ECONOMIC ANALYSIS APPROACHES TO POTATO-BASED INTEGRATED CROP SYSTEMS: ISSUES AND METHOD
In response to stagnating yields and mounting pest problems, Michigan potato growers are investigating ways to bring manure and cover crops back into potato production systems. The alternative systems bring benefits and costs for monetary net returns, the variability of net returns, and environmental impacts. This paper reviews the likely yield and biological system effects of alternative potato production systems that incorporate manure and cover crops. After briefly considering research designs for gathering experimental versus farm field data, it reviews four economic analysis methods for evaluating alternative systems. All methods are illustrated with examples. First, for evaluating comparative average profitability, it reviews a) enterprise budgets, b) partial budgets, and c) break-even analysis. Second, for integrating environmental impacts into profitability analysis by using monetary measures of environmental effects, it introduces "green" budgets. Third, for evaluating efficiency trade-offs between profitability and environmental impacts, it covers trade-off frontiers. Finally, for comparing the variability of returns across systems (including for risk-averse decision makers), it introduces analysis of variance and stochastic dominance. These methods provide a basic set of tools for the economic analysis of changes in potato-based crop systems that should be adequate for most static comparisons of annual crop management practices.
Economics of Teak (Tectona grandis L. F.) plantation with different spacing and organic inputs in Semi-arid region of Rajasthan
A field experiment was conducted during the July 2019 to April 2020, at the Herbal Garden, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalarapatan, Jhalawar. The experiment consisted of 10 treatment of different organic inputs viz.; sand, FYM and Vermicompost in different combinations and was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The study aimed to find out best treatment combination and spacing for the initial establishment of the plantations with an appropriate idea to find out its cost of cultivation for ultimate success. Although treatment T9 comprising [Vermicompost (2 kg + 1 kg + 1 kg) + FYM (2 kg + 1 kg + 1 kg)] was found significantly superior over all among treatments and then treatment T8 [Vermicompost (1 kg + 1 kg + 1 kg) + FYM (1 kg + 1 kg + 1 kg)] exhibited at par results in most of the growth parameters in Teak (Tectona grandis L. F.) plantations but both the treatments are having maximum cost of cultivation. From the experiment, it may be concluded that T9 and T8 treatments being costlier, may be considered suitable for better growth and development of Teak (Tectona grandis L. F.) plants in the soil and climatic conditions similar to Jhalawar (Semi-arid) region with Spacing S3 (5 m x 6 m) then S2 (5 m x 5 m) for plant growth and development in the first year.
The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy
In this newly revised edition of his widely acclaimed work, Peter Burke presents a social and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance. He discusses the social and political institutions that existed in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and he analyzes the ways of thinking and seeing that characterized this period of extraordinary artistic creativity. Developing a distinctive approach, the author is concerned not only with the finished works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and others, but also with the social background, patterns of recruitment, and means of subsistence of this "cultural elite." He thus makes a major contribution both to our understanding of the Italian Renaissance and to our comprehension of the complex relations between culture and society. An excellent social history of the lives and culture of the artists and artisans which made it possible for the arts to flourish.