Description

This paper investigates the risks and benefits of using contour hedgerows as a soil conservation technique on low-income hillside corn farms in te Philippines. The author applies regression analysis to compare hedgerows with conventional practices, finding that the former may increase yields by as much as 15%. However, there is not strong evidence that hedgerows greatly reduce variance or provide a dominant production strategy. A coefficient of relative risk aversion, derived from stochastic efficiency measures, suggests that hedgerows dominate conventional tillage only for farmers with a high coefficient of risk aversion, in the range of 3 to 5.5. The author also discusses factors influencing adoption of soil conservation measures by low-income farmers.