Suchergebnisse

The marketed surplus of agricultural commodities plays a
significant role in the economic development of a low-income country
where agriculture is the principal source of income. This surplus is the
main source of capital accumulation, since it provides the basic wage
goods to the urban sector. A rise in the marketed surplus makes the
terms of trade favourable to the urban sector which enables it to
enhance the size of its profits. This, in turn, helps the rapid growth
of the economy. The marketed surplus not only provides the
nonagricultural sector with food, but also enables it to get raw
materials, liquid capital and foreign exchange. It reduces the need for
importing food stuffs and thus relieves pressures on the balance of
payments. The role of marketed surplus in economic development is so
well known that further elaboration is superfluous. Given the present
high rate of population growth of now estimated at 2.7 per cent [16] and
the rate of increase in per capita income it is unlikely that the
marketed surplus of agricultural commodities has kept pace with the
growing demand. Attempts are being made to raise the productivity of
agriculture. Productivity, though of prime importance, is not the only
factor that determines the size of the surplus. The marketed surplus is
determined by the interplay of different independent economic variables.
Unless the pattern of behaviour of these variables is known any policy
aimed at raising the size of the surplus may be ineffective. Therefore,
the need for a study of the marketed surplus function becomes important.

Agricultural commodities experienced a rise in prices during the first decade of the 2000s. The literature shows that the monetary policies adopted by developed economies can influence practically all economic indicators of developing markets. This paper aims to evaluate the effect of selected monetary policy measures on the prices of three selected agricultural commodities: soy, corn and sugar. Secondly, the study analyzes the price formation of these commodities during a period of expansionary monetary policy, in order to better understand how they are influenced by unconventional instruments. The central hypothesis is that the excessive liquidity created by the FED spills over to emerging economies, boosting investment and consumption there and, lastly, causing a commodity cycle. Our data (January 2000–December 2019) support this hypothesis and prove that expansionary monetary policy is capable of impacting agricultural commodities' prices, but by different channels, due to the specificities of each commodity. The fact that people have more capital due to the credit obtained from loans seems to influence the price of sugar ; soy is highly influenced by exchange rates of emerging markets, and corn is not very responsive to the used variables, which might be due to the high production rates of this commodity in the U.S. and the protectionist policies adopted by the government.

Not Available ; Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by species of filamentous fungi growing on seeds before harvest or in storage. Mycotoxin contamination of agricultural commodities is a serious concern for human and animal health. The mycotoxins subject to government regulation are aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, cyclopiazonic acid, deoxynivalenol/nivalenol, patulin, and zearalenone, which are produced by species of Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium, with aflatoxins and fumonisins arguably posing the greatest threat to human health worldwide. The frequency, magnitude, and causes of mycotoxin contamination of important agricultural commodities are reviewed here, as a first step in prioritizing mycotoxin problems for future research. ; Not Available