Potential Impacts of Bt Eggplant on Economic Surplus and Farmers Health in India

In this article, the potential impacts of Bt eggplant technology in Indian agriculture are analyzed. Several proprietary Bt hybrids are likely to be commercialized in the near future. Based on field trial data, it is shown that the technology can significantly reduce insecticide applications and increase effective yields. Comprehensive farm survey data are used to project farm level effects and future adoption rates. Simulations show that the aggregate economic surplus gains of Bt hybrids could be around US $108 million per year. Consumers will capture a large share of these gains, but farmers and the innovating company will benefit too. As the company has also shared its technology with the public sector, Bt open-pollinated varieties might become available with a certain time lag. This would make the technology more accessible, especially for resource-poor farmers, entailing further improvements in welfare and distribution effects. The wider implications of the private-public technology transfer are discussed. Furthermore, the potential benefits for farmers' health resulting from reduced insecticide applications are examined, using an econometric model and a cost of illness approach. These benefits are worth an additional$3-4 million per year. Yet they only constitute a small fraction of the technology's environmental and health externalities. More research is needed for comprehensive impact analysis.Biotechnology, Bt eggplant, Economic surplus, Health costs, Pesticides, Public-private partnership, Health Economics and Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Estimating the Adoption of Bt Eggplant in India: Who Benefits from Public-Private Partnership?

The study analyzes ex-ante the adoption of insect resistant Bt eggplant in India. Farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) is estimated using the contingent valuation method. Given the economic importance of insect pests, the average WTP for proprietary Bt hybrids is more than four times the current price of conventional hybrids. Since the private innovating firm has shared its technology with the public sector, it is likely that public open-pollinated Bt varieties will also be released after a small delay. This will reduce farmers' WTP for Bt hybrids by 35%, thus decreasing the scope for corporate pricing policies. Nonetheless, ample profit potential remains. Analysis of factors influencing farmers' adoption decisions demonstrates that public Bt varieties will improve technology access for resource-poor eggplant producers. The results suggest that public-private partnership can be beneficial for all parties involved.Public-private partnership, biotechnology, Bt eggplant, adoption, willingness to pay, India, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Pesticide Reduction Sustainability of Bt Technology in India

The primary focus of the study is the changes that occurred in the pesticide-use structure of cotton production sector of India, owing to the diffusion of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) technology. Studies from different countries show that transgenic Bt crops can reduce chemical pesticide use with positive economic, environmental, and health effects. However, most of these studies build on cross-section survey data, so that longer term effects are uncertain. Bt resistance and secondary pest outbreaks may potentially reduce or eliminate the benefits over time, especially in developing countries where refuge strategies are often not implemented. Here, data from a unique panel survey of cotton farmers, conducted in India between 2002 and 2008, show that the Bt pesticide reducing effect has been sustainable. In spite of an increase in pesticide sprays against secondary pests, total pesticide use has decreased significantly over time. Bt has also reduced pesticide applications by non-Bt farmers. These results mitigate the concern that Bt technology would soon become obsolete in small farmer environments. The survey data on actual pesticide use in farmers’ fields complement previous entomological research.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Economic and Environmental Potentials of Conservation Agriculture in the Traditional Maize Farming Systems of India

Maize ranks among the most prominent crops of rainfed farming systems in India, grown under traditional farming practices. The major constraints in these farming systems include soil degradation, active erosion in sloping areas, poor-quality seeds, expensive and unreliable fertilizer supplies, labour shortages, competing uses for crop residues and animal manures, poor quality feeds and lack of efficient value chains. The overall goal of the paper is, hence, set to review the trends in rainfed maize production and report the potentials of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in sustaining the economy and ecology of maize farming system of rainfed areas of India

Economic and Environmental Potentials of Conservation Agriculture in the Traditional Maize Farming Systems of India

Maize ranks among the most prominent crops of rainfed farming systems in India, grown under traditional farming practices. The major constraints in these farming systems include soil degradation, active erosion in sloping areas, poor-quality seeds, expensive and unreliable fertilizer supplies, labour shortages, competing uses for crop residues and animal manures, poor quality feeds and lack of efficient value chains. The overall goal of the paper is, hence, set to review the trends in rainfed maize production and report the potentials of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in sustaining the economy and ecology of maize farming system of rainfed areas of India

