Search

The article focuses on investigating the impact of dietary chitinase on the water stability of extruded abalone feeds. Topics include the functional benefits of chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharides, the influence of chitinase on low-molecular-weight chitosan content in abalone feeds, and the correlation between chitinase inclusion and water stability.

The article focuses on the significance of feed intake in animal productivity, emphasizing its impact on energy use efficiency and production rates. Topics include evaluating palatability as a crucial factor influenced by sensory perception and physical attributes of the feed, with specific focus on Ulva lactuca, a green seaweed, as a potential alternative feed source for ruminants due to its nutritional composition comparable to medium-quality forage and sustainable production advantages.

The article focuses on the effect of reduced concentrate supplementation on the production parameters of pasture-based Jersey cows in winter. Topics include the use and level of concentrate supplementation, milk-to-feed ratios, and results and discussions related to the study. It mentions that the study showed that yield can be maintained even at low supplementation levels, and treatment did not have an effect on milk fat or protein content.

Random variables of the generalized three-parameter Pareto distribution can be transformed to that of the Pareto distribution using an affine parameter-dependent transformation. Explicit expressions exist for the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters of the Pareto distribution. The performance of the estimation of the shape parameter of generalized Pareto distributed using estimated parameters to perform the transformation is tested. It was found to improve the performance with respect to relative efficiency.

The Engineering discipline has relied on computers to perform numerical calculations in many of its sub-disciplines over the last decades. The advent of graphical processing units (GPUs), parallel stream processors, has the potential to speed up generic simulations that facilitate engineering applications aside from traditional computer graphics applications, using GPGPU (general purpose programming on the GPU). The potential benefits of exploiting the GPU for general purpose computation require the program to be highly arithmetic intensive and also data independent. This paper looks at the specific application of the Conjugate Gradient method used in hydraulic network solvers on the GPU and compares the results to conventional central processing unit (CPU) implementations. The results indicate that the GPU becomes more efficient as the data set size increases. However, with the current hardware and the implementation of the Conjugate Gradient algorithm, the application of stream processing to hydraulic network solvers is only faster and more efficient for exceptionally large water distribution models, which are seldom found in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is growing consensus in the literature that oxidation status is increased in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and that antioxidant supplementation as prevention or treatment strategy should be investigated further. In the present study the total antioxidant status (TAS) was found to be highly significantly lower in 22 AD patients (p < 0.0001) than in 22 age- and gender matched non-demented controls. The TAS was also lower than controls in 22 patients with vascular dementia, but not significantly. The increased oxidation status in AD was verified using the benzoate hydroxylation method. The origin of the enhanced oxidation status in AD has not been elucidated. To determine whether a causal effect between stress and oxidative status of serum can be demonstrated, a rat model was used with two different kinds of stressors, swim stress (exercise) and restraint stress (non-exercise stress). Following swim stress the maximum oxidative effect was observed at one hour post stress (p < 0.001). At 24 h the oxidative status had recovered significantly to below control values. Restraint stress, however, showed progressively increased oxidation which attained significance after 24 h (p < 0.005). It is postulated that stress may contribute to the higher oxidation status in AD patients.

The South African agricultural industry is consistently challenged to increase it, competitiveness. The agribusiness supply chain starts with the input sector. The objective of this paper is therefore to determine the competitiveness of the various agricultural input industries in South Africa by using Balassa's method of Repealed Comparative Trade Advantage. This status will then be related to performance of the agricultural industry as a whole. South African manufacturing of farming requisites as a whole are relative marginally competitive in the international area. However, positive trends in competitiveness is observed. The agricultural machinery industry is not competitive but is improving. The fertiliser industry is becoming increasingly more competitive while in the pesticides industry there is a decrease in the ability to compete internationally. From 1995 there is a relatively high and positive correlation between the competitiveness of the input industry and the agro-food industry in South Africa. This relationship substantiates tile claim that fundamentally the South African agricultural economy is more competitive today then a decade ago.

