Southeast Asia’s agricultural landscape is known for rice production in lowland areas, diverse upland areas, and the cultivation of ‘boom crops’ in the borderlands. Despite general similarities across different Southeast Asian countries, each has its own distinct history and patterns of land use, access, and ownership. However, little is documented, particularly for Myanmar, the second largest country in Southeast Asia. We therefore focus on agricultural land ownership and use patterns in Myanmar and employ nationally representative household survey data to document patterns at the national level and by agro-ecological zone. We explore inequality in landholdings, land tenure arrangements and documents, cropping patterns, and irrigation access.

This report presents results from by far the most comprehensive survey of maize cultivators ever conducted in Myanmar. This research was designed to test characterizations of hybrid maize farming from the literature on Myanmar empirically, and identify implications for development policy and programming. Our survey represented the population of all maize growing village tracts in the nine major maize growing townships of southern Shan where the security situation at the time of the survey permitted access. A total 884 maize growing and 678 non-maize growing rural households were interviewed. We summarize key survey results and their implications below. Numbers of maize growers in southern Shan more than tripled between 2007 and 2017. Households with larger landholdings are more likely to farm maize. Many farmers grew local maize varieties before growing hybrids. Farming maize does not reduce crop diversity. Most food eaten by rural households in southern Shan is purchased. There is little difference in the value or composition of foods eaten by maize and non-maize farming households, but maize growers obtain a larger share of their food from own production than non-maize growing farm households. Maize is by far the most important crop grown the areas surveyed in terms of contribution to cash incomes. Hybrid maize seed has been adopted widely in southern Shan. Adoption of hybrid maize has been accompanied by big increases in fertilizer use. Fertilizer application and maize yields have climbed over the past decade. Maize yields vary little with farm size, but small farms apply inputs to maize more intensively than large farms. Average maize yields are lower than in other countries in the region. Women contribute 55% of all labor inputs for maize farming. Chemical inputs make up the largest share of production costs. Interest on loans amounts to just 4% of total maize production costs for households who avail credit for maize cultivation. Average gross margins for maize during 2017 were modest, but only 5% of maize growers made losses. Farms made a profit or broke even on >80% of maize harvests within the past 10 years. Returns to family labor exceed the average agricultural wage. The maize price received by farmers corresponds closely to timing of sale. Larger farms earn higher gross margins per acre on average. Most farms do not use credit to obtain maize seed and fertilizer. Most trader credit is advanced to large farms. Output-tied loans are less common than believed and taken mainly by larger farms. Taking credit does not affect the sales price obtained by maize growers.

This paper measures the economic impact of climate on crops in Kenya. The analysis is based on cross-sectional climate, hydrological, soil, and household level data for a sample of 816 households, and uses a seasonal Ricardian model. Estimated marginal impacts of climate variables suggest that global warming is harmful for agricultural productivity and that changes in temperature are much more important than changes in precipitation. This result is confirmed by the predicted impact of various climate change scenarios on agriculture. The results further confirm that the temperature component of global warming is much more important than precipitation. The authors analyze farmers' perceptions of climate variations and their adaptation to these, and also constraints on adaptation mechanisms. The results suggest that farmers in Kenya are aware of short-term climate change, that most of them have noticed an increase in temperatures, and that some have taken adaptive measures.

Introduction; Rice production under the British Government; Rice production under the Independent Burmese Government; Rice production under the Socialist Repulic Government; Implications for the future; Conclusions.

Organization pattern on the training and visit; System of agricultural extension; Reforming extension: basic guidelines; The training and visit system: main features; Personnel and physical requirements; Impact of effective extension.

The guidelines are the first comprehensive, global instrument on tenure and its administration to be prepared through intergovernmental negotiations.The guidelines set out principles and internationally accepted standards of responsible practices for the use and control of land, fisheries and forests. They provide guidance for improving the policy, legal and organizational frameworks that regulate tenure rights; for enhancing the transparency and administration of tenure systems; and for strengthening the capacities and operations of public bodies, private sector enterprises, civil society organizations and people concerned with tenure and its governance.The guidelines place the governance of tenure within the context of national food security, and are intended to contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, poverty eradication, environmental protection and sustainable social and economic development.