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| Registros recuperados: 71 | |
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| Edmeades, Svetlana; Smale, Melinda; Renkow, Mitch; Phaneuf, Daniel J.. |
| Ugandan smallholder farmers produce the nation's major food crop using numerous banana varieties with distinctive attributes, while coping with important biotic constraints and imperfect markets. This empirical context motivates a trait-based model of the agricultural household that establishes the economic association between household preferences for specific variety attributes (yield, disease and pest resistance, and taste), among other exogenous factors, and variety demand, or the extent of cultivation. Six variety demands are estimated in reduced form, each in terms of both plant counts ("absolute" or levels demand) and plant shares ("relative" demand). Two salient findings emerge from the analysis: 1) the determinants of both absolute and relative... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Variety demand; Variety attributes; Agricultural household model; Bananas; Uganda; Crop Production/Industries; Food Security and Poverty. |
| Ano: 2004 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/60323 |
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| Nagarajan, Latha; Smale, Melinda. |
| In the subsistence-oriented, semi-arid production systems of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, India, the environment is marginal for crop growth and often there is no substitute for millet crops. Across communities, farmers grow thirteen different combinations of pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet, little millet, and foxtail millet varieties, but individual farmers grow an average of only two to three millet varieties per season. The notion of the seed system includes all channels through which farmers acquire genetic materials, outside or in interaction with the commercial seed industry. Data are compiled through household surveys and interviews with traders and dealers in village and district markets. Based on the concept of the seed lot, several... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Seed systems; Millet diversity; Variety change; Seed users; Crop diversity; Seed industry and trade; Genetic variation; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2005 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/59229 |
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| Smale, Melinda; Mason, Nicole M.. |
| The successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia during the 1970s–80s was a major achievement of African agriculture but was predicated on a government commitment to parastatal grain and seed marketing, the provision of services to maize growers, and a pan-territorial pricing scheme that was fiscally unsustainable. Declining maize output when this system was dismantled contributed to the reinstatement in 2002 of subsidies for maize seed and fertilizer through the Fertilizer and Farmer Input Support Programs (FISP). In the meantime, seed liberalization has led to an array of new, improved maize varieties, most of which are hybrids. This analysis explores the determinants of demand for first-generation (F1) hybrid maize seed in... |
| Tipo: Working Paper |
Palavras-chave: Zambia; Maize; Seed subsidies; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Security and Poverty. |
| Ano: 2012 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/123555 |
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| Diakite, Lamissa; Sidibe, Amadou; Smale, Melinda; Grum, Mikkel. |
| This paper reviews the structure and performance of the sorghum and millet seed sector in Mali. The Sahel is the origin of pearl millet and sorghum, seed selection and management of these crops is embedded in local cultures, and most producers of these crops are subsistence oriented. Despite seed sector reform, no certified seed of these crops is sold in local markets and farmers prefer to rely on themselves or each other for seed. The dominant source of certified seed is the national seed service. Certified seed is multiplied by contracted farmers and seed producer groups, and supplied to farmers through farmers’ associations, development organizations, and extension services. The informal sector supplies farmers with non-certified seed directly and... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Seed; Formal sector; Informal sector; Millet; Sorghum; Mali; Agribusiness; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2008 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42348 |
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| Nagarajan, Latha; Smale, Melinda; Glewwe, Paul. |
| The purpose of the research paper is to characterize biological diversity related to millets in the semi-arid regions of India at various spatial scales of analysis (e.g., farm household versus community levels) and place that evidence in a broader seed systems (includes both formal and informal) context. An important finding of this research is that producer access to millet genetic resources is affected by the extent to which seed is traded via formal markets or through other social institutions, along with farm and household characteristics. Findings also underscore the need for an enhanced theoretical understanding of local seed markets in analyzing crop variety choices and the diversity of materials grown in less favored environments. |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Millet diversity; Seed systems; Local markets; Crop diversity; Biological diversity; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2005 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/59235 |
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| Meng, Erika C.H.; Smale, Melinda; Rozelle, Scott; Ruifa, Hu; Huang, Jikun. |
| Initial efforts to estimate the effects on productivity of diversity among modern varieties in a production function framework have been unsatisfactory in at least two respects. First, the conventional primal approach estimates the marginal effects of diversity on technical efficiency but is unable to examine issues of allocative efficiency since it does not explicitly address producer behavior with respect to prices. Second, measures of genetic diversity used in previous studies may not have fully represented the diversity present in the crop. The development and incorporation of a biologically meaningful index of crop genetic diversity into an economic decision-making model is not straightforward. Previous studies have most often used diversity... |
| Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation |
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries; Productivity Analysis. |
| Ano: 1999 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21580 |
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| Nagarajan, Latha; Pardey, Philip G.; Smale, Melinda. |
