Commodity conservation: The restructuring of community conservation in South Africa and the Philippines

Published Date
May 2012, Vol.43(3):367–376, doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.06.010

The Global Rise and Local Implications of Market-Oriented Conservation Governance

Bram Büscher ^a,,

Wolfram Dressler ^b,

aInstitute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Netherlands and Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Kortenaerkade 12, 2518 AX, The Hague, The Netherlands

bSchool of Social Science, University of Queensland, Michie Building (9) Level 8, St. Lucia, Qld 4072, Queensland, Australia

Received 23 November 2009. Revised 19 May 2010. Available online 21 August 2010. 

Abstract

The world over, neoliberal modes of conservation are hybridising with, or even replacing, other forms of conservation. Under the banner of ‘win–win’ policies, planners actively work to commoditize natural resources and the social relations that determine the use and conservation of these resources. While these general processes seem to hold sway globally, it is crucial not to lose sight of the context specific ways in which neo-liberalism influences conservation practice and local outcomes. The paper examines how neo-liberalism’s global pervasiveness becomes manifest across different levels and scales in South Africa and the Philippines. The conclusion suggests that as a result of these neoliberal pressures, emphasis is shifting from local constructions of ‘nature’ by communities to what the environment should mean for communities in terms of commodified resources and growing capitalist markets.

Keywords

• Conservation
• Neo-liberalism
• South Africa
• Philippines
• Communities
• Commoditization

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  Corresponding author.

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The forbidden fuel: Charcoal, urban woodfuel demand and supply dynamics, community forest management and woodfuel policy in Malawi

Published Date
July 2010, Vol.38(7):3717–3730, doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.02.050
Large-scale wind power in electricity markets with Regular Papers

Author 
Leo Charles Zulu ^,

Michigan State University, Department of Geography, 103 Geography Building, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA
Received 27 April 2009. Accepted 22 February 2010. Available online 30 March 2010. 

Abstract

This article examines woodfuel policy challenges and opportunities in Malawi two decades after woodfuel-crisis narratives and counter-narratives. A nuanced examination of woodfuel supply, demand, use, and markets illuminated options to turn stagnant policies based on charcoal ‘bans’ and fuel-substitution into proactive, realistic ones acknowledging woodfuel dominance and its socio-economic importance. Findings revealed growing, spatially differentiated woodfuel deficits in southern and central Malawi and around Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe cities. Poverty, limited electricity access, reliability and generation exacerbated by tariff subsidies, and complex fuel-allocation decisions restricted energy-ladder transitions from woodfuels to electricity, producing an enduring urban-energy mix dominated by charcoal, thereby increasing wood consumption. Diverse socio-political interests prevented lifting of the charcoal ‘ban’ despite progressive forest laws. Despite implementation challenges, lessons already learnt, efficiency and poverty-reduction arguments, limited government capacity, growing illegal production of charcoal in forest reserves, and its staying power, make targeted community-based forest management (CBFM) approaches more practical for regulated, commercial production of woodfuels than the status quo. New differentiated policies should include commercial woodfuel production and licensing for revenue and ecological sustainability under CBFM or concessions within and outside selected reserves, an enterprise-based approaches for poverty reduction, smallholder/private tree-growing, woodfuel-energy conserving technologies, improved electricity supply and agricultural productivity.

Keywords

• Woodfuel
• Community-based forest management
• Malawi

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  Tel.: +1 517 432 4744.

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Production and trade of major crops in Myanmar (PDF A4:158KB A3: 121KB)

Myanmar has drawn attention as “the last frontier” after shifting to civilian rule and being relieved of economic sanctions in 2011. The agricultural sector is expected to grow rapidly as a result of an increase in investments, which had been very limited. Using official data published by the government of Myanmar, this study generated maps covering 14 administrative regions to grasp the spatial characters of agricultural production.

