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The Impact of Technology Adoption on Agricultural Productivity: The Case of the Dominican Republic
Abstract and Figures
This paper evaluates the impact of agricultural extension services in the Dominican Republic. In particular, we analyze the direct impact of the Program for Technological Support in the Agricultural Sector (PATCA). The analysis relies on a unique dataset gathered by PATCA’s executing unit in 2008. The survey included 1,572 farmers operating in crop growing, breeding or milk production. Using a propensity score matching technique, we found that the technologies financed through PATCA effectively improved the productivity of rice producers and breeders. However, we did not find any significant impact on other producers. These heterogeneous impacts could be due to the different level of effectiveness of the promoted technologies in the short run, where landleveling and pasture conservation could be the fastest in showing significant effects. Finally, we did not find any clear evidence that the program had a significant impact on the quality of production that was reflected on prices reported by farmers.
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... Various studies have reported the impacts of laserland-leveling project. Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency, and time and water wasting is among the most important impacts [1,5,9,16,19,22,36]. Gonzalez et al. [16]; Abdullaev et al. [1], [19,20] have asserted that laser-land leveling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves use of soil nutritious, and reduces chemical fertilizers consumption. ...
... Various studies have reported the impacts of laserland-leveling project. Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency, and time and water wasting is among the most important impacts [1,5,9,16,19,22,36]. Gonzalez et al. [16]; Abdullaev et al. [1], [19,20] have asserted that laser-land leveling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves use of soil nutritious, and reduces chemical fertilizers consumption. Jat et al. [19] noted that amount of fuel consumed by water pumping and agricultural machinery would be reduced by laser-land leveling. ...
... Reducing weeds, pests, and plant diseases are considered as other advantages of this technology [16,19,31]. Gonzalez et al. [16] reported that reduction in soil erosion is due to the implementation of laser-land-leveling project. ...
Background
Impact assessment is an important process that helps the policy makers to understand the consequences of possible and actual government interventions. Assessing the impacts and consequences is considered as applicable means for policy makers and planners of projects, since not only it measures and presents the plans’ developments, but also for determining their impacts on the target group. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to assess the impacts of laser-land-leveling technology in Iran, comparing the impacts among two groups of farmers adopting traditional-leveling and laser-land-leveling projects and identifying factors influencing perception regarding laser-land-leveling technology impacts.
Methodology
The research draws on a mixed-methods approach, which includes two distinct research phases. First, 375 farmers were selected using survey based on stratified random sampling for quantitative part. Twenty-Seven farmers were also interviewed in the qualitative phase.
Results
The most important impacts of laser-land leveling were uniform germination of the crop, uniform distribution of water, decrease of soil erosion, increasing positive competition, and increasing net income. In addition, the results revealed that adopters of laser-land leveling expressed more impacts than another group.
Conclusions
Attitude towards water and soil resources’ conservation was the most important variable to predict the impacts’ perception among traditional-leveling adopters. It is necessary to officials to increase the information of farmers regarding different consequences of the project and contributing them to make proper decisions for farm management.
... Different studies have confirmed that laser levelling technology will decrease farming costs in different cultivation and harvest stages (Abdullaev et al., 2007). Laser land levelling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves the use of nutritious materials and reduces consumption of chemical fertilizers (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Jat et al., 2006;Gonzales et al., 2009). Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency and time and water wasting are among the most important impacts (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Jat et al., 2006;Jehangir et al., 2007;Gonzales et al., 2009;Das et al., 2018;Shahani et al., 2016;Ashraf et al., 2017). ...
... Laser land levelling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves the use of nutritious materials and reduces consumption of chemical fertilizers (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Jat et al., 2006;Gonzales et al., 2009). Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency and time and water wasting are among the most important impacts (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Jat et al., 2006;Jehangir et al., 2007;Gonzales et al., 2009;Das et al., 2018;Shahani et al., 2016;Ashraf et al., 2017). Reducing the use of seeds, uniformity of germination and crop growth and increasing yield have been mentioned in some studies (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Jat et al., 2006;Jehangir et al., 2007). ...