| Changes in India’s seed regulations during the 1990s favored the growth of privately- as compared to publicly-funded sectors. Most advances have been made in the major millet crops, sorghum and pearl millet, as compared to finger millet and other minor millet crops, which in many ways dependent on local markets for seed purposes. In this study, we have analyzed the evolving interactions between formal systems related to the delivery of modern varieties and informal systems for maintaining traditional seeds in the semi-arid regions of India. It is evident that in these marginal environments, crop and variety use decisions, and the crop biodiversity levels take place within the context of local seed markets and a national seed industry. The outcome of the... |
| Tipo: Report |
Palavras-chave: Seed systems; Seed industry and trade; Seed markets; Biodiversity; Local markets; Formal seed sector; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2006 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55420 |
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| Gruere, Guillaume P.; Giuliani, Alessandra; Smale, Melinda. |
| Modern crop production is based on only a few plant species. Particularly in marginal environments of developing agricultural economies, many less well-known agricultural or non-timber forest species, continue to be grown, managed or collected, thus contributing to the livelihood of the poor and to agricultural biodiversity. Some of these species, called underutilized plant species, are characterized by the fact that they are locally in developing countries but globally rare, that scientific information and knowledge about them is scant, and that their current use is limited relative to their economic potential. In this paper, we first identify the economic factors that cause these plants to be ‘underutilized’. Based on this analysis, we propose a... |
| Tipo: Report |
Palavras-chave: Underutilized species; Agricultural biodiversity; Agricultural marketing; Agricultural development; Niche markets; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2006 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55418 |
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| Smale, Melinda; Meng, Erika C.H.; Brennan, John P.; Hu, Ruifa. |
| Spatial diversity indicators may serve an important function for policymakers as they seek to manage crop genetic diversity and potential externalities associated with diffusion of some types of genetically improved crops. This paper adapts spatial diversity indices employed by ecologists in the study of species diversity to area distributions of modern wheat varieties in contrasting production systems of Australia and China. The variation in three interrelated concepts of diversity "richness, abundance, and evenness" is explained by factors related to the demand and supply of varieties, agroecology, and policies using the econometric method of Zellner's seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). Results suggest that in addition to expected yield and... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 1999 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7697 |
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| Birol, Ekin; Villalba, Eric Rayn; Smale, Melinda. |
| Maize, the second most globally important staple crop after wheat, originated in Mexico, where it is typically grown as part of a set of associated crops and practices called the milpa system. This ancient mode of production is practiced today in ways that vary by cultural context and agro-environment. Milpas generate private economic value, in terms of food security, diet quality and livelihoods, for the two-million farm households who manage them. Furthermore, milpas generate public economic value by conserving agrobiodiversity, especially that of maize landraces, which have the potential to contribute unique traits needed by plant breeders for future crop improvement. In this way, milpas contribute to global food security in maize. However, the... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Mexico; Maize; Genetically modified crops; Conservation; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 2007 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/42373 |
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| Meng, Erika C.H.; Smale, Melinda; Ruifa, Hu; Brennan, John P.; Godden, David P.. |
| In recent years, output on genetic diversity in the economic literature has included conceptual pieces on the definition and measurement of crop genetic diversity, methodologies for estimating its value, and efforts to analyze its contribution to productivity and stability. However, because biological diversity refers in general to a broad area of scientific inquiry, the growing quantity of literature has also generated some confusion over the definition, measurement, and interpretation of genetic diversity in the context of economic analysis. This paper addresses some of the measurement issues encountered in incorporating genetic diversity into economic analysis by presenting a synthesis of several of the relevant concepts and tools. Using data collected... |
| Tipo: Presentation |
Palavras-chave: Genetic/diversity/wheat/variety/measurement; Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 1999 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/124089 |
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| Gollin, Douglas; Smale, Melinda; Skovmand, Bent. |
| This paper develops a theoretical model for analyzing gene bank management decisions regarding the search for traits of economic value in ex situ collections of wheat. The model is applied to data on the probability of finding useful sources of resistance to Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and septoria tritici leaf blotch, using Monte Carlo simulations for sampling distributions, simulations of varietal diffusion paths, and actual cost data from searches. Three specific questions are posed and answered: (1) what is the optimal size of search among genetic resources of a given type for a trait of economic value? (2) what is the value of specialized knowledge about which genetic resources are most likely to display resistance? and (3) how should search... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 1998 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7695 |
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| Smale, Melinda; Bellon, Mauricio R.; Gomez, Jose Alfonso Aguirre. |
| This study uses an approach derived from models of the private and public characteristics of goods to illustrate (1) the overriding importance of variety attributes in farmers' decisions to allocate area among varieties of maize landraces and (2) the significance of farmers' perceptions of changes in the maize germplasm base in the surrounding community in their choices. Diversity indices and the concept of 'scale', as understood in ecology, are adapted and employed to test hypotheses empirically. Though a case study of maize farmers in Southeastern Guanajuato, the research raises methodological issues for models of variety choice and has policy implications for the potential to conserve maize genetic diversity on farms in Mexico. |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Crop Production/Industries. |
| Ano: 1999 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7669 |
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| Registros recuperados: 71 | |
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