In the tropics farmers have to work from a limited resource base which does not lend itself to highly productive crop and animal yields. The principles of farm management economics and the application of farm management analysis and planning can help small farmers in the tropics to produce 'a bit more' from their lots.

Clear student text on theory and practice of economic decision making in tropical agriculture.

Some general charscteristics of farming in a tropical environment; Shifting cultivation systems; Fallow systems; Ley systems; Systems with permanent upland cultivation; Systems with arable irrigation farming; Systems with perennial crops; Grazing systems; General tendences in the development of tropical farm systems.

Based on the author's widely used earlier text African Farm Management, this account updates the economic analysis of tropical agriculture and broadens its perspective to include examples from all parts of the developing world. Writing in a clear, concise style, Professor Upton explains the essential theories of farm economics without numerous mathematical formulae. The text is completely revised, with increased emphasis on farm household economics, in which farms are seen as consumers as well as producers. Also included is a new chapter on the economics of irrigated agriculture. This book provides an invaluable economic framework for better understanding the operation and management of farming systems in the tropics, and will be welcomed by students of tropical agriculture worldwide. From reviews of African Farm Management: "The author produces an authoritative text interlaced with many relevant and illustrative references." -- Experimental Agriculture

Types of economic deforestation models. Household and firm-level models. Regional-level models. National and macro-level models. Priority areas for future research.

This book has been developed from a workshop on Technological change in agriculture and tropical deforestation organised by the Center for International Forestry Research and held in Costa Rica in March, 1999. It explores how intensification of agriculture affects tropical deforestation using case studies from different geographical regions, using different agricultural products and technologies and in differing demographic situations and market conditions. Guidance is also given on future agricultural research and extension efforts.

First published in 1972, Farm Management in Peasant Agriculture remains the only detailed discussion of on-site research techniques for economists working on the development of small-holder agriculture in Africa. Part 1 describes the conditions of the agricultural sector within which the African peasant farmer must operate, and then outlines an approach to farm management tailored to those conditions. Part 2 sets out the research planning and investigation tasks implied by the approach. Survey techniques, as well as the value of a pre-survey for understanding general attributes of a farm system, are reviewed, and alternative data-collection methods are elaborated. Part 3 shows how research data can be used in planning content for extension programs. Dr. Collinson concludes with the details of a planning method that interpolates changes in farm practice into a model of the existing farm system and that projects a sequence of changes, representing a sequence of extension content, on the basis of farmer acceptability.