FARMER CHARACTERISTICS, RISK SOURCES AND MANAGERIAL RESPONSES TO RISK IN VEGETABLE FARMING: EVIDENCE FROM LARGE- AND SMALL-SCALE COMMERCIAL VEGETABLE FARMERS IN KWAZULU-NATAL

W. I. Bullock, G. F. Ortmann and J. B. Levin

Agrekon, 1994, vol. 33, issue 3

Abstract: Vegetable farmers in KwaZulu-Natal were surveyed on their sources and managerial responses to risk. Most respondents considered themselves more willing to take nsks relative to other farmers. Respondents viewed price, climate and yield variability as the most important sources of risk in vegetable production. Results show that government policies add to the level of uncertainty faced-by vegetable farmers. However, large and small vegetable farmers differed in their perceptions of risk. Small farmers perceived changes in credit availability and changes in Input costs to be more important risk sources than large farmers, while the latter were more concerned with changing interest rates. Irrigation, timely access to machinery, being a low cost producer, and diversification were considered by both .large and small farmers as the most significant managerial responses to risk. Factor analysis of risk sources and managerial responses to risk suggest there are more dimensions to risk than are commonly included in economic analyses.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Farm Management; Risk and Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1994
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/267712/files/agrekon-33-03-003.pdf (application/pdf)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/267712/files/a ... 3.pdf?subformat=pdfa (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:agreko:267712

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.267712

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Agrekon from Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().