96 research outputs found
Assessing farmers' willingness to pay for quality seeds using bidding experiment mechanism : evidence from Myanmar
No full text"In most developing countries the use of quality seeds of self-pollinated crops like pulses is low because of economic and biological factors. The purpose of this study was to better understand the market potential for private sector-led seed system for two important pulse crops-chick pea and green gram in the Central Dry Zone region of Myanmar. I used the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak bidding experiment mechanism to estimate farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for seeds with different quality attributes and to assess the impact of seed packaging, branding, traceability, and labeling on farmers' WTP a premium for these quality-signaling attributes. For green gram, I also collected detailed cost data for producing seed and grain. Results indicate that providing information on the identity of the seed source, packaging, branding, traceability, and labeling had no statistically significant effect on farmers' WTP a premium for these attributes. I also found that visual inspection of seeds' physical attributes was an important determinant of farmers' WTP. Comparing the results with the cost analysis suggests that about 40% of the farmers' WTP for certified seed produced by the local seed producers and 65% of farmers' WTP for the company seed, which was perceived to be of highest quality was above the cost of seed production, which did not include storage, transport, and marketing costs. Results of this study suggest potential market demand exists for quality seed but more research is needed to better understand the cost structure and bring the total cost of producing and marketing seed below the WTP price for a large number of farmers."--Page ii.Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, 2019Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-186
RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION IN AGRICULTURE : CONFLICT, AGRICULTURAL CLUSTERS, AND LABOR DYNAMICS
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics - Doctor of Philosophy, 2025Recent years have seen a rise in production shocks worldwide, including conflict, pandemics, and natural disasters. Understanding their impact on agriculture is crucial due to agriculture\u2019s role in food security, poverty reduction, and rural transformation. This dissertation examines the linkages between shocks, agricultural outcomes, and adaptation strategies through three dissertation chapters, covering both developing and developed country contexts. The first and third chapters focus on the effects of conflict on rice production and processing in Myanmar. The second chapter analyzes labor supply shocks, investigating how workforce shortages affect farmer adaptation strategies in California, one of the most labor-intensive crop-producing states in the U.S.The first chapter quantifies the effects of conflict on household-level rice production\u2014total output, yield, value, and input/output prices. It also explores heterogeneity by conflict type (civilian vs. non-civilian targeted) and timing (planting vs. harvesting), as well as pathways through land, labor, capital, and input decisions. The analysis uses a nationally representative phone survey combined with geo-coded conflict data from the Armed Conflict and Location Event Data Project (ACLED). A fixed-effects panel model with household and year fixed effects, time-varying controls, and district trends establishes a causal relationship between conflict and agricultural performance. Results indicate that conflict significantly reduces rice production and alters production decisions. The second chapter examines how labor shortages influence production and labor management practices among California farmers. Using a 2019 farmer survey, the study employs the fixed-effects panel model at the farmer-year level. Results provide strong evidence that farmers are altering their production and labor management practices to cope with labor shortages. The third chapter investigates the role of agricultural clusters in mitigating the impacts of conflict on rice mills in Myanmar. Using 14 survey rounds in the Delta region and ACLED conflict data, I employ the Extended Two-Way Fixed Effects (ETWFE) model. Results show that conflict significantly reduces rice production and markup rates. However, mills located in village tracts with a high number of nearby rice mills (referred to as high clusters) are more resilient. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of agricultural clusters in enhancing firm-level resilience and provide new insights into how conflict affects critical midstream actors in agricultural value chains. In conclusion, given the increasing prevalence of global conflict, the first and third chapters aim to provide timely and informative insights for intervention strategies and development policies in contexts characterized by conflict and fragility. The findings in the second chapter contribute to the ongoing policy discussion related to food stability in the U.S., addressing the major challenge of labor shortages faced by agricultural producers.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
The Edible Oil Milling Sector in Myanmar's Dry Zone
