As a result of the green revolution, the use of yield-increasing inputs such as fer tilizer and pesticides became a matter of course in irrigated rice farming in Southeast Asia. Pesticides were applied liberally, both as a guarantee against crop failure and as a means of fully utilizing the existing yield potential of the crops. However, since outbreaks of pests, such as the brown planthopper (BPH) or the tungro virus, continued to occur despite the application of chemicals, a change of approach began to take place. It is now being realized more and more in Southeast Asia that crop protection problems cannot be resolved solely by the application of chemicals. In the past several years, increasing efforts have there fore been made to introduce, as a first step, supervised crop protection, leading gradually to integrated pest management (Kranz, 1982). Although the crop protection problems naturally differ in the different devel oping countries in Southeast Asia, the economic situation prevailing in these countries can nevertheless be regarded as an important common determinant: pesticide imports use up scarce foreign currency and thus compete with other imports essential to development. For the individual rice farmer, the problem is basically the same: his cash funds are limited and he must carefully weigh whether to use them for purchas ing pesticides, fertilizer or certified seed. In view of this constraint, it is becom ing necessary to abandon the purely prophylactic, routine calendar spraying and instead, employ critically timed and need-based pesticide applications."

Vegetables are a significant component of agricultural farming systems in Africa and have recently moved into the focus of research organizations, development partners and policy makers. Beyond income generating opportunities for producers, vegetable production for domestic and export markets is an important driver for growth due to employment opportunities in production, processing and trade. Providing the latest socioeconomic research methodologies alongside empirical examples, this volume explores the potential for vegetable production to alleviate poverty, the impact of food production standards on various stakeholders, an assessment of markets and marketing potential for different crops and advanced economic approaches to production.

The markets for organic and fair trade certified commodities are growing rapidly, with environmentally sound and more equitable certification systems likely to offer benefits for both small-scale farmers and society at large. Despite much debate about their contribution to sustainability, there has been little scientific analysis, so it is vital to assess if it is technically and economically feasible to meet growing consumer demands regarding food safety, quality and ethics through smallholder and marginal producers. Overall, there is a need to explore the potential of these certification systems as emerging areas in research and development cooperation. This book includes: - Worldwide case studies (from the supply side in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; and from the demand side in Europe and North America) to put theory into practice. - Analyses of sustainable development and poverty reduction through organic and fair trade markets. - Insights into the conditions where it is beneficial for developing country smallholder producers to adopt fair trade and organic certification systems. - Investigation into whether consumers will pay more for a product that is both organic and fair trade certified. This book is an important read for researchers and students in agricultural and development economics, and it is also a useful resource for policy makers and practitioners involved in organic and fair trade agriculture.

Over the past two decades, significant investment has been made into agriculture-related natural resource management research in developing countries. With investors beginning to request the impact of their investments in this research, a review was needed on the economic, social and environmental effects of these projects. Stemming from an effort to address these concerns, this collection of case studies establishes a methodological foundation for impact assessments of NRMR through a discussion of research conducted by the CGIAR around the world. Both micro- and macroprojects are examined to consider the results of these agricultural and development programs at the farm level as well as on a regional scale.