Finally, Obama is President Essay Example for Free

Finally, Obama is President Essay The American people has sworn into office the most unlikely man of all – African-American, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother, but possessed in himself the capacity to bind different sectors of American society in believing that Change can really happen, that a return to the old ways is not the path in the next few years of the proud and mighty American people. Today, on the 20th of January, 2009, Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America, the land of the free, and truly the land where perhaps anything is possible. In his speech, Barack Obama touched upon many ideas – of freedom, of the need to continue remembering the past as the guidepost of the future, of the need to expose false world leaders that cling to power through the silencing of dissent and corruption – but none perhaps would be most remembered than his attribution to our nation’s rich historic fabric, which is now shaping the current political discourse under the new Obama administration. Obama mentioned the American war struggles, to wit – For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Obama made reference to the great wars our people fought – Concord as one of the greatest battles during the American Revolution against the British Empire; Gettysburg as the site of the bloodiest civil war battle between the Union and Confederacy; Normandy as the landing site of American troops involved in the Western front of World War II; and Khe Sanh, as the venue of our soldiers’ valiant stand against Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam. Obama used these historic references of war to remind the people of the collective struggle of the American people in pursuit of democracy, not only its establishment in American soil, but to spread and extol its virtues around the world – defense of democracy against British colonialism, German fascism, Soviet-proxy communism, perhaps even against the racism and white supremacist tendencies of the Confederate states. As to the truth of the reference to the actual history, no one can deny the blood and sweat and lives which the American people sacrificed for our own democratic ideal. We have sent the best and brightest of our men and women into the different theaters of war in order that our way of life as a nation may be preserved, and contribute into the building of a democratic internationalism around the world, from the dismantling of fascism in the aftermath of World War II, to the discrediting and eventual collapsing of the Soviet Union in 1991. Had it not been for Normandy, together with other Allied powers including the Soviet Union fighting in both the Western and Eastern fronts, World War II would have all been lost under the might of the Third Reich. Had it not been for Concord and Lexington, American democracy as we know it might not have been ever established, where there exists co-equal three branches of government with check-and-balance powers, and individual freedoms such as the right to assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances might have never been codified. Had it not been for Vietnam, our people would never have known that not all wars are just and necessary, and some wars are in pursuit of an aggressive military agenda, serving no purpose save for being a proxy war with the Soviet Union. Had it not been for Gettysburg and the American Civil War, the struggle for the abolition of slavery may have waited a little longer, allowing perhaps the continuing treatment of African-Americans as mere chattel. Barack Obama’s use of these historic references serves to prove that his presidency is nothing short but historic, albeit a revolutionary administration that shall sweep the country off its feet, in the same manner as all these historic references had – in changing to the core the politics, economy, and culture of our country. In light of the deepening economic crisis we are facing today, it is true that Obama and the American people deserve nothing short but revolutionary changes in order for us to rise above the quagmire of recession. If Obama needs to sequester erring banks for mismanaging the funds of the people, he must do so to save the American economy. If he must further bail-out the different basic industries of the country such as the automotive industry in order for it to continue functioning as stable American brands, he must do so too. If he must leave the war in Iraq to concentrate on the real war in Afghanistan and the rising Al-Qaeda threat, he must be as resolute as the American soldiers who recovered the France town-after-town from the German Army. What is most important in his historical referencing to our own great wars and battles would be the role of the American people in all of these revolutionary changes, that he unflinchingly said, to wit – Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. In his speech, he always glorified the necessary role of the American people in changing American society. It was not through leaders like him, nor policymakers and generals of old, do we win our wars and battles, but through the collective resolve and action of our people. It is the American people that create their history, not great men. Referencing Today’s Recession With the Great Depression April 2, 2009 The past few days, leaders of the different states from all parts of the globe attended the G20 Summit in London to discuss the ways and means by which the world may find itself out of the current global financial meltdown straddling economic growth not only in the industrialized world but is not affecting much of the developing countries as well. Barack Obama, in his speech reminded the world to cease involving itself with greater protectionism that only through believing in the glory of free-but-now regulated market can the world find itself out of the economic mess it finds itself in. He even mentioned the Great Depression, to wit – Now, just keep in mind some historical context. Faced with similar global challenges in the past, the world was slow to act, and people paid an enormous price. That was true in the Great Depression, when nations prolonged and worsened the crisis by turning inward, waiting for more than a decade to meet the challenge together. Even as recently as the 1980s, the slow global response deepened and widened a debt crisis in Latin America that pushed millions into poverty. What is most interesting for our purposes today is the constant referencing of today’s crisis to the American Great Depression of the 1930s, where millions of Americans lost their jobs, banks closed and severe internal migration among Americans ensued. The Great Depression of the 1930s is being used as a reference to describe the gravity of the economic recession faced by the country and the world today. The news is replete of its effects at present – massive retrenchments and lay-offs, the closure of factory and once mighty businesses, the foreclosure of homes, the inability of parents and students to pay college tuition, the closure of banks and the general absence of confidence in our markets. Scenes of the Great Depression are repeated again and again, with pictures of the infamous Great Crash of 1929 played and replayed in cable news channels juxtaposed with references to the current state of economic affairs. If the question is whether, there exists a one-to-one correspondence with regard to the gravity of the circumstances of both the Great Depression and today’s recession, we cannot say yet at the moment, as we still stand at a point of historical equipoise, due to the continuing crisis ravaging the American economy. However, the historic reference with regard to describing almost the same economic situation of today and the Great Depression is correct, as the latter was also a global economic downturn, and completely showed how far the free