May 13, 2013 by Phil Pardey - 0 comments

Economics of Science and Technology Policy: Course Announcement

L-R: Liebenberg, Beddow, UP Dept. Head Johann Kirsten, and Pardey

The Collaborative Masters of Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) program brings together students from 7 African universities. As part of this program, the University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics is offering a course on the economics of science and technology policy joint with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Tags: Productivity Measures, Spillovers, Production

May 13, 2013 by Phil Pardey - 0 comments

L-R: Liebenberg, Beddow, UP Dept. Head Johann Kirsten, and Pardey

Economics of Science and Technology Policy: Course Announcement

The Collaborative Masters of Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) program brings together students from 7 African universities. As part of this program, the University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics is offering a course on the economics of science and technology policy joint with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Tags: Productivity Measures, Spillovers, Production

Jul 16, 2012 by Susana Crespo - 0 comments

Lablab, Egyptian Bean or Pulse? Reclassifying Crops for SPAM Conformity

Picture it. You're working at HarvestChoice processing incoming crop statistics and you come across some figures for harvested area of dolichos in Kenya.

Tags: Crop Models, Crops, FAOSTAT, International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities (IMPACT), Models, Spatial Allocation, Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM), Production, Farming

May 22, 2012 by Jawoo Koo - 0 comments

FourSquare 4 Farming?

While we were brainstorming “big ideas” at a recent working retreat, we stumbled upon the idea of promoting FourSquare as a tool to monitor smallholder farmers’ crop management practices.

Tags: Agricultural Statistics, Communication, Farming Systems, Social Media, Production, Farming

Apr 17, 2012 by Jeff Horwich - 0 comments

Risk: What It Means to Us, and Why It Matters (Video)

Risk: we all know what that means, right? But why is it such a critical part of our HarvestChoice portfolio, what does it mean when you look through the lens of farming in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Tags: Africa, Agricultural Pests, Agroecology, Climate, Communication, Crop Yields, Pest Management, Rainfall, Risk, Sub-Saharan Africa, United States, Videos, Weather, Weather and Climate, Risk, Pests and Diseases, Production, Farming, Productivity, Special Topics

Feb 21, 2012 by Jeff Horwich - 0 comments

CSIRO and HarvestChoice

CSIRO and HarvestChoice: Our Partnership to Take on Global Hunger

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and HarvestChoice are now working together to apply innovative, “bio-economic” approaches to improve the food security of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Together, our organizations will merge biological, environmental and economic tools to track global food pests and better target strategic investments to improve global food security. 

Tags: Africa, Agroecology, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Communication, Crop Diseases, HarvestChoice, Models, Pest Management, Rusts, Stem Rust, Sub-Saharan Africa, Targeting/Priority Setting, UG99, Videos, Risk, Land Cover , Pests and Diseases, Production, Farming, Special Topics

Feb 11, 2012 by Ulrike Wood-Sichra - 0 comments

Spatial Allocation of Agricultural Production

SPAM2000 (any version) is based on a large set of data which centers as much as possible on the year 2000: land cover / land use (Boston University’s MODIS-derived land cover 2000 and JRC’s GLC2000), crop suitability (Global AEZ Zones 2000 by FAO and IIASA), irrigated areas (FAO and CESR of University of Kassel), population density (CIESIN), and, most importantly, national and sub-national crops statistics for 2000.

Tags: Agricultural Statistics, Agroecology, Crop Models, Crop Production, FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Models, Spatial Allocation, Spatial Analysis, Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM), Land Cover , Production, Farming

Sep 30, 2011 by Stanley Wood - 0 comments

HarvestChoice and ReSAKSS workshop 2011

First ReSAKSS/HarvestChoice Nairobi Workshop A Big Success (Video)

Just wrapped up three days in Nairobi with our colleagues at the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS), pulling together agricultural production and research experts from around East and Central Africa to share our tools and learn how we can make our data products work better for them.

Tags: Communication, Productivity Measures, Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKKS), Targeting/Priority Setting, Videos, Research Policy, Technology Evaluation, Production, Farming, Productivity, Special Topics

Mar 21, 2011 by Jeff Horwich - 0 comments

Screen-capture from NHK World

Tsunami-wrecked Farmland: Insights from Droppr

We're not normally focused on this part of the world, but something like the Japanese tsunami tends to divert your attention.

Tags: Agroecology, Asia, DROPPR, Japan, Mapping, Natural Disasters, Rice Production, Tsunamis, Weather and Climate, Risk, Soil and Water Stresses, Production, Farming

Feb 21, 2011 by Lieven Claessens - 0 comments

Sweet potato harvest in Uganda

So You Think You Know Sweet Potato?

Despite a common (trust us, it's not just you) misconception, sweet potato (Ipomoea batas L. Lam) is not at all related to potato (Solanum tuberosum), nor to the true yam (Dioscorea batatas). In fact, they are all quite different. Sweet potato is a root crop, and potato and yams are tuber crops. Even researchers sometimes get confused that their publications mistakenly relate the crop species and data.

Tags: Africa, Crops, Roots & Tubers, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sweet Potato / Yam, Production, Farming

Feb 4, 2011 by Jawoo Koo - 0 comments

Word cloud of crops that respondents modeled

Meta-Analysis of Crop Systems Models

Crop systems models can help researchers estimate the future of food security under climate scenarios. Many crop models are known to exist around the world - for different crops with varying complexities, yet it is not easy to find the right model for the right problem. To better understand the global extent of crop model development and to identify gaps in capabilities, HarvestChoice participated in an initiative to conduct a rapid meta-analysis of crop models using on-line survey to the crop modeling community in the world. Here are the key findings.

Tags: Crop Models, Cropping Systems, Farming Systems, Models, Yield Analysis, Input Use, Production, Farming
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