Water transfer from agriculture to urban domestic users: a case study of the Tone River Basin, Japan

Agricultural water reorganization measures (AWRM) is an approach that has been adopted in Japan for more than 30 years to capture excess water from agriculture for other uses by relying on the modernization of existing irrigation infrastructures. This paper reviews the history and processes of four such permanent water transfers by AWRM in the Tone River Basin, specifically those conducted in the Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The benefit of AWRM for the agricultural sector is the lowering of rehabilitation costs by sharing part of it with the city sector. AWRM does not require saving water at the on-farm level. Instead, the labor requirement of farmers is reduced by the rehabilitation and installation of pipelines. The benefit to the city is the lower cost, when compared with costs for the development of new water resources, and the relatively short duration of the project, which are important factors in an environment of the rapid increase in domestic water demand.

Agriculture–urban water transfers: a case study of Hyderabad, South-India

Hyderabad is one of the fastest growing cities in India. To meet its rapidly expanding water needs, it constructed and began withdrawals from the Singur reservoir, located on a tributary of the Godavari River, in 1991. Administrative rules define allocation of water from the reservoir but prioritize Hyderabad urban needs over much longer established agricultural uses. Furthermore, the agricultural sector receives less water than even these rules allow, and urban withdrawals have changed the quantity and the timing of the water, which is available to agriculture. An increase in groundwater use by farmers may have been one response to these changes, with possible implications for surface and groundwater users further downstream. While proposals have been put forth to compensate the agricultural sector in general and the farmers directly affected by reallocation, for example by improving access to wastewater for irrigation downstream from Hyderabad or by conveying wastewater for irrigation purposes downstream Singur reservoir, compensation has not been implemented to date. The Hyderabad case study clearly highlights the advantages for devising and implementing arrangements to regulate the transfer of water from agriculture to cities, allowing a move from sectoral competition for water to efficient management of a scarce resource.

Assessment of irrigation efficiencies and water productivity in paddy fields in the lower Mekong River Basin

Improving irrigation performance is a crucial issue for agriculture and irrigation development in the Lower Mekong River Basin to secure food production for people’s livelihoods. Irrigation efficiency is the most important indicator to determine the performance of an irrigation scheme. This study looks at water management practices and irrigation efficiency in three pilot sites in the Lower Mekong River Basin: the Numhoum scheme in Laos, the Huay Luang scheme in Thailand, and the Komping Pouy scheme in Cambodia. Irrigation efficiency and water productivity were analyzed using a water balance approach at the irrigation scheme level and results in the pilot areas show efficiencies that are definitely higher using this approach than by using the classical concept. Lower water productivity was observed at pilot schemes in areas of single cropping and higher productivity in areas where multiple agricultural activities were practiced. Strict and active water management is required to control and save water to meet agricultural demand and have sufficient water to expand cultivation areas while avoiding shortages. Promoting multiple uses of water for various agricultural activities in command area will increase water productivity.

Accounting for geographic heterogeneity of multifunctional rice policy in Taiwan

Through empirical simulations of the Taiwanese rice market, we estimate the effects of agricultural policies designed to ensure optimal levels of two multifunctional outputs, groundwater recharge, and methane emissions. Optimal policy instruments differ by region to reflect land quality and the conditions of the aquifers in major rice production regions. The effects on rice production, resource allocation, and returns to farm assets differ as well.

Measuring the implicit value of paddy irrigation water: application of RPML model to the contingent choice experiment data in Japan

For efficient use of water as a limited resource, evaluation on the water value is critical, but there is little information in Asian paddy irrigation. This paper proposes the method for measuring implicit price of paddy irrigation water by using the choice experiment (CE) data with contingent scenarios. Empirical results demonstrated that (a) the estimated implicit price of water showed reasonable value as compared to the production indexes, (b) the random parameter multinomial logit model was more suitable than the conventional multinomial logit model to treat the CE data, and (c) the implicit price is much lower than the full cost price, indicating that full cost pricing probably damages and ruins rice production too seriously in Japan. As seen above, the method proposed here is useful for decision making on water pricing policies and easy to apply to different irrigation systems under limited data of water value.

