Michael L. Morris

How Does Gender Affect the Adoption of Agricultural Innovations? The Case of Improved Maize Technology in Ghana

Why do men and women adopt agricultural technologies at different rates? Evidence from Ghana suggests that gender-linked differences in the adoption of modern maize varieties and chemical fertilizer result from gender-linked differences in access to complementary inputs. This finding has important policy implications, because it suggests that ensuring more widespread and equitable adoption of improved technologies may not require changes in the research system, but rather introduction of measures that ensure better access for women to complementary inputs, especially land, labor, and extension services.

Money matters (I): costs of field and laboratory procedures associated with conventional and marker-assisted maize breeding at CIMMYT

This article presents selected results of a study carried out in Mexico at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to compare the cost-effectiveness of conventional and marker-assisted maize breeding. Costs associated with use of conventional and marker-assisted selection (MAS) methods were estimated using a spreadsheet-based budgeting approach. This information was used to compare the cost of using conventional screening and MAS to achieve a well-defined breeding objective—identification of plants carrying a mutant recessive form of the opaque2 gene in maize that is associated with Quality Protein Maize (QPM). In addition to generating empirical cost information that will be of use to CIMMYT research managers, the study produced four important insights. First, for any given breeding project, detailed budget analysis will be needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of MAS relative to conventional selection. Second, direct comparisons of unit costs for MAS methods and conventional selection methods provide useful information for research managers, but factors other than cost are likely to play an important role in driving the choice of screening methods. Third, the choice between MAS and conventional selection may be complicated by the fact that the two are not always direct substitutes. Fourth, when used with empirical data from actual breeding programs, spreadsheet-based budgeting tools can be used by research managers to improve the efficiency of existing protocols and to inform decisions about future technology choices.

Returns to wheat breeding research in Nepal

Returns to investment in wheat breeding research in Nepal were estimated for two periods: (1) the Green Revolution period (1960-1990), when modern semidwarf wheat varieties first appeared and spread throughout the country, and (2) the post-Green Revolution period (after 1990), when first-generation modern varieties will be replaced by newer materials. Major benefits of the Nepalese wheat breeding program have included maintenance of disease resistance and faster dissemination of exotic germplasm. Attractive rates of return to investment in wheat breeding have been due in part to Nepals ability to capture spillover benefits from neighboring countries and from international agricultural research centers.

Research for marginal environments: Are we underinvested?

Abstract Evidence is presented to show that adoption of modern wheat varieties in rainfed marginal environments of the developing world has lagged substantially compared to adoption in favoured well-watered areas. Possible reasons for this lag are discussed, and a simple congruency model is used to examine the case for shifting research resources from favoured to marginal environments, with particular reference to wheat breeding. Application of the model to resource allocation in wheat research at the international level and for India, a major wheat-producing country, suggests that the proportion of research resources invested in marginal environments has been adequate or even a bit high relative to the share of the value of wheat produced in these environments, taking into account both efficiency and equity criteria.

Calculating levels of protection: Is it always appropriate to use world reference prices based on current trading status?

Abstract Protection measures such as the nominal protection coefficient (NPC), the effective protection coefficient (EPC), the producer subsidy equivalent (PSE), and the consumer subsidy equivalent (CSE) are conventionally calculated using world reference prices based on current trading status. Under certain conditions, the conventional approach can lead to incorrect estimation of the degree and sometimes even the direction of protection. This paper spells out the conditions under which use of world reference prices based on current trading status is incorrect and presents data for wheat in Pakistan to illustrate how failure to consider these conditions can lead to misleading policy recommendations.

