scholarly journals Evaluating Irrigation Efficiency with Performance Indicators: A Case Study of Citrus in the East of Spain

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Lorena Parra ◽  
Marta Botella-Campos ◽  
Herminia Puerto ◽  
Bernat Roig-Merino ◽  
Jaime Lloret
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Productive Efficiency ◽  
Irrigation Performance ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Remarkable Effect ◽  
Delivery Performance

Improving water efficiency in farming systems is one of the major challenges of these decades. Water scarcity due to climate change, together with the increasing demand of food, is leading experts from around the world find appropriate indicators for water-use efficiency. In this paper we propose and test different indicators for service delivery performance, productive efficiency, and economic efficiency. Since the characteristics of the studied area and the citrus cropping system in the East of Spain are particular, we include in our analysis two other variables which are key to understanding the changes in the indicators: the obtained productivity, and the applied irrigation. The indicators and these two variables are tested with the information provided by farmers of citrus orchards belonging to an irrigation community from the East of Spain. The effect of different factors, such as cultivated varieties, type of farmer (professional or non-professional), or plantations’ size, are evaluated against the productivity and irrigation performance of the evaluated orchards. The effect of excess of irrigation on the indicators is also studied with the previous factors. Finally, an artificial intelligence system is used to predict productive efficiency of an orchard, based on the size and the water supply. Among the proposed indicators, the service delivery performance indicators came out to be the least useful and might provoke overirrigation due to the lack of accuracy of the data used for its calculation. The productive and economic efficiency indicators have been useful to illustrate the remarkable effect that excess of irrigation has on water efficiency, since a reduction of 66% of productive efficiency is found for some of the analysed varieties. On other cases, a reduction of 50% in economic efficiency is detected due to the excess of irrigation. Moreover, the excess of irrigation implied higher economic efficiency in only one of the evaluated varieties.

The theoretical background for the effective development of beef raising

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1738-1749
Author(s):  
N.L. Titov ◽  
M.M. Nizamutdinov ◽  
G.S. Klychova
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Cattle Breeding ◽  
Cattle Industry ◽  
Effective Development ◽  
Cattle Husbandry

Subject. This article explores the theoretical basis of the economic efficiency of production and classifies the performance figures of beef cattle husbandry. Objectives. The article aims to define a system of indicators of beef cattle husbandry economic efficiency. Methods. For the study, we used a comparative analysis. Conclusions and Relevance. To assess the economic efficiency of agriculture production, it is necessary to use a set of indicators by beef cattle breeding sub-sector. The system of economic performance indicators of production needs to be transformed into a summarizing indicator. The results of the study can be applied in the theory and practice of determining the economic efficiency of the beef cattle industry.

Public or private “ownership” - what’s in a name?

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 441-447
Author(s):  
J. Davis ◽  
G. Cashin
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Capital Expenditure ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Delivery Performance ◽  
Operations And Maintenance ◽  
Private And Public

This paper examines the similarities and differences between public and private ownership of water utilities, including variations such as corporatisation. In any utility where the asset owner and the asset operator are the same, there are pressures to reduce operations and maintenance costs and capital expenditure to maximise returns. The authors argue that this is the case irrespective of whether such returns are to private shareholders or dividends to government. On the other hand, where the asset owner and the asset operator are separate entities with a clearly defined contractual interface, it is not possible to increase returns by reducing operations and maintenance standards, presuming a properly constructed contract. This is because the performance standards are clearly stipulated in the contract with payment reductions applying for non-performance. Such a model can be put in place irrespective of whether the asset owner is a private company or a public utility. The paper examines the profit incentive applying to private and public sector organisations in models where:the asset owner and the asset operator are the same organisation;models where the asset owner and the asset operator are separate organisations, with the service delivery performance governed by a clearly defined contractual interface. The paper shows why the drivers governing the behaviour of public sector and private sector owners are similar, and how the separation of asset owner and asset operator can be used to ensure that service delivery standards are achieved at the lowest cost, whilst providing full transparency to shareholders, regulators and customers alike. The paper also reviews actual comparative data on service quality and performance under a number of ownership and contractual models, and draws conclusions on the effectiveness of the various asset owner/operator models in terms of service delivery performance and costs.

scholarly journals Identification of Economically Viable Cropping Systems for Vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-106
Author(s):  
Firdoz Shahana ◽  
M. Goverdhan ◽  
S. Sridevi ◽  
B. Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Bt Cotton ◽  
Black Gram ◽  
Net Returns ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Randomized Block Design

