International Agricultural Research Institute Research Articles

The impact of the green revolution and prospects for the future

This article addresses some of the issues considered to be of great importance for continued success of the Green Revolution. The most recent data on its impact on food production are discussed first. Then follows a discussion of the impact on production fluctuation. Current evidence of the impact on poverty and nutrition is summarized in the third section. Recent research has shown that the multiplier or linkage effects of technological change may be very important for assuring a desirable path of self-sustaining growth. This issue is dealt with in the fourth section, followed by a discussion of the role of women in technological change, an important growth as well as equity issue which has received little attention until recently. Then follows a brief assessment of the actual and potential environmental effects. A number of other issues with important implications for the future contribution of technological change, such as future control over germplasm, organization of and control over the international agricultural research institutes, the needs for institutional and policy changes in many developing countries, and the need for new technology to facilitate a solution to the acute food problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, are discussed in the last section

The international agricultural research institute as a source of agricultural development

It seems clear that the returns on investment in agricultural research by the donors to the new international research systems (the members of the Consultative Group on International Research) have been exceptionally high relative to other development assistance opportunities available to the donors. The initial results obtained by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have, however, created expectations of performance by the newer institutes which will be difficult to duplicate. There are also a number of weaknesses in funding and administration which may act to limit the effective development of the international system. In this paper I attempt to (a) place the evolution of the international agricultural research institute model within the context of post World War II agricultural development assistance thought and experience; (b) indicate some of the organisation and management issues that have confronted the international agricultural research system during its evolution, and (c) present some of my own perspectives on future policy and programme directions for the international agricultural research system. Before proceeding to these three tasks, however, I would like to make three observations which condition my discussion of the more general problem of transforming knowledge into food. First, the output and productivity gains available to agriculture will come with greater difficulty and at greater cost in most poor countries in the next decade than in the last decade.

Information Sciences in International Agricultural Research

This paper summarizes the activities with the organized group of international agricultural research institutes and the application of information sciences to agricultural problems to implement changes that foster increased effectiveness. The activities at these institutes are classified into five associated data‐related groupings: plant improvements, production technique improvements, genetic resources conservation and utilization, library maintenance, and administration. We explain how the initiation of information science methods is being integrated into scientific areas within the institution. Although applications of information sciences are still in their infancy in international agriculture, preliminary studies indicate that the current magnitude of data problems can be effectively handled with the application of recently developed computer‐assisted tools and techniques .