Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara
The genetic improvement of food staple crops cultivated by small-scale farmers is a well-established route to increasing agricultural productivity and improving rural livelihoods. But in developing countries where seed markets are commercially active or advancing in that direction, undue emphasis in...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2017
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148119 |
| _version_ | 1855516987340357632 |
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| author | Spielman, David J. Smale, Melinda |
| author_browse | Smale, Melinda Spielman, David J. |
| author_facet | Spielman, David J. Smale, Melinda |
| author_sort | Spielman, David J. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | The genetic improvement of food staple crops cultivated by small-scale farmers is a well-established route to increasing agricultural productivity and improving rural livelihoods. But in developing countries where seed markets are commercially active or advancing in that direction, undue emphasis in both policy and research is often placed on the adoption of improved cultivars rather than varietal turnover, or the replacement of an already improved variety with a more recently released improved variety. Strong and consistent rates of varietal turnover contribute to sustaining yield gains over time, protecting those gains from both biotic and abiotic stresses, increasing the sustainability of intensive cropping systems, and improving the quality of the commodity itself for storage, processing, and consumption. This paper explores the importance of varietal turnover in advanced and transitional seed systems for food staples in South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara. We first review the measurement of varietal turnover over spatial and temporal dimensions before examining evidence on policies designed to accelerate varietal turnover rates. We then suggest a sequence of regulatory reforms and public investments designed to accelerate varietal turnover while drawing attention to the economic trade-offs, unintended consequences, and operational challenges of such reforms and investments. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace148119 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1481192025-11-06T05:24:01Z Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara Spielman, David J. Smale, Melinda seed systems seed cereals agricultural policies staple foods farm inputs variety trials varieties subsidies The genetic improvement of food staple crops cultivated by small-scale farmers is a well-established route to increasing agricultural productivity and improving rural livelihoods. But in developing countries where seed markets are commercially active or advancing in that direction, undue emphasis in both policy and research is often placed on the adoption of improved cultivars rather than varietal turnover, or the replacement of an already improved variety with a more recently released improved variety. Strong and consistent rates of varietal turnover contribute to sustaining yield gains over time, protecting those gains from both biotic and abiotic stresses, increasing the sustainability of intensive cropping systems, and improving the quality of the commodity itself for storage, processing, and consumption. This paper explores the importance of varietal turnover in advanced and transitional seed systems for food staples in South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara. We first review the measurement of varietal turnover over spatial and temporal dimensions before examining evidence on policies designed to accelerate varietal turnover rates. We then suggest a sequence of regulatory reforms and public investments designed to accelerate varietal turnover while drawing attention to the economic trade-offs, unintended consequences, and operational challenges of such reforms and investments. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:52Z 2024-06-21T09:23:52Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148119 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147891 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148230 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148594 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150380 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151317 application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Spielman, David J. and Smale, Melinda. 2017. Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1666. Washington, DC https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148119 |
| spellingShingle | seed systems seed cereals agricultural policies staple foods farm inputs variety trials varieties subsidies Spielman, David J. Smale, Melinda Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title | Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title_full | Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title_fullStr | Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title_full_unstemmed | Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title_short | Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara |
| title_sort | policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in south asia and africa south of the sahara |
| topic | seed systems seed cereals agricultural policies staple foods farm inputs variety trials varieties subsidies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148119 |
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