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From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution: How will the Poor Fare?

Author

Listed:
  • Prabhu Pingali

    (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)

  • Terri Raney

    (Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)

Abstract

The past four decades have seen two waves of agricultural technology development and diffusion to developing countries. The first wave was initiated by the Green Revolution in which an explicit strategy for technology development and diffusion targeting poor farmers in poor countries made improved germplasm freely available as a public good. The second wave was generated by the Gene Revolution in which a global and largely private agricultural research system is creating improved agricultural technologies that flow to developing countries primarily through market transactions. The Green Revolution strategy for food crop productivity growth was based on the premise that, given appropriate institutional mechanisms, technology spillovers across political and agro-climatic boundaries can be captured. A number of significant asymmetries exist between developed and developing, e.g.: agricultural systems, market institutions and research and regulatory capacity. These asymmetries raise doubts as to whether the Gene Revolution has the same capacity to generate spillover benefits for the poor. A strong public sector – working cooperatively with the private sector – is essential to ensure that the poor benefit from the Gene Revolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Prabhu Pingali & Terri Raney, 2005. "From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution: How will the Poor Fare?," Working Papers 05-09, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
  • Handle: RePEc:fao:wpaper:0509
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    Cited by:

    1. Joshi, P. K. & Jha, A. K. & Wani, S. P. & Sreedevi, T. K., 2009. "Scaling-out community watershed management for multiple benefits in rainfed areas," IWMI Books, Reports H042003, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Marlena Gołaś & Piotr Sulewski & Adam Wąs & Anna Kłoczko-Gajewska & Kinga Pogodzińska, 2020. "On the Way to Sustainable Agriculture—Eco-Efficiency of Polish Commercial Farms," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Liverpool-Tasie, Saweda & Olaniyan, Babatunde & Salau, Sheu & Sackey, James, 2010. "A review of fertilizer policy issues in Nigeria:," NSSP working papers 19, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Avila-Santamaria, Jorge J. & Useche, Maria P., 2016. "Urea Subsidies and the Decision to Allocate Land to a New Fertilizing Technology: Ex-ante Analysis in Ecuador," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 229851, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. Guiomar Carranza-Gallego & Gloria Isabel Guzmán & David Soto & Eduardo Aguilera & Inma Villa & Juan Infante-Amate & Antonio Herrera & Manuel González de Molina, 2018. "Modern Wheat Varieties as a Driver of the Degradation of Spanish Rainfed Mediterranean Agroecosystems throughout the 20th Century," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Rao, N. Chandrasekhara & Dev, S. Mahendra, 2009. "Socio-economic Impact of Transgenic Cotton," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 22(Conferenc).
    7. Piotr Sulewski & Anna Kłoczko-Gajewska & Wojciech Sroka, 2018. "Relations between Agri-Environmental, Economic and Social Dimensions of Farms’ Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    8. Melanie O'Gorman & Manish Pandey, 2010. "Cross-Country Disparity in Agricultural Productivity: Quantifying the Role of Modern Seed Adoption," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(10), pages 1767-1785.
    9. Susan H. Bragdon, 2016. "Reinvigorating the Public Sector: The Case of Food Security, Small-scale Farmers, Trade and Intellectual Property Rules," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 59(3), pages 280-291, December.
    10. Eicher, Carl K. & Maredia, Karim & Sithole-Niang, Idah, 2005. "Biotechnology and the African Farmer," Staff Paper Series 11495, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural Biotechnology; Agricultural Research; Technological Change; Economic Development.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services

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