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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 February 2024

Richard Robertson, Athanasios Petsakos, Chun Song, Nicola Cenacchi and Elisabetta Gotor

The choice of crops to produce at a location depends to a large degree on the climate. As the climate changes and food demand evolves, farmers may need to produce a different mix…

Abstract

Purpose

The choice of crops to produce at a location depends to a large degree on the climate. As the climate changes and food demand evolves, farmers may need to produce a different mix of crops. This study assesses how much cropland may be subject to such upheavals at the global scale, and then focuses on China as a case study to examine how spatial heterogeneity informs different contexts for adaptation within a country.

Design/methodology/approach

A global agricultural economic model is linked to a cropland allocation algorithm to generate maps of cropland distribution under historical and future conditions. The mix of crops at each location is examined to determine whether it is likely to experience a major shift.

Findings

Two-thirds of rainfed cropland and half of irrigated cropland are likely to experience substantial upheaval of some kind.

Originality/value

This analysis helps establish a global context for the local changes that producers might face under future climate and socioeconomic changes. The scale of the challenge means that the agricultural sector needs to prepare for these widespread and diverse upheavals.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Zhuang Zhang and You Hua Chen

Numerical literature shows that agricultural insurance can affect pesticide investments, but few of them are devoted to explain how agricultural insurance affects farmers’…

Abstract

Purpose

Numerical literature shows that agricultural insurance can affect pesticide investments, but few of them are devoted to explain how agricultural insurance affects farmers’ selection on green or traditional pesticides. This paper aims to develop a theoretical model about how agricultural insurance influences on green pesticides selections and tests our conclusions by using the data from China land economic survey (CLES) from 2020 to 2021.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ probit model to capture the effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticides adoption.

Findings

We indicate that green pesticides have a stronger effect on stabilizing yield and increasing income than traditional pesticides, but there are still risks disturbing farmers’ decisions on green pesticides usage. By providing premium subsidies after the farmers are affected by natural risk, agricultural insurance improves the farmers’ expected income and encourages farmers to use green pesticides. Further, we further confirm these conclusions by considering different scenarios such as climate risks, farmers’ entrepreneurship and credit constraints. We find that the effects are more salient if croplands are under higher natural risks and, farmers are equipped with entrepreneurship and formal credit. This paper implies that the agricultural insurance decoupled with green technologies also have salient positive effects on agricultural pollution control.

Originality/value

The potential contributions of this paper can be outlined in three aspects in detail. Firstly, this paper aims to revel the effects of agricultural insurance on pesticide selection by structuring a general theoretical model. By using the CLES data from 2020 to 2021, we confirm that agricultural insurance increases the probability for adopting green pesticides. Secondly, this paper discusses the effects of farmers’ characteristics on the results and finds that if farmers have entrepreneurship, the effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticide usage will be more salient. Thirdly, it uncovers some practices in China, which will supply experiences for other developing countries. For example, this paper further demonstrates that “insurance + credit” plan the present Chinese government carried out will be an important measure for strengthening effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticides usage. Moreover, it shows that decouple agricultural policies will also guide farmers to use green technologies eventually if the technologies are reliable and farmers can afford.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 April 2024

Balaji Sedithippa Janarthanan

The study attempts to estimate farm subsidies the governments can save by transitioning to a millet-based production system, replacing GHG emission-intensive crops.

Abstract

Purpose

The study attempts to estimate farm subsidies the governments can save by transitioning to a millet-based production system, replacing GHG emission-intensive crops.

Design/methodology/approach

It updates a 131 × 131 commodity input–output (IO) table of the year 2015–16 into 2021–22 using the RAS procedure and simulates the economy-wide impacts of replacing rice and wheat with pearl millet and sorghum using consumption and production approaches. It then quantifies fertilizer, electricity and credit subsidy expenses the government can save through this intervention. It also estimates the potential reduction in GHG emissions that the transition could bring about. India is taken as a case.

