The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy

We hypothesize that institutions such as agricultural cooperatives influence regional levels of variety diversity through input supply, processing or marketing functions. This diversity can also affect yield, a partial measure of crop productivity. We test these hypotheses with data from southern It...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: di Falco, Salvatore, Smale, Melinda, Perrings, Charles
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162309
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author di Falco, Salvatore
Smale, Melinda
Perrings, Charles
author_browse Perrings, Charles
Smale, Melinda
di Falco, Salvatore
author_facet di Falco, Salvatore
Smale, Melinda
Perrings, Charles
author_sort di Falco, Salvatore
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description We hypothesize that institutions such as agricultural cooperatives influence regional levels of variety diversity through input supply, processing or marketing functions. This diversity can also affect yield, a partial measure of crop productivity. We test these hypotheses with data from southern Italy, a mega-diversity spot and centre of diversity for durum wheat. Cooperatives in the southern regions of Italy process farmers’ harvests of durum wheat into bread, label it, and sell it locally. In this relatively marginalized region of the country, cooperatives enable farmers to capture more of the value of the final product and reduce marketing costs. To test the hypothesis, we apply a two-stage estimation approach with a Cobb-Douglas production function and panel data analysis. Findings suggest that the density of cooperatives in a region is associated with greater spatial diversity in wheat varieties grown, and that, over a 14-year period, this diversity positively affected crop yields.
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spelling CGSpace1623092025-02-19T14:07:12Z The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy di Falco, Salvatore Smale, Melinda Perrings, Charles biodiversity wheat varieties productivity cooperatives land conservation We hypothesize that institutions such as agricultural cooperatives influence regional levels of variety diversity through input supply, processing or marketing functions. This diversity can also affect yield, a partial measure of crop productivity. We test these hypotheses with data from southern Italy, a mega-diversity spot and centre of diversity for durum wheat. Cooperatives in the southern regions of Italy process farmers’ harvests of durum wheat into bread, label it, and sell it locally. In this relatively marginalized region of the country, cooperatives enable farmers to capture more of the value of the final product and reduce marketing costs. To test the hypothesis, we apply a two-stage estimation approach with a Cobb-Douglas production function and panel data analysis. Findings suggest that the density of cooperatives in a region is associated with greater spatial diversity in wheat varieties grown, and that, over a 14-year period, this diversity positively affected crop yields. 2008-02 2024-11-21T10:02:17Z 2024-11-21T10:02:17Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162309 en Limited Access Springer Di Falco, Salvatore; Smale, Melinda; Perrings, Charles. 2008. The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity. Environmental and Resource Economics Environmental and Resource Economics 39 (2): 161-174
spellingShingle biodiversity
wheat
varieties
productivity
cooperatives
land conservation
di Falco, Salvatore
Smale, Melinda
Perrings, Charles
The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title_full The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title_fullStr The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title_full_unstemmed The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title_short The role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity: The case of southern Italy
title_sort role of agricultural cooperatives in sustaining the wheat diversity and productivity the case of southern italy
topic biodiversity
wheat
varieties
productivity
cooperatives
land conservation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162309
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