Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 3/05
Potential benefits of transgenic rice in Asia: a general equilibrium analysis
Guy G. Hareau
Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), Montevideo,
Uruguay
George W. Norton, Bradford F. Mills and Everett Peterson
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg,
USA
Abstract
A preliminary ex ante evaluation of potential impacts of stemborer,
drought, and herbicide resistant genetically modified rice technologies
in favorable and unfavorable environments in Asia is conducted in a
general equilibrium framework. The total magnitude of the benefits from
the three technologies is similar, and it indicates that emerging rice
biotechnologies are likely to generate significant gains in economic
well-being. The distribution of technology benefits across countries
is, however, dramatically different. For countries with a larger
proportion of production in unfavorable environments, the drought
resistance technology produces larger gains than the stemborer
technology. For countries with production primarily in favorable
environments, the relative magnitude of gains depends on the proportion
of direct seeded as opposed to transplanted rice production, with
herbicide resistance technology appearing to provide greater gains than
stemborer or drought resistant rice in direct seeded systems.
Keywords: biotechnology, transgenic rice, research impacts, GTAP, Asia
JEL: Q 160
Vol. 44 (2005), No. 3: 229-246