Agricultural R&D in many developing countries plays an important economic role. However, to sustain successful agricultural R&D requires adequate, reliable funding and sound management and governance. In many developing countries, generating reliable flows of R&D funds and ensuring their proper...

Agricultural research priority-setting at best promotes the effective and efficient use of scarce research resources. This paper reviews firstly the priority-setting methods used in Papua New Guinea for agricultural R&D and examines the practicalities of implementing these and other methods....

The science, funding and organisation of plant breeding in Australia has changed greatly since the 1980s. This paper explores the institutional change in plant variety provision in Australia. The roles of key economic and political agents are emphasized, along with the impact of changes in...

As part of its climate change policy the Australian government has introduced a Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme and is also attempting to introduce a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Using as a case study a main agricultural region of Australia, this paper examines how...

In determining the economic impact of a possible outbreak of the quarantinable wheat disease Karnal Bunt, an examination was made of the detailed components of the costs involved. The costs were classified as: (a) Direct costs (yield and quality losses); (b) Reaction costs (export bans, quality...

Spatial diversity indicators may serve policymakers as they seek to manage crop genetic diversity and externalities associated with diffusion of some genetically modified crops. This paper adapts ecological indices of spatial diversity to area distributions of modern wheat varieties in...