Instant Insights: Economics of Agriculture: (115 Burleigh Dodds Science: Instant Insights)

This book features four peer-reviewed reviews on the economics of key elements of agriculture. The first chapter describes the economic potential for the widespread adoption of agricultural robotics worldwide, focussing primarily on adoption in low- and middle-income countries. The chapter also considers the broader implications of agricultural robotics adoption on the farm sector. The second chapter explores the large and diverse literature on the economics of nitrogen in agriculture and the economics of off-farm impacts from nitrogen fertilisation. The chapter also considers the over-application of nitrogen fertilisers and their contribution to nitrogen pollution. The third chapter summarises recent advances in the development of novel integrated weed management (IWM) strategies and the economic consequences of their use in farming systems. The chapter also reviews the economics of different IWM strategies and the contrasting approaches used to assess their efficiency. The final chapter discusses the use of groundwater for agricultural use and how unregulated overdevelopment of this key resource poses a threat to its sustainability. This chapter presents several approaches to groundwater governance and evaluates the appropriateness of each approach using socioeconomic theory.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 - Economics of agricultural robotics: James Lowenberg-Deboer, Harper Adams University, UK; 1 Introduction 2 History of adoption of agricultural robotics 3 Expected benefits of agricultural robotics 4 Potential agricultural robotics in low- and middle-income countries 5 Broader implications of agricultural robotics for the farm sector 6 Social Impact 7 Policy, regulatory and institutional issues 8 Conclusion 9 Where to look for further information? 10 Acknowledgements 11 References Chapter 2 - The economics of nitrogen in farming systems and beyond: David J. Pannell and Asjad Tariq Sheikh, University of Western Australia, Australia; 1 Introduction 2 Economics of nitrogen as an input to production 3 Nitrogen and economic risk 4 Economics of nitrogen fixation from legumes 5 Flat pay-off functions 6 Over-application of nitrogen fertilisers 7 Nitrogen pollution 8 Nitrogen research, development and extension 9 The market for nitrogen fertiliser 10 Conclusion 11 References Chapter 3 - Evaluating the economics of integrated weed management: Pieter de Wolf, Saskia Houben, William Bijker and Koen Klompe, Wageningen Plant Research, The Netherlands; 1 Introduction 2 Approaches to economic evaluation 3 The case study in IWMPRAISE 4 Comparing the economics of different integrated weed management strategies 5 Different approaches in assessing the economics of integrated weed management strategies 6 Comparing different approaches in the economic evaluation of integrated weed management strategies 7 Where to look for further information 8 References Chapter 4 - The economics of groundwater development and governance: T. Shah, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), India; 1 Introduction 2 Textbook economics of aquifer development 3 Alternative approaches to groundwater governance 4 The possibility of collective action 5 Conclusion 6 Future trends 7 References