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Purpose – The objective of this chapter is to examine and provide new perspectives on the contributions of public and private R&D to biotech crop improvement.

Methodology/approach – The chapter examines a set of topics that have affected the way that research is undertaken on plant germplasm improvement and how it has changed with the genetically modified (GM) trait revolution.

Findings – Although the basic science providing the foundations for GM crops was undertaken in the public sector, GM traits and GM crop varieties have been developed almost exclusively by the private sector. The biotech events leading to GM traits are currently being developed largely by five companies – all having ties to both the chemical and the seed industries. The GM crop revolution started in North American in 1996 and has spread slowly to the largest developing countries that have large agricultural sectors, including Argentina, China, Brazil, and India, but not to Europe or Japan.

Practical implication – To shed new light on the economic reasons for private sector dominance in GM crop varietal development in selected crops but not in others.

Social implication – Shows how GM traits have contributed to technical change and declining real food prices.

The purpose of this paper is to realize dynamical grey incidence order of influencing factors of grain production in Henan province using grey systems theory.

Starting from choosing influence factors on grain production and dividing the 30 years (from 1979 to 2009 year) of grain production in Henan province into three periods, the authors calculate grey incidence degree between grain yield and every influencing factor by grey incidence analysis method, respectively, then obtain the grey incidence order of influencing factors in every period. Also based on the three grey incidence orders from different periods, the authors find a changeable tendency of influencing factors on grain production and key influencing factors on grain production in different periods. Finally, to keep Henan province grain production stable and sustainable, several policy suggestions are given.

The results are convincing: it is effective and powerful to analyze dynamically influencing factors of grain production using grey systems theory, and it is urgent to strengthen agricultural science and technology input, and pay close attention to the influence of dosage of pesticide and fertilizers on grain production.

Grey incidence analysis and findings exposed in the paper can be used by agricultural firms to optimize grain production plans, and by government to formulate reasonable agricultural production policies.

The paper succeeds in getting dynamical grey incidence order of influencing factors of grain production in Henan province using grey systems theory.

In light of the global concern about the impact of trade liberalization on environment, this paper intends to measure, theoretically as well as empirically, the impact of freer rice trade on environmental quality in terms of chemical intensity, measured by a decreasing scale indicator.

A dynamic land allocation model is designed that incorporates rational expectations on rice price and soil degradation due to long‐term cultivation on the same piece of land. Both demands for land and pesticides are derived and empirically estimated using time‐series data in Taiwan.

The results reveal that chemical intensity may increase with freer trade. The effect of freer trade on chemical intensity was less significant in earlier days such as the 1980s than in recent years. The basic model explains, to some extent, why some country representative conveyed their concerns in the Committee of Trade and Environment under WTO about the environmental degradation due to freer trade in agriculture. It also implies that more investment on environmental protection is warranted in the course of trade liberalization.

Given the dramatic inflation of energy prices, more elaboration on the price specification with respect to pesticides may be warranted for future researches.

The paper develops a rational expectations model to measure the impact of rice trade liberalization on environmental quality.

Examines the economic factors that influenced chemical based agriculture in Australia and the adverse environmental effects of agrochemicals. Reports how technological change, government policies and institutions affected the environment through chemicals. Discusses the effectiveness of alternative policy measures in mitigating these adverse consequences.

Biosolids, the residual solids from wastewater treatment operations and once considered a waste product by the industry, are now becoming increasingly recognised as a multifunctional resource with growing opportunities for marketable use. This shift in attitude towards biosolids management is spurred on by increasing volatility in energy, fertilizer and commodity markets as well as moves by the global community towards mitigating global warming and the effects of climate change. This chapter will provide an overview of current global biosolids practices (paired with a number of Australian examples) as well as discuss potential future uses of biosolids. Additionally, present and future risks and opportunities of biosolids use are highlighted, including potential policy implications.

Large agricultural producers often demand seed with high yielding genetics along with specialty traits specific to their particular needs. Dairyland Seed Company prides itself on its superior genetics and a research program that adds specialty traits while retaining the qualities of the original variety. Dairyland sources specialty trait technology from two competing suppliers – DuPont and Monsanto. Each of these suppliers is currently pursuing a strategy of forward integration through aggressive marketing programs and acquisitions. The implications for access to future technologies and long‐term survival are profound, and leave Dairyland and other smaller seed companies with strategic decisions to make. This paper examines a channel of distribution for agricultural biotechnologies and the decisions faced by a small, reputable seed company when dealing with its large multinational biotechnology suppliers. Who should Dairyland be partnering with, and can Dairyland balance supplier dependency in an attempt to avoid being eliminated from the channel?

The purpose of this paper is to estimate shadow prices of agricultural carbon emissions produced by agricultural inputs, rice paddy and burning crop residue, and to explore the impact of cropping pattern on marginal abatement cost (MAC).

The shadow price of agricultural carbon emissions is estimated by applying directional distance function and non-parametric methods.

The estimated shadow price of agricultural carbon emissions ranges from 6.78 to 557.83 yuan/ton, and the average value is 62.50 yuan/ton (or $10.18/ton). The MAC value varies in different provinces and years. The regional difference of MAC shows a decreasing trend during the investigation period. Cropping pattern shows a significant negative impact on agricultural MAC. A 1 percent decrease of rice proportion leads to a 0.31 percent increase in MAC value. This implies that the higher the proportion of rice is, the lower the economic cost to reduce agricultural carbon emissions would be.

It is feasible to draw up appropriate mechanisms for the allocation of emission reduction responsibilities according to conditions in various regions, with emphasis on the local cropping patterns. There is a trade-off between reducing carbon emission and increasing crop yields.

This study calculates agricultural MAC by using the shadow price approach, taking agricultural carbon emissions as undesired environmental output. The study also provides a reference emission right price and provides guidance to make use of cropping structure adjustment and optimization for exploring the emission reduction strategy.

The world community has long striven for the liquidation of chemical weapons of mass destruction. The 1925 Geneva treaty “On the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacterial Methods of Warfare” was the first international accord on chemical weapons prohibition. Signed by 125 countries, the USSR ratified the treaty in December 1927. The later development of the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction” (henceforth “the Convention”) followed this early step and was undertaken with Russia's active participation. The Convention was signed by the Russian Federation in January 1993 and ratified by the State Duma in November 1997 with the decision to end chemical weapons stockpiling by 2007. As a signatory, Russia accepted international responsibilities for solving many interrelated problems, paramount among them was the protection of people and the environment (The Convention…, 1994, item 4).

CIL, the Canadian affiliate of ICI, is the largest chemical company in Canada, with annual sales approaching $400 million. The company manufactures explosives, heavy chemicals, agricultural chemicals, plastics, paints and pesticides.

For its sustainable growth, an organization should drive customers from the role of consumers of products or services to value co-creators. Logistics performance, which produces value for customers, may activate value co-creation behavior among them. The purpose of this paper is to investigate entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as the determinant and customer value co-creation behavior as the outcome of logistics performance.

The data for this research came from 328 dyads of logistics managers of chemical manufacturers and purchase managers of their customer companies in Vietnam context. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling approach.

The research results confirmed the role of EO in predicting logistics performance. Logistics performance was also found to positively influence customer-organization identification, which, in turn promoted customer value co-creation behavior.

Entrepreneurship, logistics, and marketing research streams converge through the research model of the relationship between EO, logistics performance, and customer value co-creation behavior.