Multifunctionality and non-trade concerns: implications for future agricultural policy in Asia

Agriculture's multifunctional role as provider of non-commodity outputs has received increased attention in the debate on the future of agricultural policy. To identify appropriate economic policies, a distinction must be made between concerns involving market failure and a consequent misallocation of resources, and those relating to distributional issues. We argue that it is essential to restrict the concept of multifunctionality to non-commodity outputs involving technical externalities or public goods and for which market failure and the misallocation of resources are important (e.g., amenity values and agricultural pollution). Other non-trade concerns, such as rural incomes and employment and food security, involve distributional issues, but no resource misallocation. This distinction makes it possible to identify different types of domestic policy measures to address them effectively and efficiently. Through reference to an empirical application to Taiwanese paddy rice policy, we illustrate that the most effective way to reconcile non-trade concerns is through policy measures that correct for market failure by valuing non-commodity outputs appropriately and a separate set of measures that address distributional issues.

An Ethical Assessment of Cisgenesis in Breeding Late Blight Resistant Potato

Because of objections and worries related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the approval of GMO crops is a long and expensive process. Recently some researchers argued that a specific form of genetic modification, cisgenesis, would be safer and ethically more acceptable and therefore require a less stringent assessment. In this paper cisgenesis, as defined in recent literature, is ethically evaluated. After some general remarks on ethics in science and technology, two different basic attitudes towards reality are sketched as an evaluative framework for interventions in nature. Combined with general characteristics of biotechnology in agriculture and a view of the role of genetic information in organisms, that framework helps to formulate an ethical distinction between and evaluation of cisgenesis and transgenesis. It is argued that there is a significant ethical difference between transgenesis and cisgenesis, but that nevertheless any form of genetic modification should be integrated in a broader normative understanding of agriculture in order to work towards a more sustainable agriculture.

Social capital accumulation through public policy systems implementing paddy irrigation and rural development projects

In Japan, a developed country in Asia, the Land Improvement Act systems have worked as a measure of social capital accumulation as well as an adjective law in implementing irrigation projects since 1949. This paper illustrates the status and problems in applying the concept of social capital to agricultural and rural development policy systems in developing countries, EU and Japan. The results obtained are summarized as follows: (1) it is desirable that governments formulate public policies that are appropriate for correcting inefficiencies in resource distribution for accumulating social capital, so that the governments play a significant role in developing and supporting social capital; (2) the effect of policies in the areas, where government-supported land improvement projects have been implemented, has been improved, subsequent to which the efficient use of the national budget allocated for the projects has been improved, while the projects significantly contribute to the national land conservation and social stability by continuously promoting minimum social capital accumulation nationwide. In addition, Japan and countries in the Asian monsoon region, which hold the five elements in common that constitute the characteristics of rice field irrigation in humid climates, should take over the advantages of the land improvement project system while learning from the success achieved by the LEADER+ programme in Europe, where society precedes Asian countries concerning the problems of decline in the birth rate, and expansion of an aging society.

The multi-functionality of paddy farming in Korea

The multi-functionality of paddy field and irrigation water has become a hot issue recently in Asian monsoon regions. Asian people know why they have to conserve the paddy farm where the sustainable functions have been historically inherited and maintain the rural community where the unique cultures have been traditionally created. But, the real value of multi-functionality has not been clearly highlighted as much worthy as it has. We should evaluate the characteristics of multi-functionality of paddy farming correctly and transmit them to the people of Western countries under quite different conditions of upland fields. In Korea, several studies on the multi-functionality of paddy farming have been performed with positive and negative viewpoints. This paper shows the results and the discussion of the researches to get global recognition on the multi-functionality of paddy farming.

