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European Review of Agricultural Economics Advance Access published online on August 18, 2006
European Review of Agricultural Economics, doi:10.1093/eurrag/jbl016
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© Oxford University Press and Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics 2006; all rights reserved

Article

Crop genetic diversity, farm productivity and the management of environmental risk in rainfed agriculture

Salvatore Di Falco 1 * and Jean-Paul Chavas 2

1 Applied Economics and Business Management--Kent Business School, Imperial College, Wye Campus TN25 5AH, Wye, Ashford, UK
2 University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Salvatore Di Falco, E-mail: s.difalco{at}imperial.ac.uk


  Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of the linkages between crop genetic diversity, farm productivity and risk management. A flexible moment-based approach is used to analyse the impact of crop genetic diversity on the mean, variance and skewness of yield. Using farm-level data from Sicily (Italy), econometric evidence shows how crop genetic diversity can increase farm productivity and reduce risk exposure. The empirical results indicate that crop genetic diversity can reduce variance, but only if pesticide use is low. Furthermore, high diversity levels can reduce downside risk exposure (e.g. the risk of crop failure). This provides useful insights on the linkages between resilience and crop genetic diversity.

Keywords: diversity; farm productivity; production risk; wheat production.
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S. Di Falco and J.-P. Chavas
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[Abstract] [PDF]


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