This paper examines the barley and wheat breeding programmes of the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI), which was the most successful public plant breeding institute in the UK, until privatization in 1987. The PBI's shares in barley and wheat seed sales are explained, showing that the success with...

The Consultative Groups on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) funds a decentralized system of International Agricultural Research Centers. To monitor the Centers, the CGIAR has instituted a system of program and management reviews. But there is some controversy concerning the proper...

Books Reviewed include: Sustainable Development in Asia, America and Europe with Global Applications: A New Approach to Land Ownership by Jian-Ming Zhou; Agricultural Science Policy: Changing Global Agendas by Julian M. Alston, Philip G. Pardey, and Michael J. Taylor; Planning Agricultural...

This paper briefly presents the results of a total factor productivity (TFP) study of South African commercial agriculture, for 1947-1997, and illustrates some potential pitfalls in rate of return to research (ROR) calculations. The lag between R&D and TFP is analyzed and found to be only 9...