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Item The contribution of kumala to traditional food systems in two districts of Tanna Island, and its potential for increasing food security : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Horticulture and Ethnobotany at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) Nasse, AmandaSweetpotato (Ipomea batatas) is considered a versatile food crop owing to its robust adaptability to diverse soil conditions and environmental conditions. In Vanuatu sweetpotato is a significant food security crop that smallholder farmers cultivated within traditional cropping system. Within the national and local context, sweetpotato has played a significant role as recovery crop that supports the farmers and increasing urban population buffer against food scarcity during the aftermath of natural disasters. The research reported in this thesis examined and explored how kumala (sweetpotato) contributed to smallholder farmers livelihood and enhanced food and nutrition security. The aim of the study was to understand the significant role of kumala within the traditional food system and draws on smallholder farmers perspectives. Storian is the overarching cultural approach that underpinned the research process in this study, supported with the use of qualitative methods of collecting data these included, semi structure interviews, secondary data, and field observation. Subsequently the data collected through the interviews and storian were analysed using qualitative data analysis. The research study was carried out in Tanna Island, a society with stronghold of traditions and cultural activities that are interwoven in the livelihood of smallholder farmers influencing the farmers perception on the production of kumala. This research highlights kumala is a favoured food security and recovery crop featured as response to recovery program. Kumala has a role in the traditional food system which is enhanced by existing social and cultural ties. The study put forward a critical perspective on leveraging on short term resilient crops that emerge through strengthening and revitalize the role of kumala within the local food system can strengthen household resilience and enhance food security for smallholder farmers.Item Impacts of shocks and coping strategies of vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 pandemic : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agriculture and Rural Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-11-22) Rathnayake, Sanduni Anuththara KumariOver time, smallholders in developing countries, including those in Sri Lanka, face a variety of shocks and develop coping strategies in response. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a novel shock to many farm households in developing countries, often negatively impacting their livelihoods. This exploratory qualitative case study provides a comprehensive study on the impact of the pandemic on Sri Lankan smallholder vegetable farm households and their coping strategies. Data were collected from vegetable farm households and key informants in Nuwaraeliya and Kandy districts, mainly using the interview method and data were analysed qualitatively. Vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka faced multiple, diverse shocks characterised by cumulative, consecutive, interrelated, and ongoing events during the pandemic. This mix of shocks resulted in various impacts on vegetable farm households, but the common outcome on all households was f inancial due, in the main, to increased household costs and decreased household income. Farm households that predominantly depended on income from vegetable selling and farm households that produced only specialised types of vegetables for specialised markets were more adversely affected than others. Smallholder vegetable farm households were diverse in circumstances, production and marketing systems, household capitals, reliance on vegetables as an income source and livelihood activity. At any point in time different strategies related to production, marketing and financial hardships were being used by farm households to respond to the impacts of shocks they experienced. However, there was no consistent mix of strategies. The poorest continued to borrow, while others relied on savings and assets and then started to borrow when resources were depleted. How similar strategies were implemented varied across households depending on the social networks of households. While acknowledging the benefit of diversification for farm households during shocks, this study also illustrates that diversification does not guarantee that it will support farm households in buffering the impacts during a wide-scale shock that extends over a long period. However, market diversification supports farm households to buffer the impacts of shocks with broad-scale impacts. This study also identified the significance of individual household members’ personal characteristics such as motivation and enthusiasm in developing strategies and argues for including this attribute in human capital in the sustainable livelihood framework. Research insights strongly suggest that interventions intended to support farm households in buffering the impacts of shocks need to focus on the household level, prioritising the poorest of the poor while remaining open to addressing the needs of other farm households who might be wealthier but adversely affected by shocks. Providing direct financial support and implementing different financial services to accommodate the varied circumstances of farm households will