A field experiment was conducted during 2016-17 at AICRP on Integrated Farming Systems, Regional Sugarcane and Rice Research Station, Rudrur to diversify existing rice-rice cropping system with less water requiring crops under irrigated dry conditions for vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone. The experiment was laid out with twelve cropping systems as treatments in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The twelve combinations of cropping systems tested during kharif and rabi seasons were rice – rice (check), maize + soybean (2:4) – tomato, maize + soybean (2:4) - rice, maize - sunflower + chickpea (2:4), maize - chickpea, Bt cotton + soybean (1:2) on broadbed – sesame + groundnut (2:4), Bt cotton - sesame + blackgram (2:4), soybean – wheat, soybean – sunflower + chickpea (2:4), turmeric – sesame, turmeric + soybean (1:2) on flat bed – bajra and turmeric + soybean (1:2) on broadbed – sesame + blackgram (2:4). On system basis, significantly higher productivity in terms of rice equivalent yield (REY) of 23830 kg ha-1 was recorded with turmeric+soybean (1:2) BBF– sesame+blackgram (2:4) turmeric – sesame cropping sequence. However it was on par with turmeric – sesame and turmeric + soybean (1:2) on flat bed – bajra crop sequence with productivity of 23332 kg ha-1 and 21389 kg ha-1 respectively. Lower productivity was recorded with rice-rice cropping system (10725 kg ha-1). Significantly higher system net returns were recorded with Bt. cotton – sesame + black gram (2:4) on BBF (Rs222838 ha-1) closely followed by Bt Cotton + Soybean (1:2) (BBF) - Sesamum + Groundnut (2:4) (Rs221160 ha-1) and Maize+soybean (2:4)–tomato (Rs212909 ha-1). Lower system net returns were recorded in conventional rice-rice system (Rs88179 ha-1). Bt. cotton – sesame + black gram (2:4) and Bt Cotton + Soybean (1:2) (BBF)- Sesamum + Groundnut ((2:4) and Maize+soybean (2:4)–tomato were economically superior with REE of 152.71%, 150.81% and 141.45%. Rice- Rice cropping adopted by majority of farmers is less productive and economically inferior indicating wider scope of diversifying existing rice- rice cropping system with high productive, economically viable cropping systems in vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone.

scholarly journals The Moderation Effect of Resource Implementation Factors on Performance Contracting and Public Service Delivery in Huduma Centres in Kenya

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Wesonga Justus Nyongesa ◽  
Samson Ntongai ◽  
Charles Ondoro
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Performance Contracting ◽  
Moderation Effect ◽  
Delivery Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Implementation Factors

The Kenyan Government has pressures from its citizens to improve on service delivery and be responsive to citizen’s needs. Attempts such as privatization, voluntary early retirement and restructuring failed to improve the service delivery. Performance contracting was introduced to address the decline and is now being used together with Huduma Centres. The centres serve 30,000 customers daily against a target of 60,000 customers. On revenue, the centres collect Kshs 12 billion annually against a target of Kshs 30 billion according to a Government report of 2020. Focus from previous studies in resolving this around performance contracting have majorly been case studies and not surveys. Further from reviewed literature, performance contracting influence service delivery, performance and accountability. However other studies reveal that it does not result in increased customer care activities, effectiveness and efficiency and reduction in the number of customer complaints. These are mixed findings from case studies, an indicator of a moderation effect yet to be tested. Additionally, reviewed studies show that resource factors influence service delivery. The purpose of this research was to establish the moderating effect of resource implementation factors on the relationship between performance contracting and service delivery in the Huduma Centres of Kenya. The study was anchored on Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Goal Setting Theory and utilized correlational survey research design. The target population was 276 workers at the 5 Huduma Centres in Western Region in a census survey. Pilot results (N=10) revealed 20-item instrument overall mean reliability α=0.898. Validity was checked and confirmed by expert review. Results revealed proportion of variance in the Service delivery explained by the resource implementation factors (∆R2=0.088; p=0.000) positively and significantly moderated the relationship significantly implying the interactive effect of resource implementation factors improved service delivery levels by 8.8%. The study concluded that performance contracting practices are significant predictors of service delivery levels; resource factors has a positive moderating effect (B= 0.197, p=0.000) on the relationship between performance contracting and service delivery. Recommendations were that firms should continue enhancing performance contracting practices by providing resource implementation factors as these efforts enhance service delivery in Huduma Centres in Kenya. The study’s significance is in contributing new literature and in government policy formulation by isolating resource implementation factors as key variables for improving public sector service delivery.