market can fall, and what its effects on the people may be. Like the Great Depression, the present crisis is broad-ranging in scope, as it affected not only the stockbrokers, bankers, hedge fund managers, among other financial professionals and investors, but it also damaged the American lower- and middle-classes whose houses were foreclosed and their education loans sapped, due to many factors, such as fund mismanagement by creditors, eventual unemployment, among others. Even the economic remedies being proposed at this moment, such as the financial bail-out and the general trend towards greater government spending and regulation are hallmarks of the Great Depression, with Keynesianism becoming a relevant economic theory once again, signaling a clear break from the mainstream neo-liberal economic thought that demanded less government intervention in the economy to keep the market free. The Keynesian idea was simple, and is alarmingly true even today when viewed with the current economic policies set by the Obama administration to keep people fully employed, governments have to run deficits when the economy is slowing because the private sector will not invest enough to increase production and reverse the recession. At this moment, the Obama administration has a trillion-dollar spending plan to pump-prime the economy at a time when markets are most reluctant to part with their investment money. As to whether this shall trigger an eventual reverse from the downtrend, we will know soon enough. The use of the Great Depression in the contemporary moment serves a dual purpose – to state concretely the dire situation the American people faces today and warn the nation from being drowned in complacency and disbelief, and to serve as a reminder that there is no crisis that the American people failed to withstand, that at the end of these dark nights of recession, a New Deal shall soon be implemented and with all our help, we shall overcome as we have had in the past. Images of past crises have been powerful enough to rouse the people into meaningful action – the spectre of Nazi and Soviet invasion in American soil threatening our way of life was enough to convince much of American men to enlist in the fight against fascism in World War II and in the Korean and Vietnam wars during the Cold War era. The images of internal human migration, hunger, unemployment, destitute citizens with no bread on the table through the Great Depression, in like manner, serve its clear political objective – inform the people of the reality of the economic situation, but nonetheless challenge them to become patriots and contribute to the building of the nation amid the ravages of the present recession. The State of the Union Address February 25, 2009 On the 25th of February 2009, a little over a month since being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama addressed the nation, its Congress and unleashed his economic reform agenda to combat the deepening economic recession. In answer to the growing cynicism that government must keep its hands off the economy and retain the old neoliberal economic model, President Obama stated clearly that government has a role to play in ‘laying the foundations of our common prosperity. ’ In furthering his point, he turned to historic policies that shaped the country as we weathered from crisis-to-crisis, to wit – For history tells a different story. History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world. In this excerpt, President Obama makes several historical references to different socio-economic milestones in American society that were achieved despite political and economic difficulties. Obama posits that in the middle of the military offensives between Union and Confederate forces, the foundations of the modern American railroad system were laid. He states that from the American public school system was born from the push-and-pull of the Industrial Revolution. He asserts that the GI Bill was responsible for educating war veterans who were fresh from our victories in Europe and the Pacific. He also says that amid the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the nation was able to establish the Interstate Highway System, send Neil Armstrong and company to the moon, and facilitate a growth in science and technology. These historical references were used to again highlight the greatness and resilience of the American people amid crisis situations like the economic recession we face today, creating images of hope that we shall all overcome soon enough. The references were also used to add historic weight to his new economic agenda, which included the one-trillion dollar stimulus package, a pump-priming plan different from the seven-hundred billion dollar bail-out plan of the Bush administration. The historic milestones were used to buttress the point that his own economic agenda shall be a milestone in itself, given the chance and support of Congress and the American people. As a general statement on the integrity of the historic reference, these were well researched assertions, somewhat intimating a causal relationship between crises and economic milestones. It is a fact that it was during the civil war when Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862, a statute that authorized the creation of a transcontinental railway. It is true that due to the onslaught of the Cold War, (1) Dwight Eisenhower envisioned the creation of an Interstate Highway System to help in the deployment of supplies to military troop in the event of an invasion, (2) the space race prompted NASA to fast-track research on space travel, and soon after laid the stimulus for greater technology research. He was also correct in his assertion that the GI Bill indeed provided college and vocational education to returning war veterans, notwithstanding other benefits. Again, as in the previous entries with regard to the historical references of the Obama Presidency, President Obama uses these historic references to draw attention to his own making of history, as the President of the US amid a recession, in the mold of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Roosevelt. On the other hand, the historical references again serve as a reminder to the American people that amid the global economic recession – they shall overcome, that despite the foreclosure of homes, the retrenchment of jobs, and the closure of banks, historic reforms shall soon be in place to ensure that the economic milestones of decades past shall not be reversed fully and that our people may continue enjoying the fruits of our democratic ideals. The historical references also show that we only have to turn to our own past and history as a nation to determine that a decisive remedy for our economic woes shall soon be in sight. It appeals to the patriotic nature of a great number of our fellow Americans, where nativist tendencies continue to linger, particularly in America’s heartland areas. Moreover, President Obama’s historical references are consistent with his unrelenting call for collective action and unity amid the crisis, because none of those achievements would have been possibly without the labor and support of the people themselves. None of those were ever achieved by the single stroke of a President’s pen nor the policymaker’s brief, but was perfected by the sacrifices of men and women in American history. Obama on the Use of Nuclear Weapons Prague, Czech Republic April 5, 2009 On the fifth of April, 2009, fresh from the G20 Summit on the global economic crisis, President Barack Obama delivered a speech on his policy on nuclear weapons. He acknowledged the dangers posed by the production, proliferation and use of nuclear weapons, and has pledged to ensure that international law measures shall be put in place in pursuit of preventing its production, spread and use among states, and more importantly, illegal trading among terrorists in the