MALAYSIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

Factor Affecting the Malaysian Palm Oil Export to India

Mohammad Yusof Ahmad — 2024-11-01

The huge size of its population and increasing living standards from its growing economy do not give any other choice for India to satisfy the huge demand for edible oil unless they are imported from different countries. Currently, India stands as the largest vegetable oils importer in the world, and palm oil from Malaysia is one of its preferences. However, there is a mixed scenery of demand trend shown by India, and surprisingly, it seems to change significantly every five to seven years. Hence, this study aimed to identify the factors that triggered the volatility in India’s demand for Malaysian palm oil. This is important since India is the largest importer of Malaysian palm oil and the switch in India's demand for Malaysian palm oil will affect the Malaysian economy. Thus, the outcome from the ARDL analysis of the study presents its findings by summarizing that the Indian market is highly susceptible to price changes in the long and short run, while it is more responsive towards income in the long run. Consequently, this study proposed for policymakers to come up with an effective pricing strategy that applies to the current Indian economic situation and, at the same time, introduce an efficient monetary policy to minimize the risk of currency instability on the export demand.

Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture and Household Food Insecurity in Nigeria

Oluwakemi Obayelu — 2024-12-30

Lack of gender parity in access to agricultural resources and services adversely influences women’s productivity and subsequently the food security status of their households. The study analysed the effects of women empowerment on food insecurity status of Nigerian households using secondary data from the 2018/2019 General Household Survey (GHS). Information from 448 households with consistent information were used to construct the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) and Household Hunger Scale (HHS) Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, probit regression and IV-ordered probit regression models. Results showed that 93.4% of the women were disempowered, while 47.4 percent of men were disempowered. The overall Gender Parity Index was 0.606 with about 17.1 percent of the women having high gender parity, while more than half did not have gender parity with the primary male in their households. However, less than a quarter of the women were empowered in the five domains, about half (49.4%), 57.1%, 45.6% and 44.5% of households that experienced no hunger, mild hunger, moderate hunger and severe hunger, respectively, had disempowered women. About 50.6% had no hunger, 42.9% had mild hunger, 54.4% had moderate hunger and 55.5% had severe hunger among the empowered women’s households. Increasing women empowerment in agriculture reduced the incidence of severe food insecurity by 4.0%. Being a female-headed household, age and high literacy level of household, head significantly reduced the probability of severe food insecurity among the households.

Analyzing the Impact of Global and Local Factors on Broiler Production in Malaysia: A Time Series Approach

Mohesh Bathmanathan — 2024-10-25

The rising cost of food in Malaysia, particularly broiler meat, presents a significant challenge to maintaining public satisfaction and food security. Recent global events, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis, highlight the important impact of feed prices on broiler production costs in Malaysia and have damaged the broiler business, which faced a shortage in 2022. This study aims to analyze the factors affecting Malaysia's broiler production, focusing on the influence of broiler population, global corn prices, global soybean prices, and broiler meat retail prices. Using multiple linear regression analysis on secondary time series data from 2000 to 2021, the study found that broiler retail prices and population significantly affected production, while global corn and soybean prices were negatively affected, although it is not statistically significant. The results highlight the need for strategic measures to enhance the broiler industry's profitability, ensuring stable supply and protecting small-scale farmers from market and external crises. This research offers valuable insights for policymakers to develop effective interventions in the broiler market.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Behavior Towards Modern Rice Varieties in Bangladesh

Mohammad Samiul Islam — 2024-06-19

The adoption of high-yielding agricultural technologies remains a promising strategy for achieving food security and poverty reduction in developing countries. With the innovation of green technology like seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation water, the productivity of land has increased significantly in Asian countries like Bangladesh. The high-yielding varieties of rice generate a yield gain of 15-20% over the conventionally bred varieties in general. Yet, despite strenuous government efforts, farmers’ adoption rates have remained low in Bangladesh compared to other Asian countries like India, China, and Vietnam. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the factors influencing the adoption of modern high-yielding rice in some selected areas of the Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. A total of 510 smallholder rice farmers were randomly selected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the socio-demographic characteristics of farmers. The Tobit regression analysis was employed to figure out the factors influencing the adoption of modern rice cultivars. The results of the descriptive analysis showed that in the Boro season, about 64% of the area in the Mymensingh district was covered by modern high-yielding varieties. The outcome of Tobit regression indicated that variables such as farmers’ schooling, farm size, social membership, extension contract, training facilities, taste and preference, and yield capacity of new varieties were the significant and positive determinants to adopt modern rice cultivars, whereas farmers’ age, a distance of agricultural extension office, and fertilizer deficiency were significant but adversely associated with the adoption behaviour of the farmers. These findings recommended that rice breeders should emphasize the farmers’ preferences while developing varieties, as well as provide training, formal credit, trusted seed dealers, and membership access for spreading newly established HYV rice cultivars.