Agriculture is the main occupation in Nepal and around 60.4% Nepalese are actively engaged in the agricultural sector. Wheat is the third most important cereal crop after rice and maize in terms of area and production, in Nepal. Currently, less than 2 % area of the total wheat cultivation, is under zero – till wheat. Zero tillage (ZT) is a vital component of resource conserving technologies (RCTs) that are implementing to produce crops with lower inputs resulting in higher profit. ZT of wheat after rice generates significant benefits at the farm level, both in terms of significant yield gains (6–10%, particularly due to more timely planting of wheat) and cost savings (5–10%, particularly tillage savings) as compared to conventional tillage (CT). The paper reviews the prospects of ZT wheat technology in Nepal, based on the published information. ZT is the most widely used technology of wheat in Nepal, among other resource – conserving technologies. ZT wheat yielded 3.44 t ha-1 whereas CT wheat yielded 3.22 t ha-1. The total cost incurred under ZT wheat is NRs. 39,431/- whereas NRs. 48,300/- is of CT. The benefit: cost ratio was found 2.38 in ZT compared to 1.81 in CT which was 31.5 % more over the CT method of wheat cultivation. Hence, ZT technology in Nepal is cost – effective technology facilitating 15 days earlier sowing of wheat with higher yield and needs to be promoted on a large scale.
... Different studies have confirmed that laser levelling technology will decrease farming costs in different cultivation and harvest stages (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Gulati et al. 2017). Laser land levelling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves the use of nutritious materials and reduces consumption of chemical fertilizers (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Jat et al. 2006;Gonzalez et al. 2009). Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency and time and water wasting are among the most important impacts (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Gonzalez et al. 2009;Das et al. 2018;Jehangir et al. 2007;Shahani et al. 2016;Ashraf et al. 2017). ...
... Laser land levelling causes the reduction of pesticides consumption, improves the use of nutritious materials and reduces consumption of chemical fertilizers (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Jat et al. 2006;Gonzalez et al. 2009). Decreasing the amount of water consumption, uniform distribution of water, reducing irrigation frequency and time and water wasting are among the most important impacts (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Gonzalez et al. 2009;Das et al. 2018;Jehangir et al. 2007;Shahani et al. 2016;Ashraf et al. 2017). Reducing the use of seeds, uniformity of germination and crop growth and increasing yield have been mentioned in some studies (Abdullaev et al. 2007;Jehangir et al. 2007;Jat et al. 2006). ...
Application of technologies has an important role in agricultural development. Identifying and assessing the impacts of agricultural technologies is necessary. This study aimed at assessing the impacts of laser levelling economically, socially, environmentally, and technically in the viewpoint of the agricultural experts and identifying factors determining their perception of the impacts. The study samples (151 experts) were selected using multi-stage random sampling in Fars Province, Iran. The results revealed that experts considered uniform distribution of water, using conservation tillage, facilitating agricultural activities, decreased water consumption and decrease of water wasting as the most important technical impacts of laser levelling technology. The most environmentally important impacts were the decrease of soil erosion and retention of crop residues. Experts stated the most significant social impacts as improvement in villages living conditions and sense of belonging to rural areas. Besides, an increase of income and reduction of inputs costs were among the economic impacts of laser levelling technology. According to the results, attitude towards water and soil resources conservation and environmental beliefs had the highest direct effect on individual perception toward impacts. Practical recommendations have been presented based on the results of the study.
... Indirect benefits include energy cost savings (i.e., diesel fuel cost of operating a tube-well), reduced greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced fertilizer use efficiency, improved seed germination, and increased crop yields and crop income (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Aryal et al., 2015;Bhatt et al., 2021;Hoque & Hannan, 2014;Jat et al., 2009;Khatri-Chhetri et al., 2020;Rezaei-Moghaddam & Tohidyan Far, 2019;Rickman, 2002;Rizwan et al., 2018). Environmental benefits due to improved surface drainage include controlling waterlogging, salinity (Miao et al., 2021), and soil erosion (González et al., 2009;Miao et al., 2021;Rezaei-Moghaddam & Tohidyan Far, 2019;Tohidyan Far & Rezaei-Moghaddam, 2020). However, some studies have reported negative impacts of LLL on the soil aeration function, crop root growth (Brye et al., 2005), and crop yield (Walker et al., 2003). ...
This paper investigates the factors that influence the adoption of laser land leveler and its impact on groundwater usage in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A farm household survey of 504 agriculture producers was conducted in 2019. A discrete‐time duration model is used to investigate factors influencing the speed of adoption and an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model is used to evaluate its impact on groundwater usage. About 70% of the surveyed households adopted the technology, and the average time to adoption was 9 years. Key factors accelerating the speed of adoption include strong legal land rights, access to information about the technology, and exposure to the technology. In contrast, long distance to rental market deaccelerates the speed of adoption. The adoption of laser land leveler reduced groundwater use by about 23%. The results imply that institutional arrangements, such as improving access to extension services, exposure to innovation, and legal land rights, can enhance the adoption and diffusion of the technology and conserve groundwater.
