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Farmer management of production risk on degraded lands: the role of wheat variety diversity in the Tigray region, Ethiopia

Di Falco, Salvatore, Chavas, Jean-Paul and Smale, Melinda (2007) Farmer management of production risk on degraded lands: the role of wheat variety diversity in the Tigray region, Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics, 36 (2). pp. 147-156. ISSN 0169-5150

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Identification Number: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2007.00194.x

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of wheat genetic diversity and land degradation on risk and agricultural productivity in less favored production environments of a developing agricultural economy. Drawing production data from a household survey conducted in the highlands of Ethiopia, we estimate a stochastic production function to evaluate the effects of variety richness, land degradation, and their interaction on the mean and the variance of wheat yield. Ethiopia is a center of diversity for durum wheat and farmers manage complex variety mixtures on multiple plots. Econometric evidence shows that variety richness increases farm productivity. Variety richness also reduces yield variability but only for high levels of genetic diversity. Simulations with estimated parameters illustrate how planting more diverse durum wheat varieties on multiple plots contribute to improving farmer's welfare.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(IS...
Additional Information: © 2007 John Wiley & Sons
Divisions: Geography & Environment
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD100 Land Use
S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
JEL classification: D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D13 - Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty > D81 - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q54 - Climate; Natural Disasters
Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q57 - Ecological Economics: Ecosystem Services; Biodiversity Conservation; Bioeconomics
Date Deposited: 06 May 2011 14:18
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2024 22:19
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/35961

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