1. Agrodiversity for Economic Development: What do we know? Part 1: Policy Perspectives 2. Managi... more 1. Agrodiversity for Economic Development: What do we know? Part 1: Policy Perspectives 2. Managing Agricultural Biodiversity for Sustainable Use: Balancing the Benefits in the Field 3. Do we have an Adequate Global Strategy for Securing the Biodiversity of Major Food Crops? 4. Do We Need Crop Landraces for the Future? Realizing the global option value of in situ conservation 5. Marketing Underutilized Plant Species for the Poor: A Conceptual Framework 6. Non-Market Institutions for Agrobiodiversity Conservation 7. Development, Intensification and the Conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources Part 2: Multiple Objectives, Trade Offs and Synergies between Productivity and Agrobiodiversity 8. Biodiversity Conservation and Productivity in Intensive Agricultural Systems 9. Pricing Agrobiodiversity: A Stochastic Approach to Model Environmental Efficiency 10. Diversity, Productivity and Resilience in Agro-Ecosystems: An Example from Cereal Production in Southern Italy 11. The Role of C...
Breeding for resistance to rust diseases in wheat is an example of productivity maintenance resea... more Breeding for resistance to rust diseases in wheat is an example of productivity maintenance research. Productivity maintenance research is necessary to avoid contractions in the wheat supply curve that result from changes in the biological or physical environment. In this study, the benefits of incorporating nonspecific resistance to leaf rust caused by Puccinia recondita into modern bread wheats (Triticum aestivum) have been estimated using data on resistance genes identified in cultivars, trial data, and area sown to cultivar in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora State, Mexico. In the most pessimistic scenario, the gross benefits generated in the Yaqui Valley from 1970 to 1990 were 17 million U.S. dollars (in 1994 real terms). Even when costs were overstated and benefits were understated, the internal rate of return on capital invested was 13%, well within the range recommended for use in project evaluations by the World Bank. Substantial economic benefits likely are associated with deploym...
ABSTRACT The development and diffusion of hybrid maize in Zambia since the 1970s is a major achie... more ABSTRACT The development and diffusion of hybrid maize in Zambia since the 1970s is a major achievement in African agriculture, but other than profitability studies, analyses of how this process has affected the economic well-being of smallholder farmers have been few. We test the relationship of hybrid seed use with six indicators of economic well-being. After using the control function/instrumental variables approach to test for the endogeneity of hybrid seed use, we estimate correlated random effects (CRE) fractional response, CRE Tobit, and fixed effects models with a panel of nationally representative data collected in 2002/3 and 2006/7. Findings suggest that use of maize hybrids is associated with higher values of household income, assets, farm and processing equipment, and livestock, and less deprivation compared to other farmers in nearby villages.
1. Agrodiversity for Economic Development: What do we know? Part 1: Policy Perspectives 2. Managi... more 1. Agrodiversity for Economic Development: What do we know? Part 1: Policy Perspectives 2. Managing Agricultural Biodiversity for Sustainable Use: Balancing the Benefits in the Field 3. Do we have an Adequate Global Strategy for Securing the Biodiversity of Major Food Crops? 4. Do We Need Crop Landraces for the Future? Realizing the global option value of in situ conservation 5. Marketing Underutilized Plant Species for the Poor: A Conceptual Framework 6. Non-Market Institutions for Agrobiodiversity Conservation 7. Development, Intensification and the Conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources Part 2: Multiple Objectives, Trade Offs and Synergies between Productivity and Agrobiodiversity 8. Biodiversity Conservation and Productivity in Intensive Agricultural Systems 9. Pricing Agrobiodiversity: A Stochastic Approach to Model Environmental Efficiency 10. Diversity, Productivity and Resilience in Agro-Ecosystems: An Example from Cereal Production in Southern Italy 11. The Role of C...
Breeding for resistance to rust diseases in wheat is an example of productivity maintenance resea... more Breeding for resistance to rust diseases in wheat is an example of productivity maintenance research. Productivity maintenance research is necessary to avoid contractions in the wheat supply curve that result from changes in the biological or physical environment. In this study, the benefits of incorporating nonspecific resistance to leaf rust caused by Puccinia recondita into modern bread wheats (Triticum aestivum) have been estimated using data on resistance genes identified in cultivars, trial data, and area sown to cultivar in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora State, Mexico. In the most pessimistic scenario, the gross benefits generated in the Yaqui Valley from 1970 to 1990 were 17 million U.S. dollars (in 1994 real terms). Even when costs were overstated and benefits were understated, the internal rate of return on capital invested was 13%, well within the range recommended for use in project evaluations by the World Bank. Substantial economic benefits likely are associated with deploym...
ABSTRACT The development and diffusion of hybrid maize in Zambia since the 1970s is a major achie... more ABSTRACT The development and diffusion of hybrid maize in Zambia since the 1970s is a major achievement in African agriculture, but other than profitability studies, analyses of how this process has affected the economic well-being of smallholder farmers have been few. We test the relationship of hybrid seed use with six indicators of economic well-being. After using the control function/instrumental variables approach to test for the endogeneity of hybrid seed use, we estimate correlated random effects (CRE) fractional response, CRE Tobit, and fixed effects models with a panel of nationally representative data collected in 2002/3 and 2006/7. Findings suggest that use of maize hybrids is associated with higher values of household income, assets, farm and processing equipment, and livestock, and less deprivation compared to other farmers in nearby villages.
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