Rice market liberalization and poverty in Viet Nam:

Market liberalization, though an important element in economic reforms in developing countries in the past two decades, has been accused of harming the poor through higher food prices, layoffs in formerly state-owned enterprises, and the erosion of social safety net programs. Since the 1980s Viet Nam has relaxed a number of government controls over rice production and marketing, stimulating large increases in rice production. Yet the government retains control over rice exports and internal rice trade. Rice Market Liberalization and Poverty in Viet Nam, Research Report 114, analyzes whether further loosening of state controls in Viet Nam's rice markets would help or hurt the poor and draws lessons for other countries.Rice trade Vietnam., Poor Vietnam., Vietnam Economic policy., poverty, Production Economics, Trade liberalization., Vietnam, Viet Nam,

Integrated nutrient management, soil fertility, and sustainable agriculture: current issues and future challenges

The challenge for agriculture over the coming decades will be to meet the world's increasing demand for food in a sustainable way. Declining soil fertility and mismanagement of plant nutrients have made this task more difficult. In this brief, Peter Gruhn, Francesco Goletti, and Montague Yudelman point out that as long as agriculture remains a soil-based industry, major increases in productivity are unlikely to be attained without ensuring that plants have an adequate and balanced supply of nutrients. They call for an Integrated Nutrient Management approach to the management of plant nutrients for maintaining and enhancing soil, where both natural and man-made sources of plant nutrients are used. The key components of this approach are described; the roles and responsibilities of various actors, including farmers and institutions, are delineated; and recommendations for improving the management of plant nutrients and soil fertility are presented.Plant nutrients., Soil fertility., Crops Nutrition., Sustainable agriculture.,

The impact of postharvest research

While research on the improvement of agricultural production has received considerable attention and funding, until recently postharvest activities have not attracted much attention from international research organizations. However, there is an emerging consensus on the critical role that postharvest systems can play in meeting the overall goals of food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture particularly in developing countries. This study provides preliminary evidence on the impact of postharvest research on these goals; furthermore the study argues that postharvest research at international agricultural research organizations is justified by its international public good nature.postharvest technology ,food security ,Poverty alleviation ,Research institutes ,postharvest technology ,

Rice markets, agricultural growth, and policy options in Viet Nam

Viet Nam has undergone a profound transformation in recent years and, as a result of a series of macroeconomic and institutional reforms since 1986, it has made substantial progress toward becoming a market economy. As this transition continues, Viet Nam faces the challenge of formulating and implementing a growth strategy which is both economically and politically feasible. Critical to this growth strategy is the role of agriculture and, within agriculture, the development of an efficient rice marketing system. The emergence of Viet Nam as a major rice exporter has raised a number of important policy questions. First, will the country be able to continue its impressive growth? Second, how far has Viet Nam moved along the path toward a market economy? Third, what is the role of the government in the development of a rice market economy? Finally, what is the best way to promote food security? The paper addresses these issues and report the results of a study conducted by IFPRI for the Asian Development Bank in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Viet Nam. The study is based on extensive data collection from marketing agents (farmers, traders, millers, state owned enterprises, and exporters) conducted during 1995 and 1996.Rice production Vietnam. ,Exports. ,Marketing Economic aspects. ,Food security. ,

Agricultural input market reforms

The objective of this paper is to derive lessons from selected literature concerning the impact and the conditions of successful agricultural input market reform. The agricultural inputs of interest in this review are: fertilizers, seeds, agricultural equipment, pesticides, and livestock services and health inputs. The paper examines the rationale for market reform, its impact on growth, productivity, and income of farmers, and the conditions for success. Six main conclusions emerge from this review. First, market structures are the result of evolutionary processes that accompany the adoption and the diffusion of modern technology in agriculture. Second, the development of markets and private sector cannot occur unless an adequate infrastructure is in place. Third, markets cannot work unless a favorable institutional environment is created. Fourth, the success of reforms is heavily influenced by the sequencing of various policy measures. Fifth, the participation of the private sector is dependent on the credibility of government policies in support of market reforms. Finally, the scanty evidence on the impact of market reforms on small farmers suggests that these groups are often penalized.Markets Economic policy ,