Maps showing paddy, oil crops (e.g., sesamum, sunflower, ground nut), pulses for food (e.g., green gram, black gram, pigeon pea), and several other crops were created (Table 1). Sown area, yield, and production quantity were displayed in maps subdivided into administrative regions (Fig. 1). In addition to these basic data, also generated were the estimated annual average rate of change of those items, the proportion of sown area in arable land, the contribution of yield change to production change, and the per capita supply of those items. Figure 2 shows a visualized time series data of sown area, yield, production quantity, domestic supply, and trade. Prices (e.g., market price, producer price, and export or import price) deflated by the consumer price index, or the GDP deflator, were juxtaposed in each graph. Graphs depicting domestic supply and trade included self-sufficiency rates, export rates, trade quantities, values, and prices. Trade values and prices in local currency, which were originally associated with “official exchange rate,” were revised with “parallel market exchange rate.” Furthermore, domestic market prices were added to the graphs of export or import price to show the gap between prices within and outside Myanmar.

The results of this study have been published by the Research Strategy Office and uploaded to JIRCAS’s Program D webpage. Although the report is written in English, some contents and descriptions are also written in Japanese. The spatial and temporal characteristics of agriculture in Myanmar can be grasped easily; for example, production quantities and deflated prices, such as market price, producer price, and export or import price, will help estimate the relationship between prices and supply responses. There are issues of reliability in the raw data; nevertheless, this report would be useful for gaining a rough perspective on the agricultural situation and could provide materials for further discussion. An update will be considered in 2016.

(E. Kusano, O. Koyama)

Table 1. Target crops

Fig. 1. Thematic maps Left: Sown area of beans for food in 2010 (1,000ha).
Right: Contribution of the yield change in sesamum production during 2000–2009 (%)

Fig. 2. Production quantity and prices (deflated to 2010 level). 1 kyat ≈ 0.001USD in 2010

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Disincentive factors affecting stable aquaculture production of the blood cockle, Anadara gra

The blood cockle, Anadara granosa, is an important bivalve aquaculture species in Southeast Asian countries. They thrive where there is a widespread presence of mud flats, as in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which provide suitable habitat and is a center for sowing aquaculture. Blood cockle spats are naturally abundant along the coasts and are exported to neighboring countries as aquaculture seeds. Recently, however, a huge reduction in the number of spats in aquaculture grounds in the west coast has been noted. Likewise, the farming process has been seriously affected by mass mortality. Therefore, some of the possible causes were investigated and countermeasures were formulated. In this study, we revealed the disincentive factors affecting blood cockle aquaculture and considered future measures for achieving stable production.

Regular monitoring was carried out in three sampling stations in blood cockle aquaculture grounds. Results showed failure of sexual maturation in Station 1 during the monitoring period (Fig. 1). In addition, surface sediments in Station 1 had been significantly reduced, according to an environmental survey carried out in November 2010 (Fig. 2). High organic loading in the aquaculture grounds was suggested as one failure factor for the phenomena. On the other hand, a case study of the mass mortality event in mid-February 2012 (more than 30% mortality in Selangor coast) revealed that the blood cockle was in its spawning season and that it was in failure condition due to reduced food availability, based on histological observations of the gonad and digestive ducts, respectively (Fig. 3). Moreover, these results suggested that the cockles failed to absorb nutrients as evidenced by the flattening of epithelial cells in their digestive glands (Fig. 4). Incidentally, mass mortality occurred during a week-long rainy period (over 30 mm/day for four days). Environmental changes associated with freshwater inflow, carrying with it high-suspended matter from rivers, may have weakened the blood cockle’s environmental resistance especially because they were spawning. Thus, it was inferred that reduced feeding opportunities and nutrient absorption disorders may have led to the blood cockle’s debilitated condition.

For a sustainable blood cockle aquaculture, it is important to lower the mortality rate in the aquaculture process and produce a stable supply of blood cockle spats. In the future, we need to establish water and sediment quality standards in aquaculture grounds as a fisheries management strategy and connect sound management approaches to stable production, with the Malaysian local government and fishermen playing leading roles in managing water and sediment quality. We intend to recommend this system to the Department of Fisheries in Malaysia for implementation and realization in the near future.

