Search results
1 – 10 of over 6000Anjani Kumar, Smriti Verma, Sunil Saroj, Amit Mohan Prasad and Avinash Kishore
The Million Farmers School (MFS) program—also known as Kisan Pathshala was launched to impart training to the farmers by the government of the state of Uttar Pradesh (India) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The Million Farmers School (MFS) program—also known as Kisan Pathshala was launched to impart training to the farmers by the government of the state of Uttar Pradesh (India) in December 2017. This study estimates the impact of training on agricultural knowledge of the farmers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on household survey conducted in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, during March–May 2019. The authors employed matching methods, the two-stage least square (2SLS)-residual and endogenous switching regression approaches to control for selection bias and endogeneity.
Findings
The results suggest that knowledge outcomes are significantly better among participants vis-à-vis non-participants. The results are robust to different model specifications. Further, the benefits are observed across different regions and social groups.
Research limitations/implications
The MFS program can go a long way in enhancing agricultural know-how and the farmers' economic well-being, bringing a transformative change in the agricultural landscape of UP.
Originality/value
This study is based on a field survey data and analyzes various aspects of the program's impact, design and implementation, and offers implementation advice for greater efficacy in future.
Details
Keywords
Rida Akzar, Alexandra Peralta and Wendy Umberger
This study examined the effects of adopting dairy feed technology bundles on the milk production of smallholder dairy farmers.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the effects of adopting dairy feed technology bundles on the milk production of smallholder dairy farmers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was based on Multinomial Endogenous Switching Regression (MESR) to estimate the effects of the adoption of three feed technology bundles on milk production using data collected from 518 dairy farm households in West Java, Indonesia.
Findings
The findings indicated that adopting technology bundles had positive and robust effects on milk production, with gradual positive effects between non-adoption and the adoption of different bundles of technologies.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on the association between the adoption of feed technology bundles and milk production. However, further analysis of the causal links between the adoption of feed technologies and milk production as well as the inclusion of other outcomes in the analysis, such as production costs and risk mitigation, are required.
Originality/value
Most of the literature on agricultural technology adoption focuses on the adoption of individual technologies, crop farming and conservation practices. Therefore, this study examined the effects of the adoption of dairy feed technology bundles.
Details
Keywords
Fan Li, Dangui Li, Maarten Voors, Shuyi Feng, Weifeng Zhang and Nico Heerink
Soil nutrient management and fertilizer use by farmers are important for sustainable grain production. The authors examined the effect of an experimental agricultural extension…
Abstract
Purpose
Soil nutrient management and fertilizer use by farmers are important for sustainable grain production. The authors examined the effect of an experimental agricultural extension program, the science and technology backyard, in promoting sustainable soil nutrient management in the North China Plain (NCP). The science and technology backyard integrates farmer field schools, field demonstrations, and case-to-case counselling to promote sustainable farming practices among rural smallholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a large-scale household survey of more than 2,000 rural smallholders. The authors used a multivariate regression analysis as the benchmark to assess the effect of the science-and-technology backyard on smallholder soil nutrient management. Furthermore, the authors used coarse exact matching (CEM) methods to control for potential bias due to self-selection and the (endogenous) switching regression approach as the main empirical analysis.
Findings
The results show that the science-and-technology backyard program increased smallholders' wheat yield by approximately 0.23 standard deviation; however, no significant increase in maize yield was observed. Regarding soil nutrient use efficiency, the authors found a significant improvement in smallholders' phosphorus and potassium use efficiencies for both wheat and maize production, and a significant improvement in nitrogen use efficiency for wheat production, but no significant improvement of nitrogen use efficiency for maize production.
Originality/value
This study evaluated a novel participatory agricultural extension model to improve soil nutrient management practices among smallholders. The integration of agronomists' scientific knowledge and smallholders' local contextual experiences could be an effective way to improve farmers' soil nutrient management. This study provides the first quantitative estimates based on rigorous impact assessment methods of this novel extension approach in rural China.
