{"title":"Organic Agriculture: Farmers Perception and Adaptation in Northern Thailand","authors":"Waripas Jiumpanyarach","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.113.245.254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.113.245.254","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to examine factors impacting on farmers’ decision to convert from conventional to organic agriculture in Phayao and Nan Provinces, Thailand. The perceptions in conversion from conventional agriculture to organic agriculture toward the intention to change behavior, attitudes, and decision-making were analyzed. The data were collected by questionnaires administered to 124 farmers. The theory of planned behavior and the impacting factors of farm practices using logit model were used for analysis. The reasons for adopting organic agriculture were separated into three categories: (1) knowledge and understanding; farmers understood healthy farming but had little organic farm management information; (2) farm size impacts the costs of production; and (3) farm economics, including costs of delivery, storage, and markets, were a barrier to organic farming. These influenced attitudes, group norms, and perceived behavior. The study found that 50% of farmers using conventional practices were unwilling to change their practices, 16.1% had not decided, but 25.8% decided to change to organic practices. Organic agriculture in the study area increased to approximately 30.65%. The study suggests that farmers’ long-term benefits were implementation of agricultural policies supporting equipment, financial resources, knowledge, green technologies, training, and extension.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74322990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factors Influencing Smallholder Farmers Mechanization Decisions in Nigeria: The Case of Tractor Use in the Fourth Industrial Revolution ERA","authors":"Achoja Roland Onomu, M. Aliber","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.199.209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.199.209","url":null,"abstract":"Tractorization is crucial in the agricultural transformation of societies with either large farm size or challenged by a severe labor shortage. However, most smallholder farmers still lag in its use, making it necessary to investigate current tractor use by smallholders. This study investigated the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decision to use tractors in the Delta and Benue States of Nigeria. Specifically, it determined the current level of mechanization (tractor use) in the farming system, estimated the contributions of tractor use among smallholder farmers, and determined the factors influencing smallholder farmers’ tractor use decisions in the study area. Multistage sampling techniques were used to collect data from 280 respondents. Descriptive statistics, a logistic model and odds ratio (OR) constituted the analytical framework. The results showed that poor tractor use still exists among smallholder farmers, with as much as 72% of farmers not using tractor in this modern era. The study revealed that the mean income of tractor users was twice as high as that of non-tractor users. The OR result revealed that educational status, household labor, farming experience, alternative occupation, and farm area under cultivation influenced the decision of the smallholder to use tractor services. It would seem that lack of utilizing the benefits of tractorization is a crucial constraint that calls attention to the need for a holistic campaign among the farming population. The practical applications of family labor are likely to remain high.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"170 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83630304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterization of Rural Organizations in a Forest-Based Economy: A Socio-Institutional Approach","authors":"M. Brahim, J. B. Nasr, L. Zaibet","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.156.162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.156.162","url":null,"abstract":"We used a socio-institutional approach to characterize rural organizations in forest-based communities in North West Tunisia. This approach builds on the imperatives of a social system, the conservation of rural capital, and the role of social capital. The resulting model was used to characterize rural organizations based on key socio-institutional attributes. The paper used a Participatory Rural Appraisal (focus groups mainly) to conduct in-depth analysis in nine forest communities. Results reveal the following : 1) in Development Committees there is a strong belief in state intervention and moderate natural capital appropriation, weak conflict management, weak capacity to sanction, and low trust in the organization; 2) in active Agricultural Development Groups there exists a strong potential for conflict management, trust in the organization, and natural capital appropriation, but a lower level of degradation responsibility and capacity to sanction; and 3) in the Inactive Agricultural Development Groups there is the strongest perception of state intervention and overall weak performances in terms of conflict management, trust in organization, and degradation responsibility. These features indicate the organization’s attributes for sustainable local development and specifically for common forest resources management.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73852930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Adeyeye, O. Akinyemi, F. Akinluyi, M. Abiola, O. Ganiyu
