• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.164-185
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• 1987

The Korean economy has been developed rapidly in the course of implementing the five year economic development plans since 1962. Accordingly the industrial and employment structure have been changed from the traditional agriculture to modem industrial economy. In the course of implementing export oriented industrialization policies, rural farm economy has been encountered labour shortage owing to rural farm population drain to urban areas, rural wage hike and pressure on farm operation costs, and possibility of farm productivity decrease. To cope with the above problems the Korean government has supplied farm machinery such as power tillers, tractors, transplanters, binders, combines, dryers and etc. by means of the favorable credit support and subsidies. The main objectives of this study are to identify the investment effects of farm mechanization such as B/C and Internal Rate of Return by machinery and operation patterns, changes of labour requirement per 10a for rice culture since 1965, partial farm budget of rice with and without mechanization, and estimation labour input with full mechanization. To achieve the objectives Saemaeul farm mechanization groups, common ownership and operation, and farms with private ownership and operation were surveyed mainly in Nonsan granary area, Chungnam province. The results of this study are as follows 1. The national average of labor input per 10a of paddy has decreased from 150.1Hr in 1965 to 87.2Hr in 1985 which showes 42% decrease of labour inputs. On the other hand the hours of labour input in Nonsan area have also decreased from 150.1Hr to 92.8Hr, 38% of that in 1965, during the same periods. 2. The possible labor saving hours per 10a of Paddy was estimated at 60 hours by substituting machine power for labor forces in the works of plowing, puddling, transplanting, harvesting and threshing, transporting and drying The labor savings were derived from 92.8 hours in 1986 deducting 30 hours of labor input with full mechanization in Nonsan area. 3. Social benefits of farm mechanization were estimated at 124,734won/10a including increment of rice (10%): 34,064won,labour saving: 65,800won,savings of conventional farm implements: 18,000 won and savings of animal power: 6,870won. 4. Rental charges by works prevailing in the area were 12,000won for land preparation, 15,000won for transplanting with seedlings, 19,500won for combine works and 6,000won for drying paddy. 5. Farm income per 10a of paddy with and without mechanization were amounted to 247,278won and 224,768won respectively. 6. Social rate of return of the machinery were estimated at more than 50% in all operation patterns. On the other hand internal rate of return of the machinery except tractors were also more than 50% but IRR of tractors by operation patterns were equivalent to 0 to 9%. From the view point of farmers financial status, private owner-operation of tractors is considered uneconomical. Tractor operation by Saemaeul mechanization groups would be economical considering the government subsidy, 40% of tractor price. 7. Farmers recommendations for the government that gained through field operation of farm machinery are to train maintenance technology for rural youth, to standardize the necessary parts of machinery, to implement price tag system, to intercede spare parts and provide marketing information to farmers by rural institutions as RDA,NACF,GUN office and FLIA.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 1993

This study was conducted to investigate the incidence and related factors of farming tool-machinery injuries developed in the Chonnam rural area in 1992. A total of 9,068 persons (4,571men and 4,497women)were selected in a stratified cluster sampling manner, and interviewed individually to complete a structured questionnaire covering farmer characteristics, duration of farm working, annual income, kind of farming tools and machinery, type of injuries and medical care. The results were as follows : 1. The incidence rate of farming tool-machinery injuries was 63 per 1,000 persons over all, 73 in males and 54 in females. The age standardized incidence rate was 69 per 1,000 persons over all, 83 in males and 65 in females. 2. The associated factors with farming tool-machinery injuries in univariate analysis were sex, age, duration of farming and monthly income. The occurrence of injuries was higher in men than in woman, and the higher in high-income group than in the low-income group. 3. More men than woman were involved in trunk injuries and treated at the large scale medical care units such as hospitals, and they paid much higher medical fees. 4. The complaint rates for each item of farmers' syndrome in the injured group were higher than those of the non injured group in 'shoulder stiffness', 'sleeplessness', 'dizziness', and 'gastric fullness'. 5. When multiple logistic regression was applied to farming tool-machinery injuries, the significant variables were farmer's syndrome, age, and duration of farming in both males and females.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.85-97
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• 2019

