Agricultural History

Cost of best management practices to combat agricultural runoff and comparison with the local populations’ willingness to pay: Case of the Austreberthe watershed (Normandy, France)

This paper briefly introduces an integrated remote-sensing methodology based on MODIS time-series imagery for detecting spatiotemporal changes in Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) farming systems. The integrated methodology consists of six parts, and uses a wavelet-based filter to smooth MODIS-derived time-series indexes (EVI, LSWI, and DVEL) from 2000 to 2008. Through a proposed decision tree using the smoothed indexes, we classified several farming systems, viz., triple rice cropping, two types of double rice cropping, shrimp-rice farming (rotational cropping), and inland aquaculture (monoculture). The MODIS-derived estimate of the total rice-planted area, shrimp-rice farming area, and inland aquaculture area agreed well with statistical data at the province level (R2 ≥ 0.96). However, in some provinces, the estimate has a large margin of error, probably because of the mixed-pixel effect due to the moderate spatial resolution of MODIS (250 m). According to the estimated spatial pattern of the farming systems in the whole VMD, inland aquaculture and shrimp-rice farming areas are distributed mostly in the coastal provinces. The areas of the farming systems steadily expanded until 2007, and double rice cropping systems in both upper and coastal regions were replaced by triple rice cropping because of infrastructure improvements. The proportion of the triple rice cropping area peaked in 2005 and then declined steadily over the next 2 years. We discuss the advantage of the proposed methodology for detecting the spatiotemporal changes of land use patterns, especially of farming systems in a regional area.

Fogera district is one of the districts adjacent to Lake Tana in South Gondar zone in Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Floods and related water-borne diseases were serious problems in the plains of the Lake Tana Basin and Fogera district in particular for centuries. But with the introduction of rice as a crop, this environmental characteristic has become an opportunity instead of a challenge. To address the lack of documentation about this water utilization-induced change in farming systems in this area, and the resulting rice production and consumption value chain, this chapter presents three survey studies conducted from 2010/11to 2014 by structured interviews of farming households and marketing agents, field observations and group discussions supplemented by review of literatures. Survey data was collected from 200 farming households of high and medium level rice producing kebeles of Fogera district selected randomly, key informant experts and a variety of value chain actors. Participation in the rice industry in this area has increased from 30 participant households in 2 kebeles and area coverage of 6 ha in 1993/94 to 34,249 households in 24 kebeles covering an area of 20,230 ha of land in 2014/15. Fogera district jumps from no contribution in rice production before two decades to a share of 77% of the rice produced in Amhara and 60% produced in all of Ethiopia. Rice is now the primary crop in the district. In addition to rice production, farming households have also adapted to rice consumption by innovative value addition practices to local food items. About 82.5% of the respondents were rice producers, with non-producing households having no access to irrigation; rice production is significantly related to irrigation water utilization. These findings clarify the contribution of water resource utilization in shifting farming systems and the value addition practices in the area. The study has implications for how to promote similar innovations where there are no cultural practices related to commodities targeted by extension interventions exemplify the impacts of proper water resource use.

The study identified adaptation strategies to land grabbing among agri-preneurs using three stage sampling technique. First was purposive selection of Ibeju-Lekki and Ikorodu Local Governments. Second stage was selection of communities mostly affected by land grabbing activities; third stage involved use of representative sampling technique to select sixty respondents. Data collected through interview schedule were analyzed using percentage and chi-square. Results showed that increased urbanization 48.3% accounted for major cause of land grabbing. Building and construction was used by 60% of the respondents as the most effective preventive measure. The majority (83.3%) of the respondents used change in farming system as their coping strategies. A significant relationship existed between education status and coping strategies (X2= 11.7). Land grabbing is gradually driving agricultural production into extinction in Ibeju-Lekki and Ikorodu Local Government Areas mostly known for agricultural production. Equipping farmers with adequate knowledge on different farming system such as mixed cropping, mixed farming and integrated farming system. Extension services should be geared towards giving farmers technical advice and information on how to effectively use the little land at their disposal and Government should assist farmers by ensuring strict adherence to formulated policy on land grab matters.

Modeling changes in farming systems with the adoption of improved fallows in southern Mali

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) has caused severe losses in farmed populations of marine shrimp Penaeus vannamei and P. monodon. The causative agents are unique strains of the bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus and related Vibrio species. The disease emerged in the People's Republic of China (China) and Vietnam in 2010 and spread throughout South-East Asia; it was later reported in countries in both North and South America. The disease has had significant economic impacts on the shrimp aquaculture industry. From 2010 to 2016, combined losses from China, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam due primarily to outbreaks of AHPND, including losses at the farm gate and those resulting from a drop in feed sales and exports, were estimated at over US$ 44 billion. Other economic losses include those associated with processing facilities, decreased community revenues resulting from increased unemployment, financial investments, and the costs of implementing diagnostic and control measures. The reduced employment opportunities and increases in debt burden and investment risk have had sociological impacts. The responses to the disease have led to a gradual recovery of the shrimp industry in affected countries. These response efforts have included the implementation of changes in farming systems and management, including, among others, enhanced biosecurity and the use of AHPND-free and AHPND-resistant shrimp. This situation of losses and recovery illustrates the importance of having a multi-level response plan in place to prevent, or to reduce the risk of, outbreaks of disease.