... (Abdullaev et al., 2007;Gulati et al., 2017). Laser land levelling enhance the use of nutritious materials and reduce chemical fertilizers consumption (Jat et al., 2006;González et al., 2009). In addition to reducing the amount of seeds and increasing yield with less fuel consumption used for pumping water and agricultural machinery (Jehangir et al. 2007). ...
The main purpose of this study is to improve the tillage operational efficiency of a chisel plough through the use of laser levelling technology. Such technology can help farmers attain consistent tilled layer depth throughout the entire field. A modified laser control unit was attached to chisel plough and it coupled with a hydraulic system. Under the current modification, the laser unit, as it communicates with the receiver tower, would be able to adjust the ploughing depth. The readings of point levels for the subsurface layer were taken at a grid spacing of 5.0 m x 5.0 m, a resolution commonly used to show the changes in soil topography. The experiment was repeated in three plots, 1-hectare each. Irrigation water advance times and total applied irrigation water amounts were recorded and used as indicator of the performance of the developed prototype and to evaluate the effect of laser controlled ploughing on flood irrigation efficiency. Results indicated that the use of laser-controlled chisel plough improved field level and proper tilled layer enabling other field machines to work in a stable depth of tilled layers. After using the laser-controlled chisel plough, the elevation (relative to the reference point) ranged from 34.0 cm to 43.0 cm with an average recorded value of 39.8 cm and a standard deviation of 0.990 cm. Using the regular plough resulted in relative elevation values, which ranged from 22.0 cm to 52.0 cm with an average elevation value of 39.4 cm and a standard deviation of 5.702 cm. Irrigation water advance times were shorter with plots that were ploughed using the laser-controlled chisel. Total applied irrigation water was 9835-m 3 ha-1 and 8468 m 3 ha-1 for plots where the normal chisel plough and laser-controlled chisel plough were used respectively.
... Generally, increased farm efficiency is linked to farm operators specializing in agricultural production (Khanal, 2020). Sustainable growth in agricultural productivity is connected to farmer adoption of agricultural production technologies (Gonz alez et al., 2009) and a higher degree of crop specialization. Agricultural specialization and commercialization, and increased productivity are seen as the predominant cause of the transformation of economies into more diversified non-agricultural economic activities (Emran and Shilpi, 2012). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the effects of crop specialization on agricultural productivity and commercialization for farmers who produce high-value crops in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the USAID/Ghana Feed the Future (FTF) survey, which collected data on high-value crops (i.e. maize, rice and soya). Data for the analysis consists of 2,903 farm households. The study utilized the three-stage generalized method of moment estimation technique to deal with the potential endogeneity of crop specialization within the context of productivity and commercialization and heteroscedasticity issues in the data.
Findings
The study found that crop specialization positively relates to agricultural productivity and commercialization, suggesting that increased crop specialization in the production of high-value stimulates productivity and opens market opportunities for farm households. These findings imply that crop specialization seems more beneficial to farmers as it significantly improves productivity and commercialization.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana and not the entire country.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to have jointly modeled crop specialization, agricultural productivity and commercialization. The main advantage of using this system approach is that it uses more information, thereby providing more precise parameter estimates.
... Cacao plantation performed better when projectcooperators embraced the technologies transferred to them (Figures 7-9) compared to the farm of project-cooperator who did not adopt ( Figure 10). Farmer's level of technology adoption affects the performance as well as productivity of the farm (González, Ibarraran, Maffioli, & Rozo, 2009;Khatur & Haider, 2016;Tesfaye, Bedada, & Mesay, 2016). Khatur and Haider (2016) reported that a one percent increase in technology adoption leads to increase in rice productivity by 0.22 percent in Bangladesh. ...