black market of secrets and even excess warheads from former Soviet satellites. He proposed a strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an escalation of a US-Russia bilateral treaty on the reduction of dangerous weapons, protective measures against proliferation of materials for the production of weapons-grade uranium, among many other proposals that have roused the Czech public into countless applause. On the other hand, he acknowledge the right of Iran for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, subject to strict inspections but warned the Islamic Republic from forcibly pursuing nuclear and ballistic weapons, as it would only further its isolation from the rest of the community of nations. In view of this policy context, President Obama referred back to the origins of the arms race between the US and the Soviet Union to show the unjustness of the very existence of these weapons, to wit – The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War. No nuclear war was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, but generations lived with the knowledge that their world could be erased in a single flash of light. Cities like Prague that existed for centuries, that embodied the beauty and the talent of so much of humanity, would have ceased to exist. The historical reference here is the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, which started in the aftermath of World War II, when the world was fiercely divided between the camps espousing capitalist democracy as represented by the Americans, and the socialist camp as led by the Soviet Union. While no bullets were ever shot during the entire course of the War from the late 40s to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, both states were engaged in proxy wars in different third world countries, such as Korea in the 1950s where the US sided with the South and the Soviets provided support to the North’s Kim Il Sung. More importantly, the entire period of the Cold War was also the venue for the arms and space race between the two great powers, in which both camps sought to produce the most powerful weapons and rockets, including those of the nuclear kind. In the course of the War, both camps produced an overwhelming array of nuclear weapons, in order to check on each other’s growing military might. The use of the historical reference was more to warn the world of the horrors of a prospective nuclear war, and that his government shall never be a party to such a war, notwithstanding taking concrete measures to ensure that the very fissile materials to be used in producing weapons-grade nuclear power shall never be placed in the wrong hands. Moreover, his references to the Cold War nuclear race were also done to buttress his position on the other uses of nuclear technology such as the production of electricity, which Iran, as a sovereign state, may fully do. President Obama was correct in his depiction of a nuclear war which may destroy entire cities and civilizations. Even prior to the nuclear proliferation of the Cold War, the world was already a witness to the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, when American bomber planes dropped atomic bombs over these entire cities and vaporized a majority of its population. The paranoia of the world and the American people on threat of nuclear war was so great that different states sought the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to pressure nuclear-wielding states, either to abandon their nuclear program fully or decrease the number of stockpiled nuclear weapons. With regard to the meaning of the historical reference as per the contemporary moment, he posits that the Cold War proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the most dangerous consequences of the then bipolar world, in which all efforts must be done towards the reversal of such a situation, whether through consented desistance of nuclear-powered states, or through the creation of tougher and more engaging multi-lateral treaties dealing with the subject of nuclear weapons. Its meaning today is no different from the dangers that lurked in the use nuclear weapons in decades past, and President Obama is fully concerned that nuclear energy must remain in the hands of only those states that would harness its benefits peacefully and never in pursuit of aggressive military, even terrorist, objectives. References: 1. ___________. (2009). Transcript: Obamas G20 Press Conference. CBS News. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2009/04/02/politics/100days/worldaffairs/main491 4735. shtml? source=RSSattr=Politics_4914735 2. Obama, B. (2009). Prague Speech on Nuclear Weapons. Huffington Post. Retrieved April 5, 2009 from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2009/04/05/obama-prague-speech-on- nu_n_183219. html. 3. Obama, B. (2009). Obama Inaugural Address. The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2009 from http://www. nytimes. com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text- obama. html? _r=1. 4. Obama, B. (2009). Remarks of President Barack Obama Address to Joint Session of Congress. The White House Briefing Room. Retrieved February 27, 2009 from http://www. whitehouse. gov/the_press_office/remarks-of-president-barack-obama- address-to-joint-session-of-congress/. 5.

Impact of Agriculture Credit on Agriculture Productivity

Impact of Agriculture Credit on Agriculture Productivity ABSTRACT Impact of agriculture credit on agriculture productivity. Agriculture plays vital role in Pakistans economy. It is the single largest sector and it is principal driving force for growth and development of the national economy of Pakistan. Agriculture credit plays vital role for increasing the efficiency of this sector. Timely and adequate availability of credit enables the farmers to purchase the required inputs and machinery for carrying out farm operations. There are two dimensions of this research first are measuring the impact of credit on development efficiency and second is measuring impact of credit on production efficiency. Regression model was used to determine the impact in both dimensions data collected from State Bank of Pakistan for analysis the results concluded that there is a positive relationship between agriculture credit and both development and production efficiency but not up to much extent that is required there is a minor impact on farm yield and productions le vels by agriculture credit the reasons can be credit policies timings of providing credit and can be not providing credit effectively where it is needed most. INTRODUCTION Agriculture plays an important role in Pakistans economy. It is the single largest sector and it is principal driving force for growth and development of the national economy of Pakistan. Agriculture and Livestock accounted for 23.1 per cent of the GDP in 2004-05. It employs 43.1 per cent of the labor force, provides livelihood to 68 per cent of the countrys population living in rural areas, and contributes 60 per cent share in export earnings from processed and un-processed agricultural products. Major industries like textile and sugar are agriculture based sectors. The rate of growth for agriculture sector is 4% in the past two decades, contributing significantly to overall economic growth, food supplies and exports. Although the share of agriculture in the GDP has declined over the years, in line with Development of other sectors such as industry, infrastructure, services, etc., it still remains the leading sector of the economy. The future policies in agriculture have been focused on attaining high growth rates by providing the right policies and institutional support, so that the sector can move forward and enhance its contribution to the economy. Review of Agriculture Sector The agriculture sector grew at an average annual growth rate of 4.5 per cent in the last decade, i.e. 1990s. However in 2000-01 and 2001-02, its performance was badly affected due to persistent drought conditions. It registered a growth rate of (-) 2.2 and (-) 0.1 per cent in 2000-01 and 2001-02, respectively. With subsequent improvement in the availability of Water, it grew by 4.