Study on structure and function of an earthen bund irrigation system in Northeast Thailand

In Northeast Thailand, which overlaps with an erosional plain that is not suitable for irrigation because of poor water resources and terrains that prevent efficient water distribution, farmers have long supplied water to surrounding paddy fields by blocking rivers completely with earthen bunds. Although such a traditional irrigation system fits well with the characteristics of Northeast Thailand, those who are concerned with modern irrigation development projects in Northeast Thailand seem to have been paying little attention to it. The present study was performed to facilitate development of more appropriate irrigation systems in Northeast Thailand by providing information regarding traditional irrigation methods. We investigated the traditional irrigation methods with earthen bunds at three study sites, and our results indicated that styles of irrigation vary with riverbed slope. The traditional irrigation system that is used in most of Northeast Thailand is different from ordinal weir irrigation, in that paddy fields are not irrigated by gravity flow but by backwater of earthen bunds. Our results suggest that the development of more successful irrigation systems would be possible through improvement of the design ideas of traditional irrigation methods.

Effects of topography on the construction and efficiency of earthen weirs for rice irrigation in Northeast Thailand

Farmers in some parts of the Indochina Peninsula have been using earthen weirs to supply water to their rice fields, and the use of such weirs is especially prevalent in Northeast Thailand. Although now a typical rain-fed rice cultivation area, a significant percentage of rice fields in Northeast Thailand used earthen weirs before the extensive expansion of rain-fed rice fields that occurred in the early 20th century. In this study, we clarified some of the historical changes associated with the construction and use of earthen weirs and their effects on rice production. In particular, we investigated some of the topographic effects, such as terrain, catchment size, and slope grade, on water delivery. In addition, water delivery methods, construction periods, and the discontinued use of earthen weirs were examined with respect to regional influences and topography. Earthen weirs were found to be most suitable in areas that exhibited complementarity between the riverbed slope and the water catchment. The type of earthen weir was dependent on the magnitude of the riverbed slope. Earthen weirs have been constructed continuously on steeper upstream slopes of rivers for more than a century, while weir construction on lower riverbeds with larger catchments appears to be more recent.

Protocols for estimating magnitudes and values of paddy rice multiple functions

This paper presents protocols for estimating the magnitudes and monetary values of two non-market outputs from paddy rice production. The protocols were developed during a workshop held in Taiwan in 2004 to set guidelines or protocols for measuring the multi-functional attributes of positive and negative externalities of paddy rice. The externalities attributed to paddy rice include groundwater recharge, subsidence reduction, flood damage amelioration, change in water quality, change in air quality, and preservation of scenic value. Methodologies were set forth for measuring and valuing each of these externalities. Two that reflect differences in complexity – groundwater recharge and change in air quality – are discussed here. The protocols consider regional variation, the need for evaluation of net effects, and the avoidance of double counting. The conclusions presented are those from the workshop as a whole.

A benefit incidence analysis on the far-reaching effects of paddy-field consolidation projects

A paddy-field consolidation (PC) project was carried out with large subsidies as a public investment by prefectural governments in order to improve agricultural productivity in Japan. The purpose of this study is to analyze the quantitative benefits and costs of the PC projects. A benefit incidence (BI) analysis was used in view of the far-reaching effects on farmers to consumers. The results were as follows. First, with the recent decline in rice price, certain farmer benefits primarily derived from the projects have been transferred to consumers through rice price. The transfer ratio was more than half of the total improvement effect of rice productivity which occurred on the farmers’ side, and all economic sectors including farmers and consumers received net benefit even though all sectors paid construction costs or taxes. Therefore, maintaining flexibility in rice price plays an important role to secure net benefits and obtain an agreement of all people involved in the project. Second, some benefits with regard to effects on the rural environment that was not expected at the time of planning were revealed on many project sites. Evaluating these intangible effects will be more important for the tax payers in order to evaluate how the environment friendly planning of the project achieved benefits.

Environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields in Taiwan: an application of contingent valuation method

This paper aims to evaluate the social value of the environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields in Taiwan; through individual consumers’ direct expressions of their perceived benefit and to provide the empirical data thus collected for the reference of the decision makers in the government. This study use contingent valuation method (CVM) to evaluates the value of environmental multifunctionality of paddy fields from the purposefully selected pool of samples in Taiwan. The result shows if judged by the threat that free trade poses to the retention of arable land, most respondents give a value of 114 NT/household/month to 115 NT/household/month for 1% reduction of arable land to be restored to the existing level; and168 NT/household/month to 181 NT/household/month for a reduction rate of 4%. There are 7,394,758 households in Taiwan. The aggregating result is 10,116,028,944 NT/year to 10,204,766,040 NT/year for 1% reduction of arable land to be restored to the existing level; and 14,907,832,128 NT/year to 16,061,414,376 NT/year for a reduction rate of 4%.

A LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODEL OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE GRASS-DRYING ENTERPRISE

A linear programming model of a high-temperature grass-drying enterprise is described. From information about seasonal crop response, area of crop available and management constraints, the model determines the harvesting schedules which give greatest returns, less costs, from the enterprise over the season. This information can be used to examine the effects of long-term strategic decisions or to evaluate economically data on new crops from field experiments. For example, assuming a fixed cost of λ70,000/year for a high-temperature grass-drying installation and what is considered to be reliable input data for 1972, the returns less costs for optimum harvest schedules from different areas or crop varieties are:

Utilisation d'anticorps spécifiques d'une fraction obtenue par chromatographie d'exclusion pour une amélioration de la caractérisation sérologique deRhizoctonia solani Kühn AG3

La purification d'un extrait mycélien soluble d'une souche deR. solani AG3 par chromatographie d'exclusion permet de recueillir une fraction antigénique. Une lapine est immunisée par voie intradermique. L'immunsérum titre 0,125 par la technique de double-diffusion en agarose. Différentes techniques sérologiques (immunodiffusion, électrotransfert suivi de révélation des fractions antigéniques, coloration immunoenzymatique du mycélium) sont appliquées à des souches deR. solani AG1, AG2, AG3, AG4, AG5, AG6, AG7, AGBI et deCeratobasidium CAG1, CAG2, CAG3, CAG4 et CAG5. Le sérum se révèle spécifique des souches AG3. A soluble mycelial extract ofR. solani AG3 was purified by size exclusion chromatography. Five peaks were present in the elution profile: the first was well defined and of large volume. It was retained to immunise a female rabbit by intradermic injection. The titre of the antiserum determined by double immuno-diffusion in agarose was 0.125. The antiserum was tested on isolates ofR. solani AG1, AG2, AG3, AG4, AG5, AG6, AG7, AGB1 and ofCeratobasidium CAG1, CAG2, CAG3, CAG4 and CAG5 (Table 1) using three different methods:

Influence du type de test et de la population deGlobodera pallida Stone sur l'évaluation de la résistance des variétés de pomme de terre en inscription

Trois méthodes de test de résistance sont comparées — méthodes en pot, en conteneur fermé et en bo?te de Petri — pour 5 génotypes de pommes de terre à résistance partielle vis-à-vis deGlobodera pallida Pa3 à l'égard de 2 populations de Pa3 à virulence différente. Les conclusions sont les suivantes:

Quantitative analyses of individual γ-Oryzanol (Steryl Ferulates) in conventional and organic brown rice (Oryza sativa L.)

γ-Oryzanol (steryl ferulates; SF) has been shown to be a major bioactive compound in rice. To determine the content of individual γ-oryzanols in brown rice by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), purification of individual SF for use as an external standard is required. Four main SF were isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture and identified as cycloartenyl ferulate (1), 24-methylenecycloartanyl ferulate (2), campesteryl ferulate (3), and sitosteryl ferulate (4) based on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic data. The SF contents between conventional and organic brown rice were qualitatively determined by HPLC using SF isolated from a commercial γ-oryzanol mixture as the external standard. The total γ-oryzanol content (mg/100 g) in organic brown rice (65.6 ± 2.7) was slightly higher (P < 0.05) than that found in conventional brown rice (60.2 ± 1.8). The content (mg/100 g) of 1 (21.2 ± 0.9) and 4 (9.8 ± 0.4) in organic brown rice was higher (P < 0.05) than that observed in conventional brown rice (1, 18.2 ± 1.1; 4, 8.5 ± 0.3). However, the content of 2 and 3 in the conventional and organic brown rice samples did not differ significantly. These results indicate that the cultivation methods do significantly alter the γ-oryzanol content for conventional and organic brown rice.     

