SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF PADDY RICE PRICE VARIABILITY IN DASS AND TAFAWA BALEWA LGAS OF BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

The study was conducted on the spatial analysis of paddy rice (Oryza sativa) price variability in Dass and Tafawa Balewa LGAs of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Data were collected using questionnaires administered to 120 respondents sampled through random sampling technique. Secondary data were also collected from BSADP Bauchi on monthly prices of paddy rice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, ranking and likert scale), pearson product correlation, T-test and ratio to moving average model. It was revealed that the leading causes of spatial rice price variability were spatial variation in supply, high cost of transportation and inadequate market information. There was existence of price integration or perfect price transmission between and among the urban and rural markets during the period of study. The magnitude of paddy rice price variability in the rural markets were higher, and the t-test shows that there was a significant (P < 0.05) difference in price of paddy rice between rural and urban markets. Spatial variation in supply, bad road condition, seasonal variation in supply, inadequate contact with extension agents and low capital outlay were the major constraints militating against paddy rice marketing in the study area. Therefore, it is recommended that Rural feeder roads should be constructed by government, NGOs or individuals to enable easy movement of produce as well as all year round production/supply of rice should be encouraged through provision of fund and inputs by relevant stakeholders to farmers for dry season farming in order to curtail the problem of price variation due to seasonality in production.

The Interlinkages Between Paid and Unpaid Labour: A Homage to Krishna Bharadwaj

In this article, I attempt to extend Krishna Bharadwaj’s insight on interlinked rural markets to the analysis of the interlinkages between paid and unpaid economic activities; in other words, between work and employment. Specifically, I argue that the gendered division of labour in India creates much greater involvement in unpaid labour for women, which in turn has direct and pervasive implications for their involvement in paid employment. Indeed, the interlinkage between the two is so profound that it is impossible to understand trends in one without assessing trends in the other. JEL Codes: J210, J220, J46, J710

Influence of Economic Benefits and Social Interaction on Buyer Participation in a Rural Retail Institution: Study of an Indian Periodic Market

Retail institutions offer economic and social benefits to the participants in a market. It is expected that in a less developed economy the social factors influence economic behaviour much more than in developed economies. The rural markets offer increased opportunities for the influence of social factors on economic transactions. This study examined the case of a rural periodic market. To ensure reliability the case study protocol questions reflected propositions developed on the research questions. It was expected that the participants would exhibit the influence of social relations in their market transactions. The results indicated that the economic benefits than social considerations influenced participant behaviour in the rural periodic market. Contrary to expectations not all consumers in a less developed economy exhibit social embeddedness in economic behaviour. Implications are for policymakers involved in planning and regulating rural markets. They need to take into consideration the differing behaviour of consumer groups in designing or regulating retail markets. This study examining the social embeddedness of buyer behaviour in the rural retail context of a less developed economy is presumably the first.

Material Culture

The goods brought into urban emporia and periodic rural markets through caravan trade were not only luxuries for elites (fine horses, for example), but also high-value items consumed in small and affordable quantities (such as silk as well as turquoise or other medicinal, talismanic or apotropaic items) by a broader range of groups. There were also necessities (cloth) and raw materials or productive inputs (raw silk, indigo). This chapter examines the social, cultural and spiritual power deriving from the possession of things, illuminating the role played by goods in processes of self-fashioning, sociability and the expression of changing tastes in ways characteristic of ‘early modernity’ in other global settings.

Insecticide Filtration Efficiency of Respiratory Protective Equipment Commonly Worn by Farmers in Thailand

Farmers are at a high risk of inhalation exposure when handling pesticides. Thai farmers usually protect themselves against pesticide exposure by wearing commercial respiratory protective equipment (RPE) available from rural community markets. However, scientific data regarding the pesticide filtration efficiency of RPE commonly worn by farmers is limited. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the efficiency of insecticide filtration of various RPE commonly worn by farmers in Thailand. The half facepiece respirator was used as a control to compare the results with other RPE. Ten types of RPE were selected for testing. The filtration efficiency of each RPE against insecticides was tested in a laboratory. The remarkable findings were that a surgical mask demonstrated the least filtration efficiency of all tested insecticides, with a range of 25.7–61.5%. The RPE available in rural markets of Thailand had a filtration efficiency within a range of 64.9–95.4%, whereas a half facepiece respirator was the most efficient in filtering insecticides, with a range of 96.5–98.9%. Therefore, our results suggest that the RPE most frequently worn by farmers may not provide adequate protection when compared with the respirator. However, considerations around RPE use in low-and middle-income countries and tropical climate conditions should be based on pesticide toxicity and practical use, ensuring balance between the risks from pesticide exposure and acceptance of PPE use.