The
Importance of Intellectual Property Rights in the International
Spread of Private Sector Agricultural Biotechnology
--Carl E Pray, Ramu Govindasamy and Ann Courtmanche
The
purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the
current status of research and commercial use of Genetically
Modified (GM) crops worldwide, and quantify the importance
of various policies, particularly intellectual property
rights, in the spread of biotechnology research in commercial
products. It is evident from available data that most
of the applied agricultural biotech research is conducted
by the private sector, of which, a substantial contribution
is by multinational corporations. Econometric analysis
suggests that plant breeders' rights and the ability to
patent plants are associated with the spread of applied
biotech research.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Smallholder
Rice Farms in Ghana: An Analysis of Technical Efficiency
based on Different Farming Systems and Gender
--AlHassan Seidu, D B Sarpong and S AsumingBrempong
This
study examines the farmspecific technical efficiency
of smallholder rice farmers in the Upper East region of
Ghana, during the cropping year 200203. Farmspecific
technical efficiency is estimated by stochastic production
frontier function, using the maximum likelihood estimation
method. The results show that smallholder rice farmers
are technically inefficient as they produce about 34%
on an average, which is far below the maximum output.
The most striking result is the significant difference
between the mean technical efficiency for irrigators and
nonirrigators, as well as the male and female farmers.
The availability of credit, family size and nonfarm employment
significantly determine the technical efficiency of smallholders.
In conclusion, the authors suggest that the provision
of education and credit, particularly towards women farmers
should be accelerated, in order to improve technical efficiency
of rice farmers.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Factors
Influencing the Yield of Paddy in Assam: An Econometric
Analysis
--Kishor Goswami and
Bani Chatterjee
Analysis
of the relationship between inputs and outputs is an important
challenge for agricultural researchers to know whether
the observed fluctuation in crop output can be explained
properly through various factors involved in the process.
This study analyzes the impact of factors such as fertilizers,
highyielding varieties (HYVs), irrigation, rainfall,
floods, etc., on the yield of paddy in Assamthe gateway
of NorthEastern India. This study uses linear, loglin,
and loglinear (CobbDouglas) functional forms to analyze
the data. The results show that fertilizers have a positive
and significant impact on both the Kharif and Rabi paddy.
For a unit increase in fertilizer, about 14% increase
in the yield of Kharif paddy was observed during the period
of 197172 to 19992000. Except flood, the impact of all
other independent variables, viz., proportion of area
under HYVs and rainfall are positive. Hence, flood proved
to be a major limiting factor in the yield of Kharif paddy;
while in the case of Rabi paddy, except irrigation, the
impact of all other independent variables are positive
on the yield.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Measurement
of Growth Trend: An Econometric Study of Foodgrains Production
in West Bengal
-- Kakali Majumdar
and Partha Basu
This
paper analyzes the growth pattern of foodgrains production
in West Bengal for the period of 197071 to 19992000.
Goodness of fit has been tested for functional forms,
viz., linear, exponential, log quadratic, parabolic, etc.,
both in the simple and kink (double) forms. The results
show that in most of the districts, and the State as a
whole, double kink linear form is the best fitted functional
form. While the first trend break is always positive,
the second one is generally negative. In the State, as
a whole, both the positive and negative trendbreaks are
significant, though there are districtwise variations.
Performance during the 1990s is a matter of concern. Not
only has there been a decline in the absolute growth in
199192, but since then, the relative growth rate has
been declining over the decade in view of the linearity
of the growth rate of foodgrains production in West Bengal.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Agricultural
Productivity in Orissa: A Spatiotemporal Analysis
--Manoranjan Pattanayak
Agriculture
is the mainstay of Orissan economy. Nearly, 30% of its
Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) comes from agriculture
and 75% of the total workforce depends on agriculture.
This paper analyzes the nature of structural change in
Orissa and the Intersectoral variation in contribution
to Gross Domestic Product. As the major focus of the study
is productivity, districtwise agricultural productivity
has been measured to estimate the interdistricts differences.
The results show that structural transformation has many
negative consequences on the social fabric as well as
economic standard of the people. Furthermore, low productivity
of agriculture in the State and high interdistrict variation
in agricultural productivity are mainly due to the huge
variation in input use and natural calamities. This paper
provides the longterm sustainable solution through improved
agricultural productivity and concrete policy decisions
to reduce inter district disparity.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved
Food
Security and Consumption Patterns in Botswana: Analysis
based on Recent National Household Budget Survey
-- S M Kapunda
This
article analyzes the consumption patterns in Botswana,
paying special attention to food consumption patterns
and food security in line with poverty alleviation. Engel's
Law has been found to be generally applicable to the Botswana's
economy. At the national level, household allocation on
food consumption decreased from about 35% in 199394 to
33% in 200203. Furthermore, the food shares are higher
in rural areas than urban areas since the former has lower
income than the latter. Despite the existence of food
security at the national level, there is incidence of
food insecurity especially in rural areas where households
allocate about 88% of their disposable income on food
and only 12% on non food items. There is also a tendency
of poor consumers to spend on expensive assets and other
household items, probably sometimes, at the expense of
food security. This, however, needs further research and
it is also recommended that relevant government agencies,
NGOs, media and others should make more efforts in implementing
food security policies especially in rural areas. They
should also educate the poor consumers against free consumerism
at the expense of food security. This is in line with
the national longterm goal of eradicating poverty and
food insecurity by the year 2016. Although the study focuses
on Botswana, some of the recommendations made are possibly
relevant in less developed countries.
2006
IUP . All Rights Reserved.
