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2 pages, 151 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production

by Laura Onofri

Agriculture 2024, 14(9), 1467; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14091467 - 28 Aug 2024

Viewed by 520

Abstract

This Special Issue on “Applications of Econometrics in Agricultural Production” has aimed to rebuild and extend the approach to agricultural production analysis by including econometric methods for (a) developing a new paradigm for agricultural production analysis that acknowledges and models the relevance of [...] Read more.

This Special Issue on “Applications of Econometrics in Agricultural Production” has aimed to rebuild and extend the approach to agricultural production analysis by including econometric methods for (a) developing a new paradigm for agricultural production analysis that acknowledges and models the relevance of the combined economic and agronomic aspects of the production processes; (b) defining output and input demand and supply in agricultural production from a technical perspective, with the use of production function/or production frontier models; and (c) understanding agricultural market exchange and market distortions and failures from a quantitative perspective [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

Research

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19 pages, 1811 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wheat Import Demand in Mexico: Evidence of Quantile Cointegration

by Ramón Valencia-Romero, José C. Trejo-García and Humberto Ríos-Bolívar

Agriculture 2023, 13(5), 980; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13050980 - 28 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2245

Abstract

The decline in the production of basic grains in Mexico has intensified since the 1990s, with wheat (Triticum) being no exception. This reduction was covered by the growth of Mexican imports. The objective of this research was to analyze the import demand function [...] Read more.

The decline in the production of basic grains in Mexico has intensified since the 1990s, with wheat (Triticum) being no exception. This reduction was covered by the growth of Mexican imports. The objective of this research was to analyze the import demand function for wheat from 1994, the time of the initiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model revealed the change in the conditional mean import demand using variations in its determinants, the Global Indicator of Economic Activity (IGAE for its Spanish acronym) and the real exchange rate, as proxy variables for income and relative prices, respectively. However, the conditional mean is insufficient in a context of increasing foreign purchases of wheat and outliers. Through a quantile extension of the ARDL model (with the acronym QARDL), we then found that the change in imports, and the relevance of the determinants, differed across import levels. In the short term, the upper quantiles of wheat imports responded mainly to their history and the exchange rate. Meanwhile, in the long term, the IGAE and the exchange rate influenced the lower quantiles of imports. We conclude that there was an asymmetric response in the conditional distribution of imports. In other words, this study provides evidence of short- and long-term location asymmetry in wheat imports under NAFTA. The research contributes to the econometric study of basic grain imports. For the first time, the QARDL model is used to understand the relationship between imports and their determinants, and the circumstances under which its use is recommended are indicated. Therefore, a new econometric method is used, avoiding the linearity of the ARDL model, and thus allowing a detailed and accurate estimation of the demand for imports. Consequently, the estimates and conclusions obtained will undoubtedly help economic agents to make more efficient decisions, from national and international investors to government agencies responsible for the promotion of Mexican agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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17 pages, 773 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Farmers’ Lottery Participation Affect Technical Efficiency of Banana Production in Rural China?

by Mingze Wu and Yueji Zhu

Agriculture 2023, 13(4), 767; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040767 - 26 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2096

Abstract

Increasing the agricultural technical efficiency is crucial to poverty reduction for smallholder farmers in developing countries. This study attempts to examine the impact of farmers’ lottery participation on technical efficiency from the perspective of the farmers’ revealed risk preferences, and to explore the [...] Read more.

