Читать книгу Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding - George Acquaah - Страница 34

Four factors are deemed by experts to be critical in determining the trends in investment in plant breeding by the private sector.

 Cost of research innovationModern plant breeding technologies are generally expensive to acquire and use. Consequently, the cost of research and development of new cultivars by these technologies are exorbitant. However, some of these innovations result in increased product quality and yield, and sometimes facilitate the production of the crop by the producer. Also, some innovations eventually reduce the duration of the cumulative research process.

 Market structurePrivate companies are more likely to invest in plant breeding where the potential size of the seed market is large and profitable. Further, the attraction to enter into plant breeding will be greater if there are fixed costs in marketing the new cultivars to be developed.

 Market organization of the seed industryConventional wisdom suggests that the more concentrated a seed market, the greater the potential profitability of a seed production enterprise. However, contemporary thought on industrial organization suggests that the ease of entry into an existing market would depend on the contestability of the specific market, and subsequently decide the profitability to the company. Plant breeding is increasingly becoming a technology‐driven industry. Through research and development, a breakthrough may grant a market monopoly to an inventor of a technology or product, until another breakthrough occurs that grants a new monopoly in a related market. For example, Monsanto, the developer of Roundup Ready® technology, is also the developer of the Roundup® herbicide that is required for the technology to work.

 Ability to appropriate the returns to research and distribution of benefitsThe degree to which a seed company can appropriate returns to its plant breeding inventions is a key factor in the decision to enter the market. Traditionally, cross‐pollinated species (e.g. corn) that are amenable to hybrid breeding and high profitability have been most attractive to private investors. Public sector breeding develops most of the new cultivars in self‐pollinated species (e.g. wheat, soybean). However, the private sector interest in self‐pollinated species is growing. This shift is occurring for a variety of reasons. Certain crops are associated in certain cropping systems. For example, corn–soybean rotations are widely practiced. Consequently, producers who purchase improved corn are likely to purchase improved soybean seed. In the case of cotton, the shift is for a more practical reason. Processing cotton to obtain seed entails ginning and delinting, which are more readily done by seed companies than farmers.