This study evaluates the long run and short run effects of real exchange rate changes on South African agricultural exports using an Error Correction Model (ECM). The results suggest that there is a unidirectional causal flow from exchange rate to agricultural exports. Moreover, appreciation of the Rand will be detrimental to agricultural exports.

This paper evaluates the production structure of the South African agricultural sector for the period 1970–1998, using a translog function. The results show that the production structure is best represented by production technology that is Hicks-neutral and homothetic. This information is useful in evaluating the results of previous research on the structure of South African agricultural production, particularly relatively recent research on elasticities of substitution. In addition, it also provides the basis for meaningful future analysis of aspects related to the production structure of agriculture.

In this study, an econometric model of the South African maize and sorghum sector is estimated. Using the developed model, a market outlook for the two major grain sectors -maize and sorghum -for 1999/00 to 2006/07, is generated under the specified assumptions. Results indicate that for both maize and sorghum, consumption will gradually increase over time. In spite of varying areas of maize and sorghum being harvested, total production will also gradually increase over time due to increases in particularly yields.

This paper links two different methodologies to determine the effects of climate change on the Western Cape farm sector. First, it uses a general circulation model (GCM) to model future climate change in the Western Cape, particularly with respect to precipitation. Second, a sector mathematical programming model of the Western Cape farm sector is used to incorporate the predicted climate change, specifically rainfall, from the GCM to determine the effects on key variables of the regional farm economy. In summary, results indicate that future climate change will lead to lower precipitation, which implies that less water will be available to agriculture in the Western Cape. This will have a negative overall effect on the Western Cape farm economy. Both producer welfare and consumer welfare will decrease. Total employment in the farm sector will also decrease as producers switch to a more extensive production pattern. The total decline in welfare, therefore, will fall disproportionately on the poor.

The objective of this paper is to present the results from a study which was done to analyse the operation of the demand for and supply of the most important stockfeed proteins (maize, wheat, sorghum, oilseeds and fishmeal). A sectoral mathematical model was developed to analyse the economic impact of changes in the market for stockfeed proteins on the South African animal feed market. The model was used to simulate the effects of arbitrarily chosen scenarios on key parameters. Results indicate that models, such as these, are indispensable planning tools in situations of uncertainty. Relatively small changes in important things like production costs, yields and international prices often have profound influences on local production patterns and profitability. It clearly illustrates that in an environment of free domestic trade and increased international trade liberalisation, factors outside of agricultural policy have much larger impacts than agricultural policy.

The substitution of capital goods, including new technology, for land and labour has played an important role and has influenced the structure of Sout African agriculture. Farm labour‐related trends in the summer rainfall grain‐producing area of South Africa are considered. The amount of labour used, the remuneration of labour, the substitution of capital for labour and productivity trends are analyzed. Growth rates were obtained by fitting exponential functions with time as independent variable. The decline in the number of farm employees per 1000 hectares under cultivation since 1970 probably resulted from mechanization and thus capital‐labour substitution in maize production, especially in harvesting. Tax concessions on new capital improvements, the subsidization of agriculture in general and the increasing rate of urbanization contributed to this trend. The scarcity of capital relative to unskilled labour, which has been reinforced by policy measures favouring capital intensity (capital formation has increased by 4.0% per annum between 1950 and 1980, compared with an increase of 0.71% per annum in the number of farm employees in the same period); this implies that corrective policy changes are required to improve the present distorted situation. This will enable the commercial agricultural sector of South Africa to play a more meaningful role in the socio‐economic development of the whole subcontinent.

All the rate of return estimates, regardless of methodology or the level of aggregation, are entirely consistent and logical. The returns show that the ARC has been extremely successful economically and has followed a sound strategy of exploiting spillovers from foreign R&D systems. However, there must be a strong socio-economic component to the ARC's efforts if it is to reach the disadvantaged.