Findings

Results show pearl millet expansion brings greater benefits to the government. It is estimated that when households return to their pearl millet consumption rates that prevailed in the early-reform period, this could save the Indian government Rs. 622 crores (USD 75 m). The savings shall be reinvested in agriculture to finance climate adaptation/mitigation efforts, contributing to a sustainable food system. Net GHG emissions also decline by 3.3–3.6 MMT CO2e.

Practical implications

Indian government has been actively aiming to bring down paddy areas since 2013–14 through the Crop Diversification Program and promoting millets (and pulses and oilseeds) on these farms. The prime reason is to check rapidly declining groundwater irrigation in Green Revolution states. Regulations in the past in these states have not brought the intended results. Meanwhile, electricity and fertilizers are heavily subsidized for agriculture. A slight shift in the cropping system can help conserve these resources. Meanwhile, GHG emissions could also be brought down and subsidies could well be saved. The results of the study indicate the same.

Social implications

A less warm society is what governments and nongovernment organizations across the world are aiming for at present. Financial implications affect actions against climate change to a greater extent, apart from technological innovations. The effects of policy strategies discussed in the study, taking a large country as a case, when implemented appropriately around the regions, could help move a step closer to action against climate change.

Originality/value

The paper addresses a key but rarely explored research issue – that how a climate-sensitive crop choice will help reduce the government’s fiscal burden to finance climate adaption/mitigation. It also offers a mechanism to estimate the benefits within an economy-wide framework.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Dhobale Yash and R. Rajesh

The study aims to identify the possible risk factors for electricity grids operational disruptions and to determine the most critical and influential risk indicators.

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Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to identify the possible risk factors for electricity grids operational disruptions and to determine the most critical and influential risk indicators.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-criteria decision-making best-worst method (BWM) is employed to quantitatively identify the most critical risk factors. The grey causal modeling (GCM) technique is employed to identify the causal and consequence factors and to effectively quantify them. The data used in this study consisted of two types – quantitative periodical data of critical factors taken from their respective government departments (e.g. Indian Meteorological Department, The Central Water Commission etc.) and the expert responses collected from professionals working in the Indian electric power sector.

Findings

The results of analysis for a case application in the Indian context shows that temperature dominates as the critical risk factor for electrical power grids, followed by humidity and crop production.

Research limitations/implications

The study helps to understand the contribution of factors in electricity grids operational disruptions. Considering the cause consequences from the GCM causal analysis, rainfall, temperature and dam water levels are identified as the causal factors, while the crop production, stock prices, commodity prices are classified as the consequence factors. In practice, these causal factors can be controlled to reduce the overall effects.

Practical implications

From the results of the analysis, managers can use these outputs and compare the risk factors in electrical power grids for prioritization and subsequent considerations. It can assist the managers in efficient allocation of funds and manpower for building safeguards and creating risk management protocols based on the severity of the critical factor.

Originality/value

The research comprehensively analyses the risk factors of electrical power grids in India. Moreover, the study apprehends the cause-consequence pair of factors, which are having the maximum effect. Previous studies have been focused on identification of risk factors and preliminary analysis of their criticality using autoregression. This research paper takes it forward by using decision-making methods and causal analysis of the risk factors with blend of quantitative and expert response based data analysis to focus on the determination of the criticality of the risk factors for the Indian electric power grid.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 December 2022

Edmund Khoo Chengqin, Suhaiza Zailani, Muhammad Khalilur Rahman, Azmin Azliza Aziz, Miraj Ahmed Bhuiyan and Md. Abu Issa Gazi

This study aims to investigate the determinants of household behavioural intention towards household reducing, reusing and recycling behaviour of food waste management.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the determinants of household behavioural intention towards household reducing, reusing and recycling behaviour of food waste management.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 670 households in Malaysia and analysed by using the partial least square method.

Findings

The findings reveal that motivation to participate, ability to participate and perceived benefits are the crucial factors that significantly influence households’ attitudes. Household attitude has a significant impact on household behavioural intention, whilst social influence and perceived behavioural control are not associated with it. Government support is positively related to perceived behavioural control. The result also indicates that household behavioural intention has a significant impact on household reducing, reusing and recycling behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The participants of this study were involved in home planning and food preparation in Malaysia. The individuals in charge of the household might have more awareness of food planning and waste control. Thus, it is recommended to adopt findings from other countries and learn from the experience of the local and international communities.