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent in 2002-03 and 2003-04, respectively. In 2003-04, the major crops which account for 34.2 per cent of the agriculture value added grew by 2.8 per cent and minor crops which contribute 12.4 per cent to the agriculture value added, Grew by 1.7 per cent. In 2004-05, the agriculture sector registered an all time high growth of 7.5 per cent due to farmers friendly government policies, favorable weather conditions and Improvement in the availability of water. There was a recorded production around 14.6 million bales of cotton and 21.1 million tones of wheat. The contribution of major and minor crops was 17.3 and 3.1 per cent, respectively. Although the shortage of water affected the performance of crops in 2000-01 and 2001-02, its impact was reduced due to various measures by the farmers on the Recommendation of the Agriculture Departments such as efficient use of canal water, Exploitation of underground water through tube wells, sowing on ridges and better Agronomic and good management practices. The country had achieved self-reliance in wheat. Around 1.036, 1.704 and 0.553 million tones were exported due to build up of wheat stocks, in the years of 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04, correspondingly. However, due to subsequent decline in wheat production, around 1.37 million tones of wheat was imported in 2004-05 to build up reserve stocks and meet domestic requirement. Although availability of water has been a serious constraint, there are other factors also, which are hampering the growth and development of the sector. Some of the factors are: low productivity of crops, inefficient use of water, degradation of land resources (water logging and salinity), imbalance application of fertilizer, inefficient use of agricultural inputs, ineffective transfer of technology to the farmers, lack of coordination between research and extension, post-harvest losses, marketing infrastructure, etc. Inspite of the reasonably performance in the agriculture sector the over all productivity is comparatively low as compare to other agriculture based countries like India for example in study based on comparison of agriculture performance in Indian and Pakistani Punjab it was found that Indian Punjab performed very well as compare to Pakistani Punjab because of the problems in infrastructure lack of mechanization most of these problems arise due to financial constraints these problems can be addressed by emphasizing on credit programs to farms get proper inputs such as production inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides on time so that production efficiency improved and on the other hand development efficiency can be increased by mainly development efficiency is farm efficiency like land leveling, water courses, tractors tube wells these all required proper credit supply so therefore credit is the vital component in the improvement of agriculture efficiency. Agriculture credit role in increasing productivity Credit plays an important role in increasing agricultural productivity. Timely and adequate availability of credit enables the farmers to purchase the required inputs and machinery for carrying out farm operations. The farmers will be facilitated through the one window operation and revolving credit scheme. The one window operation was initiated in 1997 by the ZTBL which has been found quite useful in meeting the farmers credit requirements. Credit is the back bone for any business and more so for agriculture which has traditionally been a nonmonetary activity for the rural population in Pakistan. Agricultural credit is an integral part of the process of modernization of agriculture and commercialization of the rural economy. The introduction of easy and cheap credit is the quickest way for boosting agricultural production. Therefore, it was the prime policy of all the successive governments to meet the credit requirements of the farming community of Pakistan. Agriculture as a sector depends more on credit than any other sector of the economy because of the seasonal variations in the farmers returns and a changing trend from subsistence to commercial farming. How credit improve productivity both production and development or farm efficiency the answer is through the supply of proper credit to farmers they are able to purchase proper amount of fertilizers at the right time purchase pesticides at the right time so the production process will continue without any problems that will increase production efficiency. For development efficiency credit is needed for mechanization, i.e for land leveling water courses, tube wells, tractors and other inputs so credit is needed by farms for the proper availability of theses resource of course without the availability of these resource both production and development efficiency cannot be increased. In some of the studies importance of credit in agriculture stated as According to Shephered (1979) credit determines access to all of the resources on which farmers depend. Consequently, provision of macroeconomic policies and enabling institutional finance for agricultural development has been directed to the provision of infrastructure capable of facilitating agricultural development with a view to enhancing the contribution of the sector in the generation of employment, income and foreign exchange. One of the reasons for the decline in the contribution of agriculture to the economy is lack of a formal national credit policy and paucity of credit institutions, which can assist farmers. Credit or loan able funds is viewed as more than just another resource such as labor, land, equipment and raw materials. Therefore, by injecting capital into agriculture, it is possible to increase the rate of agricultural development since credit has frequently been considered as one of the main factors in overcoming agricultural stagnation that helps to expand farmland size and production. Table 6 shows the figures of amount of credit in billion rupees disbursed by different sources in agriculture sector by analyzing the figures it has been noted that credit for production has more amounts in every year as compare to credit for development loans so therefore the area where government has to focus is how to increase development efficiency (land leveling, water courses, and tractors) etc. supply of adequate credit should be implemented for development loans like production loans. Difference between production efficiency and development efficiency Production efficiency is related to the productivity related to inputs related purely to crops production such as seeds fertilizers pesticides chemicals etc. where as development efficiency is related to mechanization of farms lands development there fore inputs are tractors, land levelers water courses etc the details are below. Production efficiency factors The input factors related to production efficiency are Fertilizer The use of fertilizer is expected to grow by 4.0 per cent per annum in order to meet the crop production targets. The growth rate for the nitrogen is estimated at 3 per cent, phosphate 7 per cent and potash 12 per cent. In quantitative terms, nitrogen will increase to 3,049 thousand tones, phosphate 1,058 thousand tones and potash 45 thousand tones by 2009-10. The overall fertilizer consumption is estimated at 4,152 thousand tones. The mean application rate at national level will be about 180 Kg nutrients per hectare. There are other fertilizer products as source of micronutrients such as Zinc, Boron and Iron would also be targeted for specific crops (rice, cotton, maize, sugarcane, vegetables and horticultural crops) for efficiency and