benefit them during shocks. Interventions to build household and local community resilience will safeguard farm households as it will exclude the risk of overreliance on external government support.Item Smallholder dairy farmers participation in milk markets in Sri Lanka : a livelihood analysis : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agriculture and Rural Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Thenuwara Acharige, NadeeshaCommercial dairy farming is regarded as a promising mechanism through which rural poverty can be alleviated in Sri Lanka, and in many other developing countries around the world. The Sri Lankan Government has implemented and supported multiple dairy development programmes since 2010 aimed at strengthening smallholder dairy farmers and enhancing their participation in the formal milk market. Previous research has examined different aspects of smallholder dairying, including production practices, milk market participation and the impact of commercial dairying on livelihoods. So far, smallholder market participation studies have shown mixed results with the benefits of market participation seeming to favour some smallholder farmers over others. Little research, in either Sri Lanka or other developing countries, has explored in-depth smallholders’ dairy commercial activities in relation to the multiple livelihood activities farmers pursue and their overall asset portfolio. Using a livelihoods lens and the concept of livelihood pathways, this study extends knowledge of how smallholders engage in both formal and informal commercial dairying and why they engage in the way they do. Uniquely this is explored both at one point in time and over smallholders dairying history. In addition, this study adds to knowledge on the significance of commercial dairying in smallholders’ livelihoods. Smallholders’ milk selling varied in terms of regularity of selling throughout the year, consistency of volume sold, and type of market participated in the most. Differences across informal and formal milk markets, diversity of smallholders’ circumstances and livelihood factors shaped three distinct patterns of milk production and selling. Smallholders endowed with a high level of all five assets, with diversified income activities including multiple stable income sources and a weak adherence to traditional social norms, participated in milk markets regularly, delivering relatively large, consistent volumes of milk. These smallholders dominated both formal and informal markets and their overall commercial dairy trajectories were relatively stable over time. In contrast, resource-constrained smallholders had the least diversified portfolio with seasonal livelihood activities and a strong adherence to social norms, sold milk irregularly in the market. The volumes they delivered to the market were low and variable, and they relied heavily on informal selling. These smallholders’ dairy trajectories were vulnerable, they were locked-in to low production and low-volume selling and were characterised by a lack of resilience in the face of unexpected shocks. Those smallholders falling in between the well off and poorly endowed smallholders showed a higher level of diversity in milk-market participation when their selling pattern was examined within a year. Half of middle smallholders delivered the majority of milk to the formal market regularly, in large and consistent volumes, while the other half sold milk seasonally, in low and variable volumes, mostly to the informal market. Moderately resource-endowed smallholders had fluctuating commercial dairy trajectories which are relatively more dynamic than the stable and vulnerable trajectories in terms of production and selling. They are the smallholders who frequently move between the formal and informal markets. In general, fluctuating trajectories are marked by a moderate amount of formal market participation, as well as a moderate level of regularity and consistency in selling volumes. The comprehension of moderately endowed smallholders cannot be grasped by examining a static form of their commercial dairying, as this study has demonstrated. This research highlights that synergy across five asset types, and complementarity between livelihood activities, increases livelihood resilience and facilitates smallholder milk-market participation. In Sri Lanka social norms influence market participation by shaping how smallholders use dairy-related assets and the priority they place on the selling of milk relative to other social and cultural functions. This research showed that resource-endowed smallholders were less dependent on milk-selling as they had other stable income sources for living. However, milk-selling was highly significant for resource-constrained smallholders due to the uncertainty of their income sources. Based on key findings, this research argues that development policies related to dairy commercialization need to account for the diversity of smallholder dairy farmers. Likewise, linking smallholders to the formal market may require different interventions aimed at changing the individual farmer’s attitudes and values related to dairying and making them capable of dealing with formal institutions in the formal market by supporting the enhancement of their overall asset portfolio. Finally, this study emphasises the importance of taking into account context-specific factors such as dairying cultural embeddedness, the availability of multiple markets, and smallholder dairy trajectories when developing policies and development interventions aimed at reducing poverty