Operationalizing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will require resolving disputes about the meaning of the term 'precautionary approach' in the treaty text. Although the terms precautionary approach and precautionary principle have been referred to in the regulation of transgenic plants for...

Since 1999, China has spent RMB 50 billion (about US$7 billion) to implement the "Grain for Green" programme, the largest land retirement programme in the developing world. From 1999 to 2003, over 7.2 million hectares of agricultural land were retired under the programme. However, many farmers...

Using a 2007-2014 panel of Austrian crop farms, we analyze the effect of multiple dimensions of land fragmentation on farms' production efficiency and risk performance. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a non-parametric linear programming approach, to estimate efficiencies. Technical...

Modern tools for cost-effective conservation reserve site planning require the planner to have information about spatial distributions of conservation costs and benefits. Climate change creates unprecedented uncertainty about future land values and species habitat ranges, such that conservation...

Motivated by co-operational patterns of farmer societies in developing countries, I present a model of joint interaction between risk sharing against idiosyncratic shocks and co-operation over public investments reducing aggregate risk in presence of limited commitment constraints. The model is...

Even though agricultural activities have always had to face systemic risk, increasing uncertainty linked to market conditions, policy revision and climate change require the adoption of extensive, functional and informed risk management strategies. Our study aims to investigate north-eastern...

Drought is an important downside risk in Indian agriculture; and the spatial differences in its intensity and probability of occurrence are considerable. To develop strategies to manage the risk of drought, and to coordinate and implement these strategies, it is essential to understand the...

Economic risks for farmers have increased during recent years due to various factors such as more extreme climate conditions and the volatility of agricultural markets. We analysed the preferences of Finnish farmers and non-farming citizens concerning catastrophic risk management policies in...