Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

The Welfare Effects Of Pfiesteria-Related Fish Kills: A Contingent Behavior Analysis Of Seafood Consumers, George R. Parsons, Ash O. Morgan, John C. Whitehead, Tim C. Haab

George Parsons

Application Of Response Surface Methodology For Studying The Influence Of Soaking, Blanching And Sodium Hexametaphosphate Salt Concentration On Some Biochemical And Physical Characteristics Of Cowpeas (Vigna Unguiculata) During Canning, Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Samuel Yenyi

Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

Response surface methodology and central composite design for K = 3 was used to study the combined effect of blanching time (0–12 min), soaking time (0–24 h) and sodium hexametaphosphate [(NaPO3)6] salt concentration (0–1%) on moisture, ash, leached solids, phytates, tannins and hardness (texture) of cowpeas during canning. Regression models were developed to predict the effects of variables on the studied indices. Blanching, soaking and salt concentration all had significant positive effects on moisture content, ash content, leached solids, phytates, tannins and hardness of the canned cowpeas with significant interaction between all the factors with high regression coefficients (72.0–91.4%). The …

Biochemical Characterization Of The Major Sorghum Grain Peroxidase, Mamoudou H. Dicko, Harry Gruppen, Riet Hilhorst, Alphons G. J. Voragen, Willen W. H. Van Berkel

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws And Industry Structure: The Case Of Cattle Feeding, John Schroeter, Azzeddine Azzam, David Aiken

Azzeddine Azzam

Nine midwestern states have laws that restrict the involvement of publicly held corporations in agriculture. Opponents argue that the laws' direct efforts to regulate ownership structure may have an adverse indirect impact on size structure. Restricting corporate involvement might stifle the emergence and growth of efficient, large-scale establishments if corporations have advantages over other organizational forms in meeting capital requirements. Since 1982, Nebraska has had an anti-corporate farming law that prohibits corporate ownership of feedlots. We test whether the implementation of the Nebraska law had an impact on the stochastic process governing the evolution of the state's feedlot size distribution.

Discontinuous Extraction Of A Nonrenewable Resource, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, Erik Im, James Roumasset

Ujjayant Chakravorty

This paper examines the sequence of optimal extraction of nonrenewable resources in the presence of multiple demands. We provide conditions under which extraction of a nonrenewable resource may be discontinuous over the course of its depletion.

A Hotelling Model With A Ceiling On The Stock Of Pollution, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, Bertrand Magne, Michel Moreaux

Ujjayant Chakravorty

Environmental agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol aim to stabilize the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, which is mainly caused by the burning of nonrenewable resources such as coal. We characterize the solution to the textbook Hotelling model when there is a ceiling on the stock of emissions. We consider both increasing and decreasing demand for energy. We show that when the ceiling is binding, both the low-cost nonrenewable resource and the high-cost renewable resource may be used jointly. A key implication is that if energy demand were to decline in the long run, we may supplement energy supply …

A Short-Run Johansen Industry Model For Common-Pool Resources: Planning A Fishery's Industrial Capacity To Curb Overfishing, Kristiaan Kerstens, Niels Vestergaard, Dale Squires

Niels Vestergaard

Current methods for assessing capacity and its utilisation in fisheries operate at the firm-level, but neglect industry capacity. Here, we introduce the Johansen-Färe measure of plant capacity of the firm into a multi-output, frontier-based version of the short-run Johansen industry model. The model determines firm capacity utilisation such that current industry outputs are maintained, while minimising the use of fixed inputs at industry level and assuming abundant variable inputs. Policy extensions relevant to combating overfishing include tightening quotas, seasonal closures, linking economic and plant capacity, decommissioning schemes and area closures, implementation issues and equity considerations. The application to the Danish …

Response Surface Methodology For Optimizing The Pre-Processing Conditions During Canning Of A Newly Developed And Promising Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata) Variety, Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Samuel Yenyi, Esther Sakyi-Dawson

Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

Cowpea (IT87D195Y) seeds were canned with the objective of investigating the optimal pre-processing conditions that would yield the best quality canned product from the newly developed cowpea variety. Pre-canning procedures such as blanching time, soaking time and sodium hexametaphosphate [(NaPO3)6] salt concentration were used as the independent variables for a Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD). The pre-processing parameters obtained from the CCRD were used for the canning of the cowpeas and the quality characteristics (moisture content, pH of the drained liquid, drained weight, splitting of the seeds, leached solids and seed hardness) of the canned products were studied using response …

Building An Agricultural Research For Development System In Africa., Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng, Adiel Mbabu

Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng

This paper discusses how impact-oriented agricultural research for development systems in Africa can be better organized and managed. Specifically, the paper puts forth the argument that achieving the development targets set by African leaders and the international community, for example, through the Millennium Development Goals, will be extremely difficult without a satisfactory re-orientation of the organization and management of African research for development systems. Such a re-orientation involves carefully linking the agricultural research agenda with national development priorities; improving coordination, interaction, interlinkages, partnerships, and networks among system agents—that is, agricultural research institutes, extension systems, higher education institutions, farmer organizations, civil …

Realizing Community Futures: A Practical Guide To Harnessing Natural Resources, Jerome K. Vanclay, Ravi Prabhu, Fergus Sinclair

Professor Jerome K Vanclay

No abstract provided.

Illegal Landings: An Aggregate Catch Self-Reporting Mechanism, Lars Gårn Hansen, Frank Jensen, Niels Vestergaard, Urs Steiner Brandt

Niels Vestergaard

To solve the problem of illegal landings this article proposes a new tax mechanism based on the regulator's own aggregate catch estimates and ex ante self-reports of planned catch by fishermen. We show that the mechanism avoids illegal landings while ensuring (nearly) optimal exploitation and generating (nearly) correct entry and exit incentives. Finally we simulate the mechanism for the Danish cod fishery in Kattegat to obtain a rough indicator of the size of the tax. It turns out that the average tax payment as a percentage of profit is surprisingly low.