Practical implications

The households’ behavioural intentions can lead to the reducing, reusing and recycling behaviour of food waste management. The government policy mechanisms and households’ awareness can work effectively against food waste reduction because evaluations of the food waste programme were found to be scarce.

Social implications

Food insecurity is one of the major social problems. Many people are not aware of the food waste impacts and consequences; thus, motivation, knowledge and information should be provided to the consumer through forums and campaigns.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to new insights of household behavioural intention towards food waste reduction management by assessing the determinants of household attitude and government support for food waste reduction management programmes towards household reducing, reusing and recycling behaviours.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Xi Yu, Awudu Abdulai and Dongmei Li

This study aims to examine farmers' decision to use smartphone agricultural applications (SAAs) and how SAAs adoption impact their land transfer behaviors in terms of the current…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine farmers' decision to use smartphone agricultural applications (SAAs) and how SAAs adoption impact their land transfer behaviors in terms of the current land transfer-in area (LTA) and the future willingness to renew land transfer-in after it expires (WTR).

Design/methodology/approach

This study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between farmers' use of SAAs and land transfer choice, using a field survey data of 752 rural farm households in 2020 from Sichuan province of China. The endogenous switching models are employed to address potential self-selection bias associated with voluntary SAAs use and to quantitatively examine the impacts of SAAs use on land transfer choice.

Findings

The empirical results reveal that SAAs significantly improves the probability of transfer-in of more land by 39.10%. We find SAAs use has heterogeneous impacts on land transfer-in choice in the groups of agricultural technology, extension service, marketing and credit. Besides, we also find that SAAs use exerts highly positive and significant impact on farmers with less land area transfer-in. Moreover, SAAs can increase the probability of farmers' willingness to renew the land transfer-in by 30%.

Originality/value

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the quantitative relationship between the use of SAAs and farm households' land transfer choice. The findings of this work can provide policy-related insights to help government promote the development of digital applications in the agricultural sector.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2023

Gabriel Jäger Ramos, João Augusto Rossi Borges, Carla Heloisa de Faria Domingues and Erica van Herpen

Overcooking and overbuying are two main causes of food waste in households. Therefore, this study tests whether two interventions, aimed at cooking planning versus purchasing…

Abstract

Purpose

Overcooking and overbuying are two main causes of food waste in households. Therefore, this study tests whether two interventions, aimed at cooking planning versus purchasing planning, can reduce food waste in households by using self-report direct measurements. Because measuring household food waste can impact how much food is wasted, the effects of the mere measurement of household food waste over time were assessed as well.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 80 households was distributed into three groups (control, purchasing planning and cooking planning) and their household food waste was weighed over a period of 166 days. After the first 91 days, behavioral interventions were delivered to purchasing planning and cooking planning groups. Repeated measures ANOVA, linear regression and a two-level mixed model were used for data analysis.

Findings

Results showed that the interventions were not effective in influencing the participants to reduce household food waste beyond the reduction in the control group. However, there is evidence of a mere measurement effect that caused household food waste reduction over time.

Originality/value

This study's experimental period is longer than most of the studies that tested behavioral interventions for household food waste reduction. This enabled the authors to assess the effects of repeated measurement and discover that measurement alone can bring behavioral change.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2022

Awel Haji Ibrahim, Dagnachew Daniel Molla and Tarun Kumar Lohani

The purpose of this study is to address a highly heterogeneous rift margin environment and exhibit considerable spatiotemporal hydro-climatic variations. In spite of limited…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to address a highly heterogeneous rift margin environment and exhibit considerable spatiotemporal hydro-climatic variations. In spite of limited, random and inaccurate data retrieved from rainfall gauging stations, the recent advancement of satellite rainfall estimate (SRE) has provided promising alternatives over such remote areas. The aim of this research is to take advantage of the technologies through performance evaluation of the SREs against ground-based-gauge rainfall data sets by incorporating its applicability in calibrating hydrological models.

