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Abstract
This paper presents a methodology for measuring economic viability and agricultural
sustainability for new technology evaluation. The approach is based on the concept of interspatial and
intertemporal total factor productivity, paying particular attention to the valuation of natural resource
stocks and flows. Using a set of data available at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the
model is demonstrated by computing the intertemporal and interspatial total factor productivity indices
for four cropping systems in southwestern Nigeria. Results show that the sustainability and economic
viability measures are sensitive to changes in the stock of nutrients as well as to changes in material input
uses and outputs. When common property resource flows are important, the measures provide markedly
different results from conventional total factor productivity approaches.