Do subsidies matter in food price stabilization? Evidences from Ethiopia in a computable general equilibrium framework

In the poorest countries like Ethiopia the spillover effects of a soaring food price is unbearable. To mitigate the recent rise in food prices and the burden on urban poor consumers, policy makers have considered various measures. A recent shift from subsidizing oil to grain to ease the spiraling cost of food is one attempt the Ethiopian government has made so far. To this end, the government has removed an $800m annual subsidy on petroleum products and used the money to combat rising grain prices. Using the standard GTAP model and the recent GTAP Africa database, this paper simulates the overall implication of 5 and 10 percent increase of subsidy on wheat. Regarding the impact on prices, the simulation result tells us that prices have indeed fall. At macro level, the result reveals subsidy on wheat leads to a decline in the overall trade balance. In terms of welfare, the intervention is likely to have a positive impact.Food policy; price policy; WTO; Ethiopia; GTAP

Agricultural Efficiency Gains and Trade Liberalization in Sudan

The traditional agriculture in Sudan occupies 60% of the total cultivated land and employs 65% of the agricultural population. Nevertheless, it is characterized by its low crop productivity, which is mainly driven by low technical efficiency, while drought and civil conflicts threaten most of its areas countrywide. Therefore, it has contributed only an average of 16% to the total agricultural GDP during the last decade. This paper addresses from an empirical point of view the sectoral and macroeconomic implications of agricultural efficiency improvement in Sudan and assesses the efficiency gains under the assumption of trade liberalization. Efficiency improvement experiments are implemented by augmenting the efficiency parameters of labor, capital, and land in a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) framework. The CGE model of the study relies on the newly produced Sudanese Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), which provides data on 10 agricultural sectors, 10 industrial sectors and 13 service sectors. Results show that improving the agricultural efficiency would lead to improvements in GDP, welfare level, and trade balance. In addition it would also improve the output and competitiveness of the Sudanese agricultural exports and increase their strength to face the challenges of liberalization.Agricultural efficiency, liberalization, Sudan SAM, CGE analysis, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D2, D5, D6, E1, E2, F1, F2, H2,

Genetics and Genetic Response in Populations Generated from Two Cycles of Phenotypic Mass Selection in Sweet Corn (Zea Mays L. Saccharata)

Local composite varieties of sweet com (lea mays L. saccharata) offer moderate yields and eating quality, while imported hybrid varieties are less adaptable to the local environment, although having good eating quality. A breeding programme was therefore initiated at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). utilising both genetic materials to produce new superior genotypes. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the genetics of populations, and to evaluate genetic response in two sweet com populations generated from two cycles of phenotypic mass selection. In Experiment 1, a local cotnposite variety, Manis Madu and two imported hybrid varieties, Hybrid SSC 240 and Hybrid 368 were first evaluated, and found to show comparable performance. Consequently, Manis Madu and Hybrid SSC 240 were chosen as source populations for selection and were then crossed to generate the base population. In Experiment 2, the performance of the cross population was compared to its parents, and was found to show more resemblance to Hybrid SSC 240. Separately and simultaneously, two cycles of phenotypic mass selection for ear length were employed on the two base populations, Manis Madu, designated as M CO, and the intennated crossed population, designated as MS CO, at Field 2, UPM. The two base populations and the populations generated from the two cycles of selection were then evaluated and compared for general performance at two locations, Field 2 and Share Farm, in UPM. In Manis Madu populations (M), the predicted responses to individual cycles of selection were almost the same for both cycles, 19.3% in the first cycle and 19.6% in the second. The cumulative predicted response in M C2 population was 43.6%. In the cross populations (MS), the predicted response to individual cycles of selection was higher in the second cycle (26.5%) than it was in the first (16.8%). The cumulative pred icted response in MS C2 population was 46.4%. The two populations responded differently to the two cycles of selection, where, in Manis Madu populations, a positive realised response was only attained in first cycle (4.1%), while a negative one was observed in the second (-0.7%). In contrast, the cross populations showed negative realised response in the first cycle (-0.7%), while a reasonable positive one (2.08%) was observed in the second. The average cumulative realised response to selection was higher in M C2 (3.4%) than that in MS C2 0.4%). As expected, the realized responses were lower than the predicted

