Can traders' meetings boost seed sales of new rice varieties and promote a market-driven seed system? Evidence from Nepal

Purpose - Farmers in developing countries are used to recycling and purchasing seeds of old and low-yielding varieties, leading to low seed and varietal replacement rates. Seed companies in Nepal have started to conduct traders' meetings (TMs) to promote new rice varieties. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of this approach in promoting new rice varieties. Design/methodology/approach - The authors assess the effectiveness of TMs by surveying 238 agrodealers from 7 districts of Nepal. The authors used the binary logit model to study the determinants of participation in TM and an instrumental variable approach to estimate the impact of TMs on sales of the promoted rice varieties. Findings - Results indicate that the TM significantly influences traders' knowledge and increases the probability of selling new rice varieties promoted. However, TMs did not significantly increase the overall sales of promoted rice varieties. Research limitations/implications - The study is based on cross-section data; thus, unobserved fixed effects could not be accounted for. The study finds only one relevant and valid instrumental variable and therefore could not conduct any exogeneity test. Originality/value - Seed companies in Nepal started to conduct TMs to promote new rice varieties since 2019. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the usefulness of TMs and the impact of these events in changing traders' attitudes toward domestic rice seed varieties or in business performance (annual sales of the promoted varieties) have not been assessed. Therefore, the study findings will help to promote the market-driven seed system and increase the seed replacement rate.