The Mama Lus Frut scheme was established to increase the productivity of smallholder palm-oil plantations in Papua New Guinea. ACIAR project ASEM/1999/084, ‘Improving Productivity of the Smallholder Oil Palm Sector in Papua New Guinea: a Study of Biophysical and Socioeconomic Interactions’,...

Larvae of the butterfly Erionota thrax, the banana skipper, destroy the leaves of bananas by eating them and forming massive protective rolls of leaf tissue. They were first observed in north-western Papua New Guinea in 1983 and over the next 6 years spread throughout the mainland at the rate of...

This report sets out some broad ideas about how poverty evaluation could be conducted for ACIAR research projects. As with good benefit–cost analysis, there are good practices that need to be observed when undertaking poverty analysis. While poverty is a broad concept, and can be addressed...

An economic evaluation of three ACIAR projects whose primary objective was to improve postharvest grain drying in Thailand and Australia is provided in this report. During 1983–1996, ACIAR invested A$1.2 million in research designed to improve grain drying in these countries. Based on current...

Fruit flies are a serious economic pest affecting horticultural production world-wide. Increasing coordination of activities between neighbouring countries and those countries involved in fresh fruit trade is leading to more effective regional management of the fruit fly pest. 1.1 ACIAR Research...

Two Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) projects in the mid-1980s (Projects 8328 and 8804) funded research at the University of New England to help better understand and improve phosphorus and sulfur management in tropical agricultural systems. As tropical...

This study was commissioned by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to evaluate the economic impact of two projects (8201 and 8567) for which ACIAR provided support from 1982–89. These projects were aimed at the improvement of the grain yield potential of...

Agriculture’s impact on climate change is unambiguous although its role is multifaceted as it is a source of greenhouse gases but also a sink. It’s feasibility to mitigate climate change has raised interest, but thorough studies about the net benefits of the mitigation practices are needed....

In modern agriculture, pesticides feature so prominently in growers’ arsenal to reduce crop damage caused by various pests and diseases. But their indiscriminate use can harm human health and the environment and, eventually, impact agricultural productivity negatively. In an era of an...

Pig farming is one of the strongest polluters of water resources due to its intensive production techniques and slurry rejection. Several European countries have already introduced environmental regulations aiming at reducing the pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, but not...