The Effective Protection Ratio (EPR) is used in this study as a measure of the impact of policy distortions on agricultural producers. The results of the EPR analysis show that in 1995, most of the interventions supporting agricultural production have disappeared, particularly if the production is aimed at the domestic market. This holds for basic grains and oilseeds, as well as other products such as potatoes, cotton and tobacco, across all regions. Beef cattle and sheep production is also not being favoured by support in any of the regions. On the contrary, a number of commodities are effectively being taxed.

South African agriculture is comprised of mainly two categories of farmers—the subsistence farmers in the former homeland areas and the large-scale commercial (mainly white) farmers. This is in contrast with the situation in many other countries in the world where one would find a whole range of farm sizes, ranging from the very small or subsistence farmer to the very large farmer/agribusiness. The paper highlights the situation of small-scale farmers in an international context and compares it with the South African situation that is totally different. Within this context, this paper has as basic premise that in South Africa the concept of “small-scale farmer” is usually value-laden, creates wrong impressions and is often viewed in a negative light. “Small-scale” is often equated with a backward, nonproductive, non-commercial, subsistence agriculture that we find in parts of the former homeland areas. This paper endeavours to correct the negative perceptions towards small-scale farms by redefining the small-scale farmer and laying to rest the fallacy that small relates to land size only.

A stochastic frontier production function is defined for panel data on maize producing regions of South Africa. Technical inefficiency effects are assumed to be a function of climatic conditions, time and the terms of trade facing maize producers. The model is derived using nine years of data for the six major maize production regions of South Africa. The results demonstrate how maize farmers have increased their efficiency in the face of a cost-squeeze. The increased efficiency seems to be driven by lower levels of intermediate input use when facing higher costs and uncertain weather conditions.

This paper provides an empirical investigation into the long-standing notion of biases of technical change in South African agriculture. The second order cost function is used to derive relative bias measures between labour and machinery. The results suggest that large machinery-using biases in technology have been developed with minimal labour-using biases.

This paper attempts to estimate the effects of some of the changes in the marketing system on the Western Cape Province of South Africa, utilizing a regional linear programming model of the agricultural sector of the region. The model includes supply, demand and production risk, and simulates the present agricultural production structure well. Market and trade liberalisation have major impacts on the structure of Western Cape agriculture, particularly the grain and livestock sub-sectors, with only marginal and mostly insignificant effects on horticultural products.

During the past year, there have been major policy reforms in Lesotho and South Africa with respect to maize pricing and marketing. In Lesotho the impact of deregulation on producers, consumers and government revenues was substantially lower than it should have been, and as a result Lesotho was not able to reap the full benefits of these changes. This is partly because information on the changes to the maize marketing system did not reach the potential beneficiaries of the new system. Free and easily accessible information is an essential element of a free market system. SACU countries must ensure the availability of information if they want to compete internationally.

This paper focuses on assessing the benefits of research expenditures on maize production in South Africa. Both the production and supply function approaches are used to calculate elasticities of research expenditure on output and yield. Cointegration is used to establish long-run relationships between variables in these models. The lag structure of R&D expenditures on output is examined making use of the unrestricted, polynomial, beta and gamma distributions. The coefficients of these lag distributions were then used to calculate a rate of return to maize research expenditure, which was estimated as being between 28% and 39% per annum. These rates of return are high, mitigating in favour of more research expenditure rather than less.

The farm sector of the Western Cape is modelled u sing a sector mathematical programming model to determine the effect of different water policies on output, prices, welfare and employment. Two scenarios are analysed, namely the effect of a restriction of water available for irrigation, and an increase in water tariffs. Results show a relative shift away from (intensive) irrigated production, and a decrease in producer welfare, especially for irrigation farmers, under both scenarios. When water availability is decreased, the negative effect falls disproportionately on the poor as employment decreases. In the long run the negative effects are severe, as there is a relative shift out of industries where the Western Cape has a competitive advantage.