Evaluation of pure lines, purified bulks, and the original wheat strain in performance trials

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1959 S5

Computer Simulation of Surface Plasmon Resonance for Optical Multi-Layer System

Surface plasmon is a charge density wave on the surface of metals. The surface plasmon resonance technique is relatively new, and it is one of the most sensitive techniques to probe surface and interface effects. The Fresnel's equations and Snell's law are used to compute the reflection and transmittance of light incident on multilayers (series of N layers and N+ 1 interfaces) between semi-infinite ambient and substrate media. The effects of multiple reflection are taken care of by using 2 x 2 scattering matrix techniques. A plot of a graph for reflectance and transmittance can be obtained by varying the incident angle of a light beam at fixed frequency, or by varying the wavelength. Various plots of reflectance and transmittance as a function of incident angle, wavelength and interface parameters are displayed. The Visual Basic 5.0 standard edition was used in this project whereby a window-based program with graphic user interface (QUI) was developed for the simulation of reflectance and transmittance. After the software program was developed, it was tested with four simulations with well-known experimental results to ascertain the reliability of the simulations. Some of the optical experiments for the both sections of program namely; the reflection and transmission versus incident angle and versus wavelength were simulated. These simulations were studied with Krestchmann's and Otto's configurations. The effect of variation of thickness, dielectric constants, incident angles and wavelengths were demonstrated. Based on the above simulation results, it can be concluded that the program is general enough and it can be used to simulate reflectance and transmittance for any materials

Foreign aid and sustainable agriculture in Africa

Although agriculture is important for the livelihood of most Africans, especially the poor, donors did not accord it a high priority. Both volume and share of aid earmarked for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa not only remained low, around five per cent, but continuously declined beween 1981-2001, before picking up after the world food crisis in 2007-08. Aid recently became a top agenda in donors' priorities because of concerns about its effectiveness and also because of budget pressures in donor countries as well as queries raised by their tax payers. However, despite skepticism about its effectiveness there exist successful experiences in aid supported projects that could be candidates both for scaling up and transferability across countries

The impact of banning export of cereals in response to soaring food prices: Evidences from Ethiopia using the new GTAP African database

In the poorest countries like Ethiopia the spillover effects of a soaring food price is unbearable. To mitigate the recent rise in food prices and the burden on urban poor consumers, different measures have been considered by policy makers. Recently, Ethiopia banned the export of all grain products in a bid to stem huge price hikes. The export of indigenous grains, including the staple grains, like teff, maize, sorghum, and wheat are suspended indefinitely. Using the standard GTAP model and the recent GTAP Africa database, this paper simulates the overall implication of banning export of grains. Regarding the impact on prices, the simulation result tells us that prices are likely to fall. At macro level, the result reveals trade balance will not be decline following such actions. However, it has been shown that in terms of overall welfare the policy has a devastating impact as the country will likely to lose welfare equivalent of $ 148 million.Food price inflation;- export ban;- WTO:- Ethiopia;- GTAP

Mathematica Packages for Solving Schrodinger Equation with One Dimensional Rectangular Potentials

The determination of eigenvalues and their related eigenfunctions is one of the central problems of quantum mechanics. In this work, the problem of finding energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are aptly demonstrated with one dimensional systems of infinite double square well potential, finite double square well potential, rectangular potential hole between two walls and asymmetric square well potential. We develop Mathematica packages for which the Schrodinger equations are solved for each model. The solutions are obtained by graphical and numerical methods in these packages. The packages are easy to use; the user does not need to know the details of the packages in order to use them but the user has a direct control over parameters of the models. Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions have been obtained for various well depths and widths as well as various barrier widths. They are shown to have appropriate limiting solutions. The packages are stable, fast, efficient and can serve as useful tools for teaching systems of one dimensional rectangular potential, in quantum mechanics

