New wheat varieties and the small farmer

The distribution of the benefits of new agricultural technologies is the subject of continuing controversy, especially following the widespread adoption of new wheat and rice varieties in developing countries over the last 10-15 years. This paper is motivated by the popular belief that the introduct...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Byerlee, D., Harrington, L.W.
Tipo de recurso: libro
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:1982
País:México
Institución:Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional de Publicaciones Multimedia del CIMMYT
OAI Identifier:oai:repository.cimmyt.org:10883/1243
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10883/1243
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
HIGH YIELDING VARIETIES
INNOVATION ADOPTION
PRODUCTIVITY
SMALL FARMS
TECHNOLOGY
FARMING SYSTEMS
Descripción
Sumario:The distribution of the benefits of new agricultural technologies is the subject of continuing controversy, especially following the widespread adoption of new wheat and rice varieties in developing countries over the last 10-15 years. This paper is motivated by the popular belief that the introduction of the new wheat varieties has benefited the rich at the expense of the poor. We believe that the available evidence on the impact of the new wheat varieties supports a quite different conclusion - that the poor have benefited substantially from these new varieties. Here we summarize evidence on only one aspect of the distribution of benefits from new wheat varieties: the distribution of benefits to poor producers relative to larger producers. Conceptual issues in analyzing these benefits are discussed and empirical evidence, especially new evidence appearing since 1975, is presented from Mexico, India and other countries where the new wheat varieties are widely used.