Gender, caste, and heterogeneous farmer preferences for wheat varietal traits in rural India

germplasm for the benefit of farmers and consumers of the Global South during and after the Green Revolution. Understanding farmers’ heterogeneous preferences for varietal traits in different market segments and incorporating the prominent ones in crop breeding programs are expected to facilitate a faster diffusion of these new varieties. Albeit knowing little about farmers’ trait preferences in South Asia, public-sector breeding programs prioritize yield enhancement and risk reduction over other varietal traits. Against this backdrop, we examined wheat farmers’ preferences for varietal traits in Central India, where the prevailing varietal turnover rate has been meager. We conducted a ranking exercise among 120 individuals, followed by a sex-disaggregated survey with a choice experiment among 420 farm-households in 2019. The lowest varietal turnover rate was observed for the socially marginalized castes. Most women respondents were not actively involved in making decisions related to wheat cultivation, including varietal selection. However, the results indicate that marginalized caste and women farmers are open to experimentation with new varieties, as shown by their positive willingness to pay for improved varietal traits. Across the gender and caste groups, grain quality attributes (especially chapati quality) were ranked high, above the yield-enhancing and risk-ameliorating traits. From the observed patterns, one could deduce that developing and disseminating improved varieties with better grain quality and targeting women and marginalized social groups in varietal dissemination programs could enhance farmer adoption of new, improved germplasm and wheat productivity in Central India

Gender differences in smallholders' socioeconomic networks and acquisition of seed of improved wheat varieties in Ethiopia

Enhancing farmers' access to improved seeds is essential to increase productivity and ensure food security in the Global South. However, for many socially marginalized groups, seed access is constrained by the weak institutions governing the input supply chains and the dissemination of information. Using cross-sectional survey data collected from 1,088 farming households in three major wheat-growing regional states of Ethiopia in 2021, this paper assesses empirically how participation in different socioeconomic institutions by men and women farmers shapes their access to and acquisition of seed of improved wheat varieties. The results show that the seed market in the study area is largely informal, where the recycling of wheat seeds from the previous season is a common practice among both male- and female-headed households. However, a significant difference exists between male- and female-headed households regarding patterns of varietal use, with male farmers growing newer wheat varieties more frequently. Men are also more active than women in local social and economic institutions, and their participation is positively associated with the adoption of new wheat varieties. Thus, strengthening the local social and economic institutions and supporting equitable participation of both male- and female-headed households in these institutions could facilitate the diffusion of quality seeds of improved and recently released wheat varieties in countries where the informal seed system plays a major role in seed acquisition

Estimating compensation payments for on-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity in developing countries.

This paper examines the role of direct compensation payments for agrobiodiversity conservation, using minor millet landraces in India as an example. The cost of farmer participation in a hypothetical 'payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services' (PACS) scheme is estimated using a stated preference valuation approach. Significant inter-crop and inter-varietal differences are observed with respect to consumption values, upon which the compensation demanded by farm households is shown to primarily depend. Drawing on a categorisation of consumption values and farmer preferences, the paper points to the importance of simultaneously considering a range of potential interventions in order to conserve a priority portfolio of agrobiodiverse resources in predominantly subsistence-based agricultural systems

Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts

Rice and wheat production in the intensive, irrigated farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is associated with significant negative environmental and health externalities. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has the potential to curb some of these externalities while enhancing farm income. However, farmer adoption of CA remains modest in the Indian IGP. The present study focuses on the constraints to adopting the major CA component, zero tillage (ZT). We examine whether ZT wheat is feasible for smallholders and the potential of technology targeting to realize faster and wider diffusion. Econometric models and machine learning algorithms were used to analyze remote sensing data and farm household data collected from the Indian states of Punjab and Bihar, two contrasting agrarian economies of the IGP. While farmer adoption was low among smallholders (owning <2 ha of land), the on-farm effects of ZT on variable cost reduction and yield and profit enhancement for smallholders are comparable to large farmers. We estimate the economic potential of technology targeting using an equilibrium displacement model. In the relatively developed state of Punjab, technology targeting based on landholding size does not appear to add substantive economic benefits. In Bihar, a less prosperous state with a dominance of smallholders in the population, technology targeting could markedly enhance economic surplus and reduce rural poverty