26 pages., via online journal., This paper employs the patent data of four major genetically modified (GM) crops, soybeans, cotton, maize and rapeseed, to illustratee how the innovation of GM crop technology diffused and distributed globally over time. Data collected from the Derwent Innovation Index, were employed to construct country patent citation networks, from 1984 to 2015, and the results revealed that developed countries were early adopters, and the primary actors in the innovation of GM crop technology. Only seven developing countries appeared in the country citation network. Most developed countries were reluctant to apply GM crop technology for commercial cultivation. Private businesses stood out in the patent citation network. The early adoption and better performance of developed countries can be explained by the activities of large established private companies.
21 Pages, Agricultural advisory services generally rely on interpersonal knowledge transfers by agricultural extension agents who visit farmers to provide information. This approach is not always effective and has proved hard to scale sustainably, particularly in highly dispersed smallholder farming systems. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been advanced as a promising way to overcome many of the problems associated with conventional agricultural extension. We evaluate the effectiveness of an ICT‐mediated approach to deliver agricultural information in a field experiment conducted among small‐scale maize farmers in eastern Uganda. Three complementary technologies designed to address both informational and behavioral constraints to technical change are considered. First, we investigate the effectiveness of audiovisual messages (video) as a means of delivering information on input use and improved maize management practices to farmers. Second, we quantify the additional impact of complementing video with an interactive voice response (IVR) service. Third, we estimate the incremental effect of time‐sensitive short message services (SMS) messages designed to remind farmers about applying key practices at specific points during the season. We find that households that were shown a short video on how to become better maize farmers were performing significantly better on a knowledge test, more likely to apply recommended practices, and more likely to use fertilizer than households that did not view the video. These same households also reported maize yields about 10.5% higher than those that did not view the video. We find little evidence of an incremental effect of the IVR service or SMS reminders.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10557
Notes:
2 pages., via website, AgriMarketing Weekly., A Wisconsin judge on Friday ordered Anheuser-Busch to stop suggesting in advertising that MillerCoors’ light beers contain corn syrup, wading into a fight between two beer giants that are losing market share to small independent brewers.
Online from AgEconSearch., Authors examined farmers' reluctance to participate and adopt insurance involving climate, crops, and rainfall. They also recommended needed information for farmers about the purpose of such insurance, as well as financial support.
Quandt, Amy (author), Salerno, Jonathan D. (author), Neff, Jason C. (author), Baird, Timothy D. (author), Herrick, Jeffrey E. (author), McCabe, J. Terrence (author), Xu, Emilie (author), and Hartter, Joel (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020-08-11
Published:
United States: PLOS
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12425
16 pages., Mobile phone use is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, spurring a growing focus on mobile phones as tools to increase agricultural yields and incomes on smallholder farms. However, the research to date on this topic is mixed, with studies finding both positive and neutral associations between phones and yields. In this paper we examine perceptions about the impacts of mobile phones on agricultural productivity, and the relationships between mobile phone use and agricultural yield. We do so by fitting multilevel statistical models to data from farmer-phone owners (n = 179) in 4 rural communities in Tanzania, controlling for site and demographic factors. Results show a positive association between mobile phone use for agricultural activities and reported maize yields. Further, many farmers report that mobile phone use increases agricultural profits (67% of respondents) and decreases the costs (50%) and time investments (47%) of farming. Our findings suggest that there are opportuni- ties to target policy interventions at increasing phone use for agricultural activities in ways that facilitate access to timely, actionable information to support farmer decision making.
35 pages, We use data from a randomised experiment in Uganda to examine effects of incentives
on the decision to adopt drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) and mechanisms
through which effects occur. We find that social recognition (SR) incentives to a
random subset of trained farmers – disseminating farmers (DFs) – increase knowledge
transmission from DFs to their co-villagers and change information networks of both
DFs and their neighbours. SR also increases DFs’ likelihood of adopting DTMVs.
However, the corresponding results for private material rewards are not conclusively
strong. We find no evidence that incentives for knowledge diffusion increase the
likelihood of co-villagers adopting DTMVs
12 pages, via Online journal, Corn (Zea mays) grown in the southern Piedmont requires 200 to 280 kg nitrogen (N) ha−1 annually and requires up to 0.87 cm of water per day, making groundwater systems susceptible to nitrate (NO3−) leaching. A perennial white clover (Trifolium repens L.) living mulch (LM) system may reduce NO3-N leaching by using legume N to replace mineral N, though little information is available on such a system in the southern Piedmont. Therefore, a HYDRUS-1D model was used to simulate water and NO3-N flux in three cover crop systems. Cereal rye (Secale cereal L.) (CR), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) (CC), and a white clover LM were fertilized with 280, 168, and 56 kg N ha−1. The HYDRUS-1D model was calibrated and validated with observed water contents and NO3-N data that were collected over two years. Water and NO3-N flux models were created for each treatment and evaluated using coefficient of determination, percentage bias, and index of agreement, and showed good agreement to observed data. Nitrate leaching below 1 m in 2015/2016 was 23.5, 12.7, and 21.4 kg ha−1 for the CC, LM, and CR treatments, respectively, but was less than 1 kg ha−1 for all treatments in 2016/2017 due to prolonged drought. Differences in leached NO3-N among treatments were attributed to variation in mineral N application rate and NO3-N uptake by cover crops. Overall, results suggest that the use of a perennial LM system may reduce NO3-N leaching when compared to annual CC and CR cover crop systems.
