Biotechnology and biosafety developments at the international agricultural research centres

Author(s):  
Richard L. Sawyer

SynopsisAdvances in biotechnology are creating opportunities to increase food production in developing countries and reduce or eliminate the environmental problems associated with conventional farming practices. International agricultural research centres have used the techniques of modern molecular biology for more than a decade, mostly for tissue culture and the elimination of virus diseases in planting materials. As the centres expand their use of the new tools of biotechnology, the focus of their work is shifting. The centres are playing an even larger role in linking developing countries' scientists with colleagues in public and private sector institutions in the developed world. They are also using the new techniques to speed up the development of pest- and disease-resistant crop varieties. Whenever possible they are developing collaborative links with institutions that have the experience and infrastructure needed to carry out advanced molecular research, thus minimising the need for expensive, highly sophisticated in-house capabilities.

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Debertin

Commercial farmers remain a primary political force in support of publicly-supported research and educational programs to create productivity gains in crop and livestock production. Have the technical productivity gains brought about by both public and private sector research and educational efforts improved the well being of American farmers? A great number of agricultural scientists believe that they have. Studies have attempted to provide estimates of the internal rate of return and benefit/cost ratios for agricultural research and education. The vast majority of these studies estimate a quite favorable internal rate of return and a high productivity for public-sector agricultural research (Huffman and Just, p. 828). But these studies have focused on rates of return to agricultural research and education for society as a whole, without attempting to determine if these gains accrued to farmers, consumers, or perhaps the agribusiness firms who purchase raw farm commodities from farmers or sell them inputs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akintayo Opawole ◽  
Godwin Onajite Jagboro

Purpose Demand–supply matrices with adverse consequences has occasioned government response to concession initiatives in infrastructure in Nigeria. However, concession-based projects have been trailed by administrative and legal controversies. While this scenario has negatively impacted the acceptability of a concession contract, there is, nevertheless, a paucity of research effort aimed at developing a sustainable framework. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for the evaluation and allocation of obligations of parties, thereby enhancing the synergy and cooperation between the public and private sector organization. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained through a questionnaire administered to professionals in concession-based contracts in southwestern Nigeria, which included architects, estate surveyors, quantity surveyors, engineers and builders, accountants/bankers/economists and lawyers. The respondents were selected using random and respondent driven sampling approaches. The questions were structured to ensure that the respondents have appropriate experience in concession-based projects and hold appropriate positions as decision-makers so as to give credence to the collected data. Findings The study identified 47 contractual obligations in the specific context of developing countries. Based on “half-adjusting principle”, 13 of the obligations notably cost of land acquisition and cost of social disturbances were allocated to the public party; 18 of the obligations notably project design and cost of feasibility study were allocated to the private party; and 16 of the obligations including preparation of terms of a contract and relocation of third party facilities were shared by the parties. Originality/value The framework benchmarked the categorization of public and private parties’ obligations in concession-based public–private partnership (PPP) contracts. The study has the implication for the evaluation and allocation of obligations of parties, which could mitigate the risk of failure of PPP projects in relation to the specific context of developing countries.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon W Ruttan

During the last half-century, advances in crop production came from expansion in areas irrigated from more intensive application of fertilizers and crop protection chemicals, and from crop varieties that were more responsive to technical inputs and management. Advances in animal production came from genetic improvements and advances in animal nutrition. Differences among developed and developing countries in output per hectare and per worker have widened. If these gaps are to be narrowed agricultural research capacity in developing countries will have to be substantially strengthened.