through increased milk market participation.Item Improving shallot (Allium cepa Aggregatum group) production in acidic soils in West Java, Indonesia : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy of Gina Aliya Sopha in Horticulture at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Sopha, Gina AliyaIn the West Java region, Indonesia, the wide range of shallot (Allium cepa) bulb yields suggests that there is potential for productivity improvements, especially for smallholder farmers. This study, which involved a farmer and soil fertility survey, two field trials and a laboratory incubation study, aimed to improve the shallot productivity of smallholder farmers. The survey, conducted in four districts of West Java, identified that the Pacet District had the lowest average bulb yield of 5.4 t ha⁻¹ and also had a wide range of yields (2.3 to 11.8 t ha⁻¹). The two common soil fertility constraints were very low soil pH and low available soil phosphorus (P). The first field trial aimed to determine the optimal P fertiliser rates, when rates of up to 1 tonne of lime ha⁻¹ were applied, for three different farm sites in the Pacet District. These sites had strongly acidic soils with constraining exchangeable Al³⁺ and available soil P levels. The second field trial aimed to determine the response of shallot bulb yield to P fertiliser once exchangeable Al³⁺ had been decreased to a low level using high rates of lime. This field trial used a single farm site with a very low soil pHH₂O of 4.1, a high exchangeable Al³⁺ of 1.9 cmol (+) kg⁻¹ and a low Bray1-P of 10 mg P kg⁻¹. The incubation experiment assessed the effect of a range of liming materials, as well as rice husk biochar and zeolite, on soil pH, exchangeable Al³⁺ and cation exchange capacity (CEC). This study quantified the benefits of improved lime and P fertiliser practices and identified constraints to their implementation. Farmers should aim to ensure that soil exchangeable Al³⁺ levels are maintained < 0.5 cmol (+) kg⁻¹, which will be at soil pH levels of approximately > 4.7. Monitoring soil P status through soil testing and achieving Bray1-P levels above 28 kg ha⁻¹ also improves the likelihood of achieving high yields. Very good financial returns can be achieved from high yielding shallot crops; however, farmers need better access to the services of agricultural field officers to conduct and interpret soil tests.Item Value chain integration for rural co-operatives : comparative analysis in the rice sector in Sri Lanka : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agribusiness at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Fernando, Prageeth SanjayaAgri-food industry is transforming in developing countries due to trade liberalisation, globalisation and urbanisation trends. As a result, linking smallholder farmers to modern markets has been a concern among scholars, development agencies and policymakers. Although the transformation in agri-food industry has created many opportunities for smallholder farmers to elevate their income and welfare, they are confronted with many challenges such as poor access to technology, information, inputs, credits, and value-adding services. In this context; co-operatives are recognised to play an important role in improving smallholder farmers' market access. There is an ample amount of literature that discusses the advantages co-operatives are providing to their members/smallholder farmers. Most recent studies on co-operatives have compared members to non-members in terms of benefits and performance. Nevertheless, member benefits and performance of vertically integrated co-operatives gain less attention despite their importance. Vertically integrated co-operatives perform a range of activities related to supply of inputs, services and market information. Yet, there is scant information on how co-operatives' vertical integration benefits their members/smallholder farmers. This study aims to analyse and compare member benefits and performance of co-operatives vertically integrated into two levels: partially and fully integrated co-operatives. In particular, this study addresses whether there are better performance and members' benefits in fully integrated co-operatives than partially integrated co-operatives. This study was conducted in one of the main rice-producing provinces in Sri Lanka using a mixed-methods approach. Co-operatives involved in rice business activities in the province were studied and divided based on their level of vertical integration: partially or fully integrated. Partially integrated co-operatives centrally control some of the successive activities of a value chain (supply of inputs, provision of services and information, production, and assembling and marketing of primary products). Fully integrated co-operatives centrally control all the successive activities of a value chain (supply of inputs, provision of services and information, production, assembling and marketing of primary products, processing, wholesaling, and retailing). Cross-case comparisons of interview data complemented with financial data revealed that co-operatives' financial performance was not significantly different between partially and fully integrated co-operatives and was comparably unsatisfactory at both levels. Further, the financial performance of co-operatives was affected by their governance, managerial, technical and financial attributes. Survey data of 307 rice farmers were used to analyse and compare member-perceived benefits and performance between partially and fully integrated co-operatives. Exploratory factor analysis of