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THE MARKET FOR NEW TREE CROP TECHNOLOGY: A SUMATRAN CASE
Author(s) -
Barlow Colin
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1997.tb01145.x
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , context (archaeology) , meaning (existential) , business , tree (set theory) , agriculture , key (lock) , economics , marketing , public economics , geography , psychology , mathematical analysis , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics , archaeology , psychotherapist , biology
Markets for agricultural inputs in poorer countries are frequently incomplete, meaning small farmers cannot adopt profitable new technologies. The problems are worse with tree than annual crops, owing to complex input needs and long gestation periods. This paper scrutinises a case where difficulties were overcome and farmers adopted improved rubber trees, indicating key elements in this development. It examines the nurseries supplying new trees, traders handling them, and smallholders adopting them, suggesting that provisions of infrastructure and services by government and introduction of competitive marketing channels by trader‐entrepreneurs were vital to what occurred. The paper finally addresses the wider context of the case, scrutinising the economics of institutional change concerned and mix of public and private actions facilitating it.