quality. According to research by (Coady, 1995) it is stated that the introduction of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice in Pakistan in the mid-1960s was heralded as a major breakthrough in the problem of food supply. A crucial characteristic of these new HYVs was their high yields when used in conjunction with chemical fertilizer (henceforth just fertilizer) and controlled irrigation. Great emphasis was placed on increasing the supply and use of fertilizer, which was still regarded as of crucial importance by the mid-1980s-of the total increase in agricultural output envisaged by the Sixth Five Year Plan (Government of Pakistan 1983), 48% of it was expected to come from increased use of fertilizer. Although the technology associated with HYVs is essentially regarded as being neutral to scale, constraints such as those arising from inadequate irrigation, an inability to secure credit and access to extension services can bias the technology towards larger farms. The researcher focuses on the use of fertilizer. Earlier analysis of the data showed that just over 80% of the sample applied fertilizer, this the farms more than 25 hectares have higher percentage. However, that simple analysis of fertiliz er use did not indicate any systematic relationship between land size and per-acre levels applied (henceforth, fertilizer intensity). There, as in most studies of fertilizer use, zero observations are dropped. Much of the literature on agriculture in developing countries argues that, because of lack of access to crucial complementary inputs (such as irrigation, knowledge or credit), the productivity of fertilizer is lower on smaller farms. This would suggest that fertilizer intensity ought to be positively correlated with farm size. However, although my data suggest that a larger proportion of smaller farms do not apply any fertilizer, focusing only on users, I do not find any systematic relationship between fertilizer intensity and farm size. However, when I allow in my analysis for lack of access, I find a negative relationship between fertilizer intensity and farm size, in spite of the fact that productivity-enhancing characteristics appear to be biased in favor of large farms. I suggest that this could reflect the effect of uncertain yields on risk adverse farmers. If one accepts this interpretation, then it appears that the effect of uncertainty is strong enough to outweigh the produc tivity bias towards larger farms Pesticides and Plant Protection The productivity of crops is mainly depends upon control of pest. Around approximately 20% to 25% cent of crop production output lost due to hit of insects and pests. The use of pesticides has increased from 665 tones in 1980 to 69,897 tones in 2002. It has been estimated that its consumption may touch 78,000 metric tones till 2010. Approximately around 54% of the pesticides are useful on cotton crop, 23 per cent on rice, 9 per cent on fruits and vegetables, and 5 per cent on sugarcane. The rising and unsystematic use of pesticides must be avoided as it also kills useful predators and insects and causes environmental deprivation. Importance will be given on support of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in order to reduce the application of pesticides in the best way. According to research (Alagh, 1988) states that INSECT pests, diseases and weeds inflict considerable damage to crops and plantations resulting in an estimated. Crop loss of over one-third of realizable output globally. Losses are higher in Africa and Asia, more than 40 per cent annually. The earliest use of chemicals to prevent crop losses is reported in the nineteenth century with the use of inorganic salts. The thirties of this century represent the beginning of the modern era of synthetic organic pesticides which saw the discovery of DDT (in 1939) and BHC (in 1942). A host of chloro organic compounds were introduced subsequently. Then came the organophosphorous com- pounds representing another extremely important class of organic insecticides, malathion being the first example of a wide spectrum insecticide with low mammalian toxicity. The new crop varieties and cropping sequences for intensive agriculture brought to the forefront problems of pests which caused tremendous losses to various crops and their produce. Pest problems have shown marked increase in changing agriculture. Pest problems have increased with the intensification of agriculture. Also improved agriculture brought about a transformation and an all round consciousness not to allow/tolerate yield losses especially because of the availability of modern pest control technology which makes it possible to avoid or to minimize such losses. Losses to crops and their produce are caused by various agencies which include insects, diseases, nematodes, weeds and several other non-insect pests. The estimated losses vary from crop to crop and region to region. However, it has been estimate that in India annual monetary loss in agriculture due to weeds, diseases, insects, nematodes, storage pests, rodents and birds runs into Rs 6,000 crore. This estimate is somewh at speculative yet it gives a first order approximation of the nature of the problem. Estimates with respect to many crop pests or diseases are available both in terms of percentage avoidable loss or loss in value. Such information is valuable and essential planning and implementation point of view of economic programs. So therefore pesticides plays important role in increasing production efficiency by reducing diseases and damage to the crops by the insects or pests because if crops production is effected by any of the reasons stated above crops production efficiency will be decreased. Development Efficiency How mechanization helps in improving farm efficiency Animal draft has conventionally remained a source of traction powers at farm over centuries. All operations at farm from tilling of the land to sowing, cultural management practices, lifting of water from shallow wells, harvesting, threshing, winnowing and transport were carried through animal provided draft. The use of fuel run machinery is a matter of about half a century. The major focus in the area came since the times of green revolution in late 1960s when the high yielding varieties (HYVs) inspired farming community for paradigm shift in adoption of other new technologies including farm mechanization. The major emphasis has been on farm traction, exploitation of sub surface water resources from sweet water aquifer, harvesting/threshing of crops, spraying of crops against insects, pests/diseases and pressurized irrigation operations. The main purpose of farm mechanization is to improve efficiency by replacing techniques with more efficient use of machines which performs sowing, harvesting, shallow wells and transport with less time and more efficient that animals based techniques. Mechanization of farm operation has become necessary due to shortage of labor and animal power at planting and harvesting stages of crops. It helps in timely sowing, cultural practices and harvesting of crops and reduction in post harvest losses. The most popular forms of mechanization are tractors with cultivators, drills, wheat threshers, sprayers, power rigs, tube-wells and bulldozers. The total number of operational tractors in the country is estimated to be 342,000 by June 2005. Thus available horsepower (hp) at farm level will be 0.82 hp per hectare as compared with 1.4 hp per hectare recommended by FAO for developing countries. It is projected that 45,000 tractors per annum will be added to the existing fleet. Thus, the total number of operational tractors will be increased to 466 thousand in 2009-10, increasing the horsepower at farm level to 1.1 hp per hectare. The fleet of bulldozers in the provinces will be strengthened for the development of wastelands and construction of slow action dams. The availability of institutional credit