An Obstacle to Africa's Green Revolution: Too Few New Varieties

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gisselquist ◽  
Carl E. Pray ◽  
Latha Nagarajan ◽  
David J. Spielman
Keyword(s):  
Green Revolution ◽  
New Varieties

Relative Efficiency by Farm Size and the Green Revolution in Pakistan

1980 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Khan ◽  
Dennis R. Maki
Keyword(s):  
Relative Efficiency ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Indus Basin ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Profit Function ◽  
Labour Demand ◽  
Output Price ◽  
Demand Elasticities ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Unit Output

Using the "unit output price" profit function, the study analyses the relative efficiency of (a) old versus new seeds, and (b) large versus small farms in the production of new varieties of wheat and rice in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. It is found that whereas farm .size has no effect on efficiency, high-yielding seeds are more efficient than seeds of old varieties. The study also finds that labour demand elasticities with respect to both land and capital are rather low.

scholarly journals Technical Change and Returns to Wheat Breeding Research in Pakistan's Punjab in the Post-Green Revolution Period

1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Byerlee
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Wheat Breeding ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
International Level ◽  
Breeding Research ◽  
Yield Gain ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Rapid Diffusion

Rates of yield gain and returns to investtnent in wheat breeding research are estimated for Pakistan's Punjab for the period since the introduction of semidwarf varieties. Analysis of two comprehensive data sets indicates that wheat breeders have maintained a rate of yield gain in newer releases of semidwarf varieties of about 1 percent per year. Improved disease resistance of newer varieties may have also prevented a yield decline of the order of 0.25 percent per year. Yield gains on farms may be less (0.6 percent per year) because of slow diffusion of new varieties. Given costs of wheat research, returps to investment in wheat breeding have been above 20 percent and are over 15 percent even if all research costs at the national and international level are included. However, more rapid diffusion of new varieties in the Punjab could considerably increase returns to wheat research.

scholarly journals Wealth Effects of the Green Revolution in Pakistan

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-513
Author(s):  
Faiz Mohammad
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Wealth Effects ◽  
Chemical Fertilizers ◽  
Rural Income ◽  
Large Farmer ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Tube Well ◽  
High Yielding Varieties ◽  
And Control

It can hardly be denied that since the late Sixties, the introduction of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of a number of commodities, along with tube well irrigation and chemical fertilizers, has significantly improved the overall agricultural productivity in Pakistan [12; 15]. However what is still being debated is the effect of this phenomenon, generally termed "Green Revolution", on rural income distribution in a country where ownership and control of productive resources are far from evenly distributed. I Studies by Khan [13] and Chaudhry (7] in particular have generated a great deal of interest in this subject because of their conflicting conclusions. Khan, on the basis of his study of the Punjab and Sind, concludes that the Green Revolution, while generally being beneficial, did not benefit the small farmer as much as it did the large farmer? As a result, it led to a widening of inter-farm and inter-regional income inequalities. According to him, new varieties, which were relatively more profitable, were adopted more widely by large farmers than by the small ones. Similarly, compared with small farmers, large farmers had greater access to, and control of, modern inputs, institutional credit and tractorized farm power; enabling them to gain still more from the new technologies.

A Systems Perspective on Postharvest Losses

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gill ◽  
N. Poulter
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Postharvest Losses ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Food Quantity ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Tropical Systems

The “green revolution,” fathered by the Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, has led to massive yield increases in key crops. Considerable effort continues to be given to the raising of yield plateaux in mainstream as well as minor crops through the application of traditional breeding and more advanced biotechnical methods. However, attention has increasingly been turned to postharvest losses that may impede the realization of the full impact of new varieties, in terms of both food quantity and quality. IFPRI’s “2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment” acknowledges rapid population growth and food productivity as key determinants in the alleviation of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. Eight billion people in 2020 will require more than twice the current output of the major food items, but this projection assumes full “utilizable production,” which is far from reality. A 1996 CGIAR review of postharvest activities concluded that if the full benefits of productivity research are to be realized, there must be a complementary attention to efficiency in product utilization. Our aim in this chapter is to analyze the process of setting a research agenda that will maximize the potential for increasing food availability through reduced postharvest losses. We start by considering a commodity systems approach (producer to consumer), followed by discussion of what is meant by “loss” in this wider context and the presentation of data giving the rationale for focusing on tropical systems. We then discuss the particular needs of tropical systems, namely, the issues of food security and the sustainability of renewable natural resources, and describe some of the attributes of the approach proposed. Finally, we present six brief case studies to illustrate the potential contribution that science can make in the research to development continuum and reiterate the need to address postharvest losses in the wider social economic and policy context. The definition of the “postharvest system” to be used in this discussion starts with the harvesting of a crop, the slaughter of an animal, or the capture of fish and proceeds through the stages of their processing, storage, handling, marketing, and utilization.

