Search results

This paper is intended to investigate the economic, organizational and social factors affecting the receipt of advance payment by greenhouse vegetable producers from commission agents operating in the wholesale market.

The data were gathered through questionnaire forms developed for this specific purpose through face-to-face interviews with 180 producers growing greenhouse vegetables in the central district and Serik, Antalya in the Western Mediterranean Region of Turkey. A logistic regression model was employed to analyse the factors affecting the likelihood of greenhouse vegetable growers getting advance from commission agents.

A good financial status of enterprises producing greenhouse vegetables and the fact that their production input needs are met by cooperatives reduce their dependence on commission agents, thereby increasing their bargaining power when selling their products. Since producers can readily meet their need for the capital required for the vegetable production process from commission agents, they do not prefer to borrow from lending institutions making agricultural loans with requirements such as collateral. The fact that greenhouse vegetable farmers receive technical and market information and advice from commission agents strengthens their relationship with them.

It is the first study that evaluates in detail the financial aspect of the relationships between producers and commission agents in the greenhouse vegetables wholesale market. It contributes significantly to agricultural policymakers regarding the functioning of the greenhouse vegetable market, and in particular, the regulations on agricultural loans for production processes.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theory that is sufficiently adapted to sector competitiveness. The case of greenhouse vegetable production in The Netherlands and Switzerland is used to explain differences in sector competitiveness.

Interviews focusing on the fields of spatial planning, labor, energy supply, and market organization were carried out with stakeholders and producers in both countries and evaluated by Grounded Theory.

The work shows that the flexibility not only of producers, but also of the whole institutional framework in The Netherlands exceeds the flexibility on the Swiss side by far, which may be an important factor for explaining differences in competitiveness.

The result that it is a basic difference in flexibility and adaptability that determines sector competitiveness is valid for the vegetable sector. It should be examined whether similar patterns can be found in other sectors.

The competitiveness discussion is transferred to a new economic level, namely the economic sector. Likewise, new answers are found in looking for explanations for differences in competitiveness.

This paper aims to investigate the contents of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn in the soil of vegetable production bases in the Yongnian County of Hebei Province by random sampling.

The environmental quality conditions of these heavy metals were evaluated by both the single quality index and comprehensive quality index methods.

It was concluded that the average heavy metal contents in the soil of protected vegetable fields in the Yongnian County are all under the limit values prescribed by the environmental quality evaluation standard for farmland of greenhouse vegetables production (2007), so the soil’s environmental quality is classified as first class regarding cleanliness. It is fit for the plantation of non-polluted vegetables. It is shown that there is a cumulative trend of heavy metal contents in the soil with age after analysis of a correlation coefficient between heavy metal contents and age in Yongnian’s protected fields and excessive application of fertilizers or organic fertilizers, which is the main factor leading to an increase in heavy metal contents in the soil.

It is suggested that the amount of fertilizer should be properly reduced to prevent the soil’s environmental deterioration, the vegetable planting structure should be improved and the vegetables grown in areas with weaker accumulation of heavy metals should be cultivated.

The development of labour standards for the single truss tomato production system is examined. Both time study and predetermined time systems, such as the Element Times for Agriculture (ETA) tables and the Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST) tables, are used to determine labour standards for the operations of pruning and harvesting in a single truss tomato production system. The hypothesis is that a predetermined time system could be used to establish greenhouse labour standards, and thus replace the tedious and costly process of direct time study. Such a work measurement system would enable the setting of job standards quickly and accurately. Standardised work models will facilitate cost control of labour operations, and provide data for evaluation of labour costs within future greenhouse system designs. The data indicate that, although the pre‐determined time values varied from measured time study by around 6 per cent to over 23 per cent for pruning, the variation for harvesting ranged approximately from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. The combined results suggest that predetermined time systems can be used effectively to establish greenhouse labour standards for short cycle tasks without the loss of significant accuracy when using an absolute scale.