data revealed five key areas of benefits: business and financial, livelihood, technology and information, low-cost inputs, and democratic control and education. It was found that business and financial, and technology and information benefits, were better among members in fully integrated co-operatives. Besides, propensity score matching analysis revealed better profits per kilogram of paddy rice and higher economic profit among members in fully integrated co-operatives. However, the regression analysis results showed varying financial performance among the members of co-operatives depending on their demographic and household, farm, and contextual factors. Findings in this study provided some important theoretical and practical implications. The benefits studied in this research provide directives for managers in formulating rice-related business strategies that are well-aligned with members' interests. Contradictions between members' perceived benefits and their actual financial performance in fully integrated co-operatives suggest a lack of awareness among members about the benefits of value-added activities and emphasise a need for improving member communication and engagement. Policymakers should be encouraged to promote vertically integrated co-operatives and provide training to their managers (including directors) on formulating and executing competitive strategies, good governance, and revisions concurrent to changing market forces.Item Smallholder farmers' agricultural support services system in northern Sri Lanka : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Extension at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Geretharan, ThivaharySmallholder agriculture is argued to be a key driver in the recovery and overall economic growth for rural populations in developing countries. There is little understanding on the agricultural support services accessed by smallholder farmers in the northern Sri Lankan context and what influence their access and why those support services are accessed by farmers. Further, little is known about how various agricultural support service providers are providing services to smallholder farmers in this context and what influence their provision. The research reported in this thesis examined and explored the smallholder farmers’ agricultural support system in the northern context of Sri Lanka. The aim of the study was to contribute to enhancing the provision of support services to smallholder farmers in northern Sri Lanka. A single case study design was employed, and data for the study were collected primarily from semi-structured interviews. Secondary data were gathered from relevant documents. The data collected through interviews and documents were analysed using qualitative data analysis. This research highlights that smallholder farmers are willingly, openly and without distrust engaging in relationships with commercial service providers despite having only limited experience in these types of interactions. Farmers value the standard of service but also seek to supply produce to a commercial trader with a well-recognised reputation. The service providers the farmers interact with are also linked to the particular farm enterprise they are engaged with and farm enterprises are differentiated on gender. The study further found that Government providers with no commercial interests are collaborated with providers with commercial interests associated with their interactions with smallholder farmers. In northern Sri Lanka it appears Government services are in no way seen as competitive with commercial service providers, rather for those commercial service providers who do not or are not in a position to provide certain services provided by Government they link farmers to Government to access these services. This linking to services adds value to the relationship between smallholders and commercial service providers. The insights gained from the study into what support services are accessed by smallholder farmers and why are they accessing and how are agricultural support service providers providing services to smallholder farmers need to be considered when designing policies and development programmes to enhance the support service provision in the northern context as well as other parts of Sri Lanka.Item Saving and social functions of cattle in smallholder livelihoods : a multiple case study of cattle management in NTB, Indonesia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Systems and Environment at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Yanuartati, Baiq Yulfia ElsadewiIn Indonesia and internationally, market-led rural development initiatives seek to transition smallholder farmers from current farming practices to those driven by market requirements. Expected outcomes from these often single product focussed initiatives are often not reached. This is the case in Eastern Indonesia where smallholder cattle farming and beef production is the target of market-led rural development initiatives that have not to date matched expected outcomes. This thesis answers the research question: What shapes smallholder farmers’ management of cattle in NTB Indonesia and why? In so doing the complex dynamics that influence the management of one enterprise that is a part of a multiple interlinked livelihood is illustrated, and the reasons why single enterprise market led initiatives may need to be revised is made clear. The sustainable livelihood framework and concepts of functions and attributes of livelihood assets and activities guided this research. A case study of two social groupings