Thesis (Ph. D. - Economics)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 80.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Prepared under contract no. EX-76-A-01-2295-037.

No description available.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Anthropological fieldwork conducted in two North Indian villages focused on cultural differences attributable to recent irrigation development. The study of introduced irrigation systems is distinguished from studies of traditional irrigation systems. The varieties of impacts due to irrigation development are reviewed from the literature and hypotheses formulated relating to economic change (cropping patterns, labor demand, profitability), socio-economic behavior (occupations, patron-client relations, household composition), and cultural values (modernization and traditionalization). The methodology of controlled comparison was adopted as a means of isolating the effects of canal irrigation (Bhakra canal) in the Bagar region of Northwest India. A mostly unirrigated village served as a control to measure the effects of irrigation in a "wet" village. Data on agricultural practices, labor use, occupations, household composition, and material culture were collected from a systematic sample of 40 households in each village. The primary irrigation effects have been economic: higher yields, new crops (wheat and cotton), and much higher profits. Labor demand is much higher in the irrigated village, though cropping intensity is actually lower. Residents of the drier village have diversified into non-farm work both within and outside the village. A few families have migrated out, in contrast to the wet village which has experienced a dramatic rise in population, largely from immigrants. Sociocultural measures, including jajmani relations, household composition, and religious shrines show relatively few contrasts between the villages. Both villages have undergone significant changes in the past generation, in one case due primarily to agricultural intensification, and in the other case due to economic diversification. The villages are more remarkable for their present similarities than their differences.

Increasing irrigation water cost due to higher pump energy price and falling groundwater tables is a critical problem of the agricultural sector in Sulphur Springs Valley of Southeastern Arizona which is characterized as an arid region with low annual precipitation and high temperatures. Water saving irrigation techniques, side roll and center pivot sprinkler systems, are analyzed as alternatives of gravity irrigation. Natural gas, electricity, and diesel fuel are commonly available energy sources for pumping groundwater in the area. Four representative farm size groups, five crops, and five irrigation techniques are adopted for representative farm mixed integer programming models. The problem is treated as a complete switch from one energy source to another and twelve separate sets of computer data are developed for four farm sizes and three energy sources. Sensitivity analyses based on cotton lint price and natural gas cost variations are analyzed. The results are aggregated to determine the regional level impacts of energy source changes, cotton lint price declines, and natural gas price increases. The major conclusion of these analyses is that upland cotton is a dominant crop with wheat using residual land and water. July water and available land restrict the crop production. Increasing energy costs reduce the total annual water consumption through adopting the water saving sprinkler systems and/or crops. Under the initial conditions (cotton lint price is at $58.11/cwt and natural gas price is at $.1167 per therm) the farmers generate gross returns that cover their annual total cost. Decreasing price of cotton decreases the return above total cost and annual water consumption. Wheat production changes as a complement of upland cotton, but corn production varies as substitute because of irrigation water and land constraints and relative crop profitability.

Appraisals of investment in pest control are complicated by the problems of predicting events in biological systems. In this study, an attempt is made to estimate the two necessary components of pest control investment appraisal, namely: the production function (decreases in crop losses with unit increases in pest control investment), and the pest damage function (relating crop damage to changing infestation variables), for attacks of the lepidopterous larvae of Spodoptera I1ttoralis (Boisd.), on Cypriot lucerne pastures. It is suggested that at present the best technique available to farmers for controlling S. littoralis infestations is the single application of one of three insecticides of proven efficacy. Consequently, the cost of successful pest control is represented by one value for a wide range of larval densities. The pest damage function is described as a dynamic relationship between a number of changing environmental and crop variab1es and is presented in the form of a computer simulation. This incorporates some of the existing empirical data on pest consumption and pest and crop interaction as well as much of the additional data collected by the author. The damage and production functions are compared, and estimates are made of the minimum larval density at various timings in the crop growth cycle, which is sufficient to cause losses equal to the treatment costs (the economic threshold of treatment). These estimates are offered as a basis for decision making on the economic control of S. littoralis in Cypriot lucerne fields.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.