Vietnam.

This study provides persuasive evidence for policymakers to emphasize advancements in intensive agriculture as a means to mitigate the impacts of climate change. In the research, the authors use average annual temperature as a surrogate measure for climate change, while using fertilizer and pesticide usage as surrogate indicators for agricultural technologies. Future research can concentrate on the impact of ICT, climate change (specifically pertaining to maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation), and agricultural technological improvements that have an impact on cereal production.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine how climate change and technology effect crop output in Vietnam from 1990 to 2018. Various econometrics tools, such as ARDL modeling, VDM and IRF, are used for estimation.

The purpose of this paper is to delve into an extensive analysis of different food crops, ranging from bananas, beans, brinjals, cabbages, chillies, creepers, groundnuts, mixed vegetables, pineapples and tomatoes, over three decades. To maintain an ever-increasing population level, much stress is exerted on the production of food crops. However, till date, very little is known about how climate change is influencing the production of food crops in Mauritius, an upper-income developing country found in the Indian Ocean and highly vulnerable to climate risks.

Based on the interactions between production of crops, harvest area for crops and weather metrics, a vector autoregressive model (VAR) system is applied comprising production of each crop with their respective harvest area. Weather metrics are then entered into as exogeneous components of the model. The underlying rationale is that weather metrics are not caused by production or harvest area and should thereby be exogeneously treated. Should there be cointegration between the endogenous components, the vector error correction model (VECM) will be used. Diagnostic tests will also be entertained in terms of ensuring the endogeneity states of the presumed variables under investigation. The impact of harvest area on product is plain, as higher the harvest area, the higher is the production. However, a bi-directional causality can also manifest in the case that higher production leads towards lower harvest area in the next period as land is being made to rest to restore its nutrients to enable stable land productivity over time. Other dynamics could also be present. In case cointegration prevails, VECM will be used as the econometric model. The VAR/VECM approach is applied by virtue of the fact that traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation approach will be biased and susceptible to trigger off unreliable results. Recourse is made towards the Johansen and Juselius (1990) technique. The Johansen and Juselius approach is based on the following VAR specification-bivariate VAR methodology. X1,t = A0 + A1,1X1,t – 1 + A1,2X1,t – 2+ […] .+ A1,p X1,t – p + A2,1X2,t – 1 + A2,2X2,t – 2+ […] .+ A2,pX2,t – p + ßjW + e1,t […] […]..(1) X2,t = B0 + B2,1X2,t – 1 + B2,2X2,t – 2+ […] .+ B2,p X2,t – p + B1,1X1,t – 1 + B1,2X2,t – 2+ […] .+ B1,pX2,t – p + ajW + e2,t […] […] […](2) X1,t is defined as the food crops production, while X2,t pertains to harvest area under cultivation for a given crop under consideration, both constituting the endogeneous components of the VAR. The exogeneous component is captured by W which consists of the nine aforementioned weather metrics, including the cyclone dummy. The subscript j under equation (1) and (2) captures these nine distinct weather metrics. In essence, the aim of this paper is to develop an econometric-based approach to sieve out the impacts of climate metrics on food crops production in Mauritius over three decades.

Results show weather metrics do influence the production of crops in Mauritius, with cyclone being particularly harmful for tomatoes, chillies and creepers. Temperature is found to trail behind bearish impacts on tomatoes and cabbages production, but positive impacts in case of bananas, brinjals and pineapples productions, whereas humidity enhances production of beans, creepers and groundnuts. Evidence is found in favour of production being mainly governed by harvest area. Overall, the study points out the need of weather derivatives in view of hedging against crop damages, let alone initiation of adaptation strategies to undermine the adverse effects of climate change.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has been undertaken in Mauritius, let alone developing of an econometric model that properly integrates production, harvest area and weather metrics. Results show weather metrics do influence the production of crops in Mauritius, with cyclone being particularly harmful for tomatoes, chillies and creepers. Temperature is found to trail behind bearish impacts on tomatoes and cabbages production, but positive impacts in case of bananas, brinjals and pineapples productions, whereas humidity enhances production of beans, creepers and groundnuts. Evidence is found in favour of production being mainly governed by harvest area. Overall, the study points out the need of weather derivatives in view of hedging against crop damages, let alone initiation of adaptation strategies to undermine the adverse effects of climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to make a preliminary analysis of the potentials for the adoption of biofuels in Nigeria. This initial analysis aims to capture some of the possibilities in the adoption of biofuel and the promotion of the cultivation of energy crops and processing of biofuels in Nigeria. Taking a step towards biofuel adoption is crucial for Nigeria to remain an important player in the world energy market, as there is a shift in global fossil fuel consumption.