Farm level practices and water productivity in Zhanghe Irrigation System

China, the biggest rice-producing country in the world, has put considerable effort into finding ways to conserve water in rice cultivation. One very promising practice, intermittent submerged irrigation (ISI) was reported to be applied on farmers fields over a large area in the Zhanghe irrigation system (ZIS), which serves about 160,000 ha of irrigated land, which is intensively cultivated with rice. To better understand the actual farmer practices, the degree to which farmers adopt ISI, the resulting water productivity, and implications for farm and system water management, a water accounting methodology developed by IWMI was applied at farm and a larger meso scale. Two areas were observed: Tuanlin, where ISI was reported to be widespread (with ISI), and Wenjiaxiang, where farmers were reportedly not adopting ISI (without ISI). The field water level measurements demonstrate that farmers at the with ISI site follow a practice similar to the theoretical ISI techniques by letting ponding levels drop to the soil surface several times during the cropping season. At the without site, farmers keep higher water levels ponded, and do not let water levels drop to the soil surface as often as the with site. A major determinant of practice is ease of access to water. At the with site, farmers have access to a variety of sources such as ponds and drains. At the without site, access to water was primarily from canal water, without the degree of flexibility as areas that had a water source near the field. The process fraction of gross inflow at field scale (rice evapotranspiration divided by irrigation plus rain) ranged between 0.66 and 0.93, remarkably high values showing how effective farmers are in converting water sources to productive evapotranspiration. The on-farm water accounting results show that with ISI, the average values of irrigation water applied over two years 1999–2000 are 22% less than without ISI, and the yields approximately the same. The resulting water productivity values per unit of irrigation water (WP_irrigation) are 20% higher under ISI practices, but per unit of evapotranspiration water productivity results are similar. The meso site study yielded surprising insights into overall water management in the area. In the years 1999 and 2000, at the meso sites, the irrigation duty in Tuanlin (with ISI) was 29% and 21% less than in Wenjiaxiang (without ISI), respectively, resulting in WP_irrigation values of 24% and 26% higher at Tuanlin than Wenjiaxiang. But values of process fraction of gross inflow were considerably reduced at the meso scale ranging between 0.12 and 0.29, with considerable drainage outflow observed. Different land uses, trees, roads, villages, and ponds, begin to play an important role in overall water resource management at this scale. Drainage water from fields plus runoff served as supplies to ponds within the meso area as well as downstream reservoirs. Ponds play a very important role as an additional source of water, and in fact facilitate the uptake of ISI practices. This demonstrates that there are multiple strategies at play influencing water savings and productivity beyond ISI in the management of water within the area.     

Phytotoxicity of Salvia spp. exudates

A study on thirteen Salvia species about the phytotoxicity of their aerial part exudates is reported. The selected species were: Salvia namaensis Schinz (1), Salvia fallax Fernald (2), Salvia disermas L. (3), Salvia chamaedryoides Cav. (4), Salvia confertiflora Pohl. (5), S. x jamensis J.Compton (6), Salvia buchananii Hedge (7), S. wagneriana Polak (8), Salvia scabra Linn.fil. (9), Salvia miniata Fernald (10), Salvia cacaliaefolia Benth.(11), Salvia adenophora Fernald (12), Salvia rutilans Carrière (13). For each species the inhibitory potential against Papaver rhoeas L. and Avena sativa L. was evidenced by dose-response studies and growth experiments performed both in Petri dish and in pot and also evaluated by means of germination indices and growth parameters. New indices useful for describing the phytotoxic response by a reduced number of testing solutions are proposed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the germination data revealed that the exudate concentrations most significant in explaining the data variability were 1 and 2 μg/mL in Petri dish and 10 and 20 μg/mL in pot experiments. Root length and seedling weight were more important with respect to the other growth parameters.