Outlook on Agriculture

Most published material relating to pesticides focuses on negative effects. Previous work by the authors has linked pesticides to a range of benefits, but not to wider social outcomes. In this study, a case is made that, if used properly, pesticides can result in a range of social benefits. To characterize social outcomes for individuals, families, other groups and communities, the authors undertook the development of an analytical framework to categorize the potential outcomes, a review of the literature and an examination of specific cases in production systems using pesticides. Four categories of use were explored: livestock disease vector control, subsistence farming, transition from subsistence to cash crop farming and commercial farming. The last two showed very strong positive associations, with benefits being manifested in increased income and reduced risk, plus the ability to hire labour and provide employment opportunities. Other outcomes were the evolution of more complex community facilities, such as schools and shops, and improved health. One unexpected finding was that there appeared to be an association between the use of pesticides and cooperation (that is, farmers working together in purchasing, spraying and/or marketing). Many of the case studies supported the hypothesis that farm businesses using pesticides were associated with the development of administrative skills that spilled over into other aspects of people's lives. Although the sample was small and there was a risk of an inherent bias towards those with a vested interest in maintaining their current farming systems (including pesticides), these case studies support the authors' hypothesis that there are social benefits from pesticide use.

Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is a widespread viral disease that causes high yield losses in susceptible genotypes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Effective control of CMD is beneficial and justifiable since cassava is an important source of carbohydrates for over 200 million people in most African countries where the crop is grown. Despite much research effort, CMD has not been completely brought under control, and this remains a tremendous challenge to scientists and other stakeholders. This paper highlights and discusses some of the challenges in controlling CMD and offers some solutions. The need to diversify cassava utilization as food, feed and industrial raw material is crucial for the commercialization of the crop, and this diversification will eventually lead to farmers making extensive use of improved CMD-resistant genotypes and other inputs.

This study was conducted to characterize surface run-off water quality from sugar cane fields, pasturelands and residential areas, and to assess the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) in controlling non-point source pollution. From October 2002 to September 2005, the five-day biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate/nitrite-N (NO₃/NO₂-N), soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and pH were determined in surface run-off water from two sugar cane fields, two pasturelands and two residential areas in south-western Louisiana. Faecal coliform counts were carried out on run-off samples from the two pasturelands. The BMPs implemented in one of the sugar cane fields included drop-pipe structures, nutrient management, reduced tillage and the application of herbicides to eliminate summer cultivations, while those implemented in one of the pasturelands included drop-pipe structures, cross-fencing, water points, nutrient management, improved forage planting and managed rotational grazing. Average TSS concentration in surface run-off from the sugar cane fields was significantly higher than the average TSS concentration in the surface run-off from the pastureland and residential areas. Average BOD₅ concentrations in surface run-off from the sugar cane fields and pasturelands were significantly higher than the average BOD₅ concentration in surface run-off from the residential site. Average TN and NO₃/NO₂-N concentrations in surface run-off from the sugar cane fields were significantly higher than the average concentration for the pasturelands and residential areas surface run-off. Average TP and SRP concentrations in surface run-off from the pasturelands were significantly higher than the average TP and SRP concentrations in surface run-off from the sugar cane fields and residential areas. The BOD₅ was significantly positively correlated with TSS, TN, TP, SRP and NO₃/NO₂-N. Surface run-off from the sugar cane field with BMPs showed relatively lower median values of TN, TP, NO₃/NO₂-N and SRP and a slightly higher BOD₅ value than the surface run-off from the sugar cane field without BMPs. Similarly, the surface run-off from pastureland with BMPs showed lower median values for TSS, TN and NO₃/NO₂-N than the surface run-off from pastureland without BMPs.

Considerable emphasis has been placed on developing technologies for agricultural sustainability. Many bilateral projects are working to achieve this outcome. A desk review was conducted to study the importance of project duration for the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural projects. Longer-duration projects were successful in addressing more holistic issues than short projects. However, funding agencies tend to fund shorter-duration projects, so projects become progressively shorter. At the same time, the number of projects implemented each year is increasing. Despite the decrease in total development assistance, increases in project numbers, particularly since 1986, appear to be at the cost of project duration. Short project duration was one of the most cited reasons for not completing essential dissemination activities for wider adoption, whereas longer-duration projects were usually considered more successful in addressing more holistic issues. It is difficult to produce tangible outputs from agricultural and soil conservation projects within five years. Considering the slow changes in the system and in agricultural and environmental sustainability, the authors suggest that project developers should be advised to plan for a minimum of 5–10 years, depending on the nature of activities. It is time for funding agencies to reconsider their tendency to fund shorter-duration projects.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world and is affected by natural disasters, pollution and a range of public health hazards. The country's main environmental constraints are its susceptibility to seasonal flooding, inadequate sanitation and its limited infrastructure for wastewater management. Conversion of the Sundarbans to shrimp ponds and rice paddies has reduced the protection provided by this coastal strip. This, along with sedimentation in the western delta region, has increased the flood risk. High river flow rates during the monsoon in the centre and east of the Bay of Bengal are a threat to human and animal safety. Difficulties with installing and maintaining sanitation networks in flood-prone regions are causing pollution problems, and this has become more evident from recent reports about antibiotic-resistant strains of enteric pathogens in coastal shrimps and prawns. Pollution with sewage and wastewaters from the shrimp farming and leather industries are contributing to poor water quality in the rivers and delta. Difficulties in achieving immediate and adequate surveillance during the 2007 avian influenza outbreak may have compromised control standards for this disease. This article gives an overview of these and other environmental and health issues affecting the country.

