Abstract

The relationships between basic and applied agricultural R&D, developed and developing country R&D and between R&D, extension, technology and productivity growth are outlined. The declining growth rates of public R&D expenditures are related to output growth and crop yields, where growth rates have also fallen, especially in the developed countries. However, growth in output value per hectare has not declined in the developing countries and labour productivity growth has increased except in the EU. Total factor productivity has generally increased, however it is measured. The public sector share of R&D expenditures has fallen and there has been rapid concentration in the private sector, where six multinationals now dominate. These companies are accumulating intellectual property to an extent that the public and international institutions are disadvantaged. This represents a threat to the global commons in agricultural technology on which the green revolution has depended. Estimates of the increased R&D expenditures needed to feed 9 billion people by 2050 and how these should be targeted, especially by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), show that the amounts are feasible and that targeting sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia can best increase output growth and reduce poverty. Lack of income growth in SSA is seen as the most insoluble problem.

Highlights

  • Since the Second World War increasing agricultural productivity allowed food output to more than keep pace with demand, so that the long-term trend in prices was downward. This resulted from the application of science to agriculture on the biological side, first in the developed countries (DCs), but with a considerable public sector interest that ensured the transmission to less developed countries (LDCs)

  • This paper investigates the productivity slowdown in the DCs and its impact on the prospects for productivity growth in the LDCs

  • It questions the existence of such a slowdown, pointing out that yield growth has slowed in aggregate, labour productivity growth varies and total factor productivity (TFP) has improved in most regions

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since the Second World War increasing agricultural productivity allowed food output to more than keep pace with demand, so that the long-term trend in prices was downward This resulted from the application of science to agriculture on the biological side, first in the developed countries (DCs), but with a considerable public sector interest that ensured the transmission to less developed countries (LDCs). This represents a threat to the public good nature of agricultural technology on which the green revolution was based.

Agricultural Research International Maize and Wheat Improvement
Latin America
INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
South Asia
Latin America and FSU and Europe
China India other Asian Near East Latin America SSA
Findings
CONCLUSIONS
Full Text
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