In this paper the format of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for use as a database for the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling of agricultural policy reform in South Africa is detailed. It is shown that the published South African SAMs impose limitations upon their suitability as databases for CGE models, but that they can be readily modified. An additional benefit of a SAM is its use as a framework for the specification of the behavioural relationships necessary to the development of a model. Finally, a Macro SAM for 1993 is reported and the proposed disaggregation of the agricultural sector is identified.

This article presents the results of a survey that explores the relationship between agricultural production and socio-economic status among rural households in the former-homeland of KwaZulu. The survey area is typical of the communally-owned developing areas in South Africa where the majority of the rural poor reside. An overview of household demographics and farming in the study area is presented, followed by an analysis of the factors that distinguish food-surplus from food-deficit producers. The results illustrate the strong relationship between agricultural production and socio-economic status among rural households in South Africa. They show that both supply and demand factors play a crucial role in determining the availability of sufficient food to assure rural household food security. This finding has important policy implications for reducing food insecurity for a large proportion of the present rural poor and landless.

Present marketing of wheat in Lesotho distort and imposes a heavy tax on the Lesotho economy. It puts upward pressure on producer and consumer prices, which results in welfare losses to consumers -including the majority of rural and agricultural households who are deficit producers of this commodity. The winners from these policies are the relatively small number of surplus producers and the three industrial mills enjoying some monopoly powers. It is recommmended that the Government of Lesotho liberalize Lesotho's wheat market.

Use of a long-run profit function provides accurate estimates of returns to agricultural R&D in Europe and North America, a result that is tied to the long term basic and applied nature of the research institutions in these areas. Agricultural R&D in South Africa is fundamentally different with a more adaptive character, resulting in a shorter lag of five years between research spending and changes in TFP. In this situation, the long-run profit function input demand and output supply elasticities are too high, resulting in overestimation of returns to R&D. A potential solution to this problem is to use a short-run profit function in the calculation of returns to R&D. Several other inputs are held fixed and the result is a short-run return to R&D in South Africa that compares favourably with lone-run return levels that have been established for the northern hemisphere.

The Meat Board has administered an auction system with a minimum guarantee price (floor price) for beef carcasses since 1956. The floor price functions as a mechanism to purchase carcasses when beef producer prices decline to predetermined low levels. The Meat Board debones and freezes this meat, which is later sold to the trade. The net effect of these purchasing and selling actions on the annual beef producer price was empirically analysed. The net floor price effect, 1970 to 1993. can be described as negative since the magnitude of price-lowering effects due to Meat Board sales of frozen beef was twice that of price-raising effects resulting from floor price purchases and supply control, taking into account the absolute extent of price lowering and raising effects. Relatively large quantities of beef had to be purchased at floor price before significant price increases resulted, but the selling of relatively small quantities of frozen beef was responsible for significant producer price decreases. Supply control measures played an important contributory role in bringing producer price increases into effect, The original aim of the floor price system was to remove beef by means of exports, an aim which was frustrated by economic sanctions and subsidised world beef prices. The fact that floor price beef was sold into the domestic market neutralised the effectiveness of the beef floor price system.

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the possible effect of a deregulated yellow maize marketing system on the livestock industry (via the stockfeed industry). The stockfeed industry, with its different market segments, and the most important raw materials are described. A sectoral linear programming model was used to simulate the one channel maize policy in thirteen regions. The social cost of the single channel maize marketing system (which distorted market signals) was calculated. The livestock industry (via yellow maize in stockfeed) was the major looser under the single channel maize marketing system. Moving to a freer market situation for yellow maize should result in a more balanced agricultural sector and an increase in the total economic welfare of the country, and particularly that of the livestock industry.

The purpose of this research was to determine whether the Marico-Busveld Goverment Water Scheme can be successfully privatised. Representative farming units were developed and Dynamic Linear Programming was used as a diagnostic technique to model a planning horison of twenty years. The time value of money was calculated by discounting cash received against a chosen interest rate. The expected cash flow can then be expressed in a single value. The present value of the incremental capital expenditure is subtracted to obtain the net present value. Results show that two of the three representative farming units are financially viable after privatisation. The third representative farming unit will only be viable if gross margins are increased. The scheme can successhllv be privatised only if better management is applied at farm level.