One way to realize the targeted 100 thousand metric tons of dried cocoa beans by the Philippines on year 2022 is the massive establishment of new cacao plantations. With the financial support through the grant-in-aid program of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources, Research and Development, Central Mindanao University reached-out to neighboring communities and helped the people in Bukidnon, Philippines to establish new cacao plantations using the high-yielding clones recommended by the National Seed Industry Council. A total of 39 project-cooperators were involved and were provided with farm inputs as well as seminars and trainings on cacao production through the "Science and Technology Community-Based Farm (STCBF) for a Sustainable Cacao Production in Bukidnon" project. However, it cannot be denied that characters of project-cooperators have great influence on the performance of cacao plantation. This study was undertaken to determine the influence of prior learnings (previous seminars and trainings on cacao production), regularity of farm visit, involvement in farm hands-on activities and level of technology adoption of project-cooperators on the performance of established cacao plantation. Characters of project-cooperators with regard to farm management were documented during the farm monitoring and evaluation conducted by our team. Results revealed that project-cooperators who visited their farm regularly have better cacao plantation performance than those of project-cooperators who visited their farm occasionally. Apparently, cacao plantation performed better if project-cooperators were highly receptive to transferred technology. These findings can be used as guide to agricultural extension workers in Bukidnon, Philippines in the selection of project-cooperators or project beneficiaries with regard to establishment of cacao plantations.
... However, this result depends on the technology adopted, either a labour-saving technology or increased crop-yielding technology such as fertilisers, irrigation (Eberhardt and Vollrath 2016). Examining the impact of technology on agricultural productivity of farmers in the Dominican Republic, González et al. (2009) found a positive effect of land-levelling and pasture conservations on the productivity of rice producers and breeders as these were the only technology adopted in the region. ...
This paper examines whether technology and energy have a role to play in agriculture value addition in nine sub-Saharan African countries for a sample period between 1981 and 2015. We employ the Autoregressive Distributed Lag modelling technique to examine the relationship among the variables. Models with technology, energy use, and a combination of technology and energy were considered, respectively. Only Nigeria recorded a positive and significant impact of technology on its agricultural value addition in both the short run and long run in the first model. In the second model, energy use positively and significantly influenced agricultural value addition in two countries (Botswana and South Africa) in the short run. However, the long-run coefficients of energy use were found to be positive and significant for Benin and South Africa. In the third model, short-run coefficients of technology were largely positive but statistically insignificant across the countries, while its long-run coefficient was largely positive but only statistically significant for Nigeria. Also, the short-run effect of energy use remained positively significant for Botswana and South Africa as observed in the earlier model. However, its long-run effect was only positive and statistically significant in three countries (Benin, South Africa, and Togo). Thus, the study recommends the need for huge investment in technology and energy use as well as the sensitisation of local farmers in adopting technology to further enhance the quality of their output.
... The choice of these variables should also be guided by economic theory and the knowledge of previous research (Smith and Todd, 2005). The conditioning variables employed in this study are based previous studies that have examined the impacts of technology adoption on farmers' wellbeing in developing countries taking selfselection into account such as Diagne and Demont, 2007;Mendola, 2007;Adekambi et al., 2009;González, 2009;Wu et al., 2010;Ali and Abdulai, 2010;Kassie, et al., 2010;Otsuki, 2010;Becerril and Abdulai, 2010. These factors can be divided into five groups: (i) human capital factors (age and education of a farmer); (ii) household characteristics (composition, wealth); (iii) accessibility factors (access to inputs and information); (iv) farm characteristics (operated land; type of tenure); and (v) yield variation. ...
Pakistan is the world's fourth largest producer and third largest consumer of cotton. Using data from 16 villages in two cotton-growing districts of Pakistan, we attempt to determine the impacts of Bt cotton adoption on producers' wellbeing employing the propensity score matching method. While the results reveal positive impacts of Bt cotton on the wellbeing of farmers in Pakistan, the extent of impact varies by agro-climatic conditions and by farm size. The impact of Bt cotton adoption on yield for small farmers is about is about 50 percent of the same for large farmers. Similarly, the impact of Bt cotton adoption on household income was positive and significant for medium and large farmers but not for small farmers. The impacts of Bt cotton on yield and income are larger under hot and humid conditions than under hot and dry climatic conditions. Additional public-sector investments in monitoring and assessments of pest infestations across climatic zones would be helpful to make the Bt cotton technology widely beneficial in Pakistan.
