PD/A CRSP Profile--Upton Hatch
by Matt Niles
As first reported in the Fall 1999 issue of Aquanews, Upton Hatch is Project Leader for "Rapid economic evaluation tools," a Ninth Work Plan Marketing and Economic Analysis study. This project is Hatch’s first as CRSP Project Leader, but he was a co-Principal Investigator on an Eighth Work Plan Adoption/Diffusion study entitled "The influence of fish culture technology, extension methodology, and socioeconomics on success of fish culture on limited-resource farms."
The economics of aquaculture has been a focus of Hatch's research since he arrived at Auburn University in 1982. His current project will use fish production data collected by the CRSP in Honduras for the past ten years, along with local input and fish prices to develop tools to enable a rapid determination of whether a particular tilapia production strategy is likely to be profitable, easy to implement, and associated with acceptable levels of risk.
According to Hatch, the rapid economic evaluation tools are intended to give extension agents and researchers an idea of the economic incentives associated with a particular production practice. For example, the tools might show that a particular treatment could involve prohibitive labor costs or require nutrients that are not readily available or of a quality that doesn’t meet research standards.
According to Hatch, "through interactive use of the tool, it is hoped that the researcher can devise research that better responds to actual growing conditions and has some greater likelihood of being used."
In addition to his Ninth Work Plan CRSP work, Hatch has recently been on a sabbatical with NASA focusing on the use of remote sensing technology in agriculture, which might someday prove useful in monitoring pond quality and fish biomass.
Hatch believes that the economics of aquaculture is a very important part of PD/A CRSP research efforts. As his current project illustrates, Hatch feels that a great potential now exists to emphasize the economic implications of CRSP research by utilizing the groundwork laid by past CRSP researchers. Hatch also believes strongly in interdisciplinary research and extension: "It's more difficult, but it's almost always the case that real-world problems know no disciplinary boundaries. I've always felt that it would be useful to have at least a couple of the treatments that researchers use in their experiments approximate commercial or indigenous practices. This way you can look at the gap between what researchers feel is the best way to culture a species [and] the way many producers are actually doing it. Why do they stock, feed, aerate, exchange differently than pure research might suggest?" Hatch suggests that such research design might also help extension workers come up with ways to encourage farmers to adopt more productive strategies, even if their practices are still far from "optimal."
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The Aquaculture CRSP is funded under USAID Grant No. LAG-G-00-96-90015-00
and by
the participating US and Host Country institutions.
Questions for or about the Aquaculture CRSP? Comments about this site? Please visit the FAQ page or email us at ACRSP@oregonstate.edu.
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PD/A CRSP Profile--Upton Hatch
by Matt Niles
As first reported in the Fall 1999 issue of Aquanews, Upton Hatch is Project Leader for "Rapid economic evaluation tools," a Ninth Work Plan Marketing and Economic Analysis study. This project is Hatch’s first as CRSP Project Leader, but he was a co-Principal Investigator on an Eighth Work Plan Adoption/Diffusion study entitled "The influence of fish culture technology, extension methodology, and socioeconomics on success of fish culture on limited-resource farms."
The economics of aquaculture has been a focus of Hatch's research since he arrived at Auburn University in 1982. His current project will use fish production data collected by the CRSP in Honduras for the past ten years, along with local input and fish prices to develop tools to enable a rapid determination of whether a particular tilapia production strategy is likely to be profitable, easy to implement, and associated with acceptable levels of risk.
According to Hatch, the rapid economic evaluation tools are intended to give extension agents and researchers an idea of the economic incentives associated with a particular production practice. For example, the tools might show that a particular treatment could involve prohibitive labor costs or require nutrients that are not readily available or of a quality that doesn’t meet research standards.
According to Hatch, "through interactive use of the tool, it is hoped that the researcher can devise research that better responds to actual growing conditions and has some greater likelihood of being used."
In addition to his Ninth Work Plan CRSP work, Hatch has recently been on a sabbatical with NASA focusing on the use of remote sensing technology in agriculture, which might someday prove useful in monitoring pond quality and fish biomass.
Hatch believes that the economics of aquaculture is a very important part of PD/A CRSP research efforts. As his current project illustrates, Hatch feels that a great potential now exists to emphasize the economic implications of CRSP research by utilizing the groundwork laid by past CRSP researchers. Hatch also believes strongly in interdisciplinary research and extension: "It's more difficult, but it's almost always the case that real-world problems know no disciplinary boundaries. I've always felt that it would be useful to have at least a couple of the treatments that researchers use in their experiments approximate commercial or indigenous practices. This way you can look at the gap between what researchers feel is the best way to culture a species [and] the way many producers are actually doing it. Why do they stock, feed, aerate, exchange differently than pure research might suggest?" Hatch suggests that such research design might also help extension workers come up with ways to encourage farmers to adopt more productive strategies, even if their practices are still far from "optimal."
| Previous Page | Contents | |
| CRSP homepage |
| The Aquaculture CRSP is funded under USAID Grant No. LAG-G-00-96-90015-00
and by
the participating US and Host Country institutions.
Questions for or about the Aquaculture CRSP? Comments about this site? Please visit the FAQ page or email us at ACRSP@oregonstate.edu.
Disclaimers |