Design/methodology/approach

Selected multi satellite-based rainfall estimates were primarily compared statistically with rain gauge observations using a point-to-pixel approach at different time scales (daily and seasonal). The continuous and categorical indices are used to evaluate the performance of SRE. The simple scaling time-variant bias correction method was further applied to remove the systematic error in satellite rainfall estimates before being used as input for a semi-distributed hydrologic engineering center's hydraulic modeling system (HEC-HMS). Runoff calibration and validation were conducted for consecutive periods ranging from 1999–2010 to 2011–2015, respectively.

Findings

The spatial patterns retrieved from climate hazards group infrared precipitation with stations (CHIRPS), multi-source weighted-ensemble precipitation (MSWEP) and tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) rainfall estimates are more or less comparably underestimate the ground-based gauge observation at daily and seasonal scales. In comparison to the others, MSWEP has the best probability of detection followed by TRMM at all observation stations whereas CHIRPS performs the least in the study area. Accordingly, the relative calibration performance of the hydrological model (HEC-HMS) using ground-based gauge observation (Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency criteria [NSE] = 0.71; R2 = 0.72) is better as compared to MSWEP (NSE = 0.69; R2 = 0.7), TRMM (NSE = 0.67, R2 = 0.68) and CHIRPS (NSE = 0.58 and R2 = 0.62).

Practical implications

Calibration of hydrological model using the satellite rainfall estimate products have promising results. The results also suggest that products can be a potential alternative source of data sparse complex rift margin having heterogeneous characteristics for various water resource related applications in the study area.

Originality/value

This research is an original work that focuses on all three satellite rainfall estimates forced simulations displaying substantially improved performance after bias correction and recalibration.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Rosemarie Santa González, Marilène Cherkesly, Teodor Gabriel Crainic and Marie-Eve Rancourt

This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and cut off from health-care services.

Design/methodology/approach

This research combines an integrated literature review and an instrumental case study. The literature review comprises two targeted reviews to provide insights: one on conflict zones and one on mobile clinics. The case study describes the process and challenges faced throughout a mobile clinic deployment during and after the Iraq War. The data was gathered using mixed methods over a two-year period (2017–2018).

Findings

Armed conflicts directly impact the populations’ health and access to health care. Mobile clinic deployments are often used and recommended to provide health-care access to vulnerable populations cut off from health-care services. However, there is a dearth of peer-reviewed literature documenting decision support tools for mobile clinic deployments.

Originality/value

This study highlights the gaps in the literature and provides direction for future research to support the development of valuable insights and decision support tools for practitioners.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Jinwei Lv, Bing Liu and Li Chai

Urbanization is driving the growth of China’s carbon footprint. It’s important to investigate what factors, how and to what extent, affect carbon footprints embedded in various…

Abstract

Purpose

Urbanization is driving the growth of China’s carbon footprint. It’s important to investigate what factors, how and to what extent, affect carbon footprints embedded in various categories of rural and urban households’ consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ an environmental extended input-output model to assess and compare the rural-urban household carbon footprints and perform a multivariant regression analysis to identify the varying relationships of the determinants on rural and urban household carbon footprints based on the panel data of Chinese households from 2012 to 2018.

Findings

The results show evidence of urbanity density effect on direct carbon footprints and countervailing effect on indirect carbon footprints. The old dependency ratio has no significant effect on rural family emissions but has a significantly negative effect on urban direct and indirect carbon footprints. A higher child dependency ratio is associated with less rural household carbon emissions while the opposite is true for urban households. Taking advantage of recycled fuel saves direct carbon emissions and this green lifestyle benefits urban households more by saving more carbon emissions. There is a positive relationship between consumption structure ratio and direct carbon footprints while a negative relationship with indirect carbon footprints and this impact is less significant for urban households. The higher the price level of water, electricity and fuel, the lower the rural household’s direct carbon footprints. Private car ownership consistently augments household carbon footprints across rural and urban areas.

Originality/value

This paper provides comprehensive findings to understand the relationships between an array of determinants and China’s rural-urban carbon emissions, empowering China’s contribution to the global effort on climate mitigation.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

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