Performance and yield predictions in double cross hybrids of tropical grain maize

The use of double cross hybrids in maize was suggested to overcome the problem of seed production related to single cross resulting from low vigor and yield associated with the inbred parents. Double cross hybrids were known to perform quite well under a wide range of environmental conditions. As a part of an ongoing grain maize improvement program at Universiti Putra Malaysia, the best performing inbred lines were selected and crossed to produce single crosses. These single crosses were further used to produce some double cross hybrids. In this study, the performance of ten selected double cross hybrids was evaluated at two environments in the research areas of Universiti Putra Malaysia. The predicted performance of these double cross hybrids was also compared with the actual, using the method based on the mean values of non.parental single crosses. The best performing double cross hybrids, DC-26 and DC-34 were found to have high yields at both environments as well as in the combined analysis. DC-26 and DC-34 gave mean grain yields of 6125.0 and 5917.8 kg/ha respectively, at Field 2, 5648.9 and 5676.2 kg/ha respectively, at Share Farm, and 5887.0 and 5797.0 kg/ha respectively, in the combined analysis. From the correlation analysis, the actual and the predicted performances of the double cross hybrids were found to be in good agreement at each location and locations combined (r = 0.38, 0.46 and 0.27, respectively, at Field 2, Share Farm and at the two locations combined), implying that the method used for yield predictions in the crosses was appropriate

A 2004 social accounting matrix for Israel : documentation of an economy-wide database with a focus on agriculture, the labour market, and income distribution

This document describes the Israeli Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the year 2004, developed by the Agricultural and Food Policy Group at the University of Hohenheim. The SAM is a part of a larger research project which aims to analyse several economic, trade, and labour policies in the context of economic integration of agriculture between Israel and the West Bank. Data are obtained from various sources in Israel. Sources include the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), the Central Bank of Israel (CBI), and the Israeli Tax Authority (ITA). Data from sources outside of Israel are used to fill-in some gaps in the domestic reports. External sources include the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank. The SAM provides data on 47 sectors with activities separated from commodities, 36 labour force types, 10 household groups, as well as 17 tax accounts in addition to 37 accounts reserved for taxes on production factors. A topdown approach is pursued by first building a balanced macro SAM which is consistent with 2004 national account data. Subsequently, the macro SAM is disaggregated into a micro SAM which is balanced in several steps.Dieser Bericht beschreibt die ?Social Accounting Matrix? (SAM) für Israel für das Jahr 2004, welche am Fachgebiet für Agrar- und Ernährungspolitik der Universität Hohenheim erstellt wurde. Die israelische SAM ist Teil eines größeren Forschungsprojektes mit dem Ziel verschiedene ökonomische, Handels- und Arbeitsmarktpolitiken im Kontext der ökonomischen Integration von landwirtschaftlichen Märkten zwischen Israel und dem Westjordanland zu analysieren. Es werden Daten von verschiedenen israelischen Quellen verwandt: dem israelischen statistischem Amt (ICBS), der israelischen Zentralbank (BOI) und der israelischen Steuerbehörde (ITA). Diese werde durch nicht-israelische Quellen ergänzt, welche die Welthandelsorganisation (WTO), die Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD), sowie die Weltbank umfassen. Die SAM differenziert 47 Sektoren, wobei Aktivitäten und Güter unterschieden werden. Ferner beinhaltet die SAM 36 Klassen des Produktionsfaktors Arbeit und 10 unterschiedliche Haushaltsgruppen, die durch 54 verschiedene Steuern (davon 37 auf Produktionsfaktoren) ergänzt werden. Die Erstellung der SAM erfolgt folgendermaßen: zuerst wird eine mit den israelischen volkswirtschaftlichen Daten für 2004 konsistente Makro-SAM erstellt. Diese wird im nächsten Schritt disaggregiert in eine detaillierte Mikro-SAM, welche in mehreren Stufen ausbalanciert wird