(T. Yurimoto, Faizul Mohd Kassim [FRI Malaysia], R. Fuseya [FRA Japan], Alias Bin Man [FRI Malaysia])

Fig. 1. Naked-eye observations of the visceral area covering the gonad of the blood cockle. Score 0: immature, score 1: developing, and score 2: mature. Number in parentheses refers to the number of individuals used for observation. The graph shows that there was no gonad development at Station 1 (●), whereas significant development was observed at Stations 2 and 3 (○ and △). Error bar indicates standard error.

Fig. 2. Redox potentials in surface sediments around the blood cockle aquaculture grounds. Significant reduction was detected at Station 1 where sexual maturation of the blood cockle was not observed. Significant difference (P <0.01) was observed between a and b. This survey was conducted in November 2010 when gonad development was observed in Stations 2 and 3. Error bar indicates standard error.

Fig. 3. Presence and nonpresence of food in the digestive duct of the blood cockle before and after the mass mortality event. Photo A: digestive duct filled with food, Photo B: no food in the duct (asterisk shows the empty digestive duct.) Scale bar in photo: 100 μm. Graph data shows an increase in the number of individuals with empty digestive ducts after the mass mortality event.

Fig. 4. Condition of epithelial cells in the digestive gland of the blood cockle before and after the mass mortality event. Photo I: good condition of epithelial cells, photo II: partial flattening of epithelial cells (arrows), photo III: substantial flattening of epithelial cells (arrows). Scale bar in photo: 100 μm. Graph data shows an increase in the number of individuals with flattened epithelial cells after the mass mortality event.

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Extraction of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, a promising raw material for plastics, from oil palm biomass (

Malaysia is one of the world’s leading producers of palm oil. Huge amounts of residues like empty fruit bunches (EFBs), kernel shells (accumulated in mills), fronds and trunks (left at plantation fields) are generated from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq., Arecaceae). Low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds (LMPCs) extracted from subcritical water treatment of oil palm biomass has shown promise as a raw material for producing plastics, thereby promoting the efficient use of waste resources. In this study, the LMPC yield for each part of the oil palm was clarified.

An oil palm plant sample was divided into 11 parts for use as residue materials for extracting LMPC [e.g., p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA)] (Fig. 1). We carried out subcritical water extraction of the oil palm trunk and the condition of transformation/extraction was optimized for a given combination of temperature and time. In contrast to supercritical water extraction, which causes pyrolysis, subcritical water extraction possesses a high hydrolytic ability. PHBA is a native constituent in oil palm, and its yield markedly increases with the degradation of ester linkages in high-molecular-weight secondary metabolites (Fig. 2A). Evaluations showed that the kernel shell had the highest PHBA yield. In comparison, the frond (including leaves, petiole, and rachis) was evaluated as superior, in consideration of the resource amount being up to six times that of EFB or trunk, although the PHBA yield from this part is not very high (Fig. 3).

Subcritical water treatment is an environmentally friendly method of extracting phenolic constituents because it does not require organic solvents, acids, alkalis, and so on. It can be performed if there is a pressure-tight container, which can withstand high temperatures of about 200–250°C, and a temperature controller. Subcritical water extraction, therefore, has an advantage in terms of equipment cost and energy consumption. There is a huge amount of residue resources, particularly fronds; however, there are few utilization methods available at present. In this study, the potential of fronds was appreciated from LMPC yield data and resource amount for each part of the oil palm. The kernel shell, on the other hand, exhibited the highest PHBA and LMPC yields. Although the resource amount is less than that of fronds, it was classified accordingly as available raw material because palm kernel shells are regularly accumulated in palm oil mills as wastes.