The objectives of this article are to provide policy makers in agriculture with a tariff policy framework and a tariffication strategy. This is necessary in order to successfully complete the tariffication process and act as a basis for future actions. The Department of Agriculture has officially opted for the implementation of import tariffs on all agricultural products and in so doing signified a dramatic change from the historical policy to protect local industries by means of quantitative import restrictions. It is due to this change in policy direction, as well as South Africa's commitments in terms of the GATT Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations, that a study of the impact of tariffication on local agricultural marketing arrangements and policy is necessary. It is essential that, given the complexity of the tariffication process, the Department of Agriculture officially adopts a tariff policy and formulates a tariff policy framework which is transparent, administratively easy to manage and can serve as a basis for which agricultural tariffs are calculated. Timing is also of the essence and in order to prevent the process from becoming too complex and time consuming.

This paper analyses the causes and consequences of agricultural change in two regions of the former Bophuthatswana homeland of South Africa. The paper identifies a number of circumstances which provided the set of comprehensive support services which are essential for the development of commercial agriculture, namely the availability of capital; appropriate biological and mechanical technology and the experience to use it; suitable pricing policies and marketing opportunities. The changing rural-urban wage differential; and the demise of traditional institutions as well as the drought of the early 1980s were important factors in the changes described. An important conclusions is that no single factor caused the development of a commercial agriculture, but that a package of prime movers was necessary. The broad consequences of the transformation in agriculture has significance for both those with agricultural resources, as well as those without. One of the most important consequences of the change is the creation of a commercial farming class, and conversely, the creation of two other groups; a group of wage labourers and a group of land right holders who lease out their land.

The gap between the average market and agricultural value of South African land showed a steady decline since 1984. The decline is attributable to the withdrawal of some of the major policy support services to the farming community and inflationary conditions, which had a negative influence on both sellers and buyers. The negative effect of the terms of trade was, however, partially countered by an annual growth in productivity of 4, 63% since 1983. This had a positive effect on agricultural values, thus closing the gap between the market and agricultural value of land.

This paper concentrates on the credit element of Farmer Support Programmes (FSP) and the financial environment in which FSP credit is applied with a view to assess the importance of the credit component in the FSP. First, the theory on rural financial markets and intermediation is briefly reviewed. This is followed by an application to the FSP. The paper concludes with some policy implications of the findings. The main points that FSP financial policy should incorporate are: avoid loan subsidies and targeting; mobilise deposits; charge positive real rates of interest; avoid concessionary discount lines; reduce transaction costs; and emulate informal finance.

Data from 100 commercial farmers in the Aberfeldy pedosystem (situated in the Northeastern Orange Free Sate) were used to analyse diversification as a risk alleviating strategy. In theory, diversification reduces risk, but when the ability with respect to management or entrepreneurship is ignored, diversification may increase risk. Results show that any excessive attitude towards risk is undesirable. Both risk averters and risk seekers showed a greater probability of finacial deterioration or failure. Risk neutrality seems to be the optimal strategy.

Data from the end of the second World War (1945) to the 1987 production year were used to quantify the pace of change in the structure of farming with regard to labour. Where possible explanations of certain parameters are put forward with the aim of identifying the economic problem with regard to farm labour. Two structural trends in South African commercial maize production are evident in the summer rainfall areas. The period 1915-1970 witnessed a large expansion in cultivated farm area, probably because tractors replaced draught oxen. Larger areas could he managed and more labour was required. Demands on labour for harvesting were heavy until the introduction of the combine harvester alleviated this problem. These trends were strengthened by policies aimed at lowering the costs of capital, giving rise to some of the socio-economic concerns expressed in this paper. In the winter rainfall region where wheat is cultivated the expansion in cultivated area took place before 1945. The period under consideration (1945-1987) therefore only saw the substitution of labour for machinery, especially in the period 1945-1970. It thus seems as if labour related developments in the summer rainfall area trailed that in the winter rainfall area.

