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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.

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to invent morphological North Aceh durian data as germplasm information.

Methodology – The research was conducted at Langkahan and Sawang, North Aceh Region, from March to August 2014. The material used was the durian plant that should be 20 years and preferred by the local community. Exploration as the first step of experiment was done by purposive sampling. Identification was done on the source of durian germplasm. The source of durian germplasm as the experimental object was observed for its growth and morphology. Data analysis for morphological characteristics was done by using NTSYSpc (Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate Analysis) NTSYSpc versi 2.02.

Originality – The results showed that there were 25 accessions superior durian in Langkahan and 26 accessions superior durian in Sawang. They had different characters in the vegetative parts of the plant. The durian coefficient value of similarity in Langkahan ranged from 0.33 to 0.94, while in Sawang, it ranged from 0.24 to 0.86. The diversity of the morphological character in superior durian of Langkahan and Sawang was seen from the qualitative character (surface and color of bark, crown shape, top surface color of leaves, and leaf shape) and quantitative character (plant height, stem diameter, crown diameter, length, width, and leaf area).

Purpose – The purpose of this research was to get the initial information about the phenotype diversity of avocado plants and as an information source of Acehnese avocado germplasm.

Methodology – This research was conducted at Bebesen sub-district Aceh Tengah District, from March to October 2017. Exploration was conducted using the descriptive method with purposive sampling. Plants observed in accordance with predetermined criteria namely plants that have been several times fruitful and preferred by consumers.

Originality – The research shown that the avocado plants in the Bebesen sub-district have a high degree of diversity. The diversity can be seen from canopy width, stem circumference, plant height, stem surface, tree shape, number of branches, branch shape, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, and leaf shape. The number of superior avocado plants that were sampled was 15 accessions. The similarity level of superior avocado accession in the Bebesen sub-district ranged from 0.34 to 1.00.

The paper aims to examine how the theory of institutional economics is used to analyze and explain how the canola industry has developed and changed over the past 30 years, in order to highlight the important role of extra‐market institutions in innovation processes.

The theory of transactions and institutions is examined, specifically the concepts of rivalry, excludability and voice, in order to identify optimal institutions to address potential market failures in new product development.

In the pre‐biotechnology period, missing links in the supply chain and the absence of private property rights contributed to public good market failures; the resulting market failures and inadequate investment incentives were overcome by development of public research programs and new participatory institutions that managed research coordination, extension and market development. In the biotechnology‐phase, private property rights, vertical integration and contracting resolved many of the earlier market failures but failures in research coordination, enforcement of property rights and marketing have required new institutions.

The development of the highly innovative Canadian canola supply chain over the past 50 years – encompassing a period of public‐sector‐based, conventional plant breeding and, more recently, a privately‐directed biotechnology‐based phase – highlights the role that different institutional structures can play in product innovation.

This study of the canola chain offers insights into how different types of market failures arise at various stages of development, requiring new institutions to address these failures, and provides lessons on how to foster the development of other innovative agri‐food supply chains around the world.

In the last decade the importance of natural resources for a sustainable agricultural development has been increasingly discussed on international fora and conferences. Only recently the erosion of genetic resources and its consequences for the global welfare in general and for agricultural production in particular were introduced into the public discussion. But since the 1930s systematical survey, collection, and conservation of plant genetic resources have been under way. Today, the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) is a complex international and national system. While the political discussion is focusing around the issue of “fair and equitable sharing” of benefits derived from the use of PGRFA, an intensive analysis of the costs of conservation activities has been neglected. This paper identifies the actors in the conservation of PGRFA, analyses the costs which arise by conserving PGRFA on the private, national and global level, and will assess the losers and winners in a theoretical concept.

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the conservation and management of crop diversity in traditional agro‐ecosystems as a crucial component for sustainable landscape development in the mountains of the Indian Himalayan region. The results indicate that mountain farming has the potential to produce good output from a low input system where farmers still use local resources and locally developed technology.

The discussion of major issues in this paper is based on our empirical study involving a survey of the area and field‐based experiments to evaluate the productivity in traditional mountain farming systems. Additionally, landscape change was monitored with the use of satellite data.

The paper finds that the rate of genetic erosion within the study area during the last three decades is documented and the factors responsible for such erosion identified. The efficiency of traditional agro‐ecosystems of Himalayan Mountains in terms of energy and monetary value is presented. Traditional crop cultivation in the region appears efficient from the viewpoint of ecology of the area and economy of the local people.

This paper recommends practical options to encourage cultivation of traditional crops for their conservation and management in the Himalayan agro‐ecosystems that will lead to sustainable landscape development in these mountains. Traditional agro‐ecosystems are characterized by their dependence on local resources, close links to the surrounding forests, and locally developed technologies in the Himalayas of India. Research and policy support for their conservation in traditional agro‐ecosystems in this region is required as many traditional crops and their landraces are in jeopardy due to their rapid genetic erosion in the region. The land use land cover map developed within this study enables observation of the process of the landscape change trends in the region. Local communities need proper awareness and encouragement through appropriate research, institutional and policy support to continue growing traditional crops for both their economic incentives and management of the ecosystem services.