(F. Kawamura, R. Hashim [Universiti Sains Malaysia], O. Sulaiman [Universiti Sains Malaysia], N.S. Saary [Universiti Sains Malaysia])

Fig.1. Parts of the oil palm(a: cross-section of trunk, b: frond, c: empty fruit bunch, d: cross-section of fruit)

Fig.2. Effect of temperature (A) and time (B) on the yields of low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds from oil palm trunk during subcritical water extraction

Fig. 3. Yields of low-molecular-weight phenolic compounds from each part of oil palm

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Methods to establish transfer zones of forest reproductive materials in Peninsular Malaysia

Uncontrolled transfer of forest reproductive materials (FRMs) has resulted to failures,
sometimes taking many years to develop even after seemingly successful establishment.
Failures, which should have been caused by less adaptation of transferred FRM to new
environments, were often due to climatic, insect, or disease events that had much less impact
on the native source. In uniform plantations, failures reduce the productivity of the new
plantation, where better productivity is expected than in the previous plantation. Another
problem arises in enrichment planting, which is commonly conducted in tropical rain forests
in Southeast Asia. If transferred FRMs reach reproductive stage, they genetically contaminate
the next generation through mating with native trees because enrichment planting is
conducted in primary or secondary forests. Genetic contamination should not be ignored as
the fitness of native forests in this region is affected when large volumes of transferred FRMs
are introduced.

To avoid these problems, some methods have been proposed to establish FRM transfer
zones. Provenance trials should provide the most reliable information for determining the
limits of FRM movement and discerning which seed sources are best for planting locations.
However, these trials have disadvantages and they are costly in terms of resources and time.
If progeny test materials involve a few seed sources, then they can be used for assessing FRM
transfer zones. Short-term common-garden studies, compared with field provenance trials,
have the disadvantage of not evaluating seed sources during extreme climatic events and
naturally occurring pest problems over time. However, they provide information about
adaptation to environment expressed at the early stage of their growth. Although molecular
markers are considered as neutral or nearly neutral against adaptation (selection), processes
such as migration (movement of alleles among locations), population size, and genetic drift
(random loss or fixation of alleles) affect the distribution of variation in molecular markers.
There have been continuing discussions on how molecular markers are used for determining
FRM transfer zones. Because the advantage of molecular markers are less time and labor,
FRM transfer zones established by molecular markers should be considered tentative until
confirmed by adaptive traits in a common environment (Fig. 1). Therefore, adaptive
management should be introduced for FRM transfer zones based on molecular markers,
which are going to be revised by the latest information on adaptive traits.

Because of the urgent necessity and the less time and labor it entails, we adopted the
method of using molecular markers to establish FRM transfer zones. We analyzed the genetic
structure of two important timber species in Peninsular Malaysia as examples. Genetic
marker analysis has detected that the genetic diversity of Neobalanocarpus heimii (local
name: chengal) was well explained when genetic diversity was separated as four different
clusters. These four different clusters were localized at different regions in Peninsular
Malaysia. When the localization of clusters was applied in determining the FRM transfer
zone, four regions were recognized as FRM transfer zones. On the other hand, genetic marker
analysis detected that the genetic diversity of Shorea curtisii (local name: seraya) was
explained when genetic diversity was separated as three different clusters. These three
different clusters, however, showed lower probability as regards cluster separation and
showed ambiguous correspondence to localization in Peninsular Malaysia. This result
supports the idea that strict regulation is not required for the species (Fig. 2). We must
remember that the result was obtained using neutral genetic markers. If adaptive genetic
variation is detected by long-term field provenance trial, medium-term progeny test,
short-term common garden nursery and/or non-neutral genetic marker analysis in the future,
then further revision of the regulation is required. Thus, FRM transfer zones should be
determined for each important timber species in Peninsular Malaysia.

