Profit and Variance Analysis of Cotton Production Technologies and Rotation Crops in Georgia

Genetically modified cotton varieties have the potential for increasing returns and/or decreasing labor requirements. A nonlinear optimization model is applied to a whole farm analysis for evaluating cotton production technologies. This model maximizes farm utility, composed of expected returns and their variability, at various risk aversion levels in order to evaluate cotton production technologies. Results show that while conventional cotton maximizes utility in a risk-neutral situation, transgenic cotton varieties entered into the optimal solutions as higher levels of risk aversion were considered.