Advanta: Worldwide challenges

Includes bibliographical references.Advanta, headquartered in the Netherlands, is the sixth largest seed company in the world. It sells seeds for a broad range of field crops in many different regions. While the company is committed to applying biotechnology in plant breeding, it is faced with many uncertainties due to political reluctance on regulatory decisions and to low public acceptance in Europe

KWS: Going beyond sugar beet

Includes bibliographical references.KWS, a German seed company, is a world market leader in sugar beet seed. The company is looking for expansion into other crops—maize and cereals—and into other regions of the world—Eastern Europe and North America. As KWS expects biotechnology to bring major benefits to its customers, it continues investing in biotechnology research and development (R&D), although it does not expect changes in public acceptance in Europe in the short term

AgrEvo: From crop protection to crop production

AgrEvo is a German producer of crop protection products. In 1995 it made the strategic decision to shift from crop protection to crop production, with the help of biotechnology. It acquired Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), a successful plant biotechnology company, and started a round of acquisitions in the international seed industry. The company soon found out that biotechnology brings many new uncertainties in strategic decision-making.Includes bibliographical reference

Contract Farming in Developing Countries: An overview

This paper presents a review of the literature on contract farming (CF), focusing on recent empirical research on the economic impact of CF. The paper starts with an explanation of the phenomenon of CF, providing definitions, typologies, models and objectives. Using a Transaction Costs Economics framework, the paper explains for which products and market CF seems most suitable. The empirical literature on CF is assessed by answering three questions: Why do smallholders engage in CF? Are smallholders included in or excluded from CF arrangements? What impact does CF have on smallholder income and rural development? Finally, the paper identifies the conditions under which smallholders are most likely to benefit from CF schemes

Dynamics in crop protection, agriculture and the food chain in Europe

Overview on the vital role of plant protection in Europe in maintaining and enhancing the dynamics of agricultural production and the food chain. The report offers an overview of the achievements of more sustainable production methods in European agriculture, and the actions taken by the farming community in response to private market initiatives and public policies. Such actions establish new farming systems. The report offers factual information, as well as analyses to put trends in context

The rise of new farmer cooperatives in China; evidence from Hubei Province

Since the late 1990s, the number of farmer cooperatives in China has rapidly grown. The adoption of the national law on farmer professional cooperatives in 2007 has led to significant governmental support for the establishment and management of farmer professional cooperatives. This paper explores the organizational features of the newly established cooperatives as well as the services they provide to their members. Particular attention is given to the role of local entrepreneurs in grouping farmers and in acquiring support from local and regional state agencies. The paper is based on data about a group of 200 agriculture and aquaculture cooperatives in Hubei Province, central China

Should I make or should I buy? Innovation strategies and governance structures in the Italian food sector

This paper analyses the “make or buy” decision of food firms applied to innovation strategy using 389 Italian food firms data from the Unicredit 2007 database. We develop a set of hypothesis from three theoretical perspectives such as transaction cost economics, strategic management and resource-based view. Our paper aims at highlight whether or not different firm’s features can be linked to the decision to make or buy. We found out that these two decisions are positively interlinked. Moreover we also found out that it is difficult to indicate a clear-cut behaviour for the Italian food firms if we refer to making or buying decisions. We discuss these results and use them to bring some interesting outcomes to discuss managerial implications and/or policy interventions in this highly strategic domain

Zaad- en gewasbeschermingsmiddelenindustrie schuiven in elkaar

Wat zijn de economische effecten van landbouwbiotechnologie? Deze vraag is voor Europa niet eenvoudig te beantwoorden, omdat er nog nauwelijks genetisch gemodificeerde gewassen op de markt zijn