This book provides a comprehensive overview of the economics of key elements of agriculture, including irrigation, agricultural robotics and integrated weed management.
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.
- Provides a detailed overview of the economics of agriculture
- Considers the economic feasibility of agricultural robotics
- Discusses the economic consequences and environmental impact of nitrogen fertilisers
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
Professor James Lowenberg-DeBoer holds the Elizabeth Creak Chair in Agri-Tech Applied Economics at Harper Adams University (HAU), Newport, Shropshire, UK. He is responsible for economics in the Hands Free Farm (HFF) team at HAU. He is also past president of the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) and was co-editor of the journal Precision Agriculture 2016-2022. His research focuses on the economics of agricultural technology, especially precision agriculture and crop robotics. Lowenberg-DeBoers research and outreach is founded in hands-on experience in agriculture, including production of maize and soybeans in NW Iowa in the USA. David Pannell is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia; Director, Co-Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy; ARC Federation Fellow (2007-2012); Distinguished Fellow and past president of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society; Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia; and a Director of Natural Decisions Pty Ltd. His research includes the economics of land, water and nature conservation; environmental policy; farmer adoption of conservation practices; risk; and economics of farming systems. David has won awards for his research in the USA, Australia, Canada and the UK, including the 2009 Eureka Prize for Interdisciplinary Research.
