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    Economic viability of yield monitoring systems in potato farming : a comparative study between New Zealand and India : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agribusiness at Massey University, School of Agriculture and Environment, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025) Kodali, Praneeth Rayudu
    India is one of the largest global producers of potatoes by volume. At the same time, New Zealand, with its significantly smaller land area and farming population, consistently achieves higher yields, better produce quality, and greater per-hectare productivity. This study investigates the economic viability of adopting Yield Monitoring Systems (YMS) in potato farming across both countries to determine whether such precision agriculture technologies can enhance profitability and efficiency in India. The research draws on secondary data from official sources, including Potato New Zealand and the Government of India, covering regional potato yields in Canterbury, Pukekohe, and Manawatu (NZ), and six Indian states. Using economic evaluation metrics—Return on Investment (ROI), Payback Period (PP), and Cost-Benefit Ratio (CBR)—the study compares outcomes across two adoption models: individual farmer-based adoption and service-based adoption via contractors or Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Findings reveal that while YMS significantly improves farm-level profitability and efficiency in New Zealand due to larger landholdings and advanced mechanisation, direct replication of this model in India is economically unfeasible for smallholder farmers. The high initial investment, lack of economies of scale, post-harvest losses, and limited access to institutional credit act as significant barriers. The study concludes that for YMS to be viable in India, adaptation is essential—either through modular integration of YMS into existing machinery or via collective access through FPOs and Custom Hiring Centres. This comparative analysis offers a pathway for scalable YMS adoption in India, promoting precision agriculture not by direct transfer but through context-specific adaptation, institutional support, and strategic policy reallocation.
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    A study of the group farm labour scheme movement in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in the University of New Zealand, Massey Agricultural College
    (Massey University, 1957) Beattie, Ian Cowan
    In New Zealand, the farm labour situation is somewhat unique in that one labour unit can care for a comparatively large amount of stock and land. The amount of non-family labour involved is small and a considerable proportion of farmers do not have any assistance. Although the need for general assistance is not very great, there has proved to be a need for assistance of a specialised type, involving short periods of work by employees of very good quality, and the concept of group employment of farm labour has risen from this need. The earliest instance which has been traced of group employment of farm labour occurred in the Warkworth (North Auckland) branch of Federated Farmers in 1945. Single men were then employed by that branch to be available to members, but the organisation later came to grief. In 1947, at Sanson, near Palmerston North, the local branch of' Federated Farmers started a similar organisation at the instigation of a Mr. C. Eglinton, of Sanson, R. D. This organisation, initially a loose arrangement whereby one man would work on the farms of members for short periods, was developed by Mr. Eglinton into well organised arrangement with three married employees of the branch, available to all members, living in specially built state houses. These houses were opened by the then Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Mr. Cullen, and it was appropriate that the occasion was marked by some ceremony for this later proved to have been the inauguration of the first of a large number of successful group farm labour schemes in the Dominion. The schemes, however, did not exist in any large numbers until about 1952 so that only comparatively recent!y have they been of any significance. It was recognised that they repres­ented a new feature on the agricultural scene about which very little was known. The present study is, therefore undertaken in the hope of bringing to light the nature of group employ­ment of farm labour, the extent to which it existed in New Zealand, and the contribution which it made to the farms concerned. In addition, the experiences and advice of exist­ing schemes have been collected together in the hope that this might provide assistance in the setting up of new schemes. [From Introduction]
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    Quantification of the risk associated with the seasonal financing of agricultural production : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Economics, Massey University
    (Massey University, 1992) Veltman, Ron
    Since the abolition of government support policies for both agricultural and financial industries during the early 1980s, participants have had to take direct responsibility for the management of the risks involved in their business activity. As a prerequisite to the development of practical risk management strategies and techniques, quantification of risk is considered by this thesis. A quantification risk index that incorporates both the third and fourth moments of a distribution, thus adding to variance and monotonic transformations, the traditional surrogate risk measures, was developed and applied to sheep and beef farming. The risk index is developed using logit analysis, where risk is directly estimated. Logit analysis was used because it suited the thesis definition of risk. In this thesis, risk is defined as the probability of incurring loss or harm, where loss or harm is defined, in the context of sheep and beef farming, as zero or less than zero 'net cash returns'. Net cash returns are defined as all cash revenues generated by farm production less all farm and farmer expenditures. The index, or probability, is directly estimated given forecast average market prices, effective farm area, total farmer forecast expenditures and island location (North or south). The risk index has been developed for banker application to farm budgets submitted for the purposes of seasonal finance approval. The banker is warned by the index that the proposed farm plan has a high probability of ending in farm insolvency and an inability of the farmer to service all lending in the forthcoming year, solely from farm production. As a consequence of applying the measure to sheep and beef farming, the thesis found that in terms of risk to net cash returns, effective farm area in conjunction with total farmer expenditure is significantly ranked higher than fluctuating market product prices, and that risk trade-offs exist between farm area and expenditures. In a situation of small farm size with relatively high expenditures, optimistic product prices are insufficient to offset the high probability of incurring negative net cash returns.
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    A study of the aggregate supply function of New Zealand wheat : thesis presented in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science and Honours in the University of New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1955) Candler, Wilfred
    The acreage of wheat in New Zealand fluctuates quite markedly from year to year. The acreage grown depends upon economic conditions at the time of planting and certain technical factors. In this thesis an attempt has been made to identify the specific influence of certain of these economic and technical variables. Reducing the discussion to its simplest terms, the aim of this thesis has been to answer such questions as: "What is the effect on wheat acreage of 1d rise in the price of wheat?" or "If the fat lamb schedule next year is 1/3d per lb. , what will the effect on wheat acreage be?" or "Given such and such conditions, what is the best estimate of the acreage which will be sown in wheat?" and 'What conditions are necessary in order that New Zealand should produce 100,000/200,000/300,ooo acres of wheat?" Answers to these questions are useful on two counts. Passively, administrators will wish to forecast domestic production when making arrangements to import wheat; and acreage has a big influence on production. Actively, administrators, or the Government, may wish to influence production and answers to the above questions will tell them the conditions under which this may be done. [From Introduction]
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    The determination of future output from sheep and cattle farms : an investment study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Agricultural Economics and Marketing at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1977) Scott, Michael Edward
    Agricultural supply analysis is concerned with the practical and important problems of explaining historical and predicting future patterns of livestock and crop production. Production at the farm level is the foundation of supply at the regional or national level. Decisions which determine the production of the different agricultural products are made at the individual farm level. The collective results of these decisions are the aggregate supplies which are available for export, local consumption or further processing. The objectives of supply analysis are to answer three questions: Why has production changed in the past? How may aggregate production be expected to change in the future? How may production be expected to respond to alternative controls contemplated by policy makers in Government? In developing countries policy makers need to know what is required to provide sufficient incentive for farmers to expand production. Highly developed countries such as the United States have sometimes suffered from an oversupply of particular products. Policy makers in these countries may need to know how production can be reduced, or diverted to more profitable products.