In terms of employment generation, natural resource use, exports, contribution to the gross domestic product and relative importance in the diet, the beef industry is Namibia's most important agricultural sector. Beef production fluctuates due to its dependence on Namibia's environment which is characterized by unpredictable weather, periodical droughts, political and structural changes, distorted market signals and lack of clear incentives for change. Namibia was divided into sixteen homogeneous ecological and veterinarian areas. Supply response of beef is analysed in each area by using multiple regression techniques on biological and economic time series data. Results show that the producers' price of beef does not generally play a major role in the supply response of beef. Environmental factors and cattle numbers play a major role in determining the annual number of cattle marketed. Deficiencies in the marketing systems for beef contribute to environmental problems and resource degradation. Beef production should be based on knowledge of market outlets and on high standards of farm management. Attention should be given to the removal of impediments to the creation of new markets that would allocate resources effectively and produce net benefits to the society.

The quantity of wheat supplied in the RSA and the different production regions are significantly influenced by a variety of factors, including time, climate, wheat prices, prices of production substitutes such as maize, mutton, wool and sorghum, and input costs. By using multiple regression techniques the effects of these factors on the area under wheat and the production of wheat in the various production areas were isolated and quantified. The different supply equations seem to yield significant results within acceptable statistical norms and can thus be fruitfully used for predictions.

The purpose of this article is to model the agricultural production sector of Region G to determine whether Development Region G of South Africa has comparative advantages with respect to the production of certain agricultural commodities. The analysis is based on an application of an advanced regional linear programming model. With the present marketing system production of fruit and vegetables, livestock and livestock products, and animal feeds, e.g. soya beans, should be expanded. On the other hand, production of staples, e.g. maize and wheat, and other summer cash crops should be scaled down. Under a free market system there also seems to be, apart from the commodities already mentioned above, a comparative advantage for specifically dryland staple food production.

Due to socio-economic and political influences, extension in South Africa is currently re-organising itself. This re-organisation should be planned and done with a long-term perspective. To achieve this end, some short term measures will have to be taken. It is suggested that the inherited organisational structures be abandoned and replaced by nine regional agricultural development corporations (RADC), consisting of an amalgamation of existing development corporations and the government extension services to function within the framework of the nine development regions of South Africa.

This study analyses the effect of international factors on the South African agricultural market and prices through a case study of the wheat industry. Firstly, a review of the international wheat market is given with the accent on support to wheat industries elsewhere in the world and the effects of support on world prices, domestic prices and production. This is followed by an explanation of the implications of GATT and specifically trade liberalisation on South African agricultural prices, especially that of wheat. Results show that the average world prices of agricultural commodities in general will increase by 22 per cent if industrial countries discontinue all support to agricultural producers. This also represents the distortion effect of these measures.

The specific objective of this paper is to determine expenditure patterns of rural households with a view to evaluating factors which make households more food secured. Expenditure patterns of households participating in the Farmer Support Programme of DBSA were analysed and compared with no-participants in two areas, Lebowa and Venda. It is evident from the results of this study that a high proportion of rural households in Lebowa and Venda food insecured. Results also show that the provision of support services to subsistence fanners will help alleviate food insecurity.

Data from 100 commercial farmers in the Aberfeldy pedosystem (situated in the north-eastern Orange Free State, Republic of South Africa) were used to calculate suggested economic and perception criteria for each entrepreneur and to compare this data with actual success rates estimated individually for each case a decade later in 1991. Existing economics of scale means that optimal farm size is not the same for any two managers; the better the manager, the larger the optimum farm size. Furthermore, this commercial dryland study showed that better managers are more effective land users. Better managers farm bigger areas, have lower fixed improvements per hectare, higher income per hectare (both gross and net) and are more realistic in decision making, both with regard to financial goals as well as problem consciousness. The above has important implications for structural adjustment of South African agriculture and offers distinct possibilities when potential success ratings have to be estimated by financial and other institutions.