No full textThis report presents findings from a survey of edible oil mills in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone, comprised of structured interviews with 144 mills in five urban centers, and 38 mills in rural areas of nine townships (total 182 mills). The following results stand out: Groundnut is the most important crop processed by Dry Zone millers, milled by 94% and 87% of urban and rural mills, respectively. Sesame is of lesser importance for urban mills (milled by 31%), but is a major crop for rural mills (milled by 74%). The domestic mill sector utilizes only a small share of Myanmar’s total oilseed production. The majority of sesame produced in Myanmar is exported. The quantity of oilseeds procured by urban mills fell by more than half from 2012 to 2017. The mean volume of groundnut procured fell 55%, from 509 t to 230 t, while the mean volume of sesame procured fell 53%, from 386 t to 182 t. The mill sector is highly concentrated and concentration has intensified since 2012. Large mills procured around 90% of all groundnut and sesame milled by urban mills in 2017. The Gini coefficient of oilseed procurement rose from 0.63 in 2012 to 0.76 in 2017, indicating deepening market concentration. Urban and rural mills have different business models. Urban mills earn income mainly by adding value to purchased oilseeds by processing them, whereas rural mills earn income mainly by providing custom milling services to oilseed farmers for a fee. Most equipment owned by mills is old. The average age of most items of milling equipment owned by urban mills is 14-17 years. Most oil produced in the Dry Zone is consumed locally. Sixty-nine percent of all oil produced by urban mills in the Dry Zone is sold locally. Local consumers account for 57% of sales. Local retailers are the second largest market segment (12% of sales). More than half of urban mills brand the oil that they sell, and one third advertise their products. The number of mills that advertise has grown rapidly since 2011. Oilcake is an important co-product that contributes mill income. Oilcake sales account for around 20% of the gross revenues earned by urban mills. Mills have responded to demand for cheaper oil by selling blended oils. Many mills sell groundnut oil blended with palm oil to consumers more cheaply than pure groundnut oil. Palm oil accounted for 15% of the volume of reported oil sales by Dry Zone mills in 2017. The real retail price of palm oil has halved since 2011, while the price of groundnut oil has remained stable. The long run decline in the price of palm oil corresponds with the removal of restrictions on imports in April 2011 that opened up the market to private importers. Domestically milled oil cannot compete with imported palm oil on the basis of price. Processed palm oil is cheaper than un-milled groundnut, and groundnut oil sells for more than double the price of palm oil. Myanmar’s market for edible oil has become segmented. Retail prices for groundnut oil and palm oil have diverged to such an extent that locally sourced products cater to a relatively small group of better-off consumers who can afford domestically produced oil, and a large group of lower income consumers who cannot Better-off consumers are willing to pay a premium for niche high quality oil. Lack of confidence in the provenance of oil produced by conventional ‘expeller’ mills has created opportunities for a ‘niche’ oil with distinct sensory characteristics produced by small artisanal mills adapted from traditional designs. Oil from these mills attracts a price premium over oil produced by expeller mills Numbers of conventional oil mills fell 30% over the past decade, but the number of artisanal mills doubled. Numbers of urban ‘expeller’ mills dropped from 266 to 186, whereas the number of small artisanal urban mills producing premium oil jumped from 78 to 156, but artisanal mills account for only 2-3% of edible oil production. Implications for policy and programming These results paint a picture of Myanmar’s edible oil milling industry attempting to adjust to the longterm challenge posed by liberalization of palm oil imports, and suggests a number of implications for policy and programming, as follows. Efforts to protect Myanmar’s edible oil milling industry (e.g. by restricting palm oil imports or raising import duties) would hurt poorer consumers. Although liberalization of palm oil imports has proven challenging for domestic millers, it enables consumers to access edible oil at affordable prices. Establishing a national quality assurance scheme for edible oil could give customers more confidence in the quality and provenance of the oil they buy. However, costs of compliance should not represent a barrier to SMEs, and training and support would be needed to help to mills to upgrade practices to meet the standard. Support for improving branding and marketing strategies could help mills differentiate their products and target a larger customer base. For example, by developing more effective online marketing campaigns and integration with emerging e-commerce platforms, or adopting geographical indications or regional brands (e.g. for Pakkoku sone hsi oil). Adoption of national standards combined with better marketing can provide a foundation for entry into export markets with higher quality standards for the best performing mills, enabling more of the value added from the oilseed sector to be retained in Myanmar. Infrastructure such as laboratory testing facilities will be needed if Myanmar is to climb the value ladder. Productivity increases in Dry Zone oilseed farming will increase farm incomes but are unlikely to improve the competitiveness of the milling sector relative to imported palm oil. Any oilseed surplus to domestic requirements is exported, dampening any effect that an increase in oilseed production by farms in Myanmar might have on domestic oil prices
SUPPLY SIDE EVIDENCE OF MYANMAR’S GROWING AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION MARKET
