Transgenic technology adoption and on-farm varietal diversity

Vijesh Krishna, David Zilberman and Matin Qaim

No 51750, 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Transgenic pest-resistant varieties are hypothesized to reduce farmers’ demand for on-farm diversity through an act of substitution, as both serve as production risk reducing instruments. This adverse agro-biodiversity impact of technology adoption might be partially counteracted by an expanding seed sector, supplying a large number of transgenic varieties. The case of Bt cotton in India is taken for empirical illustration. The production function analyses show that both Bt technology and on-farm varietal diversity enhance yield, while reducing the production risk. With few Bt varieties available in the first years, technology adoption entailed a reduction in on-farm varietal diversity. This effect, however, was partially offset by more Bt varieties becoming available over time.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use; Production Economics; Productivity Analysis; Risk and Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae09:51750

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.51750

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