Jose Alvarez

The economic potential of silicon for integrated management and sustainable rice production

Abstract The beneficial effects of silicon fertilization on rice culture has been described and quantified in numerous literature citations. They include yield increases, improved disease, insect, and fertility management, and other benefits. Despite the scientific evidence, widespread silicon use is hindered by the high cost of the material and its application. The beneficial effects of silicon application on world rice production have been translated to monetary values using a yield and cost-price structure in the Everglades Agricultural Area of southern Florida and later changed to reflect conditions in other countries. The analysis of yield increases in the three scenarios analyzed provide savings of

Economics of calcium silicate slag application in a rice-sugarcane rotation in the Everglades☆

271.85,

State intervention in Cuban agriculture: Impact on organization and performance

135.91, and

A yield prediction model for Florida sugarcane

50.22/ha/yr for the 1996 crop season, respectively. The analysis of the remaining benefits also shows additional savings of

Informatics and small computers in Latin America

73.54,

Privatization of State-Owned Agricultural Enterprises in Post-Transition Cuba

52.32, and

Cuba's New Sugarcane Cooperatives Ten Years Later

6.43/ha/yr in the 1996 crop season. Assuming only an additional increase of 0.5 metric tons/ha in rice yields during the 1996–2010 period, land use would be reduced by 22.2 million ha and still satisfy consumption requirements in 2010. Consequently, land would be liberated for the production of non-traditional, export-oriented crops. This would be an important accomplishment, since production increases in the past and forthcoming decades have, and will, come from yield increases because of lack of available land. The additional benefits from silicon application may outweigh its cost in most rice-producing countries.

The transformation of the state extensive growth model in Cuba's sugarcane agriculture

Abstract Rice and sugarcane are grown in rotation on organic soils in some areas of the Everglades. Both crops have shown positive agronomic responses to pre-plant applications of calcium silicate slag. The magnitude of the response, however, depends on the time at which the material is applied. Data from previous experiments were used to perform an economic analysis. Two timing applications of slag in the three production systems were analyzed: before rice, before cane, and before rice-cane rotation. Results indicate that, under the costs and prices assumed, it is more profitable to apply the slag prior to the rice planting when this crop is grown in rotation with sugarcane. The variables in the profit maximizing equations were translated into general terms to provide agronomists with the means for performing economic analyses of fertilizer responses in production systems involving a rotation. The resulting equations apply to cases where the application is done before the first crop to take advantage of residual effects and for which quadratic response functions are known.

U.S. Sugar Policy Frameworks and Options for Restoring Part of the Cuban Sugar Quota

Abstract As the state intervention decreases over Cubas agricultural production units, the quantity and quality of output seem to increase despite a decreasing access to factors of production and other resources. The degree of perishability of the commodity, the need for immediate refrigerated storage or further processing work against on assumed scale of preferences for farmers, and appear to be responsible for some discrepancies found in statistics concerning productivity in the state and nonstate sectors. The recent creation of Basic Units of Cooperative Production on former state farms is an implicit recognition of the failure of this type of agricultural organization. The next step ought to be a liberalization policy concerning markets and prices that could solve Cubas agricultural production crisis.

Potential Cuban agricultural export profile under open trade between the U. S. and Cuba

Abstract This paper shows how to move from the description of the growing of a crop, including most of the crop-environment interactions, to the development of regression equations intended to predict sugarcane yields. Equations to predict tonnes and per cent of recoverable sugar were estimated for south Florida. Data were obtained from six firms in different locations. The 125 fields included in the sample, with information taken for each season between 1967 and 1976, provided 750 observations. Good prediction equations, statistically sound and useful at harvest time, were obtained. The net tons equation showed an R 2 of 0·65 and the coefficient of variation equalled 0·198—in the PRS equation the figures were 0·48 and 0·086, respectively. Several of the techniques that proved successful in the model can be applied to other crops. The techniques that did not work are also described for the benefit of those engaged in developing computer-assisted yield prediction equations.