Performance of Small-Scale Irrigation Schemes Under Climate Change in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2018 ◽  
pp. 33-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Muhoyi ◽  
Josue Mbonigaba
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Irrigation Performance ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Agricultural Performance ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Small-scale irrigation schemes (SSIS) in developing countries have been crucial, but the evidence about their performance has not been sufficiently analyzed. This chapter documents such evidence by reviewing and classifying the performance indicators. It also assesses literature on whether there are discernible trends in the efficiency of SSIS, identifies and classifies SSIS constraints, and characterizes various channels through which SSIS might affect poverty. Objectives are achieved via a systematic review of literature from 1990 to 2017. Results indicate a lack of standardization of irrigation performance indicators, and there is evidence that irrigation has boosted agricultural performance. Even though SSIS were associated with higher productivity than rain-fed agriculture, they performed below their full potential due to undervaluation of irrigation water by irrigation authorities, farmer characteristics, costs, institutional setups, the policy environment, and design, cultural, community, and environmental issues. SSIS are important tools for poverty reduction, and relevant policy implications are outlined.

Veteran Service Management and E-Government Service Delivery Performance

2011 ◽  
pp. 3133-3141
Author(s):  
Assion Lawson-Body ◽  
Glenn Miller ◽  
Thomas M. Saddler Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Web Portals ◽  
Web Portal ◽  
Government Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Delivery Performance ◽  
Electronic Service

The importance of electronic service delivery was recognized at the beginning of the emergence of the Internet (Huang & Hu, 2004); thereafter much attention has been devoted to it as a solution to the issue of the traditional service delivery system (Cetiner & Ryan, 2004; Gassan, De Boer, Mourshed, & Rea, 2001). Too often there is little or no congruence between the image of the service communicated by the service firm and the service actually delivered. This leads to unmet customer expectations and probably to non-satisfied customers, who have lost their faith in the firm and its ability to keep its promises. Governments also invest in veteran service management (VSM) and e-government to increase their service delivery performance. Veterans are the nation’s population who have been discharged or retired after serving on active duty with the United States Armed Forces. E-government refers to efforts in the public sector to use information and communication technologies to deliver government services and information to the public (Gant & Gant, 2002; Gefen, 2002). Government agencies face challenges in making veterans aware of the benefits of online services they are receiving. Anecdotal evidence shows the Internet’s Web portal can enable governments to increase their e-service delivery performance. However, there is little existing research that has tested how the use of Web portals to strengthen existing VSM can increase e-government service delivery performance. The primary objective of this study is to examine how VSM, using Web portal aggregation, may impact electronic service delivery performance. Specifically, the study examines: • the theoretical foundation of VSM, • the theoretical impact of VSM on government service delivery performance, • theoretically and empirically how VSM, supported by Web portal aggregation, may impact e-government service delivery performance. This research focuses on government Web portals that deliver electronic services to veterans. The Web portal of the North Dakota Government Rural Outreach (GRO) Initiative has been selected as the sample U.S. government Web portal for this research. That Web portal has been chosen because it has a component dedicated to veterans and county veteran service officers (CVSOs). Data were collected through open-ended interviews with CVSOs. A total sample consists of 10 CVSOs. The study used content analysis to analyze data obtained from a sample of CVSOs, using the GRO Web portal, to test the hypotheses. The CVSOs assist all veterans and their dependents in obtaining all benefits to which they are entitled, both federal and state. The CVSOs are chosen because they play the role of intermediary between veterans, veteran service and benefits providers, and government agencies. CVSOs interact on G2G (government to government) and G2C (government to citizen) basis in order to serve veterans.

scholarly journals Influence of Spatial Resolution on Remote Sensing-Based Irrigation Performance Assessment Using WaPOR Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 2949
Author(s):  
Megan Blatchford ◽  
Chris M. Mannaerts ◽  
Yijian Zeng ◽  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Poolad Karimi
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Irrigation Performance ◽  
Crop Water

