ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

A framework for seed policy analysis in developing countries.

Pray, C. E. and Ramaswami, B.

Agricultural and food marketing in developing countries: selected readings Year: 1993 Pages: 306-322 Ref: 9 ref.

1993

บทคัดย่อ

The seed industry is crucial to agricultural development. Seed was perhaps the most important form in which the technology of the Green Revolution was transferred to farmers. During the 1980s the seed industry became the centre of a number of debates. In the international arena the debate centred on how to preserve the genetic resources of plants, who owned these resources, and how the access of poor countries to such resources could be ensured. At the national level declining government budgets, pressure from donors and the local agribusinesses, and the failure of some government seed corporations are forcing policymakers to privatize the seed sector. At the same time concern is growing about the ability of the local private sector to supply adequate seed to farmers. This paper examines the key issues for policymakers in developing countries: price of seed, price of other inputs, relative price of crops, farmers' forecast of weather conditions and prices, costs of reaching distribution outlets.

 Factors affecting supply are then discussed, covering multiplication costs, postharvest cost, and distribution and marketing costs. The process of development of the seed industry is documented, and the role of government seed production and distribution is discussed.