1,721,084 research outputs found
India's Poultry Revolution: Implications for its Sustenance and the Global Poultry Trade
No full textAs one of largest emerging economies, the Indian poultry market has wide-ranging implications for global poultry production and trade due to its sheer size, national market and rapid structural growth. Availability of low-priced, high-quality feeds is critical in order for domestic poultry production to remain competitive and meet growing consumer demand. Production of maize, which is a predominant feed component in poultry industry, has surged in India. With average Indian maize yields lagging world and Asian averages, there are significant maize intensification opportunities to produce even more and cheaper feed, including increased use of higher-yielding ( and higher-quality) maize hybrids and associated private-and public-sector investments. Given the size of the India's poultry sector, its price competiveness and Indian entrepreneurship, India is set to take a more active role in the global poultry trade especially with respect to exports to the Middle East
Potential Economic Impact of Biofortified Maize in the Indian Poultry Sector
No full textThe study examines the current feed use in the rapidly-growing Indian poultry sector and evaluates the potential economic impact of using biofortified maize with higher levels of amino acids as feed. Data collected from 185 poultry firms of South India form the empirical base. A significant share of broiler firms were found using amino acids in quantities above the recommended levels with negligible production and negative profitability effects, demonstrating a clear dearth of managerial skill to obtain and utilize information on poultry nutrition. A linear programming model for estimating the least-cost feed formulation showed that the potential economic impact of biofortified maize is limited by the availability of low-cost protein from the alternative sources, and that the potential cost savings from the technology would be marginal. Similar findings were obtained from additional estimation done by relaxing the assumption that the firms have perfect information on feed formulation. Also, lack of awareness of the small-scale firm management regarding poultry nutrition could pose additional challenges in the development of innovative maize-poultry value chains for diffusion of this innovation
Editorial: Biomass use trade-offs in cereal cropping systems in the developing world : Overview
No full textAgricultural systems variously produce food, feed, fiber, fuel, and environmental goods. The relative emphasis varies over space and time – associated inter alia to inter-related developments in demand, technology and policy. Cereal cropping systems in the developing world traditionally emphasize food production with residual agricultural biomass (or crop residues) as an important by-product. Crop residues often have multiple uses such as livestock feed, household fuel source, soil amendment, construction and/or marketed for cash income. A number of trade-offs exist between these biomass uses, often reinforced by emerging drivers such as demographic pressure, increasing demand for livestock products and the development of fodder markets. In addition, there are recent developments, such as the increasing advocacy of conservation agriculture practices. Conservation agriculture calls for the retention of substantial crop residues as mulch in the field, thereby often competing with prevailing uses such as animal feed and/or conflicting with established crop management practices. There is also increasing advocacy for second generation biofuels (ethanol production from hemi-cellulosic material) – albeit that for now these are unlikely to have substantial short term implications for most smallholders across large swathes of the developing world as biofuel use is primarily limited to traditional biofuel uses and mainly informal and small scaleFil: Erenstein, Olaf. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT); MéxicoFil: Gérard, Bruno. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT); MéxicoFil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Wageningen University and Research Centre; Holanda. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentin
The economics of soil conservation in development countries: The case of crop residue mulching.
No full textThe study contributes to the search for a methodology to assess soil conservation, particularly in developing countries. The study first assesses the economics of soil conservation in general - with special emphasis on the relationships between technology, economic analysis and policy implications. The quantification and valuation of soil erosion and soil conservation are highly controversial and present considerable analytical challenges that have been tackled in varying ways. By implication, government intervention is controversial too - and has typically been unsuccessful. This has direct implications for both the development of conservation technology and the implementation of conservation interventions.The study subsequently assesses the economics of one particular technological conservation option: crop residue mulching (also known as conservation tillage). An analytical framework is developed to assess the socio-economics of the technology in developing countries. The technology assessment framework follows a stepwise expanding analysis along a three-tier hierarchy: crop production, the farm household and the institutional setting. This results in a private and a social assessment of the technology, and the formulation of corresponding policy implications. The framework is applied in ex ante , ex post and partial analyses of crop residue mulching in different settings in Mexico and Central America. Conclusions are drawn regarding the technology assessment framework and crop residue mulching.The author can be contacted at: [email protected] The study is also published in the Mansholt Studies, Wageningen University and can be ordered from Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands (http://www.backhuys.com , or [email protected])
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Wheat Production and Consumption Dynamics in an Asian Rice Economy: The Bangladesh Case
No full textWheat consumption in Asia’s major rice economies has been increasing over the decades. Bangladesh is no exception, despite being the world’s fourth largest rice-producing and the largest rice-consuming country. In Bangladesh, wheat consumption has doubled from 1961 to 2013, and now stands at 17.5 kg per capita, about a ninth of the rice consumption. Densely populated Bangladesh has achieved rice self-sufficiency, but relies on imports to top up modest domestic wheat production. This study assesses the prospects for Bangladesh to expand its wheat production. The rice–wheat production system offers good prospects to expand wheat production in Bangladesh and respond to increasing domestic demand. Based on the findings, this study urges the expansion of wheat production in the seasonally fallow land, particularly in southern Bangladesh. Also, this study calls for further investments in wheat research and development to ensure local adaptation, comparative advantage, and sustainable intensification
Changing Food Consumption of Households in Developing Countries: A Bangladesh Case
No full textIncreasing incomes, urbanization, and population growth are transforming developing countries. This structural transformation is changing lifestyles and consequently food consumption and agri-food systems. The present study uses Bangladesh as a case study, a rapidly growing developing economy in South Asia to examine the changing food consumption pattern. Using information from more than 29,000 households, the present study demonstrates that, with the increase in income and urbanization, this traditional rice-consuming country is increasingly consuming more wheat. The changes in the relative consumption in Bangladesh are prominent both in rural and urban areas. The literature often is based on the premise that with increasing income, households switch from staple cereals to high food-value items. The present study highlights the need to also consider within-staple substitution
Evolving food consumption patterns of rural and urban households in developing countries: A Bangladesh case
No full textPurpose
Population and income are growing rapidly in South Asia, spurring the demand for food in general, and the demand for higher-valued food items in particular. This poses particular food security challenges for densely populated and emerging countries, such as Bangladesh. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the increasing and changing cereal consumption pattern in developing countries using Bangladesh as a case.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Bangladesh’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2000, 2005a, b data, and applying a two-stage quadratic almost ideal system estimation procedure, the present study separately estimates the expenditure elasticities for rural and urban households for five food items: rice, wheat and rice and wheat products, pulses, fish and vegetables. Second, using the estimated elasticities, projected population and the per capita GDP growth rates, this study projects the consumption of the sampled food items by 2030.
Findings
This study demonstrates that in 2030 both rural and urban households in Bangladesh will consume more wheat, pulses and fish, but the urban households will consume less rice compared to the current levels of consumption in 2015.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on developing countries that examines the evolving food items consumption separately by rural and urban households. Using Bangladesh as a case, this study warns that with rapid urbanization and income growth, developing countries need to supply more wheat, fish and pulses. The provision of the maximum usage of scarce resources, such as arable land, the development and dissemination of improved varieties and the best management practices must be ensured to boost domestic food production in developing countries to cater to the future evolving food consumption
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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