Productivity
Impact of Improved Maize Varieties in the Eastern Region
of Ghana
-- Ramatu
M Al-Hassan, John Baptist Jatoe and Awere Ansong Dankyi
Traditional
varieties of maize yields attained by farmers in Ghana
are still far below the potential of the new varieties.
This raises questions about the technical superiority
of the new varieties over the traditional ones and whether
the new varieties are being adopted in cultivation. The
paper attempts to estimate the efficiencies of the improved
varieties to the traditional ones with yield functions
and factor payments. Determinants of adoption of new varieties
and fertilizer are also assessed with binomial logit models.
The results reveal that the plots planted with the traditional
varieties have lower residual payments to fixed inputs
than the new varieties, mainly due to low yields. It is
evident from the results that only the third generation
improved varieties have a higher technical efficiency
than the traditional ones. Subsistence farmers, tenant
farmers, and those in the forest zone are less likely
to adopt the improved varieties and fertilizers. However,
the study suggests that the performance of improved varieties
can be enhanced with higher seed and fertilizer application
rates.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Trends
of Food Grain Production and its Modern Inputs (1968-2002):
An
Empirical Study in West Bengal
--
Bipasha Maity and Bani Chatterjee
West
Bengal, a predominantly food grain producing state, witnessed
an upsurge in the food grain production mainly because
of the introduction of the seed-fertilizer-irrigation
technology in the post-green revolution period. However,
food grain production in West Bengal gained rapid momentum
only in the 1980s, which was reversed by an equally alarming
fall in production in the 1990s. Against this backdrop,
the paper reviews the performance of West Bengal's food
grain production over time. It takes into account the
findings of the earlier studies and then compares them
with the present study to identify the possible reasons
for the slower growth performance in the 1990s, and the
implications for sustainable growth and national food
security.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
An
Econometric Analysis of Cotton Crop: A Study in Guntur
District of Andhra Pradesh
-- V
Balakrishnama Naidu and A Siva Shankar
Cotton
is so remunerative as a commercial crop that farmers,
even in agro-climatic zones not suitable for cotton cultivation,
grow cotton. This scenario underwent a change during the
recent years. Due to heavy borrowing, over-investment
in inputs and frequent crop failure, the cotton growers
in India had to suffer severe and unbearable hardships.
Many cases of suicide were recorded from different parts
of the country among cotton growers. This study is based
on the cotton cultivation in the Guntur district of Andhra
Pradesh. Guntur district is purposively chosen for the
study in view of the importance attached to this district
with respect to cotton growing. Against this backdrop,
this paper makes an attempt to probe into the economic
aspects of production and productivity of cotton crop
by using the Cobb-Douglas production function. It is observed
that the multiple coefficient of determination is significant
at the 1% level for all the categories of farmers, indicating
that there is significant contribution of all independent
variables to the farm output of the sample farmers. It
is also evident that the large farmers are more benefitted
from per rupee investment in cotton cultivation, compared
to other categories of sample farmers. Finally, the study
suggests certain measures for the profitability of the
cotton crop.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
The
Cashew Nut Industry in India: Growth and Prospects
--
D
Vellingiri and D Thiyagarajan
The
study makes an attempt to assess the overall profile of
the Indian cashew industry, particularly in terms of production
and exports. The results indicate that cashew production
in India has been fluctuating during the recent years.
It is evident from the study that Maharashtra produces
more cashew compared to the other states in India, as
its average productivity and the area under cashew cultivation
are more than that of the other states. The Indian cashew
kernel is highly appreciated in other countries for good
quality, taste, and appearance; and is consumed in more
than 60 countries across the world. The United States,
the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia,
Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, and
the Middle East countries are the major export markets
for Indian cashew nuts. In spite of its significant growth,
the cashew industry in India has been suffering from poor
quality of cashew grown in some states, which is mainly
due to wrong harvesting technique, unsatisfactory drying
of the nuts and inadequate storage and warehouse facilities
for storing dried cashew nuts. Thus, the paper suggests
that the cashew industry needs certain incentives to achieve
a higher growth rate of production as well as exports
in future.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Determinants
of Wage Earnings in Uganda
-- Francis
Nathan Okurut and Sarah Ssewanyana
The
study investigates the factors that influence the wage
earnings in the public and private sectors in Uganda in
the economic reform period, using the household survey
data for 1992-93, 1999-2000 and 2002-03. The results suggest
that wage earnings are positively and significantly influenced
by the level of education, age, geographical location,
and the economic sector of employment. This study uses
the Mincerian-type wage model to calculate the share of
individual endowments and their impact along with the
selection effect in explaining the wage differentials
between the public and private sectors. The findings of
this study suggest that the differences in educational
attainment in the reform period have played a very important
role in widening the public sector - private sector wage
gap. The results are consistent with empirical literature
obtained from other developing countries.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