Integrated nutrient management, soil fertility, and sustainable agriculture

The challenge for agriculture over the coming decades will be to meet the world's increasing demand for food in a sustainable way. Declining soil fertility and mismanagement of plant nutrients have made this task more difficult. In this brief, Peter Gruhn, Francesco Goletti, and Montague Yudelman point out that as long as agriculture remains a soil-based industry, major increases in productivity are unlikely to be attained without ensuring that plants have an adequate and balanced supply of nutrients. They call for an Integrated Nutrient Management approach to the management of plant nutrients for maintaining and enhancing soil, where both natural and man-made sources of plant nutrients are used. The key components of this approach are described; the roles and responsibilities of various actors, including farmers and institutions, are delineated; and recommendations for improving the management of plant nutrients and soil fertility are presented.Plant nutrients. ,Soil fertility. ,Agriculture Research Economic aspects ,Agriculture Research Evaluation ,Sustainable agriculture. ,

Marketing constraints on rice exports from Viet Nam

The paper describes the spectacular growth of rice exports from Viet Nam during the period 1989 to 1997. From a situation of food shortages, the country is now the second largest rice exporter after Thailand. Export projections indicate that there is potential for further export growth in all but the most pessimistic scenarios. This potential is constrained, however, by the relatively underdeveloped marketing system. A few large state enterprises have access to capital and export licenses, but private traders and millers are generally small and medium enterprises with limited credit and no legal access to world markets. Recent policy changes to promote internal trade liberalization and competition between central and provincial state enterprises are encouraging, but need to be extended to allow private traders to export.Rice Viet Nam ,Export marketing ,trade liberalization ,

Severe chest allodynia as an unusual first presentation of hydatid disease. A case report

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a worldwide zoonosis and the liver is the most commonly affected organ. Clinical manifestations range from completely asymptomatic cysts to a potential lethal cyst rupture and anaphylaxis. Case presentation: Severe chest allodynia was an unusual clinical presentation of hepatic cyst rupture in the retroperitoneal space, without any other specific symptoms. CE diagnosis was confirmed by computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance. The patient underwent hepatectomy with complete resolution of the neuropathic pain. Conclusions: Retroperitoneal hydatid cyst rupture is a rare event and its clinical manifestation may mimic other chest neuropathies

Dynamic Behavior of Hybrid APM (Advanced Pore Morphology Foam) and Aluminum Foam Filled Structures

The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of different densities of hybrid aluminum polymer foam on the frequency behavior of a foam filled steel structure with different ratios between steel and foam masses. The foam filled structure is composed of three steel tubes with a welded flange at both ends bolted together to form a portal grounded by its free ends. Structure, internal and ground constraints have been designed and manufactured in order to minimize nonlinear effects and to guarantee optimal constraint conditions. Mode shapes and frequencies were verified with finite elements models (FEM) to be in the range of experimental modal analysis, considering the frequency measurement range limits for instrumented hammer and accelerometer. Selected modes have been identified with suitable modal parameters extraction techniques. Each structure has been tested before and after filling, in order to compute the percentage variation of modal parameters. Two different densities of hybrid aluminum polymer foam have been tested and compared with structures filled with aluminum foams produced using the powder compact melting technique. All the foam fillings were able to suppress high frequency membrane modes which results in a reduction of environmental noise and an increase in performance of the components. Low frequency modes show an increase in damping ratio only when small thickness steel frames are filled with either Hybrid APM or Alulight foam

Model-based broadband estimation of cutting forces and tool vibration in milling through in-process indirect multiple-sensors measurements

In machining processes, cutting forces measurement is essential to allow cutting process and tool conditions monitoring. Moreover, in order to have information about the quality of the milled part, the amplitude of the tool tip vibration would be very useful. Since both the measurements are extremely complicated especially in an industrial scenario, in this study, an in-process model-based estimator of cutting forces and tool tip vibration was designed and properly tested. The developed estimator relies on both a machine dynamic model and on indirect measurements coming from multiple sensors placed in the machine. The machine dynamic model was obtained through an experimental modal analysis session. The estimator was developed according to the Kalman filter approach. The fusion of multiple sensors data allowed the compensation of machine tool dynamics over an extended frequency range. The accuracy of the observer estimations was checked performing two different experimental sessions in which both the force applied to the tool and the tool tip vibration amplitude were measured. In the first session, the tool was excited with different sensorized hammers in order to appreciate the broad bandwidth of the performed estimations. In the second one, real cutting tests (steel milling) were done and the cutting forces were measured through a dynamometer; tool tip vibrations were measured as well. The experimental results showed that the indirect estimation of cutting forces and tool tip vibrations exhibit a good agreement with respect to the corresponding measured quantities in low and high frequency ranges. The contribution of this research is twofold. Firstly, the conceived observer allows estimating the tool tip vibrations that is a useful information strictly connected to the surfaces quality of the processed workpiece. Secondly, thanks to a multi-sensors approach, the frequency bandwidth is extended especially in the low frequency range