Increasing the agricultural technical efficiency is crucial to poverty reduction for smallholder farmers in developing countries. This study attempts to examine the impact of farmers’ lottery participation on technical efficiency from the perspective of the farmers’ revealed risk preferences, and to explore the influence mechanism between lottery participation and technical efficiency, based on the primary data collected from banana farmers in rural China. We used data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the combined technical efficiency of the farmers and constructed an endogenous switching regressions (ESR) model to analyse the impact of lottery participation on the technical efficiency of banana farms. A quantile regression model was used to analyse the heterogeneous effects under the different levels of the farmers’ technical efficiency. Then, a mediation model was employed to clarify the influence mechanism of lottery participation on technical efficiency in terms of two pathways: the adoption of biopesticide and the soil improvement technique. The empirical results show that farmers’ lottery participation revealed their risk preferences and several factors affected banana farmers’ participation in the lottery. Specifically, male farmers are more likely to participated in the lottery than female; farmers’ working hours negatively affected their lottery participation; and the use of a smartphone significantly increased the likelihood of farmers buying lottery tickets. We also found that farmers who participate in the lottery have higher technical efficiency in banana production, and the average treatment effect of lottery participation on the technical efficiency was 21.5%, indicating that the farmers with revealed risk preferences can significantly promote technical efficiency. The effect of risk preferences on economic performance is more significant for farmers at the middle technical efficiency level. The explanation is that the adoption of new technologies (e.g., biopesticides) played a mediating effect between farmers’ lottery participation and their technical efficiency. New technologies are more likely to be adopted by farmers who participate in the lottery, resulting in higher technical efficiency. Therefore, policymakers and stakeholders can better design technology extension programs according to the different attitudes of the target farmers towards risks in developing regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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17 pages, 2285 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Weather on Sugarcane Aphid Infestation and Movement in Oklahoma

by Seokil Lee, Jeffrey Vitale, Dayton Lambert, Pilja Vitale, Norman Elliot and Kristopher Giles

Agriculture 2023, 13(3), 613; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030613 - 3 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2038

Abstract

Sugarcane aphids have caused economic damage on sorghum and other grain production in Oklahoma. When applied in a timely manner, insecticides provide efficient control; however, it is difficult to protect against the unexpected heavy infestations that have appeared frequently since 2016. This article [...] Read more.

Sugarcane aphids have caused economic damage on sorghum and other grain production in Oklahoma. When applied in a timely manner, insecticides provide efficient control; however, it is difficult to protect against the unexpected heavy infestations that have appeared frequently since 2016. This article evaluates the effect of spatial and temporal patterns of weather variables on sugarcane infestation airborne movements. Econometric methods identified persistent northwesterly wind patterns that explain aphid movements. Results serve as a base for sugarcane aphid infestation predictions and to assist stakeholders in developing an early warning system for sorghum producers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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16 pages, 279 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does the Winner Take All in E-Commerce of Agricultural Products under the Background of Platform Monopoly?

by Liang Chi, Mengshuai Zhu, Chen Shen, Jing Zhang, Liwei Xing and Xiangyang Zhou

Agriculture 2023, 13(2), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020476 - 16 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1734

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of e-commerce on profit margin from the perspective of scale using nation-level survey data from China. The results show that e-commerce can increase the profit margin of cooperatives, and that a higher proportion of sales via e-commerce strengthens [...] Read more.

This paper explores the impact of e-commerce on profit margin from the perspective of scale using nation-level survey data from China. The results show that e-commerce can increase the profit margin of cooperatives, and that a higher proportion of sales via e-commerce strengthens profitability. Secondly, the effects of agri-e-commerce on cooperative profit margin is highly dependent on young talents with rich experience and high education level; in particular, female leaders have a significantly stronger effect on improving profit margins by using e-commerce than male leaders. Thirdly, the operating scale of cooperatives does not have a direct impact on the profit margins, but a bigger operating scale can significantly enhance the effect of e-commerce on profit margins. Lastly, a higher degree of standardization of cooperatives and products more clearly evidences the role played by e-commerce, including the number of brands and certification. Overall, this research provides a micro-foundation for cooperatives to better incorporate the key role of e-commerce under the background of platform monopoly and sheds light on how the government can formulate relevant policies to better support China’s e-commerce development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

25 pages, 1398 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Agronomic and Economic Modeling in Farmers’ Determinants of Soil Fertility Management Practices: Case Study from the Semi-Arid Ethiopian Rift Valley

by Shiro Mukai

Agriculture 2023, 13(2), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020281 - 23 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1924

Abstract

Studies on smallholders’ determinants of soil fertility management practices have become increasingly important for boosting agricultural productivity, particularly in cereal-based farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. In these parts of Africa, farmers preferentially apply organic and inorganic fertilizers to the fields close to their [...] Read more.