The paper shows that traditional crop diversity can enhance the economic conditions for people without having negative implications on the surrounding landscape.

This paper aims to review the current status of wheat production, farming systems, production constraints and wheat demand-supply chain analysis; the role of international and national breeding programs and their approaches in wheat genetic improvement including targeting mega environments, shuttle breeding, doubled haploids, marker-assisted selection and key location phenotyping; and future prospects and opportunities of wheat production in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

Relevant literature works have been used and cited accordingly.

Though traditionally wheat was not the leading staple crop in SSA, it is becoming an important food crop because of rapid population growth associated with increased urbanization and change in food preference for easy and fast food such as bread, biscuits, pasta, noodles and porridge. In 2013, total wheat consumption in SSA reached 25 million tons with import accounting for 17.5 million tons at a price of USD6 billion, while during the same period the region produces only 7.3 million tons on a total area of 2.9 million hectares. The low productivity (2t/ha) in the region is principally because of abiotic (drought and heat) and biotic (yellow rust, stem rust, septoria and fusarium) stresses which are increasing in intensity and frequency associated with climate change. Furthermore, increased cost of production, growing populations, increased rural-urban migration, low public and private investments, weak extension systems and policies, and low adoption rates of new technologies remain to be major challenges for wheat production in SSA. Wheat breeding in SSA is dominantly carried out by National Agricultural Research Systems, in partnership with the international research centers [International center for improvement of maize and wheat (CIMMYT) and International center for agricultural research in the dry areas (ICARDA)], to develop high yielding and widely adapted wheat genotypes with increased water-use efficiency, heat tolerance and resistance to major diseases and pests. Most of the cultivars grown in SSA are originated from the international research centers, CIMMYT and ICARDA.

This paper will help to promote available wheat technologies in SSA by creating awareness to wheat scientists, extension agents and policymakers.

This manuscript is an original review paper which has not been published in this form elsewhere.

The products of transgenic technology have captured the attention of enthusiasts and detractors, but transgenics are just one tool of agricultural biotechnology. Other applications enable scientists to understand biodiversity, to track genes through generations in breeding programs, and to move genes among closely related as well as unrelated organisms. These applications all have the potential to lead to substantial productivity gains.

In this chapter we provide an introduction to basic plant genetic concepts, defining molecular markers, transgenic and cisgenic techniques. We briefly summarize the status of commercialized biotechnology applications to agriculture. We consider the likely future commercialization of products like drought tolerant crops, crops designed to improve human nutrition, pharmaceuticals from transgenic plants, biofuels, and crops for environmental remediation. We identify genomic selection as a potentially powerful new technique and conclude with our reflections on the state of agricultural biotechnology.

Research at universities and other public-sector institutions, largely focused on advancing knowledge, has aroused enormous optimism about the promise of these DNA-based technologies. This in turn has led to large private-sector investments on maize, soybean, canola, and cotton, with wide adoption of the research products in about eight countries. Much has been made of the potential of biotechnology to address food needs in the low-income countries, and China, India, and Brazil have large public DNA-based crop variety development efforts. But other lower income developing countries have little capability to use these tools, even the most straightforward marker applications. Ensuring that these and other applications of biotechnology lead to products that are well adapted to local agriculture requires adaptive research capacity that is lacking in the lowest income, most food-insecure nations. We are less optimistic than many others that private research will fund these needs.

In Nepal, not much is known about the adoption of improved vegetable varieties. Also, there are reasons to expect that the determinants of adoption may vary between subsistence and commercial farmers, given their different production/market orientations. Therefore, the paper aims to examine the adoption intentions of commercial and subsistence vegetable farmers.

A logistic regression model was used to empirically test the determinants of the intention to adopt and recommend improved vegetable varieties. The paper also uses propensity score matching (PSM) to assess the causal effects of production/market orientation on household dietary patterns. Cross-sectional data of 600 Nepalese vegetable farmers are analyzed.

Compared to subsistence farmers, commercial vegetable farmers obtain seeds mainly from formal sources and use hybrid seeds. The most consistent covariates of vegetable adoption intentions were risk preferences and experience growing vegetables. Overall, adoption intentions were higher among commercial farmers, and commercial vegetable households tend to consume more vegetables.

Considering that vegetable farming provides an important supplementary food production system for the household, adopting improved vegetable varieties is pivotal to increasing productivity and improving household level dietary diversity in developing countries. Actions to promote wider adoption of vegetable varieties and encourage healthier dietary patterns could be successful if these efforts also focus on subsistence farmers. The findings in this paper will be useful to policymakers to better prioritize dissemination strategies.

The paper highlights the differences in characteristics and adoption intention towards new vegetable varieties between subsistence and commercial farmers. The impact of commercial production on healthier household dietary patterns is accentuated.