The study adopted a desk review of existing literatures on global biofuels production potentials. A synthesis of data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) secondary database on major energy crops production was also conducted, while the GIS map was generated from GIS data sourced from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Nigeria has immense potential for energy crops cultivation and the production of bioethanol and biodiesel. The existing database shows that Nigeria ranks very high in terms of production of the major energy crops such as soybean, palm oil, sesame and cassava. The rainfall distribution shows that most energy crops can be grown all over Nigeria. Nigeria has the capacity to be a leading exporter of biofuels. The adoption of biofuels can also ease the financial strain relating to the heavy burden of fossil fuel subsidy and also enhance local livelihoods within the production chains.

With the very high potential for biofuel production, the Government as well as private investors should take steps towards investing in agriculture for the production of energy crops and the establishment of biofuel‐processing plants in Nigeria.

The paper is a preliminary analysis of bio‐economic and environmental modeling of the adoption of biofuels in the energy sector in Nigeria. This analysis has opened up the focus of the bigger study, modeling the biological, economic, environmental and other impacts of biofuel adoption.

This study investigates implications of crop and income diversifications on consumption expenditure (welfare) of rice-producing households in Ghana. It further compares diversification by three rice production systems: two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice production.

Primary data were sourced from 225 rice farmers. Margalef index and three-stage least-squares were employed.

Majority of rice-farming households in Ghana diversify livelihoods. The extent of livelihood diversification differs among two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice-producing households. Credit, distance to district capitals, production purpose and number of farming seasons influence crop and income diversifications, and consumption expenditure of rice-producing households. While crop diversification reduces consumption expenditure, income diversification increases it. Crop and income diversifications positively influence each other. Consumption expenditure reduces crop diversification but increases income diversification.

Policy should be directed towards the promotion of more livelihood activities to boost rice farmers' welfare. There should be awareness creation and training programmes to enable rice farmers realize different economic activities within and outside the agricultural value chain.

Crop and income diversifications were measured as continuous response variables, unlike previous studies that used a binary response variable. The authors established a synergy among crop and income diversifications, and consumption expenditure (welfare). The authors further compared crop and income diversifications by three rice production systems: two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice production systems.

The purpose of this paper evaluates the effects of the Great Western Development (GWD) policy on agricultural intensification, land use, agricultural production and rural poverty in western China.

The authors collect county-level data on land use, input application, grain crop production, income, poverty and geophysical characteristics for 1996–2005 and use a quasi-natural experimental design of difference-in-differences (DD) in the empirical analysis.

Results suggest that the GWD policy significantly increased the grain crop production in western China. This increase resulted from higher yield, with increased fertilizer use and agricultural electricity consumption per hectare, and more land allocated to grow grain crops. The policy also increased land-use concentration, reduced crop diversity and alleviated rural poverty in western China.

This paper makes three contributions. First, the authors add to the growing literature on the GWD policy by evaluating its effects on farm household decisions and exploring the mechanisms and broad socioeconomic impacts in western China. Second, the authors take advantage of a quasi-natural experimental design to improve the identification strategy where input use, land allocation, production and off-farm labor participation are all endogenous in a farm household. Third, the authors explore a long list of variables within one integrated dataset to present a comprehensive picture of the impact of the GWD policy.

This paper aims to examine the effects of CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and the labour force on the production of cereal crops in Pakistan from the period 1971-2014.

The study used the Johansen cointegration test, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Granger causality test to estimate the long-run cointegration and direction of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

The outcomes of the Johansen cointegration test confirmed the existence of a long-term cointegrating relationship between the production of cereal crops, CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and the labour force. The results of the long-run coefficients of CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and labour force have a positive impact on cereal crops production. The long-run relationships reveal that a 1 per cent increase in CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and labour force will increase cereal crops production by 0.20, 0.11, 0.56 and 0.74 per cent, respectively. Moreover, the findings show that there is a bidirectional causality running from CO₂ emissions and cultivated area to cereal crops production. Moreover, there is a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to cereal crops production.

The present study also fills the literature gap for applying the ARDL procedure to examine this relevant issue for Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to show how climatic change in Africa is expected to lead to a higher occurrence of severe droughts in semiarid and arid ecosystems. Understanding how crop productions react to such events is, thus, crucial for addressing future challenges for food security and poverty alleviation.

The authors explored how temperature and rainfall patterns determined maize and beans production in Hai District in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania.

Annual food crops were particularly sensitive to the drought and maize and beans yields were lower than perennial crops during the years of drought. The authors also report strong and significant association between maize and beans production with temperature and rainfall patterns.

This study highlights how severe droughts can dramatically affect yields of annual crops and suggests that extreme climatic events might act as a major factor affecting agriculture production and food security, delaying or preventing the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.