Author(s):  
Syamsir Syamsir

Public Service Motivation (PSM) is still a new concept in public administration theory. As a nascent theory, it needs to be proved with any contexts and cases of many countries around the world, especially developing countries that might have different contexts related to cultures, beliefs, views on the importance of financial rewards, etc. So far, most PSM research focuses more on comparisons between public and private employees in the Western and developed countries. There is almost no study about the PSM in developing countries. In addition, most of PSM theories tended to generalize the assumptions of the PSM among employees and often ignore cultural dimensions in their analysis. There is an impression that PSM theories are cross-culturally viable. This study examined the application of the PSM theories in Indonesia as a developing country, especially in Padang West Sumatera. Rational choice theories and the other PSM theories had been used in analyzing the finding of this study. Using t-test on responses by 417 respondents of public and 201 of private sector employees, this study tested the difference of PSM levels between the two sector employees. The findings of this study indicated that there is a significant difference in the level of PSM between public and private sector employees in Padang West Sumatera. The level of PSM of public employees tends to be lower than that of private sector. The results of this study imply that PSM theory is not cross-culturally viable.


2004 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Lawson

A key controversy in negotiating the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the likely long-term effectiveness of the agreement, is the way in which the intellectual property provisions are interpreted and applied to the key genetic resources forming the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system of International Agricultural Research Centres' (IARC) collections. This paper reviews the intellectual property provisions in the treaty and examines the likely consequences from patenting under the Patents Act 1990 over materials derived from these collections. The consequence is argued to be significant and, over time, these practices are likely to deplete the usefulness of these collections and undermine the relevance of the treaty. The paper concludes that Australia's interests might best be served by arguing that access to these collections, and the other materials under the treaty, be subject to a non-exclusive, royalty free licence for any use of the derived materials to develop useful new plant varieties.


Author(s):  
Dipanjan Kashyap ◽  
Sanjib Bhuyan

India's agri-food value chains have been evolving over the last few decades to cater to the growing consumer demand for healthy, safe, and nutritious food. These value chains are increasingly getting integrated from production to marketing to cater to such demand. While large and/or commercial farmers have easy access to such modern food value chains, small and marginal farmers in India and other developing countries alike are unable to take advantage of the same. Focusing on improving the agri-food value chains, particularly for perishables, makes a strong case in India given most Indian farmers are small and marginal farmers and are unable to take advantage of economies of scale. It is encouraging that both public and private sector entities are getting engaged in connecting Indian farmers directly to the supply chains of various crops. However, more needs to be done to make the processes, particularly in the public sector, the least bureaucratic and more farmer-focused so that small and marginal farmers in particular, benefit widely.


2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfrey Pratt

This study highlights the fragility of the tourism industry in developing countries. The overdependence of the Bahamas on the tourism industry, for economic development, is brought into focus here. The adroit efforts of the directors of tourism for both the Bahamas and Jamaica are highlighted. Both governments saw the need to immediately fund a revised marketing and advertising campaign, in the aftermath of 9/11. An important factor in the recovery of both destinations is the extent to which a coalition of public and private sector tourism stakeholders in both countries committed themselves to resolving the crisis quickly at hand. The commitment of the public and private sector in these countries, to safeguarding and promoting this industry probably positively correlated to the importance of the industry to the economy of the countries, as evidenced by tourism’s contribution to their GDP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Sidra Asif ◽  
◽  
Abdul Waheed ◽  
Malik Asghar Naeem

Collection of local own source in a decentralized economy is a huge challenge for town administrations in developing countries. The resultant of which is poor service delivery and infrastructural management due to collapses of local economic conditions.In the light of worldwide developed and developing countries scenario this study comprehends the ideology of collection of local own source revenue in Town Municipal Administration Murree and its aftermaths on the local economy.This study has explored all the major sources of revenue in Town Municipal Administration Murree and has identified a clear relation and dependency of internal and external sources of revenue. The research determined that the Town Municipal Administration is mostly dependent on property taxes and financial grants from the provincial government to meet its needs. For unexplored local own source revenues introduction of the property tax in the form of capital gain tax and infrastructure development tax as a major part of the internal own source revenues. For external own source revenue compensation in the form of environmental degradation tax due to positive externalities of the areas tourism capacities should also be introduced. There is no collaboration in the public and private sector for reinforcement of the local economy. It has also been concluded that there is no integrated policy for taxation and revenue generation in the local government


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