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Seeds of accumulation: Molecular breeding and the seed corn industry in Hawai‘i
Author(s) -
Schrager Benjamin,
Suryanata Krisnawati
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of agrarian change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.63
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1471-0366
pISSN - 1471-0358
DOI - 10.1111/joac.12207
Subject(s) - agrarian society , restructuring , economic rent , flexibility (engineering) , politics , selection (genetic algorithm) , appropriation , biology , capital (architecture) , crop , breed , agricultural economics , microbiology and biotechnology , agriculture , agronomy , political science , economics , geography , market economy , ecology , management , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , law
This paper examines how the application of advances in molecular biology change the relationships between nature and capital through a case study of Hawaiˋi's seed corn industry. Hawaiˋi's relatively minor role as a winter nursery changed in the late 1990s after the seed corn industry was reshaped by a series of techno‐scientific innovations and organizational restructuring. We draw attention to a molecular breeding technique called marker‐assisted selection (MAS) that accelerates crop improvement cycles by making parent lines selection more efficient and by taking advantage of extra growing seasons in tropical locations such as Hawaiˋi. Additionally, we argue that a wider application of MAS enhances seed firms’ geographical flexibility, allowing them to capitalize on the institutional rents of Hawaiˋi's agrarian politics and overcome challenges that might emerge in the future.