This is the first study that highlights how severe droughts can dramatically affect yields of annual crops in Hai District contributing to other climate studies done elsewhere in Tanzania and the world at large.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of crop-livestock diversification among smallholders in the forest-savannah agroecological zone of Ghana.

The study uses a stochastic input distance function to investigate the evidence of economies of diversification and its effect on determining diversification decisions of smallholders in Ghana. Furthermore, this study also explores evidence of scale economies in integrated crop-livestock systems among smallholder farmers.

The empirical results show that economies of diversification are significant in determining diversification decisions of smallholders. The economies of scale are evident in integrated crop-livestock systems in Ghana, suggesting that opportunities exist to expand crop-livestock outputs without employing additional inputs or improved production technologies. Crop-livestock diversification is a desirable strategy for improving overall farm productivity among smallholders in Ghana. Economies of diversification were found to be significant among the output combinations, maize with other crops and other crops with livestock, in integrated crop-livestock production systems.

This study is based on a cross-sectional data set. Hence, the findings may be subject to some limitations; however, the authors have sought to minimise such limitations.

The results imply that crop-livestock diversification is a desirable strategy for improving overall farm productivity. Therefore, the findings are useful for policymakers to design appropriate strategies for enhancing the production of specific output combinations in crop-livestock diversification systems among smallholders in Ghana. Specifically, such policies should promote the production and integration of crops such as legumes with other crops, and livestock with other crops in diversified farming systems to enhance overall farm productivity. This will reduce food insecurity and poverty among rural farm households and the entire rural population.

These results indicate that to improve crop-livestock productivity through diversification, and reduce the effect of climate variability, it is imperative to provide the enabling environment that will facilitate and encourage production of these output combinations among smallholders in Ghana. The empirical results enhance the literature by providing empirical evidence of the complementary synergies and economies of diversification in integrated farming systems and, hence, make recommendations for improving these farming systems.

The peer review history for this paper is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2019-0274.

Farmers' adaptation strategies in agricultural production are required to minimise the negative impact of climate change on a nation's food production in developing countries. Based on the panel data of the provincial level in China from 2000 to 2017, this study aims to analyse the changing climate over recent years and farmers' adaptation strategy in terms of cropping in agricultural production.

This study uses Simpson's diversity index (SDI) to measure the degree of crop diversity planted by farmers and evaluate the influence of climate change on farmers' cropping strategy using the fixed-effect model. Further, the authors estimate the impact of farmers' cropping strategy on their economic performances in two aspects including yields and technical efficiency of crops.

The empirical results show that the overall climate appears a warming trend. Different from farmers in some other countries, Chinese farmers tend to adopt a more specialised cropping strategy which can significantly improve the technical efficiency and yields of crops in agriculture. In addition, as a moderating role, the specialised cropping can help farmers to alleviate the negative impact of climate change on technical efficiency of their crops.

First, previous studies showed that the changing climate influenced farmers' adaptation strategies, while most studies focussed on multiple adaptation strategies from the farm-level perspective rather than cropping strategy from the nation-level perspective. Second, the present study investigates how the cropping strategy affects the economic performance (in terms of the technical efficiency and crop yields) of agricultural production. Third, the stochastic frontier analysis method is used to estimate the technical efficiency. Fourth, this study explores the moderating effect between farmers' cropping strategy and technical efficiency by introducing an interaction item of SDI and accumulated temperature.

Transgenic crops have been increasingly adopted, produced and commercialized throughout the world. Correspondingly, the management of intellectual property rights concerning transgenic crops has gained importance. In this context, it is necessary to understand the status quo of transgenic crop production, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general scenario of transgenic crops and their growth around the world, especially in Latin America.

A literature review was carried out to determine the status of intellectual property protection, production and commercialization of transgenic crops.

Opinions concerning the risks and benefits of adopting transgenics are markedly divided. Its presence in the agricultural sector has undoubtedly taken a firm hold in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, there are some areas of the international transgenics industry that need further and ongoing discussion and assessment, such as biosafety, intellectual property, regulation and legislation, among others. Additionally, in developing countries, and especially in the case of Latin America, other relevant issues to be addressed are associated with the conservation of local plant varieties and the preservation of cultural values, as well as the development of endogenous technology to solve local problems and the integration of farmers and the society at large and their interests into the discussion.

The most significant limitation of the present study was the lack of available data. Future studies using larger data sets will allow for more robust statistical analyses. Additionally, country-specific studies focused on the most important crops, those that each country grows intensively, are necessary for a better insight into the global dynamics of the sector; these studies must stress the intellectual property mechanisms used and address biosafety and regulatory issues, among other areas.

The present study represents a starting point for establishing schemes to facilitate the proper development and management of transgenic technology based on regional interests and the guiding principles of ethics and biosecurity.