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Current Opinion in Biotechnology 2006, 17:1–5
By Terri Raney
Transgenic crops are being adopted rapidly at the global level, but only
a few developing countries are growing them in significant quantities.
Why are these crops so successful in some countries but not in others?
Farm level profitability ultimately determines whether farmers adopt
and retain a new technology, but this depends on much more than technical
performance. Recent economic studies in developing countries find positive,
but highly variable, economic returns to adopting transgenic crops.
These studies confirm that institutional factors such as national agricultural
research capacity, environmental and food safety regulations, intellectual
property rights and agricultural input markets matter at least as much
as the technology itself in determining the level and distribution of
economic benefits.
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