{"title":"Groundwater Assessment and its Implication for Irrigation in Selected Coastal Areas of South-Western Nigeria","authors":"J. Adeyeye, O. Akinyemi, F. Akinluyi, M. Abiola, O. Ganiyu","doi":"10.18488/JOURNAL.AJARD.2021.112.171.183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/JOURNAL.AJARD.2021.112.171.183","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"34 1","pages":"171-183"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82344612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Fasina, O. S. Shittu, K. Ogunleye, A. Ilori, T. Babalola
{"title":"Effect of Drip Irrigation Frequency, N-Fertilization, and Mulching on Yield, Nitrogen, and Water Use Efficiencies of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria","authors":"A. Fasina, O. S. Shittu, K. Ogunleye, A. Ilori, T. Babalola","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.184.191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.184.191","url":null,"abstract":"Soil moisture conservation, proper irrigation scheduling and nutrient management are crucial for sustainable cucumber production. A field experiment was set up over two years (2018 and 2019) to investigate the effects of irrigation frequency, black polyethylene mulching, and nitrogen fertilization on cucumber yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) at Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria. The experiment was a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement and the main plot as drip irrigation frequency: twice per week (I4), three times per week (I5), and four times per week (I6), while the sub-plots were nitrogen fertilization; (no fertilizer, N0 and 180 kg/ha urea, N180) and mulching (no mulch, NM and mulch, M). The highest yield (8.39 and 8.51 t/ha) with the best WUE was obtained from treatment I4MF (F, fertilization), while the lowest (5.81 and 5.79 t/ha) was obtained from I6MF for the respective years. The combination of variables significantly (P<0.05) influenced cucumber yield, WUE, and NUE, and significant correlations were obtained (r=0.87** and 0.85**) between WUE and fruit yield for the study years. The treatment I4MF therefore, could successfully be adopted to reduce water and fertilizer application for improved cucumber yield in the field.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74338387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Momo, M. Adam, Tchoffo Hervé, V. Narcisse, N. Ferdinand, Tchoumboué Joseph
{"title":"Effects of Spiruline (Spirulina platensis) Supplementation on Oxidative Stress Markers, Biochemical Characteristics, and Hematological Parameters in Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Does","authors":"C. Momo, M. Adam, Tchoffo Hervé, V. Narcisse, N. Ferdinand, Tchoumboué Joseph","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.163.170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.112.163.170","url":null,"abstract":"The present study was carried out in order to evaluate the effects of feed supplementation with spiruline powder on the oxidative stress markers, biochemical characteristics, and hematological parameters in rabbit doe. Twenty-one nulliparous and sexually mature does (7–8 months old) were distributed into three groups of seven does each, comparable in terms of body weight. After a week of feeding with experimental feed, does of each group were mated. During the trial, does of group 1 (control group) were fed ad libitum with a feed free from spiruline (control feed), while those of groups 2 and 3 received the control feed supplemented with spiruline powder at 0.6 and 1.2%, respectively. Immediately after parturition, blood was collected for analyses of hematological, biochemical, and oxidative stress parameters. Studied parameters included serum concentrations of total proteins, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), creatinine, and urea; malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase; and hematological parameters. The total protein concentration, number of white and red blood cells, platelets, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular volume were significantly (P<0.05) higher in does treated compared to control. Oxidative stress parameters were comparable (P>0.05) among treatments. Hence, these results show that feed supplementation with spirulina powder can improve rabbit doe health, notably at 1.2%, since optimal results were obtained at this percentage.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88963948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Engku A.K, N. M, O. D, A. N, Yusof S, Halimatunsadiah A. B
{"title":"The Practice of Imidazolinone-Resistant Rice Production in the Irrigated Rice Fields of Kg Sungai Leman","authors":"Engku A.K, N. M, O. D, A. N, Yusof S, Halimatunsadiah A. B","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.120.128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.120.128","url":null,"abstract":"Rice is an important crop and a staple food in Malaysia. Herbicides are used extensively to control weeds, which represent a major constraint to yield production. Although the introduction of Imidazolinone-resistant Rice with its management system (IRPS) has greatly improved both yields and weed control, the system is designed to be used for only a short term before transitioning to local varieties. Thus, a survey was conducted among 115 farmers to obtain information on their general knowledge on weed control and IRPS. The results showed that the majority of the farmers use herbicides to control all types of weed presented, with a small minority still using manual control. The majority of farmers using IRPS were applying the herbicide imidazolinone when soil condition were right, and only once per season, which is the recommendation. Most of the farmers still utilized imidazolinone to control weedy rice but would not use it on other weeds. However, many of the farmers perceived imidazolinone as becoming more ineffective and expensive and were willing to change to other herbicides if there was a viable alternative. Although herbicide is the main method employed in controlling weeds when using IRPS, farmers still regard imidazolinone as an ineffective herbicide. The reason IRPS is still in use is due to the high yields provided. This study shows a better understanding of knowledge on weeds and IRPS among farmers. Nonetheless, the IRPS will become a redundant system due to the ineffectiveness of imidazolinone and a new system should be introduced to replace it.