was conducted in the Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) Province, East Indonesia. Primary data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews supported by documents. Data was analysed and interpreted using qualitative data analysis. Management of cattle by smallholders constituted decisions around ownership, care, buying, selling, and retaining of cattle, along with nutrition, healthcare, and mating. Smallholder management was dominated by cattle being primarily viewed as a form of saving rather than a source of household food or income. Cattle fulfilled a complementary function to other smallholder enterprises and household needs and were also significantly shaped by the significance of cattle to social and cultural norms that differ in nuanced ways across social groups living in the same location. The drivers for cattle management were not primarily market-led and the market dynamics around cattle reflected and reinforced the role of cattle in smallholders’ livelihoods. How smallholders manage an asset or an activity is evidenced in this research to be shaped by not only the function fulfilled by that asset, but also by that asset’s relationship to other assets and their functions in the livelihood. This research argues that market-led initiatives that focus on a single enterprise will continue to fall short until greater consideration as to the place of that enterprise in smallholders’ livelihood is considered in designing and implementing initiatives.Item Development of a rapid liquid freezer : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Technology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Morel, JolinSmall sheep dairy farms often make insufficient volumes of milk for economic daily collection and are limited by transport distances to processors. A method of long-term on-farm storage of milk would enable the industry to grow. Freezing would allow extended milk storage on farms. But existing methods of freezing for on-farm applications have shortcomings around materials handling, labour requirements and product quality. The project reported in this thesis aimed to develop the engineering science behind an economically viable freezing method that would improve on current methods. The first period of this project focused on two freezer designs which were thought to be promising: Rolling Droplet Freezing (RDF) and Falling-Film Flake freezing (FFF). RDF was selected as the initial focus of the research program and consisted of a system where droplets of milk would roll down an angled super-hydrophobic surface against a cold air flow and freeze. RDF was abandoned due to concerns about construction costs and operating reliability. In a condensing atmosphere, droplets rolling on superhydrophobic surfaces occasionally transitioned from a Cassie-Baxter wetting state to a Wenzel wetting state, which caused the droplets to stick. FFF was then developed further. A pilot scale unit was designed and constructed, and preliminary pilot-scale trials that were conducted with pure water and ovine milk reconstituted from powder. The partition coefficient of FFF was measured as 0.946 at an operating temperature of -30°C. At higher operating temperatures the partition coefficient was reduced. Detaching frozen solids by applying a burst of heat to the freezer/ice interface was studied and this method of detachment was successful with pure water, but ineffective for ovine milk. The development of FFF was put on hold with the conception and development of the continuous tubular freezer. Ice formed in a solution can show morphologies ranging from highly dendritic structures with entrapped solutes, which are homogenous on a gross scale, to large crystals of pure ice with solutes rejected and compressed into inter-crystalline spaces. To investigate which sheep milk components influence ice morphology at various freezing rates, whole milk was separated into skim milk and into a casein-free serum phase. A simulated sheep milk ultrafiltrate was also prepared. The morphology of the ice/sample interface was observed in a custom-built microscope stage at freezing front velocities from <0.5 μms⁻¹ to 50 µms⁻¹ with a spatial temperature gradient of 35-38 Kcm⁻¹. The morphology arising from extremely rapid freezing front velocities was investigated by supercooling slides on a temperature-controlled stage and observing the nucleation and recalescence of the samples. The morphology of ice at the interface changed from a planar to columnar and then to dendritic as freezing front velocity increased, with the transitions from one morphology to another occurring at lower speeds in more complicated solutions. A map of freezing front behaviours was developed. The transition between interface morphologies was at different velocities and transition differed based upon the interface velocity. At lower interface velocities a columnar interface grew directly from a planar starting condition. At higher velocities an intermediate dendritic zone formed, which then settled into a columnar interface. The ice formed by rapid freezing from subcooled solutions was highly dendritic, with ice growth rates of approximately 21,000 μms⁻¹, which was close to the diffusion-limited ice growth rate in water of similar degrees of supercooling. The morphology of frozen ovine milk was also studied by Cryogenic Scanning Electron Microscopy (Cryo-SEM): Milk was frozen by three different methods-slow quiescent freezing (SF), rapid directional freezing (DF), and droplet freezing in LN₂. Ice crystals rejected unfrozen solids into the region between crystals