No full textRecent evidence suggests that the mechanization of agriculture is proceeding rapidly in areas of Myanmar close to the country’s major city, Yangon, as farmers - driven by the need to remain profitable in the face of labor shortages and rising wage rates - adopt a variety of labor saving technologies (Win and Thinzar 2016). In this brief, we present findings from the first survey in Myanmar to analyze the supply side of agricultural mechanization. We find evidence of rapid growth in the number, geographical distribution, and sales of agricultural machinery supply businesses. The range and value of machinery sold accelerated rapidly, especially post-2011 as the country opened economically. New hire-purchase financing arrangements for machinery played a key role in facilitating this growth
Supply side evidence of Myanmar’s growing agricultural mechanization market
No full textRecent evidence suggests that the mechanization of agriculture is proceeding rapidly in areas of Myanmar close to the country’s major city, Yangon, as farmers - driven by the need to remain profitable in the face of labor shortages and rising wage rates - adopt a variety of labor saving technologies (Win and Thinzar 2016). In this brief, we present findings from the first survey in Myanmar to analyze the supply side of agricultural mechanization. We find evidence of rapid growth in the number, geographical distribution, and sales of agricultural machinery supply businesses. The range and value of machinery sold accelerated rapidly, especially post-2011 as the country opened economically. New hire-purchase financing arrangements for machinery played a key role in facilitating this growth
Supply side evidence of Myanmar’s growing agricultural mechanization market
No full textRecent evidence suggests that the mechanization of agriculture is proceeding rapidly in areas of Myanmar close to the country’s major city, Yangon, as farmers - driven by the need to remain profitable in the face of labor shortages and rising wage rates - adopt a variety of labor saving technologies (Win and Thinzar 2016). In this brief, we present findings from the first survey in Myanmar to analyze the supply side of agricultural mechanization. We find evidence of rapid growth in the number, geographical distribution, and sales of agricultural machinery supply businesses. The range and value of machinery sold accelerated rapidly, especially post-2011 as the country opened economically. New hire-purchase financing arrangements for machinery played a key role in facilitating this growth.Non-PRFeed the Future Innovation Laboratory for Food Security Policy (FSP); IFPRI5DSG
Image Authentication System based on Digital Watermark and Digital Signature
No full textIn this paper to protect copyright, ownershipand content integrity of digital media includingdigital watermarking techniques. The primarymotivation of this article is to study the principles ofcryptographic primitives and watermarking schemes.In this paper, we propose a secure verificationsystem for watermarked images with the intention ofcopyright protection. RSA algorithm, RSA signature,multi-signatures,, and LSB technique are employedin the proposed system. The proposed system isdeveloped by C# programming language. Thisprojected system can withstand compressionbrightness and no attack can destroy copyright of theimage, in addition, no one can alter content oftransmitted images. In this paper ,we use RSA multi-signature algorithm to protect unauthorizeddistribution and LSB technique to embed and detectwatermark
Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Mechanization service providers - July 2020 survey round
No full textMechanization service providers in Myanmar were originally interviewed by telephone in May 2020 and again in June 2020 to determine how their businesses were being affected by COVID-19 related restrictions. The results of those surveys were published in Myanmar Strategy Support Program Policy Notes 07 and 12, respectively. To trace the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their economic activities, a third phone survey of mechanization service providers was done in early-July 2020. This Note reports on the results of the third survey, as well as some trends since the first and the second surveys
Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 in Myanmar: Agricultural equipment retailers - June 2020 survey round
No full textAgricultural equipment retailers (ER) in Myanmar were originally interviewed by telephone in late May 2020 to determine how their businesses were being affected by COVID-19 related restrictions. The results of that survey were published in Myanmar Strategy Support Program Policy Note 09. To trace the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their economic activities, a second phone survey of ERs was done in late June 2020. This Policy Note reports on the results of this second survey
AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION AND STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN MYANMAR’S AYEYARWADY DELTA
No full textMyanmar has experienced rapid economic growth since the civilian government came into power in 2011. Structural transformation of the economy, similar to that already experienced by other countries in the region, appears to be underway, with labor moving from agriculture to more productive urban-based industrial and service sectors. As this trend continues, it is likely that the share of agriculture in GDP will shrink in relative terms, even while continuing to grow in absolute value. The immediate consequences of this shift are labor shortages and rising agricultural wages, causing farmers to seek to substitute machines for manual labor to keep agriculture productive and profitable. Given the likelihood that structural transformation is already underway, we set out to understand current levels and rates of mechanization, and its characteristics and drivers. In order to do so, a representative farm survey was conducted in May 2016 in four townships close to Yangon city where paddy and pulses are widely cultivated; two in Yangon region (Kayan, Twantay) and two in Ayeyarwady region (Maubin, Nyuangdon)
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