With growing pressure on groundwater resources, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) look especially promising as a method of agricultural adaptation and poverty alleviation. While private benefits of WCTs are increasingly understood, public benefits are not as clear as they may seem. Some...

The productivity gains associated with improved cultivated varieties (cultivars) tend to break down over time as they lose the genetic advantages conferred by breeding. Cultivar depreciation, in turn, can increase the vulnerability of resource-poor households to risks associated with biotic and...

Technology-driven gains in agricultural productivity and profitability can dramatically improve quality of life for the rural poor in developing countries. Extension efforts to disseminate agricultural technologies typically assume that farmers learn from early adopters who catalyze the...