(N. Tani, N. Muhammad [Forest Research Institute Malaysia], S. L. Lee [FRIM], C.
H. Ng [FRIM], L. H. Tnah [FRIM], K. K. S. Ng [FRIM], C. T. Lee [FRIM], N. F.
Zakaria [FRIM], Y. Tsumura [University of Tsukuba])

Fig. 1. Research flow showing the proposed forest reproductive material (FRM) transfer zones based on molecular markers

Fig. 2. Examples of two timber species, which showed distinct patterns of genetic structure, in Peninsular Malaysia

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Impacts of the oil palm development program in Indonesia on small scale farmers (PDF A4:191KB A3: 130KB)

Since 1977, the Indonesian government has been implementing an oil palm development scheme called the Nuclear Estate Smallholders (NES) program. The program aims to share the benefit of plantation development between palm oil companies and rural communities by allocating a part of the plantation to small scale farmers (hereinafter referred to as ‘plasma farmers’). Under the NES program, the company is also responsible for supporting the plasma farmers through various activities, such as providing soft loans and technical support as well as purchasing fresh fruit bunch (FFB) from farmers at a guaranteed price. Although there are significant differences in the level of performance from one NES case to another, it is difficult to evaluate because of a lack of indicators. Recently, the number of small scale farmers called ‘independent farmers,’ referring to those who don’t join any collaboration programs with companies, is increasing in Indonesia, especially in Sumatera Island. This study aimed to identify the effects of the NES program by comparing the FFB production of plasma farmers and independent farmers based on the survey results about farm household economies.

Tree age of oil palm strongly affects FFB yield. In general, the yield gradually decreases after achieving highest yield between the tree ages of 8 and 13 years. In the NES case of Company A in Riau Province, some plasma farmers were able to maintain or improve FFB yield even with trees aged 20 years or more (Fig. 1A). Such high yields in older trees were not observed in the NES case of Company B (Fig. 1B). From the graph, it can be seen that the net profit of plasma farmers in CompanyA was significantly higher than those of independent farmers (Fig. 2).

It must also be noted that the amount of fertilizer application by plasma farmers was higher than the amount applied by independent farmers. The amount of potassium fertilizer applied by independent farmers was particularly lower than the standard fertilizer application rate (Fig. 3). Applying the appropriate amount of fertilizer has contributed to better yield for plasma farmers.

While all plasma farmers planted high quality seedlings with certification provided by CompanyA, most independent farmers purchased seedlings without any quality assurance from local shops or nearby farmers (Fig. 4). Clearly, the quality of seedlings was another factor affecting FFB yield. Other factors that have contributed to higher yield by plasma farmers include continuous technical assistance, Company A’s attitude towards the plasma farmers (e.g., fulfillment of contracts), and Company A’s higher dependency on plasma farmers as a source of FFB for their palm oil mill.

The above findings can be used by local administrative agencies to formulate yield improvement policies that would benefit small scale oil palm farmers.

(T. Sugino)

Fig. 1. Relationship between tree age and fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield (left: Company A case study, right: CompanyB case study). The standard yield shows the general relationship between tree age and FFB yield as reported by Adlin (1990). In the Company A case study, some of the plasma farmers maintained or improved FFB yield in spite of the higher tree age of 20 years or more (circled in red).

Fig. 2. FFB production cost and profit ( Company A case study) Cost and profit numbers were averaged for 26 plasma farmers and 22 independent farmers. Significant differences were observed in net profit (significant level: 1%), other cost (1%), labor cost (5%) and material cost (5%).

Fig. 3. Fertilizer application by farmers (Company A case study) Percentages were averaged for 12 plasma farmers and 8 independent farmers. The error bars show the standard errors.

Fig. 4. Source of oil palm seedlings (Company A case study) Number of respondents: 27 plasma farmers and 25 independent farmers

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Direct Saccharification Technology From Lignocellulosic Biomass (PDF A4:133KB A3:110KB)

Technology is important because of the high cost of obtaining fermentable sugars efficiently from cellulosic biomass. Many microorganisms capable of producing cellulose and hemicellulose-degrading enzymes have been reported and characterized. Currently, fungal cellulases are prepared and utilized to saccharify cellulosic biomass. It is known that the fungus Trichoderma reesei is able to produce high levels of secreted cellulases and several functionally distinct cellulase components. However, utilization of cellulases is an impediment to industrial application due to the high cost of enzymes.

