New production from public and exclusive varieties released by the small grains breeding program at Virginia Tech generated cumulative discounted benefits of $41 million from 2000 to 2018. Fitted yields from field trials were combined with acreage estimates to generate weighted average yields...

Cross-pollination can be caused by birds, insects and wind. Genetically modified (GM) seeds are produced each year in a controlled environment to maintain their purity. However, pollen from the GM crop can be transferred to traditional crops. When the GM crop producers are in long-run...

This paper revises and updates the Campi-Nuvolari index of intellectual property protection for plant varieties (Campi and Nuvolari, 2015). The new index has been updated and provides yearly scores for the period 1961-2018 for a total number of 104 countries, which have legislation on plant...

To reduce the competition from farmers who self‐produce seed, an inbred line seed producer can switch to nondurable hybrid seed. In a two‐period framework, we first investigate the impact of crop durability on self‐production, pricing and switching decisions. Second, we study how the...

The period 1997–2000 saw a rapid global consolidation of crop seed companies. The emerging companies are applying genetic engineering to exploit complementarities and substitutabilities between seed and other crop inputs. This article develops a model of competing technologies where one...

Introduction: Contested Futures -- The Agrochemical-Seed-Biotech Oligopoly -- Science and Regulation in Service of Capital -- "GMO Ground Zero" -- Imperialism and the Making of a Plantation Economy -- From Sugar to Monsanto -- The State's Redistribution of Collective Wealth -- Resistance Is...

Productivity and efficiency are key performance indicators of improved seeds. Efficiency differences explain part of the variation in productivity. Improved seeds may affect efficiency because farmers often do not apply inputs at optimum. Improved seeds therefore not only directly affect...

This paper results from a study that was commissioned to contribute to the Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation (PARI)2. The overall purpose was to propose an agenda for supporting sustainable development of seed systems in two Sub-Saharan countries, Kenya and Mali, based...

"As development donors invest hundreds of millions of dollars into improved crops designed to alleviate poverty and hunger, Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over agricultural biotechnology. The first data-driven assessment of the ecological, social, and political...

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has continued to be fiercely debated between North and South, particularly with respect to its provisions for the agricultural sector. Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement requires WTO member countries to off er...

Global demand for food and agricultural products is on the rise. There is hence the need to increase production to meet this growing demand and smallholders will play a significant role. One strategy for smallholders to sustainably increase agricultural production is the use of modern...

Climate change poses significant risks to future crop productivity as temperatures rise, rainfall patterns become more variable, and pest and disease pressures increase. The use of crop genetic resources to develop varieties more tolerant to rapidly changing environmental conditions will be an...

Agricultural research drives increases in agricultural productivity, and the number of private agricultural input firms has been declining. The empirical relationship between the number of firms doing applied biotechnology crop research and the amount of research output they produce is...

Developing country food systems have changed dramatically since the Green Revolution period. At the same time, malnutrition still represents a challenge and is now understood to encompass the three simultaneous dimensions of undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies, and over-nutrition...

This paper aims to explore concepts, methods and empirical results of potential impacts of Transnational Corporations (TNC) on Sustainable Human Development (SHD) in emerging market countries. In doing so, a further major goal is to explain, illustrate and discuss how the theoretical CA...

In the United States, public universities may choose to license a plant variety to a limited number of producers (an exclusive license) or to an unlimited number of producers (an open license). This choice has implications for the quantity and distribution of total benefits from the variety....

The report provides proceedings of the "Workshop on public-private partnerships in plant breeding" which was organised by JRC-IPTS in September 2013. It contains a summary and evaluation of the presentations and discussions from the workshop. Additionally short papers submitted by the presenters...

This article considers the relationship between patenting and plant variety rights protection, through a detailed analysis of the recent determination by the Extended Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office that methods for breeding broccoli and tomatoes were not patentable. It concludes...

This paper presents the milestones of the Green Revolution, outlining its role in the development of today's sustainable and biotechnological agriculture, as well as Romanian contribution. In order to do this we used the material found in papers and books on the research in agriculture from the...

This paper presents the milestones of the Green Revolution, outlining its role in the development of today's sustainable and biotechnological agriculture, as well as Romanian contribution. In order to do this we used the material found in papers and books on the research in agriculture from the...

Plant breeding for organic systems is a growing field that is attracting a new cohort of graduate students in land-grant plant breeding programs. In 2012, the first Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) was organized by and for graduate students and held in Greensboro, VT. This three-day...

In the past three decades, the seed sector has experienced, and is now again experiencing, corporate concentration trends. The fallout of this consolidation is the subject of numerous concerns. However, the seed sector is rather poorly understood. Thus, it is useful to understand it better and...

Principles of demand-led plant variety design / Paul Kimani -- Visioning and foresight for setting breeding goals / Nasser Yao, Appolinaire Djikeng and Jonathan Shoham -- Understanding clients' needs / Pangirayi Tongoona, Agyemang Danquah and Eric Danquah -- New variety design and product...