Wheat breeding, productivity and slow variety change: evidence from the Punjab of India after the Green Revolution*

Smale, Mélinda; Singh, Joginder; Falco, Salvatore Di; Zambrano, Patricia

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8489.2008.00435.x

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In our study, the average age and weighted average age of the varieties varied significantly only in the case of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh states. Smale et al (2008) have made similar observations in the case of Punjab and concluded that in high potential environments the weighted and unweighted average age of varieties move closely, indicating a fairly uniform spatial distribution of varieties over time.…”

Section: Temporal Diversity In Wheat Varieties Cultivated In Indiasupporting

confidence: 55%

Spatial and temporal diversity in adoption of modern wheat varieties in India

Pavithra¹,

Mittal²,

Bhat³

et al. 2017

Agri. Econ. Rese. Revi.

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In this study, adoption rates of modern wheat varieties in India have been estimated using expert elicitation methodology. The study has found that the wheat varietal output has increased during the period 2010-2015. The most widely cultivated wheat varieties in the study states are HD 2967, PBW 343, PBW 550, Lok 1 and PBW 502. The temporal and spatial diversity indices have been calculated based on the perceived adoption rates. Wheat varietal turnover has been highest in Punjab (7.50 years) and lowest in Rajasthan (19.25 years). The Berger Parker index has shown that relative abundance of varieties was lowest in Punjab (1.76) and highest in Madhya Pradesh (7.10). The concentration of wheat area under dominant varieties was highest in Punjab and lowest in Rajasthan as indicated by the Marglef index. The cultivation of older varieties and dominance of a few varieties deprive the farmers of the advantages of productivity gains, genetic improvement, in addition to increasing crop vulnerability to pests and diseases. The study has concluded that besides varietal development, it is also important to focus on reducing the socioeconomic and institutional barriers to adoption of improved crop varieties. In this direction, it is important to create an enabling institutional environment for increasing the rate of varietal replacement, promote spatial heterogeneity in crop varieties cultivated, identify and effectively bring the potential varieties under the seed chain system and enhance the outreach of improved wheat varieties with an inclusive approach to reach even the resource-poor farmers.

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Section: Temporal Diversity In Wheat Varieties Cultivated In Indiasupporting

confidence: 55%

Spatial and temporal diversity in adoption of modern wheat varieties in India

Pavithra¹,

Mittal²,

Bhat³

et al. 2017

Agri. Econ. Rese. Revi.

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show abstract

“…For example, this “second stage” of adoption contributed a large proportion of the total economic gains from use of modern wheat seed during and after the Green Revolution in Asia (Byerlee and Traxler, ). An econometric analysis by Smale et al () demonstrated that slow change from older to newer improved wheat varieties offset the positive productivity effects of diversifying the genetic base of wheat breeding during the post‐Green Revolution period in Punjab, India. To compare Kenya once again with the United States, recent analyses by Magnier et al () indicated that the average “survival” of a maize hybrid on the seed market was only five years, and the market share of the typical hybrid peaks at two to three years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demand for maize hybrids and hybrid change on smallholder farms in Kenya

Smale

Olwande

2013

Agricultural Economics

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Kenya is a globally recognized maize "success story." As the overall percentage of maize farmers growing hybrids tops 80% and the seed industry matures, the slow pace of hybrid replacement on farms, and the continued dominance of the seed industry by Kenya Seed Company, may dampen productivity. Our econometric analysis identifies the factors that explain farmer demand for hybrid seed, and the age of hybrids they grow, considering hybrid seed ownership. Male-headed households with more education, more assets, and more land plant more hybrid seed. Scale of seed demand per farm is differentiated by agroecology. We find a strong farmer response to the seed-to-grain price ratio, which we interpret as evidence of a commercial orientation even on household farms. However, despite the dramatic increase in the number of hybrids sold and the breadth of seed suppliers as seed markets liberalize, an older hybrid still dominates national demand.JEL classifications: O12, Q12, Q16

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“…By 1990, Byerlee and Traxler (1995) estimated that more than two-thirds of the benefits from research on spring bread wheat were generated in the postGreen Revolution areas where farmers replaced older with newer modern varieties, as compared to one-third in areas where farmers adopted modern varieties for the first time. Slow variety change, expressed by the area-weighted average age of varieties in farmers' fields, dampened wheat productivity in the Indian Punjab during the post-Green Revolution period, offsetting the positive gains of diversifying the genetic base in wheat breeding (Smale et al 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Crops that feed the world 10. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by wheat in global food security

et al. 2013

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Wheat is fundamental to human civilization and has played an outstanding role in feeding a hungry world and improving global food security. The crop contributes about 20 % of the total dietary calories and proteins worldwide. Food demand in the developing regions is growing by 1 % annually and varies from 170 kg in Central Asia to 27 kg in East and South Africa. The developing regions (including China and Central Asia) account for roughly 53 % of the total harvested area and 50 % of the production. Unprecedented productivity growth from the Green Revolution (GR) since the 1960s dramatically transformed world wheat production, benefitting both producers and consumers through low production costs and low food prices. Modern wheat varieties were adopted more rapidly than any other technological innovation in the history of agriculture, recently reaching about 90 % of the area in developing regions. One of the key challenges today is to replace these varieties with new ones for better sustainability. While the GR "spared" essential ecosystems from conversion to agriculture, it also generated its own environmental problems. Also productivity increase is now slow or static. Achieving the productivity gains needed to ensure food security will therefore require more than a repeat performance of the GR of the past. Future demand will need to be achieved through sustainable intensification that combines better crop resistance to diseases and pests, adaptation to warmer climates, and reduced use of water, fertilizer, labor and fuel. Meeting these challenges will require concerted efforts in research and innovation to develop and deploy viable solutions. Substantive investment will be required to realize sustainable productivity growth through better technologies and policy and institutional innovations that facilitate farmer adoption and adaptation. The enduring lessons from the GR and the recent efforts for sustainable intensification of cereal systems in South Asia and other regions provide useful insights for the future.

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Wheat breeding, productivity and slow variety change: evidence from the Punjab of India after the Green Revolution*

Cited by 25 publications

References 20 publications

Spatial and temporal diversity in adoption of modern wheat varieties in India

Spatial and temporal diversity in adoption of modern wheat varieties in India

Demand for maize hybrids and hybrid change on smallholder farms in Kenya

Crops that feed the world 10. Past successes and future challenges to the role played by wheat in global food security

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