for the purchase of tractors and other agricultural machinery will be ensured through earmarking the actual credit requirement to Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and other commercial banks. The farmers will be facilitated to procure small seed processing units and establish primary grading facilities at farm level to fetch good price of their produce. The sugarcane harvesters, maize and cotton pickers, paddy transplanters and laser land leveling equipments will be introduced. Custom hire farm service centers will be established at suitable places for costly agricultural machinery/implements for small and medium farmers under public-private partnership. The public sector will provide seed money and technical assistance for the establishment of these centers. The farmers organizations will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of these centers on sustainable basis. The factors included in farm efficiency are Left bank outfall drainage scheme Land leveling Water courses Drainage schemes Left bank outfall drainage scheme Emerging drainage problems The greatly increased continuous use of Indus water for irrigation (from storage or direct river diversions) has significantly altered the hydrological balance of the Indus Basin. Seepage losses from irrigation canals, distributaries, minors, and watercourses and deep percolation from the irrigated lands have resulted in a gradual rising of the groundwater table, bringing with it critical problems of water logging and salinity over a vast area. Water logging is widespread throughout Punjab and Sind provinces, where most of the countrys food and fiber crops are produced. In the early 1900s, the water table was generally more than 15 meters (m) below the surface throughout the Indus Plain. However, by 1978 (when the Indus Basin Salinity Survey was completed), the water table in 22% of the Indus Basin was within 1.8 m of the surface, and an additional 30% was within 3 m. The condition has get worse since then. There was a comprehensive survey conducted in 1961 calculated that about 40,0 00 ha of land were being lost per year to agricultural production due to water logging and salinity. While these estimations have not been updated available information suggests that land neglected in severely waterlogged areas is continuing. What is left bank outfall drainage schemes The Left bank outfall drainage concept embraces major drainage and agricultural development and represents the collective efforts of Government of Punjab, Government of Sind, WAPDA, 1UNDP, international consultants, and potential co financiers, led by the World Bank. The Stage I Project has evolved from numerous investigations and studies initiated in the mid-1960s and refined thereafter. The project was subjected to extensive professional scrutiny and is a milestone in the Banks long-standing involvement with Indus Basin development. The LEFT BANK OUTFALL DRAINAGE SCHEME concept has been subject to intensive project preparation during the past 20 years. The Lower Indus Project report, prepared in 1966 by Sir N. MacDonald and Partners Ltd. and Hunting Technical Services Ltd., both of the United Kingdom, contains a comprehensive plan for optimum development of agriculture in the LEFT BANK OUTFALL DRAINAGE SCHEME area. Why this scheme is so important for Pakistani agriculture due to the irrigation conditions of agriculture Major factors in recent improvement of agriculture have been favorable weather and the affirmative response of farmers to GOVERMENT OF PUNJABs policies and programs for agriculture sector development. Land leveling in Pakistan Studies have indicated that a significant (20 to 25 %) amount of irrigation water is lost during its application due to poor farm designing and uneven fields. It has been estimated that the farmers keep on applying water until the maximum point in a field is covered. This leads to over-irrigation of low-lying areas and under-irrigation of superior spots in those results in irregular supply of all nutrients to the plants besides accumulation of salts in such areas. The fields not correctly leveled, because wastage of land, low irrigation efficiencies, and eventual result is considerably lesser yields than the possible. Accurate Land leveling (PLL) consists of grading and planning land to a smooth level or no slope to facilitate efficient irrigation. Modernized method of carrying out PLL is by using LASER equipment that helps in attaining mandatory degree of precision at lesser cost and effort. LASER land leveling equipment is provided to the farmers on nominal average rental charges i .e. Rs 150/hour to 200/hour. An area of about approximately 400,000 acres has been accurately leveled in the Punjab since inauguration of OFWM program that includes over 113,000 acres leveled with LASER technology. Precision Land Leveling (PLL) is a mechanical process of grading and smoothing the land to a accurate and consistent plane surface at grade or no grade (zero slope) with variation of less than  ± 2cm. It is carried out to control irrigation application losses at the farmers fields besides other advantages. LASER technology has been proved to be advantageous as it minimizes the cost of irrigation operation, ensures better degree of precision in much lesser time, saves irrigation water, ascertains consistent seed germination, increases fertilizer use efficiency and resultantly enhances crop yields. Impact studies on LASER land leveling identify that it: Curtails the irrigation application losses up to the extent of 25% Reduces labor requirements for irrigation by about 35% Enhances the irrigated area by about 2% by brining the number as well as length of field ditches and dikes to a minimum * Increases the crop yields by about 20% Pakistan is considered to be the pioneer in South Asia for promoting use of LASER technology in irrigated agriculture. OFWM Punjab has tested the first laser leveling equipment in 1985. Before devolution, there were 140 LASER land leveling units available with District Governments which have been procured through donor assisted projects, respectively. One hundred units were equipped with tractors while 40 units were without tractors. These machines have accurately leveled about 125,000 acres of land. The yearly potential of available LASER equipment was about 25,000 acres per year. The major operational limitation encountered to make sufficient use of this equipment was insufficient availability of OM funds with the public sector. Drainage schemes The constant expansion of the irrigation system over the past century drastically altered the hydrological balance of the Indus River basin. Seepage from the system and percolation from irrigated fields caused the water table to get higher, attaining crisis conditions for a significant area. Around 1900 the water table was typically more than sixteen meters below the surface of the Indus Plain. A 1981 study found the water table to be within about three meters of the surface in more than one-half the cropped area in Sindh and more than one-third the area in Punjab. In some areas, the water table is much nearer to the surface. Cropping is fatally affected over a wide area by poor drainagewater loggingand by accumulated salts in the soil. Officials were conscious of the need for additional expenditure to prevent further worsening of the existing situation. Emphasis in the 1980s and early 1990s was on rehabilitation and preservation of existing canals and watercourses, on farm improvements on the farms themselves (including some land leveling to conserve water), and on drainage and salinity in priority areas. Emphasis was also placed on the short-term projects, mainly to improve the operation of the irrigation system in order to lift up yields. Element of the funding would come from stable increases in water use fees; the objective is gradually to raise water charges to cover operation and maintenance costs. Substantial time and money are needed to understand the full potential of the irrigation system and bring it up to modern standards.