When farmers consume much of their grain output, end-use quality, in addition to standard production characteristics, affects farmers' seed choice and the economic returns to investment in crop breeding. Evidence from Malawi suggests that despite a lengthy research lag, emphasizing grain quality...

Global climate models predict increases over time in average temperature worldwide, with significant impacts on local patterns of temperature and precipitation. The extent to which such changes present a risk to food supplies, farmer livelihoods, and rural communities depends in part on the...

Identifying the appropriate germplasm to be improved is a key component of any participatory breeding effort because of its implications for impacts on social welfare and genetic diversity. This paper describes a method developed to select a subset of 17 populations for a participatory breeding...

This paper presents an empirical case study about farmer management of rice genetic resources in two communities of Nepal, drawing on interdisciplinary, participatory research that involved farmers, plant breeders, and social scientists. The decision-making process of farm households is modeled...

Nonfarm earnings from diverse sources account for a substantial and growing share of household income among smallholder farmers in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, but information about the effects of these earnings on farm investments is relatively sparse. This study focuses on fertilizer...

Off-farm work accounts for a substantial and growing share of household income among smallholder farmers in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence on the effects of these earnings on farm investments remains sparse. We use panel data from a sample of smallholder farmers in Kenya to estimate...

Use of soil amendments, including organic materials and mineral fertilizers, is highly recommended for the replenishment of soil nutrients, improved soil health and more efficient use of fertilizers in sub-Saharan Africa. Along with other constraints, underdeveloped markets are often cited as a...

The authors used data from sample surveys of farm households in Wisconsin, MISSISSIPPI, and Tennessee to examine the relationship of farm household Viability to human resource, farm business, and financial characteristics Viability IS measured as the ratio of farm and nonfarm Income to...