Sustainable agriculture implies the ability of agro‐ecosystems to remain productive in the long‐term. It is not easy to point out unambiguously whether or not current production systems meet this sustainability demand. A priori thinking would suggest that organic crops are environmentally favourable, but may ignore the effect of reduced productivity, which shifts the potential impact to other parts of the food provision system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the ecological sustainability of conventional and organic leek production by means of life cycle assessment (LCA).

A cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA is applied, based on real farm data from two research centres. For a consistent comparison, two functional units (FU) were defined: 1ha and 1 kg of leek production.

Assessed on an area basis, organic farming shows a more favourable environmental profile. These overall benefits are strongly reduced when the lower yields are taken into account. Related to organic farming it is therefore important that solutions are found to substantially increase the yields without increasing the environmental burden. Related to conventional farming, important potential for environmental improvements are in optimising the farm nutrient flows, reducing pesticide use and increasing its self‐supporting capacity.

The research is a cradle‐to‐farm gate LCA, future research can be expanded to comprise all phases from cradle‐to‐grave to get an idea of the total sustainability of our present food consumption patterns. The research is also limited to the case of leek production. Future research can apply the methodology to other crops.

To date, there is still lack of clear evidence of the added value of organic farming compared to conventional farming on environmental basis. Few studies have compared organic and conventional food production by means of LCA. This paper addresses these issues.

During the planting process, agricultural products produce large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This has placed tremendous pressure on sustainable global development. Many countries and regions in the world have adopted intensive subsistence cultivation methods when planting maize; however, limited studies exist on these methods. The main purpose of this research is to show the impact of climate change on maize yields and carbon footprint (CF) in South Korea over 10 years, find the proper operating method and promote the advanced combination of inputs for the sustainable development of maize farmers.

This study used survey data from the South Korea Rural Development Administration of 2010, 2014 and 2019 to estimate the CF of maize planting under intensive subsistence cultivation. Life-cycle assessment was used to determine the CF. Farmers were grouped according to significant differences in yield and GHG emissions. Linear regression was used to measure the dependence of the main contributors on the CF production and carbon efficiency.

In South Korean maize planting, N in chemical fertiliser was the most significant contributor to the CF and organic fertiliser was the most significant input. The use of chemical and organic fertilisers significantly affects the production of the CF and carbon efficiency. Households in the high-yield and low-GHG emission groups are more sustainable because they generate the least GHG when producing and earning through maize cultivation. Globally, maize production in South Korea has a relatively low CF and maize production produces fewer GHG.

This study provides information for policymakers to determine key operational options for reducing GHG emissions using intensive subsistence cultivation of maize production in South Korea and other countries.

The selection of marketing channels by vegetable producers directly affects the income of producers and is important for the maintenance of a stable supply of vegetables and food control. The purpose of this paper is threefold: to investigate the cooperative selection of vegetable marketing channels; to identify the factors that influence the selection of marketing channels by professional vegetable cooperatives by comparing emerging and traditional circulation modes; and to solve the problems related to vegetable circulation channels in Beijing.

A total of 187 valid questionnaires were collected from seven main vegetable production districts in Beijing urban areas from September to December 2017, with a response rate of 89 percent. Binary logistic regression was used for analysis in this study.

Results revealed that the cooperatives mainly selected large wholesalers, wholesale markets, supermarkets and electronic commerce as their marketing channels for their vegetables. Estimation results showed that among the 18 influencing factors in the four categories, the educational level of the person in charge and some other factors significantly influence the selection of these four distribution channels by the cooperatives.

Due to the lack of time and energy, this paper does not analyze the factors influencing a cooperative’s choice of different e-commerce platforms. If this problem can be solved, it will definitely promote the development of e-commerce in rural areas.

The results obtained in the present study and their implications could help policy makers establish a science-based and reasonable policy to encourage vegetable producers to participate in the new circulation modes of vegetables in Beijing and ensure their income in the vegetable supply chain. This study suggests methods to improve the vegetable sector in other cities facing similar issues.