This paper analyses the effect of the spatial assessment scale on irrigation performance indicators in small and medium-scale agriculture. Three performance indicators—adequacy (i.e., sufficiency of water use to meet the crop water requirement), equity (i.e., fairness of irrigation distribution), and productivity (i.e., unit of physical crop production/yield per unit water consumption)—are evaluated in five irrigation schemes for three spatial resolutions—250 m, 100 m, and 30 m. Each scheme has varying plot sizes and distributions, with average plot sizes ranging from 0.2 ha to 13 ha. The datasets are derived from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) water productivity through open access of remotely sensed–derived data (the Water Productivity Open Access Portal—WaPOR) database. Irrigation indicators performed differently in different aspects; for adequacy, all three resolutions show similar spatial trends for relative evapotranspiration (ET) across levels for all years. However, the estimation of relative ET is often higher at higher resolution. In terms of equity, all resolutions show similar inter-annual trends in the coefficient of variation (CV); higher resolutions usually have a higher CV of the annual evapotranspiration and interception (ETIa) while capturing more spatial variability. For productivity, higher resolutions show lower crop water productivity (CWP) due to higher aboveground biomass productivity (AGBP) estimations in lower resolutions; they always have a higher CV of CWP. We find all resolutions of 250 m, 100 m, and 30 m suitable for inter-annual and inter-scheme assessments regardless of plot size. While each resolution shows consistent temporal trends, the magnitude of the trend in both space and time is smoothed by the 100 m and 250 m resolution datasets. This frequently results in substantial differences in the irrigation performance assessment criteria for inter-plot comparisons; therefore, 250 m and 100 m are not recommended for inter-plot comparison for all plot sizes, particularly small plots (<2 ha). Our findings highlight the importance of selecting the spatial resolution appropriate to scheme characteristics when undertaking irrigation performance assessment using remote sensing.

Using active fractions of soil organic matter as indicators of the sustainability of Ferrosol farming systems

Soil Research ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Bell ◽  
P. W. Moody ◽  
S. A. Yo ◽  
R. D. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Critical Concentrations ◽  
Aggregate Breakdown ◽  
Eastern Australia

Chemical and physical degradation of Red Ferrosols in eastern Australia is a major issue necessitating the development of more sustainable cropping systems. This paper derives critical concentrations of the active (permanganate-oxidisable) fraction of soil organic matter (C1) which maximise soil water recharge and minimise the likelihood of surface runoff in these soils. Ferrosol soils were collected from commercial properties in both north and south Queensland, while additional data were made available from a similar collection of Tasmanian Ferrosols. Sites represented a range of management histories, from grazed and ungrazed grass pastures to continuously cropped soil under various tillage systems. The concentration of both total carbon (C) and C1 varied among regions and farming systems. C1 was the primary factor controlling aggregate breakdown, measured by the percentage of aggregates <0·125 mm (P125) in the surface crust after simulated rainfall. The rates of change in P125 per unit change in C1 were not significantly different (P < 0·05) for soils from the different localities. However, soils from the coastal Burnett (south-east Queensland) always produced lower P125 (i.e. less aggregate breakdown) than did soils from the inland Burnett and north Queensland locations given the same concentration of C1. This difference was not associated with a particular land use. The ‘critical’ concentrations of C1 for each region were taken as the C1 concentrations that would allow an infiltration rate greater than or equal to the intensity of a 1 in 1 or 1 in 10 year frequency rainfall event of 30 min duration. This analysis also provided an indication of the risk associated with the concentrations of C1 currently characterising each farming system in each rainfall environment. None of the conventionally tilled Queensland Ferrosols contained sufficient C1 to cope with rainfall events expected to occur with a 1 in 10 frequency, while in many situations the C1 concentration was sufficiently low that runoff events would be expected on an annual basis. Our data suggest that management practices designed both to maximise C inputs and to maintain a high proportion of active C should be seen as essential steps towards developing a more sustainable cropping system.

Two-way assessment of key performance indicators to vaccine supply chain system in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dheeraj Chandra ◽  
Dinesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Immunization Coverage ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Supply Chain Performance ◽  
Child Immunization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Process ◽  
Delivery Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) of vaccine supply chain of Universal Immunization Program (UIP) India, and measure their impact on vaccine supply chain performance improvement, so that results of this study can help the decision makers manage the activity and effectiveness of their resources in order to improve vaccine delivery performance and child immunization coverage.Design/methodology/approachThe 41 KPIs in terms of four dimension of the balanced scorecard (BSC), i.e. financial, customer, internal process and learning and growth have been identified and validated from the literature and expert’s opinions. Further, the impact of internal process and learning and growth performance indicators on the vaccine supply chain performance improvement have been evaluated using two-way assessment. The rankings obtained using two-way assessment are then compared to DEMATEL approach to validate the results.FindingsThe results from the analysis reveal that “Enhancement in employee work satisfaction” (LG3=10.08 percent), “Enhancement in professional vaccine supply chain managers and leaders” (LG2 = 6.70 percent) “Improvement in planning and coordination in the supply chain” (LG9 = 6.57 percent) are the three critical performance indicators having maximum impact on vaccine supply chain performance improvement. The decision makers should give priority to these performance indicators to improve delivery performance and immunization coverage.Social implicationsThis study focuses on the improvement in vaccine delivery performance, therefore, analysis and findings can be useful to government immunization programs of India to other developing nations to improve child immunization coverage.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this paper is first to attempt to provide a direction to improve immunization coverage through vaccine supply chain performance indicators.

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