Cotton, Biotechnology, and Economic Development

Baffes, John

关键词: AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES;    AGRICULTURAL CROPS;    AGRICULTURAL PRICE;    AGRICULTURAL PRICES;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5896
RP-ID  :  WPS5896

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

During the past decade, cotton pricesremained considerably below other agricultural prices(although they recovered toward the end of 2010). Yet,between 2000-04 and 2005-09 world cotton productionincreased 13 percent. This paper conjectures thatbiotechnology-induced productivity improvements increasedsupplies by China and India, which, in addition to keepingcotton prices low, aided these countries to cap-ture marketshare from (and cause losses to) non-users of biotechnology.By contrast, with a single exception, Africa has not adoptedbiotechnology and, not coincidentally, its cotton outputdeclined by more than 20 percent between the first andsecond half of the past decade. The paper concludes that thedevelopment implications of biotechnology go beyond cottonand Africa. High energy prices have been an important driverof the recent commodity price boom. Therefore, investmentand policy strategy responses to a cost-driven boom shouldbe consistent with cost-saving alternatives. Biotechnologyclearly meets this challenge.