(detected) Irrigation and watercourses In the beginning of 1990s, irrigation from the Indus River and its tributaries comprised the worlds largest contiguous irrigation system, capable of watering over 16 million hectares. The system includes three major storage reservoirs and numerous barrages, head works and canals, distribution channels. The total length of the canal system exceeds 58,000 kilometers; there are a further 1.6 million kilometers of farm and field ditches. Over the use of Indus waters there were prolonged disputes between India and Pakistan because partition placed portions of the Indus River and its tributaries under Indias control. After nine years of dialogue and technological studies, the issue was resolved by the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. India use of the waters of the main eastern tributaries in its territorythe Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers after a ten year transitional period, the treaty awarded Pakistan received use of the waters of the Indus River and its western tributaries, the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. When the treaty was signed, Pakistan began an extended and rapid irrigation construction program, partly financed by the Indus Basin expansion Fund of US$800 million contributed by various nations, including the US, and administered by the World Bank. Several huge link canals were built to transfer water from western rivers to eastern Punjab to substitute flows in eastern tributaries that India began to redirect in accordance with the terms of the treaty. In 1967 the Mangla Dam, on the Jhelum River, was completed. The dam provided the first major water storage for the Indus irrigation arrangement. The flood control was also contributed by the dam, for regulation of flows for some of the link canals, and to the countrys energy supply. At the same time, further construction was undertaken on barrages and canals. The vital need in the 1960s and 1970s to raise crop production for domestic and export markets led to water flows well beyond designed capacities. Completion of the Mangla and Tarbela reservoirs, as well as enhancement in other parts of the system, made superior water flows possible. In addition, the government began installing public tube wells that frequently discharge into upper levels of the system to add to the available water. The higher water flows in parts of the system significantly go beyond design capacities, creating stresses and risks of breaches. However, many farmers, mainly those with smallholdings and those on the way to the end of watercourses, suffer because the supply of water is unreliable. The irrigation system represents a considerable engineering achievement and provides water to the fields that account for ninety percent of agricultural production. Nevertheless, serious problems in the design of the irrigation system avert achieving the highest potential agricultural output. LITERATURE REVIEW Production Efficiency and Agriculture Productivity According to research (Taylor, Drummond, Gomes, 1986) which relates to effectiveness of subsidized credit programs in improving the productivity of traditional farmers in developing countries the credit program known as PRODEMATA it is concluded by empirical results suggest that PRODEMATA has had no desire impact on technical efficiency and a slightly negative effect on allocative productivity (it is defined as a theoretical measure of the advantage or utility resulting from a planned or actual choice in the distribution or distribution of resources). The poor but efficient hypothesis states that the provision of agricultural credit will be ineffective in improving productivity and incomes since investment opportunities are limited. Traditional farmers are hypothesized to be efficient but faced with technological barriers that can- not be overcome by the mere influx of capital provided by credit programs alone. It is further analyzed that the economics of credit in Brazil and concluded there was an underutilization of capital on small farms and that credit would relieve capital shortages and improve output. However, in analyzing farm-level production in it is found that technological barriers were present which would prevent credit programs from having a significant impact on capital formation and incomes. Studying traditional agriculture in southern Brazil concluded that in- creased investment capital formation, such as use of mechanized equipment and fertilizer, alone is not the answer to increasing crop production. Better management, Information sources and consumption of resources are as significant and should be equally emphasized if any advantage is to be anticipated from increasing disbursement on these inputs. The implication here is that, while credit availability may afford traditional farmers the opportunity to invest in modernized inputs, there is no guarantee that these inputs will be used in such manner as to recognize the full level of output gains possible. It thus seems appropriate that the effectiveness of subsidized credit in traditional farming depends on concerns of technical as well as allocative efficiency. The research above illustrated credit program named as PRODEMATA was instituted The result was that participated in the program compared to those of nonparticipating farms indicate that the program wa

A Character Analysis of Elizabeth Bennet Essay -- essays papers

A Character Analysis of Elizabeth Bennet Throughout Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice , there are many references to the unusual character of Elizabeth Bennet ; she is seen to be an atypical female during those times. Wit , bravery , independence , and feminist views all describe a most extraordinary model for women. Pride and Prejudice is a humorous novel about the trials of marrying well in the early eighteenth century. It focuses mainly on the actions of two couples – Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy and Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth Bennet is a vibrant, headstrong young woman who is not too keen on the idea of marriage , whereas Mr. Darcy is an egotistical and proud man who improves on closer acquaintance. Mr. Bingley is Mr. Darcy’s closest confidante and is a very good man who is easily persuaded. Jane Bennet is the eldest of the Bennet daughters who is closest to Elizabeth and is also a very good-natured person. All of these characteristics play off of one another throughout the course of events to create many interesting situations. Jane Austen was the daughter of a minister in a small English town. Her observations about irony and hypocrisy in English society drove her to write many stories of such things especially marriage as that was a prime example of such traits. She herself never married. Elizabeth Bennet’s wit is both humorous and intelligent. There are repeated instances within the story in which she proves her cleverness and liveliness. Joel Weinsheimer believes th... ...64. Butler , Marilyn . Jane Austen and the War of Ideas. Oxford : Clarendon Press , 1975. Chandler , Alice. Jane Austen : Modern Critical Views. New York : Chelsea House Publishers , 1986. Halperin , John , ed. Jane Austen : Bicentenary Essays. Cambridge UP , 1975. Heilman , Robert. â€Å"E Pluribus Unum : Parts and Whole in Pride and Prejudice† . Jane Austen : Bicentenary Essays. Cambridge UP , 1975. Rubinstein , E. , ed. Pride and Prejudice : A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc. , 1969. Sherry , Norman. Jane Austen. New York : Arco Publishing Co. , 1969. Watt , Ian , ed. Jane Austen : A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs : Prentice- Hall Inc. , 1964. Weinsheimer , Joel . Jane Austen : Modern Critical Views. New York : Chelsea House Publishers , 1986.

