THE IMPACT OF BEAN RESEARCH IN HONDURAS

David Mather, Richard Bernsten (), Juan Carlos Rosas, Abelardo Viana Ruano, Danilo Escoto and Julio Martinez

No 11496, Staff Paper Series from Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics

Abstract: Since the mid-1980s, bean research in Honduras has focused on the development of improved varieties resistant to key diseases, principally Bean Golden Yellow Mosaic Virus (BGYMV), one of the main constraints to bean production in the country. This paper presents evidence of recent adoption rates of improved bean varieties, the farm-level economic impact of adoption, and the ex post rate of return to bean research in Honduras from 1982-2010. Results from a 2001 farm-level survey in the two principal bean-producing regions in Honduras show that 46 to 51% of bean farmers (depending upon the season) have adopted an improved variety, and that adoption is scale-neutral with respect to farm-size and market orientation. Due to the potential problem of sample selection bias in the adoption of disease-resistant varieties, the farm-level impact of the new varieties was estimated using experimental data to approximate the yield differential between resistant and non-resistant varieties under disease pressure, and survey data was used to approximate the frequency of disease incidence in farmers' fields. An expected utility framework assuming risk neutrality demonstrates that adopters gain an average of 20% in bean income from increased yield stability under disease pressure, although these gains are reduced by 7 to 16% due to market price discounts for the resistant varieties. Under base-level assumptions, the economic rate of return bean research in Honduras during the period 1982-2010 is 40 %.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35
Date: 2003
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:midasp:11496

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.11496

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