India's maize seed industry in transition: changing roles for the public and private sectors

Abstract Recent policy reforms have brought major changes to Indias maize seed industry. Since seed laws were liberalized in the late 1980s, private investment in maize research has risen sharply, and seed companies have captured a significant share of the market. Although the emergence of a flourishing private seed industry has benefited many producers and consumers, calls for complete privatization of the industry are misguided. Profit-oriented firms are unlikely to assume functions that cannot easily be exploited for commercial gain, so government agencies will continue to play an important role in supporting basic research, conducting applied research targeted at marginal environments, collecting and disseminating market information, and establishing and enforcing industry standards. Public-sector involvement in commercial seed production seems destined to decrease, however, as the private seed industry gains in strength.

Factors explaining the diffusion of hybrid maize in Latin America and the Caribbean region

If future demand for maize in Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) is to be met from local sources, domestic production must continue to increase. Because further expansion in the area planted to maize is precluded by the limited availability of arable land, future increases in production will have to rely heavily on the spread of productivity-enhancing hybrid technology. Until now, the diffusion of hybrid maize in LAC has been quite variable. Using data from 18 countries, we investigate factors affecting the hybrid maize diffusion rate. Our findings validate conventional profitability-based explanations of producer adoption behavior, but they also confirm the importance of supply-side factors, thereby providing empirical support for the life cycle theory of seed industry development. We conclude that if policy makers in LAC are to accelerate the diffusion of hybrid maize, they will have to ensure an environment in which it is not only profitable for producers to adopt improved germplasm, but also profitable for the seed industry to produce and sell high-quality seed.

Narrowing the Wheat Gap in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Consumption and Production Issues*

Introduction Over the past 3 decades, dietary patterns in sub-Saharan Africa have undergone dramatic changes. Perhaps the single most remarkable development has been the rapid growth in consumption of wheat. Between 1960 and 1985, annual wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa increased from less than 2 million tons to over 6 million tons, before declining somewhat in the late 1980s. Underlying this sharp increase, two trends can be discerned. First, more than two-thirds of the growth in wheat consumption has been provided by imports; wheat production has grown by less than 1 million tons and currently makes up only about two-fifths of total consumption (fig. 1). Second, the rapid increase in consumption of wheat, a nontraditional food, has been achieved at the same time that per capita consumption of traditional food staples has been falling. Combined, these two trends suggest rapid substitution of imported wheat for domestically produced food staples. Wheat in sub-Saharan Africa is still a relatively minor food for most consumers (per capita consumption averages around 10 kilograms per year) and an even less important crop for producers (annual production exceeds 50,000 tons in only six countries). However, wheat is economically and politically important because it constitutes a major share of food imports and because it is consumed mainly in urban areas. Largely for these reasons, the wheat economy of sub-Saharan Africa has been the subject of numerous recent studies, both at the regional level and at the individual country level. I Many African countries today stand at a crossroads with respect to wheat. They may choose to let recent trends continue, in which case imported wheat will likely become a staple food for most urban consumers. Such a precedent already has been set in tropical Latin

Economics of wheat production in Bangladesh

Abstract This paper reports the results of a study undertaken to assess the economics of wheat production in Bangladesh. In financial terms, boro (winter) rice is the most profitable crop in irrigated zones, but wheat often generates the highest returns in non-irrigated zones and in areas that are unsuitable for boro rice production. When inputs and outputs are assigned economic prices, wheat production represents the most efficient use of domestic resources in most non-irrigated zones and in one irrigated zone. Should present trends continue and Bangladesh become self-sufficient in rice, wheat production would become even more attractive. In view of these findings, recent calls to scale back wheat promotion activities and curtail investment in wheat research must be questioned.

Official and parallel cereals markets in Senegal: Empirical evidence

Abstract Senegals experience with cereals market regulation grows out of a colonial legacy that accepts a preeminent role for the state as protector of producers and comsumers. Yet the reality of cereals market operation in Senegal differs substantially from that specified in regulatory texts, and satisfaction of certain performance objectives is achieved largely because of illegal parallel market activity involving violations of official rules and policies. Survey data collected in northern and central Senegal provide valuable insights into the operation of a heterogeneous cereals marketing system made up of parallel channel marketing agents, authorized private traders, public sector marketing organizations, and parastatals.