A Case Against Interracial Adoption Essay examples -- Family Psycholog

Black children are disproportionately represented in the foster care system. In the most recent Statistical Abstract published in 2011 by the U.S. Census Bureau, Black children accounted for 15% of the U.S. child population in 2009. In contrast, Black children were at almost 30% of the total number of children in foster care for the same year according to the Department of Health and Human Services 2009 Foster Care report. In addition, there are not enough Black families available to adopt these children. Interracial adoption advocates often hail it as a good solution to address these problems. Interracial adoption is promoted as a major step towards an integrated, unprejudiced, and colorblind society. However, instead of healing the wounds of racism, interracial adoption often contributes to racist ideologies and practices that devalue family relationships in the Black community (Roberts 50). This type of adoption is a surface only solution that fails to dig deeper and address the u nderlying reasons for the disproportionate representation of Black children in foster care and the lack of minority adoptive parents. This deeper analysis exposes a system of that is very biased against the Black community in the adoption industry. Even when it is altruistic, interracial adoption is mostly detrimental to the Black community because it aids in the breakdown of Black families and the dismissal of the root causes of the circumstances that lead to large numbers of Black children needing to be adopted in the first place. Furthermore, interracial adoption has not made any significant difference in lowering the numbers of Black children in foster care. Poverty is the primary reason that a disproportionate number of Black children end up in ... ...006): 97-107. Boston College Law School. Web. 1 May 2012. Perry, Twila L. "Transracial Adoption and Gentrification: An Essay on Race, Power, Family, and Community." Boston College Third World Law Journal 26.1 (2006): 25-60. Boston College Law School. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. Roberts, Dorothy. "Adoption Myths and Racial Realities in the United States." Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. Ed. Jane J. Trenka, Julia C. Oparah, and Sun Y. Shin. Cambridge, MA: South End, 2006. 49-56. Print. United States. Census Bureau. "Table 10: Resident Population by Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age: 2000 and 2009." Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012. 131st ed. Washington: GPO 2011. Web. 2 May 2012. United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Child Welfare Information Gateway. Foster Care Statistics 2009. Washington: GPO, 2011. Web. 2 May 2012.

The scarlet letter :: essays research papers

Torment Of Misfortune The guilt, hypocrisy, and vengeance revealed in The Scarlet Letter. In an age of sexual repression and conservatism, there is never room for public show of relationships. Emotions and affection are kept hidden from the public eye. With such limitations there is always an urge to break from what is considered proper. From this, lies and deceit are born to cover our mistakes. Hester Prynne stands helpless on a scaffold with her illegitimate daughter Pearl, wearing a blazoned scarlet â€Å"A†, making known she is an adulterer. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale stands silent within the on looking crowd as his lover and daughter are to be persecuted. In the far corner, stands Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband quietly embittered at his wife’s infidelities. A soiled and twisted love triangle connects these three individuals as Hester’s persecution draws near. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these individuals to exemplify guilt, hypocrisy and vengeance through secrecy and sin in The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne pities the life of her daughter Pearl, labeled a child of sin and a product of adultery. Pearl is in essence a real representation of the scarlet letter that she bears. Hester’s own doing lays out the fate of her child. "†¦[Hester's] impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and, however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance. Above all, the warfare of Hester's spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl." Hester has the power to make things right and announce the identity of Pearl’s father Arthur Dimmesdale, however she holds back for fear of ruining her partners reputation and esteem. Hester holds commitment to both Pearl and Dimmesdale, she endures the sting of guilt through her silence. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a supposed â€Å"man of god† takes silence along with Hester. He is guilty of his sins but more so guilty of being a walking hypocrisy in his congregation. To rectify his wrongs, he preaches of god and refraining from sin. However he continues to hide his relationship with Hester and denies his illegitimate daughter the privilege of his name. His commitments to the church are a conflict with his feelings of sinfulness and his need to confess. He yearns to confess but fears the negative outcomes. In his subconscious he wishes to tell all his sins, but results in his strong participation in church.

Questionnair on customer satisfaction of bank Essay

To make a questionnaire first of all we need to understand management problem of SBI Bank. For that we need to know Why Customers are dissatisfied? Research Question: Now we need to understand where the problem is. Is it that Service Provided by SBI bank is not up to the mark or Staff member are not efficient and effective in their work or communication and after care services are not efficient or product offer by bank is not up to the mark. These are four areas in which management problem needs to be identiefied.This is known as Research Question. Investigative Question : Now we have identified problem area so now we need to examine different aspects of particular problem area its is known as investigative question. Eg. Service Provided by SBI is helpful? Service is being provided timely? In Second area of Problem of staff member, we need to Examine that information provided by staff member is easy to understand Staff member are Help full In third problem area of after care service, we need to examine whether account is Keep up to date or not? Queries are attended promptly Measurement Question: Now we need to convert investigative question in to normal layman language so that person can Understand and can answer properly. Myself Khushbu Desai. I am T.Y.B.B.A Finance student. I am doing study in B.R.C.M College of Business Administration. I have prepared a Questionnaire for Business Research Project Against Study of Customer Satisfaction for Customers of State Bank of India (SBI), Parle Point Branch. Please help me to do survey by rating the service that you currently receive from SBI Bank 5 = Excellent 4 = Good 3 = Average 2 = Poor 1 = Very Poor (Tick the boxes where appropriate) Â  

Moral hazards in financial system

Loans and the Housing Bubble Burst A moral hazard in economics is where someone takes a risk that they wouldn't normally take because they know that the consequences of that risk not paying off will be paid by somebody else. The case we will be discussing will be the housing bubble burst and it relates to the topic because lenders took great risks lending money to people that could not afford it knowing their banks were too big to fail and he government would have to bail them out.To begin this case we must first give a brief summary. After the dot. Com bubble burst of 2000 and the attacks on the US on September 11 the US economy was at a great risk of going into a recession. Central banks around the world including our federal reserve tried to stimulate the economy by reducing interest rates. This made a lot of people see the opportunity to make money and they started taking on riskier investments like for example buying houses that they knew they couldn't afford hoping to flip it i n a couple of years and make a great deal of money.Lenders saw this as an opportunity to make money as well by lending all this money but they did It with high risk approving people with supreme credit that would normally never get approved for these loans. Consumers kept this trend going and every year more and more supreme mortgages were being Initiated until 2006 when the housing bubble anally burst.The result was more foreclosures per year than had ever been seen before in the US and many lenders and hedge funds having to declare bankruptcy or need government ball outs. Moral hazards in financial system By caricaturing this as an opportunity to make money as well by lending all this money but they did it more supreme mortgages were being initiated until 2006 when the housing bubble need government bail outs.