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From the perspective of land mortgages, the purpose of this paper is to understand how farmers can be motivated to utilize environment-friendly formula fertilizers, thereby reducing the use of chemical fertilizers.

Two hypotheses are empirically tested using questionnaire responses from 714 farmers across three provinces in China to establish the relationship and to determine the role land rent plays.

This study finds that farmers who obtain land mortgages will be more willing to apply formula fertilizers in order to obtain higher value of their “own” land. This is because obtaining land mortgages can be considered as the process of titling land management rights. Farmers who have been transferred the land by verbal agreement no longer need to worry about losing it at any time. Hence, they are willing to apply formula fertilizers on their transferred land. Similarly, farmers who have been transferred the land by written contract to obtain more land mortgages will also be willing because the formula fertilizers can not only improve the quality of their transferred land, but also increase its value as collateral. This mechanism is clearer in the area where the average land rent is relatively lower.

No study has yet linked the reform of land mortgages to environmentally friendly behavior. While other studies have focused on the way access to credit changes farmer investments and spending, this particular relationship has not yet been formalized, giving this study theoretical and empirical significance.

While the peer effects of technology adoption are well established, few studies have considered the variation in peer effects resulting from the mutual proximity between leaders and followers and the heterogeneity of farmers' learning technology. This study addresses the gap in the literature by analyzing the peer effects of technology adoption among Chinese farmers.

Drawing on a government-led soil testing and formulated fertilization program, this study uses survey data of farmers from three Chinese provinces to examine the peer effects of technology adoption. This study uses a probit model to examine how mutual proximity influences peer effects and their heterogeneity. Accordingly, farmers were divided into two groups, namely small- and large-scale farmers, and then into leaders or followers depending on whether they were selected by the government as model farmers.

Both small- and large-scale farmers are more likely to use formula fertilizer if their peers do so. However, a large-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if the average adoption behavior of other large-scale model (leader) farmers is higher, while a small-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if other small-scale non-model (follower) farmers have higher average adoption behavior. Moreover, the peer effect was weakened by geographic distance among small-scale farmers and by economic distance among large-scale farmers.

This study elucidates the means of optimizing social learning and technology adoption among farmers.

In writing a paper to honour Professor Clem Tisdell, it is apt to focus attention on the environmental and human costs of commercial agricultural production, especially the Green Revolution technology in South Asia during the last few decades. This is an area where Professor Tisdell has done much research, amongst the multitude of other research interests he has pursued in his very illustrious career. Modern commercial agricultural practices involving chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides have been associated with huge increases in food production never witnessed before and, in the case of cereal production (especially wheat) under Green Revolution technology, recorded spectacular growth. As statistics show, production and productivity have increased. However, the high chemical usage of fertilizers and pesticides to bring about these spectacular increases in food production is not without its problems. A visible parallel correlation between higher productivity, high chemical input use and environmental degradation and human health effects is evident in many countries where commercial agriculture is widespread. This paper discusses the environmental and health effects/costs arising from the high use of chemical inputs to increase production and productivity in South Asia, with a field study carried out in Sri Lanka to show the health costs arising from direct exposure to pesticides during pesticide handling and spraying on farms by small‐scale farmers.

This paper aims to investigate knowledge‐capital relationship through tracking the history of knowledge commercialization.

Theoretical exploration, historical evidence and interviews are used in this research. Firstly it recalls the convergence of academic knowledge and industrial capital. Then the knowledge‐capital marriage is observed. Finally, the paper discusses the impact of the marriage on future enterprise development.

The combination of knowledge and capital is inevitable; the knowledge‐capital marriage is the origin of contemporary academic enterprise; the future enterprise will more rely on knowledge‐capital combination.

This study is helpful to policymaking: to promote the combination of knowledge and capital in less developed countries or regions, achieving knowledge‐capital interaction in innovation system.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of three types of peer monitoring and punishment tools on the performance of a group contract for the control of agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) in China.

Experimental economics.

All the three tools result in efficiency improvement and show little difference in performance. In addition, they break the theoretical Nash equilibrium of the team entry auction and help to better reveal bidders’ private cost information.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study can be the first laboratory experiment study in the area of ANPSP in China and might provide some beneficial lessons for China’s policy-makers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of smallholder farmers’ motivations, opportunities and abilities on their satisfactions of non-certified organic farming practices in Southern China based on the motivation–opportunity–ability (MOA) model.

The sample covers 314 smallholders from Nanning region in Southern China who have engaged in non-certified organic farming. Judgmental and convenient sampling are applied to collect data. Data analysis consists of confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and mediation test.

The results show opportunity as dominant impact factor of smallholder farmers’ satisfaction followed by motivation and ability. Also, their commitment to further non-certified organic farming is positively influenced by their satisfactory level. Mediation test reveals that satisfaction partially mediates the relationships between motivation, ability and commitment.

First, due to the limited sample size in a single region, the findings cannot represent even Southern Chinese farmers as an entirety. Second, the study only limited itself in the scope of the MOA model.

Apart from providing updated empirical results for existing studies, this study also highlights the importance of farmer association, supporting scheme as well as the relevant training for the smallholder farmers to size the opportunities, promote their motivations and strengthen their abilities.

As little attention has been given to small-scale farmer who are involved in organic farming practice in China, this paper presents findings based on the MOA framework.

The paper aims to clarify the relationship between the output value of unit sown area (OVUSA) and its major influential factors by taking Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China as an instance, followed by some suggestions for adjusting the agricultural inputs.