A critical assumption in the impact assessment of an agricultural R&D effort is whether the effort in question has a substitute – that is, whether the innovation would also happen under other settings. This paper takes the case of zero tillage wheat in India to explore diverging counterfactual scenarios whereby, in the ‘without’ case, the innovation would not have been introduced or would have been introduced only with a ten-year or five-year lag. The authors quantify how the assumed counterfactual scenario affects various impact assessment indicators. They show that, even when assuming a conservative five-year lag and based on induced supply-shift gains alone, the investment in zero tillage R&D by the international agricultural research system was highly beneficial. The ability of zero tillage to combine cost savings and yield gains, its wide applicability and significant R&D spill-ins contributed to the high returns. The case thus highlights the high potential gains from successful adaptive research, even if the main effect is only to accelerate technology deployment.

India's livestock sector is growing and is playing a vital role in the continent's agricultural economy. The 11th Plan and the National Agricultural Policy have focused on livestock to achieve the target growth rate of 4% in the agricultural sector. However, there has been a decline in public investment in both agriculture and livestock. There is a notion that livestock is a neglected sector in terms of investment, and the distribution of investment is also skewed. This paper looks at the status, growth rates and trends of government spending on animal husbandry and dairy, livestock gross domestic product (GDP), investments in agriculture, agricultural GDP and national GDP. The author assesses the effects of government spending on livestock for promoting livestock GDP and reducing poverty, and suggests policy measures to promote investment in the livestock sector.

This paper describes the uptake of five dairy production technologies – artificial insemination, deworming, vaccination, concentrate feeding and mineral mixture feeding – in the Nagpur district of India's Vidarbha region. The survey was carried out in 21 villages and data were collected from 210 dairy farmers. The major reasons for the non-adoption or discontinuation of these technologies were: nonavailability of service; lack of knowledge among farmers; and withdrawal of free/subsidized services by government. The implications for dairy development are discussed.

This paper provides an extended analysis of livelihood diversification in rural Tanzania, with special emphasis on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Over the past decade, this sector of industry, which is labour-intensive and comprises an array of rudimentary and semi-mechanized operations, has become an indispensable economic activity throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, providing employment to a host of redundant public sector workers, retrenched large-scale mine labourers and poor farmers. In many of the region's rural areas, it is overtaking subsistence agriculture as the primary industry. Such a pattern appears to be unfolding within the Morogoro and Mbeya regions of southern Tanzania, where findings from recent research suggest that a growing number of smallholder farmers are turning to ASM for employment and financial support. It is imperative that national rural development programmes take this trend into account and provide support to these people.

The cooperative has long been recognized by governments as a vehicle for poverty reduction. In Nigeria, however, the term ‘cooperative’ has traditionally been restricted to those organizations registered with government. This leads to an underestimation of the contribution of cooperatives to society because the activities of non-registered organizations with cooperative characteristics go unnoticed. This paper compares registered and non-registered cooperatives in Nsukka to ascertain whether registration really makes a difference. The analysis shows that membership of both registered and non-registered societies is dominated by men. However, the non-registered societies are, on average, younger (in terms of both membership and date of establishment) than the registered group. The non-registered societies are also much smaller than the registered ones. While the non-registered societies source their credit from the informal sector, their registered counterparts source theirs from government and the formal sector, essentially because government does not recognize non-registered societies as cooperatives. Although both the amount and spread of investment are significantly higher among the non-registered cooperatives than the registered ones, there is no significant difference between the two groups in terms of income earned. This is apparently due to government support of the registered cooperatives, which props up their income. In addition, the non-registered societies are more oriented towards community development in their investment. Thus, neglecting the activities of non-registered groups may not only be detrimental to development, but may also be disadvantageous to poverty alleviation programmes. This is particularly important for the international development/donor agencies and NGOs with a special focus on cooperatives or similar groups.