There is a growing trend to widespread privatisation of crop breeding, and there are groundsfor expecting this trend to continue and even to accelerate. Possible consequences forAustralian grain growers and the national interest of much greater private sector involvementin plant breeding are...

Variety change and genetic diversity are important means of combating crop losses from pests and diseases in modern agricultural systems. Since the Green Revolution, genetic diversity among wheat varieties released in India has increased but variety change on farms continues to be slow. In this...

The development of molecular markers allows plant breeders to identify desirable traits by analysing DNA rather than undertaking field trials or laboratory tests. This capacity provides a potential for a significant changes to occur within plant breeding programs. However, the value of...

The world of plant breeding is changing rapidly in response both to scientific developments and to economic forces. In particular, there is a growing trend to widespread privatisation of crop breeding. An economist's perspective on some of the key differences between traditional public plant...

This study was commissioned by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to evaluate the economic impact of two projects (8201 and 8567) for which ACIAR provided support from 1982–89. These projects were aimed at the improvement of the grain yield potential of...

Intellectual property protection, globalization, and pressure on public budgets in many industrialized countries have shifted the balance of plant breeding activity from the public to the private sector. Several economic factors influence the relative shares of public versus private sector plant...

The unprecedented growth in crop yields and agricultural total factor productivity over the past 70 years owes much to a series of biological innovations embodied in seeds, beginning with the development of hybrid crops in the United States in the early part of the 20th century, continuing with...

There is a growing trend to widespread privatisation of crop breeding, and there are grounds for expecting this trend to continue and even to accelerate. Possible consequences for Australian grain growers and the national interest of much greater private sector involvement in plant breeding are...