The seed and agricultural biotechnology industries in India: An analysis of industry structure, competition, and policy options

David Spielman, Deepthi Kolady, Anthony Cavalieri and N. Chandrasekhara Rao

Food Policy, 2014, vol. 45, issue C, 88-100

Abstract: Since the late 1980s, technological advances and policy reforms have created new opportunities for private-sector investment in India’s seed and agricultural biotechnology industries. These changes have had a significant impact on cotton yields and output in India, but less so for rice and wheat—the country’s main cereal staples—for which yield growth rates are tending toward stagnation. This analysis examines the structures of these industries, their potential effects on competition and innovation, and the policies that may improve both industry performance and the delivery of new productivity-enhancing technologies to India’s cereal production systems. Our findings suggest that more substantive policy reforms are needed to encourage further innovation, reduce regulatory uncertainty, and encourage firm- and industry-level growth, while continued public spending on agricultural research is needed to support technological change.

Keywords: Seed markets; Agricultural biotechnology; Industrial organization; Food staple crops; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919214000037
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: The seed and agricultural biotechnology industries in India: An analysis of industry structure, competition, and policy options (2011)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:45:y:2014:i:c:p:88-100

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.01.001

Access Statistics for this article

Food Policy is currently edited by J. Kydd

More articles in Food Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().