Studies on smallholders’ determinants of soil fertility management practices have become increasingly important for boosting agricultural productivity, particularly in cereal-based farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. In these parts of Africa, farmers preferentially apply organic and inorganic fertilizers to the fields close to their housing compounds (infields). In addition, they prefer to use more fertilizers to grow cash crops rather than food crops. Many researchers suggested that farmers use limited nutrient resources in their hot-spot fields, e.g., infields and/or cash-crop fields. Recent econometric case studies have suggested using a model that considers a complementarity or substitutability between organic and inorganic fertilizers use. This study employed bivariate probit models to analyze 524 plot data collected from the northern semi-arid Ethiopian Rift Valley. A K-means cluster analysis divided the sample data into two subdatasets, representing food-crop-based cropping system (FCCS) and cash-crop-based cropping system (CCCS). Based on narrative inquiry interviews and the cluster analysis, this study considered reflecting the structure of the local farming system in modeling: a data segmentation approach and dummy variable method. Bivariate and univariate probit analyses showed that, first, the farmers’ determinants differed between the FCCS and CCCS. Second, the correlation between organic and inorganic fertilizers use was independent. Farmers’ determinants were primarily governed by the biophysical features of the plots (commuting distance to the plot, plot size, type of the plot, etc.), which narrowed down the feasible soil fertility management options in the plot to one or two; farmers’ more specific decisions on soil fertility management practices depend on individual farmers’ socioeconomic endowments (farm holding, livestock ownership, etc.). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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16 pages, 901 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Adoption Behavior of Agricultural Productive Services Based on Logistic—ISM Model: A Case Study of Rice Farmers in Jiangxi Province, China

by Juan Ai, Lun Hu, Shuhua Xia, Hongling Xiang and Zhaojiu Chen

Agriculture 2023, 13(1), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010162 - 9 Jan 2023

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2916

Abstract

Agricultural productive services can increase grain output and farmers’ incomes, promote agricultural production efficiency and break the constraints of agricultural environmental resources. In practice, China’s agricultural productive services are developing, and the use of agricultural machinery in rice planting is not sufficient. The [...] Read more.

Agricultural productive services can increase grain output and farmers’ incomes, promote agricultural production efficiency and break the constraints of agricultural environmental resources. In practice, China’s agricultural productive services are developing, and the use of agricultural machinery in rice planting is not sufficient. The employment rate of machinery in farming and harvesting is high, but the employment rate of machinery in seedling raising, planting, fertilization, and pesticide spraying is very low. This paper takes rice farmers in Jiangxi Province of China as the research object, uses 647 survey data of farmers in nine counties of Jiangxi Province, constructs a logistic-ISM model, first identifies the influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, and then analyzes the hierarchical structure of each influencing factor. The results indicate that: (1) among the seven significant influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, agricultural income rate and rice planting area are the deep-rooted factors; (2) the social identity of the household head, the risk preference of the household head and the understanding degree of the social service subsidy of agricultural machinery are intermediate level factors; and (3) the age of the household head and the number of agricultural laborers in the family are the direct factors. Based on the significance analysis of the influencing factors of rice farmers’ adoption of agricultural productive services, this paper puts forward policy suggestions to strengthen policy publicity, enhance the level of farmer policy cognition; encourage the transfer of labor force and reasonable allocation of family agricultural labor force; encourage land transfer and expand the scale operation of rice; we should guide farmers reasonably and give full play to their professional advantages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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17 pages, 1414 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanism and Empirical Test of the Impact of Consumption Upgrading on Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity in China

by Xiaowei Xing, Qingfeng Zhang, Azhong Ye and Guanghui Zeng

Agriculture 2023, 13(1), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010151 - 6 Jan 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1822

Abstract

To explore the relationship between consumption upgrading and agricultural green total factor productivity in the context of green and high-quality development of agriculture in China. Based on the construction of a composite index of consumption upgrading and the Malmquist index of non-expected output [...] Read more.