On the other hand, Clostridium thermocellum, an anaerobic, thermophilic, spore-forming bacterium, is the most potent cellulose-degrading bacterium known to produce cellulosomes. The cellulosomes of C. thermocellum contain a surprisingly large variety of enzymes and show attractive enzymatic properties for the degradation of complex plant biomass. In a previous study, we demonstrated remarkable improvements in cellulolytic activity of cellulosomes from the hypercellulolytic C. thermocellum [1] in combination with a thermostable β-glucosidase from Thermoanaerobacter brockii (CglT) [2, 3].

In this research, we report on saccharification by C. thermocellum cultures supplemented with thermostable β-glucosidases, which we named biological simultaneous enzyme production and saccharification (BSES) [4]. BSES required no addition of cellulolytic enzymes. It can directly produce glucose from cellulosic materials due to supplementation of cellulose degrading cultures with CglT. Exclusive glucose accumulation of glucose occurred when C. thermocellum was cultured with a thermostable β-glucosidase under a high cellulose load. This approach may resolve a significant barrier to economical production of bio-based chemicals and fuels from lignocellulosic biomass.

[1] Tachaapaikoon C, et al: Biodegradation. 2012, 23:57-68.
[2] Waeonukul R, et al: Bioresour Technol. 2012, 107:352-357.
[3] Waeonukul R, et al: Bioresour Technol. 2013, 130:424-430.
[4] Prawitwong P, et al: Biotechnol Biofuels. 2013, 6:184.

(A.Kosugi)

Fig. 1. Schematic of consecutive biological saccharification method by recycling of the hydrolyzed residue. Culture of C. thermocellum and supplementation of CBM3-CglT were only carried out the first biological saccharification round without further culture and addition of any enzymes [2]. To recover free cellulosomes and CBM-CglT, fresh pretreated cellulose substrates were added to the hydrolysis slurry, and then reabsorbed from the supernatant. A second round of biological saccharification was subsequently performed using the recovered enzymes by binding to fresh substrate and the hydrolysis residues containing C. thermocellum cells. Consecutive biological saccharification using these recycling procedures may be repeated several times.

Fig. 2. Biological saccharification using C. thermocellum culture supplemented CglT. Cellulose hydrolysis ability and free sugars (glucose) accumulation was monitored under C-05 cultivation of C. thermocellum with or without CglT (+CglT/–CglT), respectively. Solid and dotted lines indicated residual cellulose contents (w/v) in culture broth. Error bars represent ± SD (n=3).

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Importance of salt concentration and long-term fermentation in the quality of salty-fermented f

The salty-fermented freshwater fish paste known as pla-ra and pa-daek in Thailand and Laos is universally used in daily meals as a storage-stable almighty seasoning or protein-rich cooking ingredient. It is traditionally made at home and also sold on the market nowadays. For the preparation, raw fish is mixed with salt and rice bran or roasted rice powder, and then fermented at tropical temperatures for at least 6 months. It is generally believed that longer fermentation makes the products taste better. Moreover, consumers often think the taste of the products varies from place to place. Scientific evidences regarding such characteristic features and microbes involved in the fermentation are expected to be useful in promoting quality improvement and consumption of pla-ra / pa-daek products, which are traditional high-value-added products that highly utilize indigenous fishery resources particularly in the inland region of Southeast Asia.