Background: Despite the increasing role of dry forests in climate change adaptation and mitigation, these versatile resources has got less attention in the national and regional planning, their potential to enhance the local and national economy has been overlooked, and their contribution to sustainable environmental management has not been recognized. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the socioeconomic contribution of dry forests and forest products to climate change adaptation in the Liben Woreda, Southern Oromia region of Ethiopia. Methods: For this study, an integrated qualitative and quantitative approach was used. A total of 74 households from villages in the Bulbul, Boba, and Melka-Guba kebeles were randomly selected for the household survey. Results: Results showed that 75% of the respondents in the area indicated that climate change has become their major sources of vulnerability, where drought has been manifested in the form of crops failure and massive death of livestock particularly cattle species. The main income strategies of the study households include livestock, crop, forests such as gum and resins, firewood and charcoal and non-farm activities such as in the form of petty trade, wage and aid. The average total household income was ETB 11,209.7. Out of this, dry forest income constituted 15% of the total income. In addition to using dry forests as rangeland for livestock, the communities collect wood for construction, fodder, traditional medicine, and forest food both for subsistence and for sale. On the other hand, dry forest products could be considered as less vulnerable, rather resilient livelihood strategies to climate- and environment-related risks compared to livestock and crop production such as in the face of drought periods. More than 48.6% of the households argued that the income generated from dry forests increased substantially due to increment in the level of engagement of family members in forest based income activities. On the other hand, 35.8% of the households responded that livestock production, particularly camels and goats, have been making the livelihood strategies of the respondents more resilient indicating the shift made from grazers browsers to livestock. In general trends show that, the trends of livelihood dependency on dry forest were highly increasing indicating the importance of dry forest income in responsse to frequent droughts. Conclusions: Dry forest income has been becoming crucial livelihood staretgy in response to frequent droughts in the study area and hence, it is important to improve the management of dry forests for livelihood enhancement, while also securing their long-term ecological functions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1044-1052
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• 2015

The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the effect of large herd size (and land areas) on walking distances and milking interval (MI), and their impact on milk yield and economic penalties when 50% of the total diets were provided from home grown feed either as pasture or grazeable complementary forage rotation (CFR) in an automatic milking system (AMS). Twelve scenarios consisting of 3 AMS herds (400, 600, 800 cows), 2 levels of pasture utilisation (current AMS utilisation of 15.0 t dry matter [DM]/ha, termed as 'moderate'; optimum pasture utilisation of 19.7 t DM/ha, termed as 'high') and 2 rates of incorporation of grazeable complementary forage system (CFS: 0, 30%; CFS = 65% farm is CFR and 35% of farm is pasture) were investigated. Walking distances, energy loss due to walking, MI, reduction in milk yield and income loss were calculated for each treatment based on information available in the literature. With moderate pasture utilisation and 0% CFR, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in an increase in total walking distances between the parlour and the paddock from 3.5 to 6.3 km. Consequently, MI increased from 15.2 to 16.4 h with increased herd size from 400 to 800 cows. High pasture utilisation (allowing for an increased stocking density) reduced the total walking distances up to 1 km, thus reduced the MI by up to 0.5 h compared to the moderate pasture, 800 cow herd combination. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm reduced the total walking distances by up to 1.7 km and MI by up to 0.8 h compared to the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd combination. For moderate pasture utilisation, increasing the herd size from 400 to 800 cows resulted in more dramatic milk yield penalty as yield increasing from c.f. 2.6 and 5.1 kg/cow/d respectively, which incurred a loss of up to $AU 1.9/cow/d. Milk yield losses of 0.61 kg and 0.25 kg for every km increase in total walking distance (voluntary return trip from parlour to paddock) and every one hour increase in MI, respectively. The high pasture utilisation combined with 30% of the farm in CFR in the farm increased milk yield by up to 1.5 kg/cow/d, thereby reducing loss by up to $0.5/cow/d (c.f. the moderate pasture and 800 cow herd scenario). Thus, it was concluded that the successful integration of grazeable CFS with pasture has the potential to improve financial performance compared to the pasture only, large herd, AMS.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.102-113
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• 2003

Various government-based consulting techniques are being adapted to increase competitive power and to achieve management innovation of Korean farms. These business consulting services are offered by free or paid consulting. This study focuses on what socio-economic characteristics are affecting farmers' intension of adapting consulting services, based on 169 surveyed data from Chunchungnam-do. Logit Model is used to identify the relationship between the probability of consulting intent and factors representing farm characteristics. The model was applied on each of free and paid consulting. According to the results, degree of consulting recognition, age, education, raised crop are significant factors affecting farmers' intension of adapting consulting service in the case of free consulting at 10% of significance level. In the case of paid consulting, level of farming, age, income, insufficiency of farming, and education were identified as significant factors. In terms of elasticity of each variable, most variables for free consulting service are inelastic to consulting intent, whereas age, level of farming, and education are elastic for paid consulting service. Overall results implies that more public relations are required to activate free consulting services for the farms with moderate level of farming. In the case of paid consulting, it is effective to adapt consulting services for younger farms with higher level of farming and education.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.314-318
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• 1984

