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Exploring the supply and demand factors of varietal turnover in Indian wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2015

V. V. KRISHNA ,
D. J. SPIELMAN  and
P. C. VEETTIL
V. V. KRISHNA*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany
D. J. SPIELMAN
Affiliation:
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C., USA
P. C. VEETTIL
Affiliation:
Transformation of Global Agri-Food Systems, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: vkrishn@gwdg.de
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Summary

Cultivar depreciation – the gradual decline in relative advantage of a cultivated variety over time – accentuates the vulnerability of resource-poor farmers to production risks. The current paper addresses constraints in combating cultivar depreciation of wheat in India. National level data on quoted demand for breeder seeds and breeder seed production indicated a slowdown in the rate of cultivar turnover of wheat, with average varietal age increasing from 9 years in 1997 to 12 years in 2009. Analysis of cultivar adoption patterns among farmer households of Haryana State also indicates that farmers prefer cultivars that were released a decade ago over the recent ones. Cultivar turnover rates are found to be particularly low among marginal farmers. While the structure of India's wheat breeding and seed delivery systems might be the primary cause of slow cultivar turnover, a number of social and economic factors at the micro-level are also responsible. Many of the constraints to technology adoption and wheat productivity growth, identified during the Green Revolution era, persist even today.

Type
Crops and Soils Research Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 154 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 258 - 272
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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References

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