To explore the relationship between consumption upgrading and agricultural green total factor productivity in the context of green and high-quality development of agriculture in China. Based on the construction of a composite index of consumption upgrading and the Malmquist index of non-expected output in the SBM-DEA model to measure agricultural green total factor productivity, this paper uses the PVAR model and panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2008 to 2020 to empirically analyze the mechanism of the effect of consumption upgrading on agricultural green total factor productivity under high-quality development. The results are as follows: (1) Both the real economy and consumption upgrading are ahead of the change in agricultural green total factor productivity and have a negative short-run impact on agricultural green total factor productivity but a continuous boosting effect in the long-run. (2) In terms of specific impact paths, the real economy boosts agricultural green total factor productivity through technical efficiency and technical change paths and has a negative impact through scale efficiency, whereas consumption upgrading has inhibitory and sustained promotional effects in the short- and long-run, respectively, through technical efficiency and technical change paths and has opposite impact effects in the scale efficiency path. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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16 pages, 635 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Technical Efficiency and Export Potential of the World Palm Oil Market

by Hakimah Nur Ahmad Hamidi, Norlin Khalid, Zulkefly Abdul Karim and Muhamad Rias K. V. Zainuddin

Agriculture 2022, 12(11), 1918; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111918 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3275

Abstract

Palm oils have been proven to have the highest yield among vegetable oils, which is one of the critical factors in ensuring global food security. However, the world palm oil market has not been entirely utilised due to intervention policies that disrupt the [...] Read more.

Palm oils have been proven to have the highest yield among vegetable oils, which is one of the critical factors in ensuring global food security. However, the world palm oil market has not been entirely utilised due to intervention policies that disrupt the global trade flow. Hence, this study aims to identify the technical efficiency of palm oil exports and then analyse the export potential of two leading producers and exporters of palm oil, Malaysia and Indonesia. A stochastic frontier model (SFM) has been used to estimate the level of technical efficiency across two countries for a sample of 59 major palm oil importing countries during 2009–2019. Palm oil export potential is then calculated using the value of technical export efficiency obtained from the SFM. The main findings revealed the technical inefficiency of world palm oil exports. Comparing the two countries, the Indonesian average technical efficiency value is higher than Malaysian throughout the year. Moreover, the technical efficiency estimates reveal that Malaysia and Indonesia dominate different markets, except in the Netherlands. In terms of export potential, the study found that both major exporting countries of palm oil have great potential to tap more into the same countries, namely China, India, Thailand and the United States. The policy implications of this study suggest that policymakers from both countries should set up a new combined strategy to maximise the palm oil export to their trading partners. Low technical efficiency values in several importing countries show great potential to explore further. Hence, there is a vast potential market for palm oil export to be tapped in those countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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14 pages, 588 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainability of Farms in EU Countries in the Context of Income Indicators: Regression Analysis Based on a New Classification

by Alena Andrejovská and Jozef Glova

Agriculture 2022, 12(11), 1884; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111884 - 9 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1975

Abstract

The sustainability of agriculture in the common market of the European Union is mainly influenced by the income of agricultural enterprises, which reflects the development potential of the entire sector. The present contribution deals with the importance of income indicators for the long-term [...] Read more.