With a surge in both hazardous and non-hazardous waste in recent decades, European Union countries are losing their soil quality which in turn affects the agricultural production of their economies. Taking this into account, this study presents the effect of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, plastic waste, and electronic waste on soil health for 24 European Union (EU) countries during 2004–2018 period. The impacts of several other variables such as technological innovation, ICT, natural capital, fossil fuel energy consumption, and institutional quality on soil health are also examined. To achieve the above objectives, we employ Driscoll-Kraay technique as the main methodology as well as panel spatial correlation consistent (PSCC) standard errors and quantile estimation at median. The results demonstrate that electronic waste has a negative effect on soil health while the effect of total hazardous and non-hazardous waste and plastic waste on soil health remains insignificant. Technological innovation, ICT, and institutional quality, as well as fossil fuel energy consumption, have positive impacts on soil health. Furthermore, natural capital moderates the effect of plastic and electronic waste on soil health. The study finally provides precise policy recommendations for the EU countries such as proper handling of wastes, promoting strong institutional quality as well as use of technology to enrich the soil nutrient balance.
Water conservation is essential to prevent salinity and land degradation in Central Asia. Therefore, field-testing and evaluation
of water conservation methods, i.e. laser land leveling in new farming systems of Central Asia is important task. This in
mind the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and its regional partner on IWRM FV (IWRM FV project – Integrated
Water Resources Management in Ferghana Valley project is funded by Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and conducted jointly
with IWMI and Scientific Information Center of Interstate Coordination Water Commission (SIC ICWC) in the Ferghana Valley
of Central Asia) project SIC ICWC have conducted 3year study of impacts of the Laser leveled land leveling on water use,
productivity and crop yields in northern Tajikistan. The major research question was laser land leveling an effective water
saving tool in the new context of land use and ownership on smaller private plots. Can farmers afford the costs of laser land
leveling and how economically viable is it? These research questions were studied in 5ha laser leveled and neighboring non-leveled
(control) fields for 2004–2006. The results showed that laser land leveling can reduce the water application rate in 2004
by 593M3/ha, in 2005 by 1509M3/ha and in 2006 by 333M3/ha in comparison with the unleveled field, located in the similar agro-ecological conditions. The deep percolation was 8%
lower and run off 24% less than in non-leveled field. The average annual net income from the laser field was 22% higher than
that from the control field. The gross margin from the laser-leveled field were 16. 88 and 171% higher compared to that from
the control field for 2004, 2005 and 2006, and on average was 92% higher. In spite of these positive results, there are hindrances
on wide application of laser land leveling in Tajikistan. These are absence of initial capital of farmers and scattered land
location.
Matched sampling is a method for selecting units from a large reservoir of potential controls to produce a control group of modest size that is similar to a treated group with respect to the distribution of observed covariates. We illustrate the use of multivariate matching methods in an observational study of the effects of prenatal exposure to barbiturates on subsequent psychological development. A key idea is the use of the propensity score as a distinct matching variable. Statistics Version of Record
This study contributes to the literature on the impact of farmer contact with agricultural extension services on farm productivity, drawing on a unique panel sample of households residing in three resettlement areas of rural Zimbabwe. It pays particular attention to the potential confounding effects of the biases identified by Birkhaeuser, Evenson, and Feder. Specifically, we exploit the longitudinal nature of our data to estimate the impact of extension on the value of crop production per hectare, with and without controls for unobservable household fixed effects. The attraction of this estimator is that the differencing process rids the specification of the correlation between extension and the disturbance term. We find that after controlling for innate productivity characteristics and farmers' ability using household fixed- effects estimation, access to agricultural extension services, defined as receiving one or two visits per agricultural year, raises the value of crop production by about 15%. This parameter estimate is statistically significant. Another unique feature of these data are, for a subsample, extension worker assessments of farmers' ability. We find that farmers with above-average ability are indeed more productive, producing 40%-50% higher output per hectare of cropped area. Controlling for innate productivity using locality dummies, farm plot characteristics, and farmers' ability using these assessments of ability, we continue to obtain a positive association between access to extension and productivity, an association that is equal in magnitude to our fixed-effects results. However, we also find considerable variability in these parameter estimates across individual crop years.
Poverty, hunger, economic growth, food production, and natural resource degradation are all great challenges in today’s world. As the global population climbs to an expected 8,000 million by 2025, today at least 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger. Pervasive poverty will remain largely rural, even as urban populations triple in the same time period. Ensuring a thriving agricultural economy is critical for reducing poverty, enabling food security, and managing natural resources in a sustainable fashion. Agriculture provides a livelihood for more than 60 percent of developing country populations, and in many countries, farm families make up 80 percent or more of the population (World Bank 1990).
