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The Yield of Plant Variety Protection
Author(s) -
Thomson Russell
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aau099
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , breeder (animal) , yield (engineering) , plant variety , investment (military) , agronomy , biology , business , geography , horticulture , mathematics , political science , statistics , materials science , archaeology , politics , blanket , law , metallurgy
Abstract The prospects for plant variety protection to deliver improved varieties of self‐pollinating crops is assessed using the experience of the Australian wheat breeding sector as a natural experiment. The analysis is based on detailed new data on the agronomic performance of all wheat varieties released by Australian breeders between 1976 and 2011. The results indicate that plant variety protection, and associated reforms, led to a substantial fall in breeder output. Qualitative evidence indicates that this was caused by a combination of fewer research spillovers, lower release standards, and a possible fall in total investment in breeding.