2 pages, Monsanto's Barton plant, Luling, Louisiana owns a computer that is literally running the ammonia operation. But it also employs plenty of people - in fact, five more than were there before the fantastic instruments took over. They are also there to monitor the equipment. Once in a while something "baffles" the computer and it takes a little investigation to correct the flaw.
10 pages, This study examined content of YouTube videos on cassava production and processing posted in Nigeria between 2009 and 2019. Purposive sampling method was used in selecting 155 YouTube videos with cassava production and processing contents. Primary data on video source, content, duration, quality, number of views, subscribers, likes, comments, presentation format and year of upload were obtained by watching these videos. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation. Many (53.5%) of the videos were on processing of cassava, while most (80.0%) of the videos were relatively recent (2014 - 2019). Private individuals (38.7%) and media houses (34.2%) were the main sources of videos on cassava production and processing on YouTube. The major content of the video was on agronomic practices in cassava production (12.9%) and value addition (11.0%). Also, 66.0% of the videos had video description (descriptive texts), 36.8% had mobilizing information while 52.3% had a video quality of 720p. Furthermore, 72.9% of the videos had between 1-to-7-minute runtime and these videos had more likes than dislikes with mean values of 92.8 and 5.6 respectively. The mean number of views, subscribers and comments were 11,138.1, 179,537.6 and 13.6, respectively. The presentation patterns in the videos were in form of news (24.5%) and documentary (20.0%). YouTube videos on cassava production and processing were well viewed with a substantial number of subscribers. More YouTube videos on cassava production and processing should be produced with varied contents by different stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
6 pages, Despite the huge potential for milk production, interventions to improve productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are barely based on specified farm classifications. This study aimed to develop robust and context-specific farm typologies to guide content of extension farm advice/services in Uganda. From a sample of 482 dairy farmers, we collected data on farmer socio-demographics, farm management practices, ownership of farm tools and facilities, willingness to pay for extension services, milk production, and marketing. Farm typologies were obtained based on principal component and cluster analyses. Thereby, of the three dairy production systems that emerged, small-scale, largely subsistence yet extensive and low productive farms were more prominent (82.6%). Farms that were classified as large-scale, less commercialized yet extensive with modest productive systems were more than the medium-scale commercial farms with intensive and highly productive systems. However, the later were considered to potentially transform dairy farming in Uganda. It was also predicted that the validity of our farm classification may persist until half of the farms have moved between clusters. The study gives new insights on dairy production systems in Uganda, which can be used to organize more targeted research on farmers’ extension needs for facilitating delivery of relevant and effective extension services and designing appropriate extension policies
INTERPAKS, Examines the level of significance of extension services and the marginal contribution of extension services to increased agricultural production in Gujarat State (1976-77). In addition, the marginal contributions of extension services are compared for the high and low productivity areas of the state. Results of the regression analysis indicate that extension investment has played a significant role in increasing agricultural production only in the high productivity areas while in the low productivity areas it has played an insignificant and even negative role.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 47 Document Number: B05712
Notes:
In T. M. Arndt, D. G. Dalrymple, and V. W. Ruttan (Eds.), Resource allocation and productivity in national and international agricultural research. Minneaspolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. 209-236.
21 pages, Despite decades of investment in agricultural extension, technology adoption among farmers and agricultural productivity growth in Sub-Saharan Africa remain slow. Among other shortcomings, extension systems often make recommendations that do not account for price risk or spatial heterogeneity in farmers' growing conditions. However, little is known about the effectiveness of extension approaches for nutrient management that consider these issues. We analyze the impact of farmers' access to site-specific nutrient management recommendations and to information on expected returns, provided through a digital decision support tool, for maize production. We implement a randomized controlled trial among smallholders in the maize belt of northern Nigeria. We use three waves of annual panel data to estimate immediate and longer term effects of two different extension treatments: site-specific recommendations with and without complementary information about variability in output prices and expected returns. We find that site-specific nutrient management recommendations improve fertilizer management practices and maize yields but do not necessarily increase fertilizer use. In addition, we find that recommendations that are accompanied by additional information about variability in expected returns induce larger fertilizer investments that persist beyond the first year. However, the magnitudes of these effects are small: we find only incremental increases in investments and net revenues over two treatment years.
12 pages, via online journal, Since the rice crisis of 2007, the government of Benin has initiated many programmes for rice intensification. Comparison of three rice production areas shows that local rice production has indeed been increased by the facilities provided by the government programmes. Although broadly the same facilities (market outlet, credit, input, etc.) were provided to rice farmers in the three study areas, which are located close to one another, there are not only similar, but also some different outcomes with regard to farmers' practices. There were also some unexpected changes, like the shift from limited collective canal cleaning to individual canal cleaning in Koussin-Lélé and the use of pumps in upland areas in Bamè. The study explores the interplay between these external interventions of government programmes and local actions of farmers to explain the outcomes. Using an actor-oriented perspective, the study concludes that farmers' agency played a critical role in the success of interventions; the changes occurred because of local actions of the farmers and intermediaries interacting with the external interventions at diverse junctures. Differences in strategies for resolving livelihood problems, in production options and biophysical conditions influence farmers' local actions and contribute to the explanation of the diversity of outcomes. The main lesson drawn from this research is that evaluation studies should not consider external interventions as the only or primary source of change. The dynamic interplay between local agency, intermediation and external interventions makes room for change.
18 pages, Based on panel data from the Rural Fixed Point Survey of the Ministry of
Agriculture over the period 2004-2016 and supplementary survey data on information
and communications technology (ICT) applications in the countryside, this paper employs
the difference in differences (DID) method to analyze the effects of ICT applications on
rural households’ agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) with mobile phone signal,
internet and 3G mobile network connections as indicators, and decomposes and evaluates
the constituent factors. Our findings reveal a positive effect of ICTs on rural households’
TFP, which primarily stemmed from rising agricultural technical efficiency. However, ICTs
exerted no significant effect on agricultural technical progress during this paper’s data
period due to limited rural human capital. These findings are consistent with robustness test
results based on counterfactual and matching methods.
AGE 85925422, Data from 358 households in 12 sites representative of climatic, geographical, and agricultural variations in the eastern communal areas of Botswana show that differences in the agricultural practices and extension contact of male- and female-headed households largely disappear when economic stratum is controlled. Female-headed households are shown not to be a homogeneous group. There appear to be greater similarities between farmers within the same economic stratum regardless of gender than between farmers of the same gender in different strata.
Heikkila, Anna-Maija (author), Myyra, Sami (author), and Pietola, Kyosti (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
2012-12
Published:
Finland
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 186 Document Number: D00916
Notes:
Factor Markets Project, Comparative analysis of factor markets for agriculture across the member states, Working Paper No. 32, European Union. 18 pages.
Hussey, G.A. (author / The Pennsylvania State University, Northeast Computer Institute) and The Pennsylvania State University, Northeast Computer Institute
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1985
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 62 Document Number: C02119
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection; Ovid Bay Collection; Four copies, Washington, D.C. : USDA, 1985. 31 p. (Electronic Technology Task Force Report)