Returns to wheat research in Nepal
An economic surplus approach is used to analyze economic returns to wheat research (primarily breeding) in Nepal. During the past 30 years, investment in wheat research has generated an internal rate of return ranging from 75% to 84%. These extremely attractive returns are explained by the relatively modest costs of the Nepali wheat research program in relation to the substantial benefits it generates. In coming years, returns to wheat research in Nepal will remain attractive under a wide range of plausible economic and technical parameters. Under a baseline scenario in which future investment in wheat research is assumed to remain constant (in real terms) at current levels, the internal rate of return is projected to range from 38% to 48%. Expected future benefits from wheat research are based exclusively on the improved yield potential already present in recently released materials (i.e., assuming no future benefits from disease resistance). To the extent that regular replacement of older varieties will enable farmers to avoid yield losses occurring when disease resistance of older varieties breaks down (the main source of benefits in the past}, future returns to wheat research could be considerably higher. These results are a strong endorsement for continued investment in wheat research in Nepal. However, as crop and resource management problems assume increasing importance, the desirable balance between breeding and crop management research will probably change. Nepal's research managers will need to pay close attention to the allocation of resources among these and other competing uses, which in turn may require the development of new and better methods for measuring impacts of different types of research (e.g., breeding vs. crop management).
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Book biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
CIMMYT
1992
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| Subjects: | AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, WHEAT, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION FACTORS, RESEARCH POLICIES, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10883/885 |
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