The sustainability of agriculture in the common market of the European Union is mainly influenced by the income of agricultural enterprises, which reflects the development potential of the entire sector. The present contribution deals with the importance of income indicators for the long-term sustainability of agricultural enterprises. We aimed to identify and quantify statistically significant determinants of the main income indicators of agricultural enterprises in individual countries of the European Union—namely, the net added value of the farm expressed per unit of agricultural work, the family farm income per family work unit, and the net farm income. We performed a linear regression analysis, in which the statistical significance of independent variables was gradually tested, including economic and environmental indicators, the economic size of the enterprise, total subsidies per hectare, depreciation, taxes, and wages. The established goal was complemented by a correlation analysis tracking the dependence between the economic size of enterprises—which is presented in the literature as a decisive indicator—and the tax burden in EU countries. We used the Farm Accountancy Data Network’s harmonised database for 2009–2018. The regression analysis results confirmed the environmental indicators’ statistical significance. Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis confirmed the proposed hypothesis that the size of the company is a strong indicator and affects the tax burden of agricultural enterprises. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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21 pages, 2077 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influencing the Success of Precision Farming Technology Adoption—A Model-Based Investigation of Economic Success Factors in Small-Scale Agriculture

by Johannes Munz and Heinrich Schuele

Agriculture 2022, 12(11), 1773; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12111773 - 26 Oct 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4142

Abstract

Even more than 30 years after the introduction of precision farming technologies and studies of their benefits in terms of productivity gains and environmental improvements, adoption rates, especially for variable-rate technologies, are very low. In particular, in smallholder areas, farm managers are reluctant [...] Read more.

Even more than 30 years after the introduction of precision farming technologies and studies of their benefits in terms of productivity gains and environmental improvements, adoption rates, especially for variable-rate technologies, are very low. In particular, in smallholder areas, farm managers are reluctant to adopt these technologies. Therefore, this study identifies factors that hinder or facilitate adoption from an economic perspective. Using a model-based sensitivity analysis with three farms of different sizes (11 ha, 57 ha and 303 ha), it is shown that larger farms have higher resilience to external factors due to economies of scale. In addition, it is clarified that the certainty of obtaining additional benefits with GPS guidance systems can explain the higher adoption rates in farming practice, although the additional benefits (per hectare and year) are much lower for this technology than for variable-rate technologies. Small farms (>30 ha) are by no means excluded from the use of digital technologies, as it is shown that the influence of learning costs on profitability is very low, low subsidies can lead to a drastic reduction in the minimum farm size and the presence of low-cost technologies is an efficient solution which allows small farms to participate in the digital transformation of agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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17 pages, 882 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Microcosmic Mechanism and Empirical Test of Uncertainty on the Non-Linear Fluctuation of Chinese Grain Prices-Based on the Perspective of Global Economic Policy Uncertainty

by Junguo Hua, Hui Li, Zejun He, Jing Ding and Futong Jin

Agriculture 2022, 12(10), 1526; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101526 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1689

Abstract

The dramatic fluctuations in grain prices and the threat to grain security caused by global economic policy uncertainty have been a social concern and a challenging area for price management authorities to regulate. Based on general equilibrium analysis in microeconomics, this paper constructs [...] Read more.

The dramatic fluctuations in grain prices and the threat to grain security caused by global economic policy uncertainty have been a social concern and a challenging area for price management authorities to regulate. Based on general equilibrium analysis in microeconomics, this paper constructs a mathematical model of the impact of global economic policy uncertainty on grain price fluctuation. It then examines the micro mechanism of non-linear grain price fluctuation under the dominant market mechanism and measures the non-linear shock effect of global economic policy uncertainty on grain prices using a threshold regression model. The results show that soybean and corn prices are subject to a two-zone fluctuation pattern due to global economic policy uncertainty. The impact has significant non-linear characteristics and is significantly greater in the high zone than that in the low zone. Accordingly, this paper offers government departments advice on better regulating and managing the market supply and demand and smoothing out sharp fluctuations in grain prices caused by changes in global economic policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Econometrics in Agricultural Production)

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