Details
Keywords
Leão Maldonado, Silvia Pereira de Castro Casa Nova, Luiz Miguel Renda dos Santos and Marcia Maria dos Santos Bortolocci Espejo
At one end, family farming is seen as important for incentivizing local development. At another end, the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE) is a social assistance…
Abstract
At one end, family farming is seen as important for incentivizing local development. At another end, the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE) is a social assistance policy that provides food and nutrition for students enrolled in public schools. In 2015, the program fed 41.5 million students across the country. In 2009, these two worlds – family farming and school feeding – were connected through a public policy implemented by law. This law defines that 30% of the financial resources for the acquisition of school feeding, transferred by the federal government to states and municipalities, must be spent on items produced by family farming. However, even considering the legal requirement and many of the changes it has brought, many municipalities still do not meet this minimum requirement. In 2015, more than half of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities, about 54%, did not reach the 30% minimum; that is, over 3,000 municipalities failed to meet that legal threshold. This context raises some questions: Why is the law not effective? What are the social structures that hinder the implementation of this public policy as it was conceived? One of the theoretical frameworks that could sustain such questioning is Structuration Theory (ST; Giddens, 2003). It brings the concept of structure duality, stating that there is no prevalence between social structure and human action, but rather a reciprocity. In this theory, the structure can be distinguished into three dimensions (signification, domination, and legitimation) and the interaction of these dimensions can lead to either transformation or continuity. Using the lenses of ST, our aim is to identify, analyze, and understand the reverberations of this public policy on social practices and how these reverberations could explain this state of things. For this, we conducted a preliminary field research, based on interviews with key agents involved in the school feeding program in a municipality in the Midwest of Brazil. The preliminary results revealed that the change induced by the law reflected on those agents, altering social practices. New procedures were adopted that transformed social practices pertaining to the dimension of signification. Nevertheless, challenges related to logistics (transport and storage), trust, training, and bureaucracy are still hindering the effectiveness of the intended public policy. As a limitation, we were not under conditions to grasp the changes while they occurred because our point of attention is the scenario after the enforcement of the relevant Law. Beyond that, our study uses ST to deal with the resistance of social structures to change even in a scenario of mandatory law enforcement.
Details
Keywords
Agriculture knowledge, market intelligence, emerging business model.
Abstract
Subject area
Agriculture knowledge, market intelligence, emerging business model.
Study level/applicability
It is best suited to teach undergraduates and graduates in the areas of rural marketing, agri-business management, service management and information and communication technology for development.
Case overview
India is changing with great pace by inclusive growth on espousal of technology into the mainstream. Indian farmers are wholly depending even now on traditional methods for decision making on entire agriculture supply chain. The constant decision making provides middle men with a chance to exploit and empower themselves on the returns produced by farmers. Technology is creating waves providing an opportunity for farmers to benefit by adopting information and technology to solve their basic livelihood problems. The Thomson Reuter group launched a SMS-based mobile information service to support India's 250-million-strong agricultural community. The service, named Reuters Market Light (RML), is trying to provide a missing link by providing required information in the quickest possible time to farmers; user need-based services are critical to this. How far RML services are delivering in this context is quizzed by some analysts. Thomson Reuter's service started with the global climb down in commodity prices, coupled with increased risk of natural disasters as per experts. The competitors providing similar services at price which differ with RML wondered about the success, scalability and sustainability of its venture.
Expected learning outcomes
This is a practical view of how these interventions can be better looked at and can get into policy for a framework for rural areas' socio-economic development.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes.
Details
Keywords
Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured…
Abstract
Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.
The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.
The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.
Details
Keywords
Carl E. Pray, Latha Nagarajan, Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu and Bharat Ramaswami
Since the 1980s agricultural biotech investments by the public sector have increased substantially in both China and India. In the last two decades there has also been a dramatic…
Abstract
Since the 1980s agricultural biotech investments by the public sector have increased substantially in both China and India. In the last two decades there has also been a dramatic increase in private section investment in agricultural biotechnology particularly in India. The promise of major benefits of Bt cotton identified in early socioeconomic studies of Bt cotton has proven to be true. Bt cotton has spread to at least 66% and 85% of total cotton areas of China and India, respectively – wherever bollworm is a major problem. Bt cotton continues to control bollworm in both countries, and farmers continue as major beneficiaries rather than biotech or seed companies. The major impacts have been yield increases in India and reduced pesticides consumption in China. In China, evidence also suggests that Bt cotton has suppressed the bollworm population so that non-Bt cotton growers and producers of other crops that are susceptible to bollworm are also benefitting.
The chapter also provides evidence that in the near future Bt rice and Bt eggplant could have major positive impacts by reducing pesticide use and farmers’ exposure to chemical pesticides and increasing yields. Both crops were approved for commercial production by government biosafety regulators, but are not yet available for commercial cultivation.
Details
Keywords
Yu Gong, Fu Jia and Steve Brown
Operations and Logistics.
Abstract
Subject area
Operations and Logistics.
Study level/applicability
Senior undergraduate students and postgraduate students specialising in agricultural economics/agribusiness/supply chain management and can also be used for executive training for supply chain managers and corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers of food companies.
Case overview
This case presents an industry leading company – Nestlé’s sustainable initiative in its dairy supply chain in China. The case begins with the background of China’s dairy industry, followed by an introduction of the case company. The case then moves on to the comparison of Nestlé’s fresh milk supply chain operation before and after 2008 and different approaches to help the dairy suppliers’ transformation. The focus is on Nestlé’s innovative industry collaboration platform, the Dairy Farming Institute.
Expected learning outcomes
This case allows students to explore the following theoretical frameworks: sustainable supply chain management; supply chain leadership, supply chain learning and supply chain structure. By analysing this case, students should be able to gain an understanding of how multinational corporations (MNCs) play a supply chain leadership role in supply chain learning of sustainable supply chain initiatives.
Supplementary materials
Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Subject code
CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.
Details
Keywords
This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case…
Abstract
This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.
Details