Local seed systems and village-level determinants of millet crop diversity in marginal environments of India:

"In the subsistence-oriented, semi-arid production systems of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, India, the environment is marginal for crop growth and often there is no substitute for millet crops. Across communities, farmers grow thirteen different combinations of pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet, little millet, and foxtail millet varieties, but individual farmers grow an average of only two to three millet varieties per season. The notion of the seed system includes all channels through which farmers acquire genetic materials, outside or in interaction with the commercial seed industry. Data are compiled through household surveys and interviews with traders and dealers in village and district markets. Based on the concept of the seed lot, several characteristics of local seed markets are defined and measured by millet crop, including seed transfer rates for farmer-to-farmer transactions and seed replacement ratios. Most seed transactions appear to be based on money. Seed supply channels differ by improvement status of the genetic material. Econometric results indicate the significance of the seed replacement ratios and seed volumes traded in determining the levels of crop biodiversity managed by communities, in addition to the household, farm and other market-related factors identified by previous studies. These are interpreted as indicators of market strength." Authors' AbstractSeed systems, Crop diversity, Seed industry and trade, genetic variation,

Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa: 'seeds' of success in retrospect

This synthesis revisits the “maize success story” in Sub-Saharan Africa, drawing selectively from an extensive published literature about maize seed technical change and related policies. The review focuses on the countries of Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, where maize is most important in the food economy, and refers to the period when maize became a dominant food crop through the 1990s. The term “success” is equivocal in this case, both because of the difficult of establishing the appropriate counterfactual and because some of the policies that contributed to success in one period later led to decline. While the “seeds” themselves were the result of innovative, successful maize breeding, boom periods in maize production were episodic and the public investments in the controlled markets that bolstered them were not fiscally sustainable. Since maize will remain a crucial part of the food security equation even while the agricultural economies of the region diversify, continued investments in both maize research and market institutions, some of which must be public, are essential. The most vital question, however, is where the domestic political pressure to support these investments will originate an issue related to governance.Maize Africa, Southern., Seeds Technological innovations Africa., Food crops Africa, Eastern Marketing., Markets Prices., Food security Africa., Plant breeding Research., Investment of public funds.,

Institutional Change and Discontinuities in Farmers' Use of Hybrid Maize Seed and Fertilizer in Malawi: Findings from the 1996-97 CIMMYT/ MoALD Survey

This study records the use of hybrid maize seed and fertilizer by small-scale farmers in Malawi, as well as their opinions about these inputs, from 1989-90 through 1996-97. Its main purpose is to determine whether the principal constraint to smallholders� use of maize hybrids is the acceptability of the hybrid maize germplasm or the institutional reforms and policies affecting its use. The study also provides information about a practice that has implications for the impact of seed technologies and seed industries � the recycling of nonconventional hybrids (i.e., saving seed of an F1 hybrid to plant in subsequent seasons). Findings of the most recent farmer survey in 1996-97 demonstrate that the grain quality or yield characteristics of maize hybrids no longer constrain smallholders� use of F1 hybrid seed. Farmers stated almost unanimously that they wanted to grow F1 hybrid seed, but most could not purchase as much seed as they wished. A large number of farmers recycle hybrid seed, which is not surprising, given the early stages of diffusion of hybrid maize in Malawi, the start-stop nature of policies affecting input use, and free seed distributed by the government and NGOs. It may be worthwhile for researchers to investigate prospects for producing hybrids whose characteristics resist deterioration from recycling. Aside from this plant breeding issue, pressing concerns of national maize production, food security, and the welfare of smallholders remain to be addressed. Farmers with the resources to use credit, purchase inputs, grow cash crops, or produce maize surpluses represent a smaller and smaller percentage of farmers. It is doubtful whether complete reliance on private initiatives can transform the smallholder maize sector in a country that relies on agriculture as much as Malawi, but where infrastructure is inadequate, nonfarm employment opportunities are few, and incentives are insufficient to mobilize trade and generate cash in rural areas.Crop Production/Industries,

An economic assessment of banana genetic improvement and innovation in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda and Tanzania:

"This research report highlights findings from a set of studies undertaken by applied economists on the impact of improved banana cultivars and recommended management practices in the East African highlands. A particular focus of the analysis is genetic transformation of the cooking banana. Genetic transformation to achieve pest and disease resistance of the cooking banana is a promising strategy for smallholder farmers in this region. Biotic constraints are severe and not easily addressed through conventional breeding techniques or control methods. Exports on the world market are currently negligible, so that the risks of reduced exports due to policies against genetically modified foods are low. The crop is both an important food source and a significant generator of rural income, which means that improving productivity could have great social benefits." from Authors' SummaryBananas, Genetically modified foods, Nutrition, Genetic engineering, Economic impacts,

