Farmer management of production risk on degraded lands: the role of wheat variety diversity in the Tigray region, Ethiopia
研究了埃塞俄比亚高地小麦遗传多样性和土地退化对农业生产率及风险的影响，发现品种丰富度能提高产量并降低波动，对农民福利有积极作用。
Abstract This article investigates the effects of wheat genetic diversity and land degradation on risk and agricultural productivity in less favored production environments of a developing agricultural economy. Drawing production data from a household survey conducted in the highlands of Ethiopia, we estimate a stochastic production function to evaluate the effects of variety richness, land degradation, and their interaction on the mean and the variance of wheat yield. Ethiopia is a center of diversity for durum wheat and farmers manage complex variety mixtures on multiple plots. Econometric evidence shows that variety richness increases farm productivity. Variety richness also reduces yield variability but only for high levels of genetic diversity. Simulations with estimated parameters illustrate how planting more diverse durum wheat varieties on multiple plots contribute to improving farmer's welfare.