A recent study suggested that output composition rather than technical efficiency changes were the primary result of dramatic regulatory reforms imposed on the New Zealand sheep and beef farming sector in the 1980s. These results raise important questions about the substitutability and cost...

• Available evidence strongly suggests that cotton producers in West Africa are relatively unresponsive to changes in world prices. This means they are poorly placed to take advantage of improved market conditions that might result from the reduction or abolition of cotton subsidies in rich...

"In the last 200 yr, more than 80% of the land in the U.S. Corn Belt agro-ecosystem has been converted from natural perennial vegetation to intensive agricultural production of row crops. Despite research showing how re-integration of perennial vegetation, e.g., cover crops, pasture, riparian...

"Traditionally, benefits of common property arrangements arose from complementarity in resource use, which permitted multiple uses for several users. Today, common property resources (CPRs) represent quasi-public goods, featuring increasing rivalry in consumption. As the domain of uses widens...

"Assessing the impact of integrated natural resource management (INRM) research poses a challenge to scientists. The complexity of INRM interventions requires a more holistic approach to impact assessment, beyond the plot and farm levels and beyond traditional analysis of economic returns....

"The recent stagnation of productivity growth in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia has led to a quest for resource-conserving technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production. The present synthesis of two detailed country studies...