An economic assessment of adoption of hybrid rice: Micro-level evidence from southern China

Abstract

The hybrid rice technology could be considered a boon for food security for many in South and Southeast Asia to increase rice productivity. In China, the birthplace of hybrid rice (HR), the diffusion of hybrid rice started in 1976. About 28% rice-growing area in China is planted with hybrid rice. However, the proportion of HR area in China has been declining in recent years, and farmers in surrounding countries are reluctant to adopt it because of high seed costs, farm management practices, and quality issues. Most previous research on the evaluation of hybrid rice variety on yield does not control input level. This study uses the endogenous switching regression method to analyze the impacts of HR adoption on rice yield and net rice income. The study uses plot- and household-level data from four southern provinces of China. Findings show a significant effect of HR adoption on rice yields. On the same HR plots, compared to CR adopters, rice yield increases by 4.86% for HR adopters. Rice yield would increase by 4.72% if the HR variety was adopted on the same conventional rice (CR) plots. Additionally, findings show a significant effect of HR adoption on net rice incomes. On the same HR plots, compared to CR adopters, net rice income decreases by 43.61% for HR adopters. Similarly, net rice income would reduce by 10.95% if the HR variety was adopted on the same CR plots. Thus, adopting HR increases rice productivity, but Chinese farming households that adopted CR would not benefit from adopting HR. Policymakers can formulate a systematic and comprehensive rice breeding plan to guide the simultaneous development of rice variety yield and quality improvement. Additionally, policymakers, in conjunction with private companies, could enact policies to reduce the cost of hybrid rice seed or improve the production efficiency of HR. For example, they could incentivize the development of HR varieties suitable for direct seeding and seed-saving sowing methods (rice trans-planter).

Hybrid Rice Production: A Worldwide Review of Floral Traits and Breeding Technology, with Special Emphasis on China

“…The widespread usage of hybrid rice has been constrained due to factors such as high production costs and low acceptance among poor rice farmers in less developed countries [ 136 ]. Despite these obstacles, hybrid rice is still a crucial technology for raising rice production and supplying food security at several locations globally [ 17 ].…”

“…The discovery of CMS lines enabled the researchers to develop more seeds for hybrid rice production, which is key to successful hybrid rice breeding [ 16 ]. China invented the hybrid rice variety for the first time in the 1970s by combining a restorer line with a sterile line of the male parent [ 17 ].…”

Heterosis in crop improvement

“…The mixed economy nature of the rice production industry, which includes government subsidies, contributed significantly to the widespread adoption of hybrid rice cultivars, particularly in developing nations (Pandey & Bhandari, 2009). This has led to a surge in investment from the private sector (Spielman et al., 2017; Yan et al., 2022). These further investments enabled the enhancement of heterotic groups thereby maintaining high genetic gain (Melchinger & Gumber, 1998; Xie et al., 2014).…”

Unveiling the Fallacies: A Critical Examination of Peter Singers Book The Life You Can Save

“…One desirable technology is the hybrid rice plantation method. Introduced in 1973 by Chinese Academician Yuan Longping, hybrid rice increases total rice yields by 44% [6]. A study in 2020 conducted in Africa when hybrid rice technology was first introduced suggested that over traditional inbred types cultivated in identical circumstances, a yield advantage of 15% to 30% has been documented [7].…”