Steven C. BlankUniversity of California, Davis and Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics The source of most innovations coming from the emerging agricultural biotechnology industry is small and medium enterprises (SMEs), yet SMEs have a high failure rate, which raises questions, such as…
James S. McLarenStrathKirn® Inc. The supply of petroleum transportation fuels appears to be increasingly finite, while demand only continues to grow. This disparate situation leaves sole dependence on petroleum as a transportation fuel unattractive for many countries, including the United States. As…
Graham Brookes and Peter BarfootPG Economics Ltd., Dorchester, UK Genetically modified (GM) crops have been grown commercially on a substantial scale for eleven years. This paper updates the assessment of the impact this technology is having on global agriculture from both economic…
Edward MutandwaBindura University of Science Education, Africa Tissue culture has the potential of improving the livelihoods of subsistence farmers that largely rely on vegetatively propagated crops. This study assesses the impact of growing tissue-cultured sweet potatoes on yields and economic profitability among…
Martha SchlicherGTL Resources Corn-grain-based ethanol has the real and viable potential of producing 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015, leaving a net of 12.3 billion bushels of corn available for feed, food, and export markets. This is up 3.0 billion bushels…
Laurian UnnevehrUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignCarl PrayRutgers UniversityRobert PaarlbergWellesley College Market failure for nutritional attributes of foods leads to underinvestment in crop breeding to enhance nutritional content of foods. As awareness of the importance of micronutrient deficiencies in the diets of poor…
Carl PrayRutgers UniversityRobert PaarlbergWellesley CollegeLaurian UnnevehrUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign This article first examines the political response to two crops that were nutritionally enhanced through conventional breeding— Quality Protein Maize (QPM) and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. In the next section, the political response…
Robert PaarlbergWellesley CollegeCarl PrayRutgers University The introduction of novel foods and crops into the developing world triggers different reactions from different political actors. Quite often, the patterns of response in developing countries run parallel to policy debates in rich countries, reflecting the…
David DaweFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO)Laurian UnnevehrUniversity of Illinois Golden Rice is genetically modified to provide beta-carotene in the rice grain and it could potentially address widespread Vitamin A deficiency in poor countries where rice is a staple. Political opponents have viewed…
David DaweFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO)Laurian UnnevehrUniversity of Illinois Golden Rice is genetically modified to provide beta-carotene in the rice grain and it could potentially address widespread Vitamin A deficiency in poor countries where rice is a staple. Political opponents have viewed…