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"T163 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82676394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Future of Saudi Arabia’s Date Exports Using a Cointegration Model","authors":"M. Alnafissa, M. Alderiny, Y. Alamri, J. Alhashim","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.113.119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.113.119","url":null,"abstract":"Dates represent an important export crop for Saudi Arabia that attracts foreign exchange. There is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to extend its date exports to the international market due to production exceeding consumption and comparative advantage in date production. This paper explores the future export market for Saudi dates by analyzing the factors that affect Saudi date exports and highlighting this crop’s comparative advantage. Also, the paper uses autoregressive and distributed lag methodology with data from 1980 to 2017 to predict the future for exported dates between 2020 and 2025. The relationship between the export of dates and other exogenous variables shows there are significant effects from domestic production, domestic consumption of dates, and the price of exported dates in both the long and short term. In contrast, the comparative advantage of Saudi dates shows a significant effect only in the short term, because there has been no active program to promote Saudi dates in global markets. The explanatory variables predict that 2019 Saudi date exports will increase by 3.8-fold in 2025, with the total export amount over 700 thousand tons. Thus, there is an opportunity to develop more programs that target the international market in support of date farms and exporters, and to support market research directed at satisfying the international market.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"224 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76615148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Financial Factors on the After-Sales Service of Agricultural Machinery: A Case Study of Chinese Agricultural Machinery in South Africa","authors":"X. Qin, Dongdong Jiang, L. Pretorius","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.71.78","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.71.78","url":null,"abstract":"Compared to other countries, the level of agricultural mechanization in Africa and South Africa is relatively low. Among the factors that influence agricultural mechanization, after-sales service of agricultural machinery is among the most significant. On the other hand, financial resources primarily impact on improvement and enhancement of after-sales service of farm equipment. In this paper, a questionnaire was employed as the method of quantitative data collection to assist in the analysis of data from 739 respondents in the Chinese context. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 (Mmbengwa & Qin, 2020), no questionnaires were collected from South Africa for the purposes of this paper. A standard multiple regression analysis (MRA) was utilized to analyze the data collected from the structured questionnaires. Evidence from this study suggests that combining these financial resource factors has a major effect (F2 = 0.802) on the after-sales service of farm equipment. The high scores obtained for economic factors and analyzed in this study mean that, to a large extent, these have a major impact on China’s after-sales service for agricultural machinery in South Africa.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91186139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oyetoun Dunmola Amao, M. Antwi, O. Samuel, Oduniyi, T. O. Oni, Theresa Rubhara
{"title":"Performance of Agricultural Export Products on Economic Growth in Nigeria","authors":"Oyetoun Dunmola Amao, M. Antwi, O. Samuel, Oduniyi, T. O. Oni, Theresa Rubhara","doi":"10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.47.52","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.111.47.52","url":null,"abstract":"This research sought to explore the performance of agricultural export products on economic growth in Nigeria from 1960 to 2016. Secondary data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Annual Statistical Bulleting, the World Bank, and World Development Indicators were used. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model was explored in this study. The findings of the study show that food and live animals, beverages, and tobacco were found to be negative but significant to agricultural exports, while agricultural exports (total) and crude materials, inedible except fats, were found to be negative and insignificant to economic growth. Animal and vegetable oils and fats were found to be positive but insignificant to economic growth. Based on the following findings, it is recommended that policies aimed at increasing the productivity and quality of agricultural products, especially those from crops, should be implemented. There is also a need to devote more resources to the production of non-export goods to increase exports. Above all, more credit should be extended to the agricultural sector with a low or zero interest rate, which may lead to a higher rate of economic growth in Nigeria.","PeriodicalId":36876,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development","volume":"97 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88530427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}