China has made rapid strides in agricultural production during the past few years. Although the absence of any serious climatic disturbances is a contributing factor, implementation of the responsibility system to reward peasant families for their initiatives has been by far the most significant. This has resulted in increased specialization, a greater requirement for technical adivsory services, and a much higher demand for farm equipment and production inputs. The revamped system has brought with it some problems such as differences in income between the most progressive producers and their less successful neighbours and urban workers, a shortage of storage, transport and processing facilities, and a strain on the national treasury to continue to subsidize farm prices. Demand for fertilizers has been increasing at a fast rate, especially for nitrogen. This has led to a serious imbalance in nutrient use which must be corrected if the current momentum in improving crop yields is to be maintained. Following a decade of total stagnation during the Cultural Revolution, agricultural research and education facilities are being strengthened. Younger scientists, many with overseas training, are being placed in key positions. China is still a developing country, and much remains to be done; however, progress in the last decade, and especially in the past five years, has been remarkable.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.707-716
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the management performance and production efficiency of strawberry farmers who introduced smart farming, one of the primary symbols of the fourth industrial revolution in the agricultural sector. Methods: We conducted an empirical survey of strawberry farms using smart farming and analyzed production efficiency using DEA method. Results: First, difficulties for strawberry farmers introducing smart farming included time and money spent on parts replacement and additional costs due to compatibility problems with existing facilities after the adoption. Second, strawberry farmers using smart farming increased their total income by producing higher yield and improving quality thanks to the competent growth management. Third, the analysis of production efficiencies before and after smart farming found improvement in technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency. But, the gaps in technical and scale efficiencies among the farms widened. Conclusion: Based on the results above, following policy suggestions are offered. First, an environment control technology suitable for strawberry farming needs to be developed. Second, the smart farming technology needs to be standardized by the government. Third, new smart farm models need to be developed to accommodate to the facilities and environment in Korea through collecting big data including high-quality data on the environment, growth, and yield. Fourth, continuing education needs to be provided to narrow the gap in smart farming technology among strawberry farmers.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.290-298
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• 2014

Purpose: To ascertain the increase of the farm income that predominantly relies on human resources by mechanizing Welsh onion harvesting, a tractor-mounted Welsh onion harvester was developed in this study. Method: An experiment for evaluating harvesting performance was performed for the developed Welsh onion harvester in an actual Welsh onion farm. The harvest performance was evaluated at the tractor running speeds of 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s and 15.8 cm/s, by comparing the operating efficiency, harvest rate, and damage rate of the Welsh onion harvester. Results: The performance of the harvester was rated as very good, with a 100% harvest rate, regardless of tractor running speed. Furthermore, it is shown that work efficiency of the harvester is expected to increase as the running speed increases. Nonetheless, the damage rate of the harvested Welsh onions at running speeds 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s, and 15.8 cm/s, increased correspondingly and proportionally to speeds from 4.55% to 6.53% and to 11.29%. The residual amount of soil on the harvested Welsh onions was about 0.24% of their weight showing excellent soil-removal performance of the harvester. Conclusion: The developed Welsh onion harvester is believed to improve the labor productivity and cultivation environment of Welsh onion farmhouses by the mechanization of the harvesting process that is currently associated with the largest amount of labor hours.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.285-292
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• 2015

Recently, the demand of rural tourism has been increased to promote farm household income and rural economy. Korean government has supported to promote rural tourism. One of the most difficult tasks in estimating the economic impact of the tourism industry is how the industry should be defined in terms of an economic sector, since tourism is not defined in national Input-Output (I-O) tables or in the Standard Industrial Classification code. Moreover, there is no specified Standard Industrial Classification for rural tourism. The purpose of the study aims to examine specified Standard Industrial Classification of rural tourism using the I-O model analysis to estimate the economic impacts of rural tourism. Results showed that there were two components considered as inputs. One is the inputs that final demand can move to input of rural tourism in I-O tables. The other is one that the final demand was provided by farm household as intermediate inputs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.1098-1105
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• 2001

There is little information on smallholder dairy farming in Zimbabwe. With such inadequate knowledge, no meaningful decisions on how to improve these systems can be made. A study was, therefore, carried out in Nharira communal area and Lancashire small-scale commercial area to provide information on the viability of dairy farms. This paper is based on data obtained through participatory monitoring of 13 smallholder dairy farms in 1996 and 1997. All the four farms in Lancashire were found to be viable in both years. In Nharira, two out of the nine farms in 1996 and three farms in 1997 failed to break even. There were considerable inter-farm differences in the contribution of milk sales towards total income from dairy farming, ranging from 41% to 99% in Nharira and 71% to 81% in Lancashire in 1996. Corresponding estimates in 1997 were 51-95% and 72-78%, respectively. Expenses on cattle feeds contributed 36-84% in 1996 and 37-80% in 1997 towards total variable costs in Nharira. In Lancashire, the respective estimates were 15-33% and 22-36%. Seven out of the nine studied farms in Nharira and three out of four in Lancashire realized higher gross margin (GM) in 1997 than in 1996. All these farming households had conserved considerable amounts of farm-grown feeds. It was concluded that feed costs, number of cows and sizes of land holdings were the main factors determining viability of smallholder dairy farming. The major challenge to smallholder dairy farming in Nharira, in particular, was to develop low-cost feeding strategies.