in all samples, including those frozen by immersion into liquid nitrogen. There was a distinct difference in morphology between the SF and DF samples, with the bands of unfrozen solids being significantly smaller in DF samples, and the long axes of ice crystals were aligned with the direction of heat flow. SF samples lacked any particular ice growth direction, and ice crystals were orders of magnitude larger. Lactose crystallisation was observed in some SF samples but was not observed in any DF samples. Fat globules were engulfed in ice crystals in DF samples, but rejected in SF samples. To study the effects of frozen storage temperature and time, samples of raw ovine milk were stored frozen at -10°C, -18°C and -28°C to -30°C for up to 8 weeks. Further samples were stored below -20°C for 6 months. After thawing at 20°C, samples were tested for a range of properties and serum samples were collected by separating the fat phase and micellar casein phase by centrifugation. A gel was observed in milk stored at -10°C for 4 weeks and 8 weeks but was not observed in milk stored at lower temperatures. The gel dispersed under heating and homogenisation. There was no change observed in the pH, or serum protein level of thawed samples after frozen storage at any temperature. The whiteness of the milk decreased during frozen storage and the yellowness increased. Both of these changes were reversed on homogenisation. The serum Ca²⁺ levels in milk stored at -10°C and -18°C dropped over the storage period, while no trend was seen in milk stored below -28°C, indicating that the migration of Ca²⁺ may play a role in the formation of gels after frozen storage. Milk that had been stored below -20°C for 6 months had a similar viscosity and appearance to fresh milk. A possible mechanism for the formation of gels at -10°C, but not -18°C or -28°C lies in the altered solute environment, and the physical agglomeration of milk components in the spaces between ice crystals, driving the gelation of closely packed casein micelles, with Ca²⁺ stabilising this network. It is well established in literature that the viscosity of an unfrozen phase increases by several orders of magnitudes as it decreases in temperature and approaches a glassy state. This increased viscosity reduces protein mobility and solute diffusion, which reduces the rate of gel formation. The tendency for frozen milk particles to bind together during frozen storage was evaluated. Frozen pellets of whole ovine milk were stored under weights at -10°C and -18°C and pellets of frozen concentrated milk stored at -18°C and -28°C. Ovine milk pellets bound together at -10°C but not -18°C, while concentrated milk bound together at -18°C, but not -28°C. This can be linked to the volume and viscosity of the unfrozen phase in these samples. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine the fraction of freezable water frozen at any temperature. The melting onset temperature was observed, and this was used to determine the solids content maximally freeze concentrated solution (𝑋𝑠(𝑇𝑚)). 𝑋𝑠(𝑇𝑚)=0.875 for whole ovine milk 𝑋𝑠(𝑇𝑚)=0.85 for skim milk, and 𝑋𝑠(𝑇𝑚)=0.81 for ovine milk serum. This was also determined for whole ovine milk by the magnitude of the overall latent heat release during melting, which gave a value for whole milk of 𝑋𝑠(𝑇𝑚)=0.85±0.016. A partial phase diagram for ovine milk was generated from the data collected. The insights generated from observing both the dendritic morphology of high velocity ice fronts and progressive freezing behaviour led to conceptualising a novel tubular freezer, subsequently constructed. It was hypothesised that reducing the volume or area of ice in contact with the freezer wall, due to the inclusion of unfrozen product, could reduce the adhesion strength between a frozen product and the freezer wall. By controlling the outlet temperature, the volume fraction of unfrozen product could be controlled. The adhesion strength could thereby be controlled, and a set of operating conditions could be found that would allow a mostly frozen product to be extruded as a solid from a cooled tube by a high-pressure pump. This was tested on a benchtop scale (up to 5mL/minute, with a freezer internal diameter of 4.2mm and cooled length of 500mm), with ovine milk, fruit juice, fruit pulp, concentrated coffee, bovine cream and concentrated milks. The system successfully froze all samples. The operating pressure was found to increase with increased frozen fraction, and therefore with decreased operating temperature. The ice morphology of milk and juice frozen by this equipment was imaged by cryo-SEM and by optical microscopy. The ice crystals were radially aligned, increasing in size closer to the centre of the frozen product plug, which was expected due to the heat flows and the relationship between freezing front velocity and feature sizing. This positive preliminary result led to the construction of a larger scale prototype unit which consisted of a spiral tube with a length of 5000 mm, and an internal diameter of 10 mm. This was used successfully for a product flowrate of approximately 6 kghr⁻¹.Item Upgrading options for Myanmar fresh ginger value chains : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AgriCommerce, School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Manawatu Campus, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Phoo, PhooThe agriculture sector plays a significant role in the economy of Myanmar and contributes 32% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The current extent of the agriculture area in Myanmar is approximately 12 million hectares, occupying 18% of total cultivated land resources. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc) is one of the export crops in Myanmar with the annual production volume of 66,085 tons from an approximate cultivation area of 4,985 hectares. It is grown by smallholder farmers and offers major economic opportunity for more than 6,000 households in the Southern Shan State of Myanmar. Myanmar ginger production is only 3% of the total world ginger production. Although world demand for ginger is growing, exports from Myanmar are declining with 60 % of production has to be exported to low price regional markets with unstable demand and volatile prices. Hence, Myanmar needs to find out how to upgrade the fresh ginger value chains to export to high price markets such as the USA and the EU. This current study aims for a better understanding of the existing Myanmar fresh ginger value chain from production to end markets in overseas. Therefore, the present study investigated the constraints and opportunities of current Myanmar fresh ginger value chains along with identifying the upgrading options. Data from primary and secondary sources were used in this study by using a qualitative approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, mailed questionnaires and document collection methods. Being a non-priority crop in Myanmar, the ginger sector has been paid little attention by the Government and hence, very limited research and development on the Myanmar ginger sector has been conducted. In order to export fresh ginger to high price markets, Global-GAP or organic certificates are required. The major constraints faced by the ginger value chain actors for achieving those certificates are found to be the long-term use of chemical herbicides and lack of technical awareness of integrated pests and disease management protocol. Apart from that, the present status of harvesting and post-harvest handling practices is also a constraint for achieving those certificates. An unreliable export market, high price volatility and cashflow constraints are major limitations faced by the value chain actors. Exchange rate volatility is a key constraint faced by exporters. Cold chain facilities and limited access to international banks, are both major issues for exporting Myanmar fresh ginger to high price markets. Introduction of appropriate financial market based instruments to overcome cashflow constraints would encourage farmers to adopt better production practices and timing of harvest. Additionally, the government participation in multi-disciplinary research, along with NGO support in the ginger sector, is found to be essential for upgrading the fresh ginger value chain in Myanmar. Increased collaboration between the public and private sectors, such as improvement of logistic facilities in the country, is recommended to improve the Myanmar fresh ginger sector. Such collaboration should assist in the aim for effective exports to the high price and reliable markets in the near future.Item The geography of small rural farmlets : a case study of the Hawkes Bay rural 'B' zone : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master in Arts in Geography at Massey University(Massey University, 1978) Seator, Murray JohnA major problem confronting geographers and town planners today, is the outward expansion of urban areas onto good agricultural land. One factor emerging from the impact of urban expansion on rural land, is the development of a number of small size farmlets on the rural/urban interface. Most of the available literature on this topic is American and is based to some extent on von Thunen 'rings' of land-use around an urban area. This study is based in the Hawkes Bay Rural 'B' Zone - an area surrounding the expanding urban centres of Napier and Hastings and refers to small rural farmlets between 0.8 and 10.0 hectares in area. It was found that 1984 small rural farmlets exist on the 34 400 hectare study area. From this a 20 percent random sample amounting to 392 farmlets was made and a questionnaire relating to the geography of these farmlets drawn up and sent to the sample. The study looked at the social geography of the farmlets, their occupiers, as well as at land-use activities and patterns. It was found that the smaller size properties were located nearer to the urban areas than their larger counter-parts and that the majority of farmlets are located around the periphery of the urban areas. Analysis showed that those living on the farmlets enjoy the same day-to-day services and facilities of their urban counterparts but also enjoy the benefits associated with living in a rural environment even though they do incur higher transport costs than those living in urban areas. Only 20 per cent of those living on their farmlets earned their living working their farmlets full-time. The majority of the others had occupations unrelated to their farmlets, in the urban centres and were classified as part-time farmers. Even so, it was noted that a wide variety of land-uses was undertaken on the farmlets. A table of intensity of land use was drawn up. From this it was found that although the intensity of use was greater than other areas studied in New Zealand, (Manawatu - Chiu, 1975 and Taupo - Crawford, 1977) there was still a reduction in intensity for the rural 'B' zone. Intensity of use was found to be related to the size of farmlet and the occupation of the farmlet owner. From this a pattern of land-use was noted. Finally it was concluded that a new phenomenon in land ownership in the Hawkes Bay is occuring; one of 'rural-urbanization'.