The paper is characterized by an exploratory research by constructing a grey incidence model (GIM) based on the grey system theory (GST) initiated by Chinese professor Julong Deng. The original data processed in the model are quoted from Jiangsu Statistics web site and the Statistical Yearbook of Jiangsu Province.

The analysis indicates several noteworthy points in the following areas. To start with, the proportion of irrigated area to sown area has turned out to be a stabilizing factor influencing OVUSA; next, the contributions of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers' output to the growth of the OVUSA were reduced, while the marginal outputs of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers seemed to be lower; then the outputs of potash and compound fertilizers have made significant contributions to the growth of the OVUSA, although their application rates were drastically increased; besides, the total power of agricultural machinery was a major factor boosting the growth of the OVUSA; furthermore, the decrease of labor force was obviously remarkably related to the reduction of OVUSA; finally, the areas affected by natural disasters have had a foremost impact on OVUSA reduction.

Suggestions are also proposed to the related policy-makers as follows: to reasonably control the application rates of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, to encourage fertilizer manufacturing enterprises to develop potassium mineral resources with the purpose of guaranteeing the potash fertilizer's supply, to scientifically design the composition of compound fertilizers in order to satisfy the needs of cultivated lands in different areas, to improve the quality and structure of agricultural labor forces with the aim of meeting emerging trends in the agricultural industry, to make every effort to further modernize the current agricultural industry, and to enhance the disaster-prevention capability of the agricultural industry by gradually converting it into a controllable one.

Entrepreneurship, Strategic Marketing, Innovation, New Product Development (NPD).

This case is suitable to be used in advanced undergraduate and MBA/MSc.

This case illustrates the challenges related to designing and launching an innovative product in the market. It revolves around the issues pertaining to smart organic fertilizer's (SOF) pre- and post-launch experiences. Haji Sani Kimi, a Senior Research Officer of the Strategic Research Centre at MARDI, had developed a zeolite-based organic fertilizer which he believed to be the first of its kind in Malaysia. He had taken five years to complete his research in developing SOF. Seeing its potential benefits for the land and farmers, the then Director General of MARDI asked Sani to speed up the process of technology transfer to be the first to launch the product in the market. In 2005, MARDI established a five-year agreement with Hicotech Sendirian Berhad to license its intellectual property rights (IPR). Adnan, a successful automobile business entrepreneur, ventured into the organic fertilizer business, as this product was in high demand and extensively used by paddy farmers in Malaysia and was subsidized by the government. However, Hicotech failed to get government contract to supply organic fertilizer under the government subsidy program. As such, it had to compete in the open market which was dominated by already-established Chinese entrepreneurs. At the beginning, SOF was doing well in the market, but, during 2007, Hicotech experienced great financial loss due to its mismanagement of collecting payment from its customers. Hicotech tried to work in partnership with ABH Mega Sendirian Berhad to overcome its financial difficulties. However, due to some disagreements, the collaboration was terminated within a short period of time. From 2005 to the end of 2009, Hicotech was not able to pay any royalties to MARDI and the license of Hicotech was to expire in February 2010. Haji Sani was trying to get a solution to revive SOF in the market. Moreover, he was confused whether to renew the license of SOF IPR with Hicotech or to search for another company.

Using this case, students can learn how a small- and/or medium-scale companies can strategize their new product launch. Based on the given industry scenario, students can realize the potential challenges that are related to launching a new product. Furthermore, this case demonstrates that producing a high-quality product is not enough to succeed in the market; the right strategy also plays an important role in making it successful. Last, it can be also learned that proper managerial control and financial support are two important factors that contributes in any business success. Overall, strategic marketing/management students will learn the importance of adopting proper strategy, while the students who are undertaking the new product development course benefit by seeing the practical situation of a new product launch, its rise and its fall.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Upon completion of this case study, students are expected to be able to reflect on strategic industry sectors and the formulation of long-view public policies; understand some of the main biases that affect making decisions in environments of high uncertainty; and build and apply judgment models to support decision-making processes.

Motivated by recent international events responsible for causing supply shock and great volatility in the price of imported fertilizers, Brazil, which in 2022 was responsible for producing only 15% of all the fertilizer consumed by its agribusiness, ran against time by launching a new national fertilizer plan (PNF). The plan proposed to boost Brazil’s national fertilizer industry to fulfil a long-term vision of reducing the country’s external dependence by 2050. While awaiting the first results of the PNF, this case study casts the student participants in the role of Breno Castelães, chief advisor of the special secretariat for strategic affairs of the presidency of the republic, whose role is to recommend the country’s position in the face of external pressures to adopt international embargoes of Russian fertilizers because of its war with Ukraine.

This case study is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students of business administration and public management courses who want to deal with topics such as public policy, judgment and decision-making.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 10: Public sector management.

Since 2004, subsidies increased by 670 percent in the Chinese fertilizer industry to reduce the farmer's burden. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether subsidies benefit the target groups, the fertilizer subsidy distribution pattern and benefit allocation pattern among fertilizer producers and other sectors were investigated.

The Muth model is extended to evaluate the impacts of a subsidy on multi-stage markets.

It is found that the total benefits from the policy are about RMB 7.7 billion yuans. The fertilizer suppliers gain about RMB 51 billion yuans from the favorable policy with mean subsidy incidence 0.8 and capturing about 70 percent of total surplus.

The results suggest that transferring parts of subsidies to the non-fertilizer sectors could be considered an efficient way to redistribute welfare indifferent sectors.

This study first use the equilibrium displacement model to quantity the distribution of fertilizer subsidy in a vertical market in China.