The paper reviews the origins and evolution of the Training and Visit (T&V) extension system, which was promoted by the World Bank in 1975-98 in over 50 developing countries. The discussion seeks to clarify the context within which the approach was implemented, and to analyze the causes for its lack of sustainability and its ultimate abandonment. The paper identifies some of the challenges faced by the T&V approach as being typical of a large public extension system, where issues of scale, interaction with the agricultural research systems, inability to attribute benefits, weak accountability, and lack of political support tend to lead to incentive problems among staff and managers of extension, and limited budgetary resources. The different incentives and outlook of domestic stakeholders and external donor agencies are also reviewed. The main cause of the T&V system's disappearance is attributed to the incompatibility of its high recurrent costs with the limited budgets available domestically, leading to fiscal unsustainability. The paper concludes with some lessons that apply to donor-driven public extension initiatives, and more generally to rural development fads. The role of timely, independent, and rigorous evaluative studiesis specifically highlighted.
Spatial variability and distributions of soil chemical properties and the relationships between soil chemical and biological properties are not well characterized in agroecosystems that have been land leveled to facilitate more uniform delivery of irrigation water. The objectives of this study were to characterize the short-term impacts of land leveling on the magnitudes, spatial variability, and spatial distributions of soil chemical properties and to evaluate the impact of land leveling on the relationships between soil chemical properties and microbial biomass in a Stuttgart silt loam (fine, smectitic, thermic Albaqultic Hapludalf) used for irrigated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in the Mississippi Delta region of eastern Arkansas. A grid-sampling approach was used to characterize pre- and postleveling soil chemical properties and microbial biomass. Results of this study demonstrate that land leveling, a severe form of anthropogenic soil disturbance, causes significant alteration of the magnitudes, spatial variability, and spatial distributions of many soil chemical properties. Soil electrical conductivity (EC) and the contents of P, K, Mg, Na, S, Mn, and Cu in the top 10 cm significantly increased, white soil pH and organic matter (OM) and Fe contents significantly decreased, as a result of land leveling. Land leveling also significantly altered many linear relationships among soil chemical properties and microbial biomass. The benefit of improved water distribution must be weighed against the relatively severe and immediate alteration of soil properties and natural processes brought on by land leveling. Further research is required to ascertain long-term effects of altered soil biogeochemical properties on crop growth as a result of land leveling.
Land-leveling to improve water management in lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) production is becoming common in many countries. This technique exposes subsoil by removal and deposition of surface soil from high- to low-lying areas. The potential effect of land-leveling on soil fertility was studied in samples from an alluvial soil at depths of 0- to 5-, 5- to 15-, and 15- to 25-cm. Levels of soil cation exchange capacity; dilute acid-fluoride extractable P; DTPA extractable Cu, Mn, and Zn; exchangeable K; hot-water soluble B; and organic matter decreased with soil depth; whereas, soil pH increased with depth. Relatively low amounts of dilute acid-fluoride extractable P, exchangeable K, and DTPA extractable Zn occurred in the 15- to 25-cm layer of the soil. These data indicate the high likelihood that K, P, and Zn deficiencies would occur in rice grown on the subsoil that was exposed by land-leveling.
Agricultural research and extension programs have been built in most of the world's economies. A substantial number of economic impact studies evaluating the contributions of research and extension programs to increased farm productivity and farm incomes and to consumer welfare have been undertaken in recent years. This chapter reviews these studies using estimated rates of return on investment to index economic impacts. In almost all categories of studies, median (social) estimated rates of return are high, (often exceeding 40 percent) but the range of estimates was also high. The chapter concludes that most of the estimates were consistent with actual economic growth experiences.
This paper revisits the contested issue of the impact of agricultural extension on farm productivity. Often studies in this field suffer from a bias either due to self-selection of the best farmers for the extension services or to endogenous placement of the programme. The panel dataset collected by ANADER and the nature of the extension programme put into operation in Côte d'Ivoire between 1997 and 2001, allow to control for such biases and to deliver more robust estimates. The results indicate a positive impact of extension on yields, after controlling for other factors of production and for time and location e¤ects. While such effect is significant and of considerable magnitude for food crops, coffee and cocoa outputs seem to have behaved differently. The results seem to suggests a tendency for farmers involved in extension to reduce their e¤orts in coffee and cocoa production, a finding consistent with the recent experience in the country. Once we look at revenue the overall impact of extension disappears, indicating that the switch from cash to food crops, despite being the optimal choice during a period of deep crises for perennial crops in the international markets, did not increase the revenues of farmers.