International exchange of genetic resources, the role of information and implications for ownership: the case of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System

"Changing perceptions of resource ownership have altered international exchange of genetic resources. After summarizing the role of genebanks and issues related to property regimes, this paper presents an empirical study of one of the largest national genebanks, the U.S. National Germplasm System. The demand for its genetic resources appears to be substantial, both domestically and internationally. Utilization rates are higher than suggested by past studies. The role of information in enhancing the usefulness of NPGS resources is explored with an econometric model that indicates that accompanying data make germplasm more useful. U.S. requestors account for most of the germplasm demanded, but developing countries appear to make greater use of these resources, proportionally, in terms of overall usefulness, secondary sharing, and the presence of useful data. Demand for public germplasm is likely to increase in the future, particularly from developing countries." Authors' AbstractCrop genetic resources, Genebanks, Germplasm collection, Genetic resource management, Developing countries,

Cultural Endowments, Institutional Renovation and Technical Innovation: The "Groupements Naam" of Yatenga, Burkina Faso

Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Maize breeding in East and Southern Africa, 1900–2000

"During the first half of the 20th century, African farmers transformed maize from a minor imported foodcrop into the continent's principal staple food. In the second half of the century, newly independent governments launched support programs that greatly expanded smallholder production, leading to substantial production surges of 10 to 20 years in duration. Today, after widespread adoption by both commercial farmers and smallholders, farmers now plant 58 percent of all maize area in East and Southern Africa to new high-yielding varieties, which on average outyield traditional varieties by 40–50 percent even without fertilizer....Though these maize-breeding efforts were an undeniable technical success, broader efforts to support national production growth proved fiscally unsustainable, and once heavy subsidies were withdrawn, production fell (see table). This qualified success story reveals important lessons about both the strengths and pitfalls of past agricultural development efforts in Africa." From Text.

Maize revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

There have been numerous episodes of widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term achievements in the development of the maize seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view of technical change in maize production. Adoption of improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60 percent of maize area in West and Central Africa. Use of fertilizer and restorative crop management practices remains relatively low and inefficient. An array of extension models has been tested and a combination of approaches will be needed to reach maize producers in heterogeneous agricultural environments. Yield growth overall has been 1 percent over the past half-century, although this figure masks the high variability in maize yields, as well as improvements in resistance to disease and abiotic pressures that would have caused yield decline in the absence of maize breeding progress. The authors argue that conducive policies are equally, if not more, important for maize productivity in the region than the development of new technology and techniques. Currently popular, voucher-based subsidies can"crowd out"the private sector and could be fiscally unsustainable.Crops&Crop Management Systems,Agricultural Research,Food&Beverage Industry,Food Security,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems

Optimal Search in Ex situ Collections of Wheat Genetic Resources

This paper develops a theoretical model for analyzing gene bank management decisions regarding the search for traits of economic value in ex situ collections of wheat. The model is applied to data on the probability of finding useful sources of resistance to Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and septoria tritici leaf blotch, using Monte Carlo simulations for sampling distributions, simulations of varietal diffusion paths, and actual cost data from searches. Three specific questions are posed and answered: (1) what is the optimal size of search among genetic resources of a given type for a trait of economic value? (2) what is the value of specialized knowledge about which genetic resources are most likely to display resistance? and (3) how should search resources be allocated across types of genetic resources? Results demonstrate the sensitivity of the optimal size of search to the economic importance of the problem, the probability distributions of the trait in different types of genetic resources, and the costs and time lags associated with transferring the trait into usable breeding material. The costs and time lags involved with conventional pre-breeding techniques imply that in some searches, certain categories of genetic resources (such as landraces) will be systematically ignored. The fact that they may be rarely utilized does not imply that collections of landraces have no value, however, as shown in the case of Russian wheat aphid. Though applied here to data on insect and disease resistance, the model can be adapted to search decisions for other types of traits.Crop Production/Industries,

Gender, social capital and information exchange in rural Uganda:

"Changing agricultural research and extension systems mean that informal mechanisms of information diffusion are often the primary source of information about improved seed and practices for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates the interactions between gender, social capital and information exchange in rural Uganda. Within the framework of farmer-to-farmer models, we conceptualize the informal information diffusion process to comprise social capital accumulation and information exchange. We assume that each agent participates in information exchange with a fixed (predetermined) level of social capital and examine how endowments of social capital influence information exchange, paying close attention to gender differences. A multinomial logit model is used to analyze multiple participation choices of information exchange facing the farmer. Findings demonstrate that social capital is an important factor in information exchange, with men generally having better access to social capital than women. We also find strong evidence in support of group-based technology dissemination systems. " Authors' AbstractGender, Social capital, information exchange, Informal mechanisms, Agricultural research, Seed systems, Agricultural technology, Collective action,