Food production in Sahelian countries is very dependent on erratic rainfall. To eliminate this climatic risk, modern irrigated agriculture was introduced and spread into the Senegal Valley in the course of the last thirty years. In such a context of changes in farming systems and food consumption patterns, a nutritional and dietary study was conducted three different times at six month intervals among 37 families of a village community which farmed a recently established irrigated area. Women played an important part in agricultural tasks. Average food consumption met the recommended intake for energy but deficiencies persist for certain nutrients. The prevalence of malnutrition was high, with 16% stunting and 13% wasting among children between the ages of 0 and 10 years; a third of the older children and 20% of the adults presented an emaciated appearance. Rice production has increased food security but, in comparison with the situation in the valley 35 years ago, nutritional gains were slight and there were no differences in the malnutrition rate of preschool children from that observed nine years earlier in a non‐irrigated neighboring area. The findings suggest increase in food production following introduction of irrigation without improvement of hygienic conditions is not sufficient to ameliorate the nutritional status of the community. Consequences of added work load in habitual physical activity need to be considered, particularly when, as is the case here, food production is in part the result of efforts of women.

Socio-natural interaction and landscape dynamics in the Burren, Ireland

Since independence, different institutional arrangements have been tried to reorganize the land and production relations for bringing change in farming systems and enhancing crop yield of small farmers. But, these interventions have not been successful in bringing any meaningful improvement. Non-viability of small landholdings, inadequacies in the availability of inputs, poor extension and infrastructural support and insufficient marketing avenues have been found to be the primary reasons for the low crop productivity. However, it is believed that changes in institutional arrangements of land tenure system like land leasing, contract farming and corporate farming can make the small farms economically viable. By forging strategic alliance with farmers and banks, the corporate sector, which is known for its efficient management, can provide a sound business framework and prove to be a panacea for the ills of agricultural sector in general and small farmers in particular. The experience of some the Indian companies and multi-national companies are quite encouraging in this area. This paper has made an attempt to integrate small farmers and corporate sector and establish a link between small farmers and global market through effective value chain system. Besides, it has described the role of various players in the value chain and has discussed how the government, keeping the interests of the farmers in view, can facilitate greater participation of the corporate sector through appropriate policy framework.

In this paper we explore changes in agriculture and provisioning in Bunyole County, located in Tororo District on Uganda's eastern border. Since the 1980s parts of the region have experienced a ‘rice boom’ based on the cultivation of paddy rice in irrigated schemes and seasonal swamps. During the same period, the cultivation of cotton, the traditional cash crop, has declined precipitously. Many households in the region are no longer self‐sufficient in food, and food security is a common concern. Drawing both on anthropological field studies in contrasting parts of Bunyole County (1992–3 and 2001–2), as well as long‐term field research in Bunyole that started in 1969, we examine changes in farming systems and land use, in the gender‐based division of labour in family production, and in the interdependence of families and individuals as expressed in social exchange. We trace the increasing importance of trade in food crops of all sorts and in particular the significance for the local rice economy of an emerging year‐round market for agricultural labour. Finally we examine the developing and changing discourse about ‘food’—as a commercial, a nutritional and a symbolic commodity—and the corresponding discourse about ‘money’. We see food security—at household level and in regions—as an outcome of the strategic actions of individuals. However, we also argue that local debates about food security reflect a changing relationship between ‘food’ and ‘money’—a change that involves both social and productive relationships. In eastern Bunyole these changes are expressed in terms of the new rice economy but, we suggest, the changes are more fundamental, and can be seen in many parts of Uganda. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rapid technical and economic changes in agriculture, together with state policies fostering that industry, are usually considered to be crucial to rural development. Yet in many parts of rural Europe changes in farming systems and the direction given to agricultural policies are making the role of agriculture less vital. In fact, some agricultural changes are actually proving harmful to rural land uses and to the strength and pattern of rural societies. Distinction must be made between rural land of good agricultural quality lying close to cities with good lines of communication as against more isolated rural areas with poorer farm land and difficult topography and climate. Problems arising from agricultural changes and certain Government agricultural policies include agricultural depopulation, surplus rural settlements and houses, lack of local employment, rising costs of maintaining and improving rural infrastructures, decimation of natural fauna and flora and the production of farming landscapes dominated by large machines and factory style buildings. In many regions, the over-emphasis on strictly agricultural policies in rural development means a lack of constructive planning and finance for rural areas which have become largely non-agricultural economies.

Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Southeast Asia: Innovations and for Mountainous Areas Holger L. Frohlich, Pepijn Schreinemachers, Karl Stahr, and Gerhard Clemens, eds. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer, 2013, x+490pp.There is no promising way of sustainably farming sloping land in a market-oriented economy. Farmers are usually required to offer competitive prices and quality of agricultural products in order to survive in the market. That forces them to increase agricultural production, which in turn leaves them no choice apart from sedentary agriculture and land use intensification. Changes in farming system and land use usually entail degradation of sloping land, because in arable land the outflows of soil, its nutritional content, and water exceed their inflows. Preventing or mitigating land degradation, along with keeping products competitive, is the central problem in agricultural development. Although the issue seems to be straightforward, several factors-from a range of ecological to cultural settings-are intricately tangled. This is likely to be one of the reasons why many agricultural development projects have not been as successful as expected. This volume is a result of the Uplands Program, which is an agricultural development project in northern Thailand and northern Vietnam to help solve the problem.The objectives of this volume as outlined in Chapter 1 are as follows: first, to investigate drivers, consequences, and challenges of change mainly in land use and agricultural intensification; second, to describe how technology-based innovation processes can address the challenges; and third, to describe how knowledge creation can support changes in policies and institutions. The volume is divided into four parts, an introduction followed by one part for each of the objectives: Part 1, Overview and Synthesis; Part 2, Environmental and Social Challenges; Part 3, Technology-Based Innovation Processes; and Part 4, Policies and Institutional Innovations.This project assumes that four drivers of change from traditional swidden cultivation to permanent field cultivation, mainly cash crops, are: economic development, policy change, introduction of new technologies, and population growth. As a result, as discussed in Part 2, mainly due to annual cash crop cultivation, soil erosion increases and pesticide-contaminated water runs off to the valley bottom (Chapters 3 and 4). In other words, sloping land is becoming a region where crops do not grow, and the watershed is getting to be contaminated by pesticide. To keep the soil environment usable as arable land, appropriate soil management is necessary. So, Karl Stahr et al. examine methodologies for making soil maps at a low cost (Chapter 2). Camille Saint-Macary et al. confirm that poverty is associated with land degradation since poor people have limited capital to invest in long-term soil conservation (Chapter 5). In Part 3, techniques of appropriate water use in sloping land cultivation (Chapter 6), effective cropping systems for soil conservation (Chapter 7), and profitability improvement in aquaculture carried out at the bottom of the valley (Chapter 8) are examined. The authors conclude that, technically speaking, there is potential to improve the farming system on sloping land in a way that is compatible with soil conservation and an increase in income. In Part 4, the authors examine and develop numerical models that may be helpful in predicting farmers' responses to a decline in soil fertility and/or conservation activities (Chapter 10). In development studies and agricultural development research, the participatory approach has been thought to be a better way to transfer scientific knowledge and techniques to farmers than the top-down approach. However, the participatory approach has not worked as well as expected, and it is now widely recognized that the approach is inappropriate in some cases. In Chapter 9 Andreas Neef et al. …

Australian Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 36, Issue 3 p. 275-287 Free Access BOOK REVIEWS First published: December 1992 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8489.1992.tb00523.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Book reviewed in this article: A Shared Harvest: The Australian Wheat Industry, 1939- 1989. By GREG WHITWELL AND DIANE SYDENHAM Use with Care: Managing Australia's Natural Resources in the TWenty-First Century. By DOUG COCKS An Agricultural Policy for the UK. By M.P. BURTON Protecting Markets: U.S. Policy and the World Grain Dude. By RONALD T. LIBBY Planned Change in Farming Systems: Progress in On-Farm Research. By ROBERT TRIPP Greening a Brown Land: the Australian Search for Sustainable Land Use. By NEIL BARR A ND JOHN CARY Issues in the Pricing and Management of Natural Resources 1991 Volume36, Issue3December 1992Pages 275-287 RelatedInformation

This paper explores the evolution of the shifting cultivation of the Minangkabau, the biggest matrilineal society in Indonesia, and examines factors underlying the instability and vulnerability of farmers' livelihoods and the degradation of their resource base using an extended factor analysis technique, in order to understand how development strategies might be modified towards a more dynamic farming system. The study distinguished three main phases of the farming system's changes and found that these changes highly corresponded with the emerging market and institutional incentives. Furthermore, the factor analysis generated a six-factor model suggesting strategic interventions to foster the improvement of farmers' livelihoods and environment in future. In addition, consistent with the results of these factors analysis, we argue that, provided land tenure is conducive, there are substantial possibilities for policies and interventions that focus first on agricultural diversification and then on organization building, to assist in dealing with farmers' vulnerability and environmental degradation in the uplands. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Smallholders' coping strategies in response to climate variability in semi-arid agro-ecozones of Upper Eastern Kenya