scholarly journals The rise of the Mediterranean woody crops in Southern Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Garrido Almonacid ◽  
Sánchez Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Woody Crops ◽  
Regional Specialization ◽  
Export Sector ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Almond Orchard

The area occupied by woody crops in Spain has undergone an enormous increase in size and, more importantly, a profound green revolution that generates enormous harvest volumes that nourish the important national agro-export sector, where products such as olive oil, wine and almonds reach a notable significance. The processes of intensification follow a common pattern, which involves the occupation of the flattest and most fertile soils by firms with an ownership structure favourable for investment; the use of new varieties; and the design of denser planting patterns in which irrigation is an indispensable element and mechanization ubiquitous. The management of digitized spatial information has allowed us to map the evolution of the land uses of the olive grove, the vineyard and the almond orchard in each of the provinces where the regional specialization in these crops is greatest. This has allowed us to learn the key spatial/temporal aspects of these processes of change that are far from complete and that have led to a profound modification of agricultural landscapes, such that fragmentation and polyculture are giving way to geometry, compactness and the concentration of monoculture.  

scholarly journals The Role and Contribution of Plant Breeding and Plant Biotechnology to Sustainable Agriculture in Africa

Afrika Focus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-108
Author(s):  
D. Kyetere ◽  
E. Okogbenin ◽  
J. Okeno ◽  
J. Munyaradzi ◽  
F. Nangayo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Plant Biotechnology ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
High Yields ◽  
Time Required

Africa’s economy is driven by agriculture, a sector that constitutes 32% of the continent’s GDP. The ongoing Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in Africa hinges on a system change (from subsistence farming to agribusiness) approach that explores high productivity to strengthen the African economy. During the “Green Revolution” period, increased global yields of cereal crops were achieved through the interactions of breeding and agronomy. However, in the face of current challenges, such as climate change and need for new market niches, there is an increasing exigency to explore modern plant breeding (including biotechnology) to develop new varieties with the capacity for high yields in reduced chemical-input systems and with the genetic diversity needed to maintain yield stability in Africa´s fluctuating climatic conditions. Biotechnology has significantly shortened the time required for the development of new cultivars, varieties and hybrids. Modern breeding tools include Double Haploid technology, marker assisted breeding, genomics, genetic engineering and genome editing. It is these tools that help accelerate the development of market responsive varieties needed for sustainable agriculture in Africa that will be highlighted.

Chemical composition of essential oils from leaves and twigs with leaves of two new varieties of common sage (Salvia officinalis L.)

Planta Medica ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Aprotosoaie ◽  
E Gille ◽  
A Spac ◽  
M Gonceariuc ◽  
M Hancianu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Essential Oils ◽  
Salvia Officinalis ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Salvia Officinalis L

Some Views on Current Concerns About Pesticides

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 230-235
Author(s):  
Graham Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Green Revolution ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Variable Degree ◽  
World War ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
Current Concerns ◽  
Second World

There is little doubt that the introduction of modern pesticides since the end of the Second World War has enabled a significant increase in the production of many crops during the green revolution, but criticism of the use of pesticides has increased because more people are claiming that their use has resulted in unacceptable adverse impacts on the health of those applying the pesticides or who live near treated farms, as well as more general impacts on the environment. When these modern pesticides were first introduced, countries established registration requirements. These were based on scientific data at that time concerning their toxicity and persistence in the environment, and have been followed to a variable degree, depending on whether individual countries or regions had adequate facilities to assess the data presented by manufacturers.

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