Title: On-farm management of rice cultivars: how economic determinants drive diversity

Authors: Mélanie Jaeck; Robert Lifran

Addresses: Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier Business School (GSCMBS)/Montpellier Research in Management, 2300, Avenue des Moulins 34185 Montpellier Cedex 4, France ' INRA/LAMETA, 2 place Viala 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France

Abstract: The aims of our paper are to identify economic determinants of the on-farm cultivar selection and to empirically characterise farmers' diversification strategies. We focus on the private decision making process involving the choice of rice cultivars and the corresponding allocation of farmland. Our results rely on original data collected during the spring of 2009 involving a sample of 86 economic units growing rice. We studied the determinants of the number of cultivars grown on farm and then factors explaining the portfolio choice in terms of commercial rice grain with a multinomial logit model, with three alternatives: a) to be specialised into a particular type of rice grain (long or round); b) to grow simultaneously these two types; c) to be diversified with niche market varieties. Our results confirm the importance of the interactions between markets related benefit and the management constraints on land and labour.

Keywords: cultivar diversity; on-farm management; rice market; seed supply; Camargue; France; entrepreneurial farms; entrepreneurship; cultivar selection; diversification strategies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2013.055306

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2013 Vol.19 No.3, pp.325 - 344

Published online: 30 Sep 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article