This paper discusses the situation of irrigated sorghum and wheat with respect to their financial and economic profitability and international competitiveness in use of domestic resources, in light of declared government policy which emphasizes shifting from traditional rainfed sector to...

Using a log-linear equilibrium displacement model we quantify the impact of the recent domestic tobacco content requirement on US cigarette manufacturing. We investigate effects on US growers and manufacturers, and competing tobacco imports. The policy increased domestic use of US-grown tobacco,...

In some cultures inheritance customs results in land fragmentation such that over time operating farms become composed of a collection of spatially dispersed fields rather than a contiguous land unit. This study was conducted to determine the impact of land fragmentation as measured by average...

Soils in a large part of Niger's agricultural area are sandy and very low in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and organic matter. This low soil fertility combined with low and erratic rainfall constitutes a severe constraint on food cropping in the area. Although agronomists have advised chemical...

The paper studies the extent of market integration of maize markets in Malawi in order to understand how it has been affected by market liberalization. Several measures of integration are introduced to analyze both the comovement of prices and the price adjustment process over time. Monthly...

Adoption of agricultural production technologies in developing countries is influenced by a wide range of economic and social factors as well as physical and technical aspects of farming and the risk attitude of farmers. It is important to understand the role of these factors to ensure the...

Trees can be considered as investments made by economic agents to prevent depreciation of natural assets such as stocks of top soil and water. In agroforestry systems farmers use trees in this manner by deliberately combining them with agricultural crops on the same unit of land. Although...

Weed control decisions are modeled in an endogenous risk framework where a producer invests in self-insurance and self-protection to reduce the severity of a realized pest infestation, or reduce the likelihood the infestation occurs. Self-insurance and self-protection are risk-reducing...

This paper attempts to explain the perplexing tendency to multiple leasing by both landlords and tenants in some countries. It shows that if the negotiation of share contracts involves significant transaction costs and there is some uncertainty regarding the output on tenanted plots, a...

Most agriculture in the Sahel Region is carried out under rainfed conditions where low and uncertain soil moisture levels limit productivity. Improved soil, water and crop management practices are required to reverse the steady decline in per capita food production and sustain output over the...