Regional characteristics of the pH and salt concentration are observed in the samples examined (Fig. 2A). The product pH is positively correlated with the salt concentration (Fig. 2A). Multiple species (2-8 species) of lactic acid bacteria are detected by the culture-independent method (summarized in Fig. 1) in 10 pla-ra / pa-daek products collected from central, northern, and northeastern Thailand, and Vientiane in Laos (Fig. 2B). The products can be classified into two groups by the representative genus of lactic acid bacteria, such as Tetragenococcus or Lactobacillus. Salt concentration of approximately 10% is the dividing point between these two groups (Fig. 2A). Products in the latter group contain relatively higher amount of lactic acid. The amount of glutamic acid, which is the source of delicious taste, increases in a fermentation-time dependent manner by 4 to 6 months in products prepared by following a common recipe (Fig. 3). Glutamic acid is one of the amino acids generated by the digestion of fish protein during fermentation.

Taken together, salt concentration is a key factor in determining the activity of lactic acid bacteria and the resulting lactic acid amount that relates to the regionality in taste preference. The producers can utilize a simple tool, such as a test paper, to monitor the salt concentration and pH for improving product quality and productivity. The overgrowth of Lactobacillus species that possibly results in acidification of the product by excess acid production can be prevented by controlling the salt concentration accordingly. It is recommended that the fermentation be continued long enough to generate a sufficient amount of glutamic acid.

(J. Marui, S. Boulom [National University of Laos], W. Panthavee [Kasetsart University], G. Trakoontivakorn [Kasetsart University], P. Tangkanakul [Kasetsart University], K. Kusumoto [National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, National Food Research Institute])

Fig. 1. Scheme of the taste component measurement and genetic identification of bacteria by culture independent method (PCR-DGGE)

Fig. 2. A: Correlation and regionality of the taste components; B: Characteristics of lactic acid bacteria species detected by the PCR-DGGE method

Fig. 3. Time-dependent change of the glutamic acid (source of delicious taste) during fermentation of pla-ra prepared by following a common recipe

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Decomposition analysis of maize yield change in China (PDF A4:154MB A3:1.39MB)

China, the world’s second largest producer and consumer of maize, has been a net importer since 2010. On the other hand, maize production nearly doubled during the period 2000–2012, with a 28% increase in yield per harvested area. Accordingly, this study examined the effects of prices and quantities of agricultural inputs as well as climatic factors on maize yield in China.

Maize yield was decomposed using results from factor demand functions and from a crop response model. The results show that the annual yield rate change (1.8%) is decomposed to the decrease in seed density (–3.4%) and the increase in seed productivity (5.2%) (Fig. 1). Values of the direct effect (–3.4%) and indirect effect through seed productivity (4.1%) of the seed density imply negative correlation between seed density and yield. Seed density decreases with the rise in seed price (–3.8%), and this effect seems larger than those of other prices. When comparing the contribution of fertilizer content to seed productivity, the value of potassium (0.8%) is higher than the others. The rapid increase in fertilizer input (6.8%) is parallel with the higher cost of capital (2.8%). The result of regional analysis revealed that the yield decreases with lower seed density in several regions where seed density is lower than the average (Fig. 2). The contribution of land rent to feed density and fertilizer per area is higher in the Northeast and North China Plains, which are major maize producing areas. On the other hand, the contribution of capital, agricultural machines, and draught animals seems higher in the southern regions.

This study clarified the effects of each price and quantity of input goods on the maize yield. The result can help promote discussion on the effects of policies to increase maize yield in China. Furthermore, the results can bind macro-level individual studies on yield, economic factors, and agricultural input goods. However, there are several limitations. This study did not analyze the effects of disseminating higher yielding seeds and of improving production circumstances on the decreasing seed density. The effects of nutrient balance should also be analyzed in more detail.

(E. Kusano, H. Chien, Y. Chen [China Agricultural University], O. Koyama)

Fig. 1. Effects of factors influencing change in maize yield, China (2004–2012) The number below each item is the annual average rate of change (%). The numbers below the lines are the contributions of the left-hand items to the right-hand items, in percentage points. Values are calculated from data of 18 provincial-level divisions.

Fig. 2. Annual average rate of change of factors composing each item (in percentage points, 2004–2012 data)

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