TY  - CPAPER 
AB  - Recent trends in farm productivity and food prices raise concerns about whether the era of global
agricultural abundance is over. Agricultural R&D is a crucial determinant of agricultural
productivity and production, and therefore food prices and poverty. In this paper we review past
and present agricultural production and productivity trends and present entirely new evidence on
investments in public agricultural R&D worldwide as an indicator of the prospects for
agricultural productivity growth over the coming decades. The agricultural R&D world is
changing, and in ways that will definitely affect future global patterns of poverty, hunger and
other outcomes. The global picture is mixed. In the world as a whole crop yield growth has
slowed. In high-income countries productivity growth has slowed significantly, and real
spending on agricultural R&D is being reduced. In China, and other middle-income countries,
spending on agricultural R&D is being ramped up and productivity growth has not slowed. The
overall picture is one in which the middle-income countries are growing in relative importance as
producers of agricultural innovations through investments in R&D and have consequently better
prospects as producers of agricultural products.
AU  - Pardey, Philip G.
AU  - Alston, Julian M.
AU  - Chan-Kang, Connie
DA  - 2012
DA  - 2012
DO  - 10.22004/ag.econ.131824
DO  - doi
ID  - 131824
KW  - Agricultural and Food Policy
KW  - Productivity Analysis
KW  - Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies
L1  - https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/131824/files/PardeyEtAlFinal.pdf
L2  - https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/131824/files/PardeyEtAlFinal.pdf
L4  - https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/131824/files/PardeyEtAlFinal.pdf
LA  - eng
LA  - English
LK  - https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/131824/files/PardeyEtAlFinal.pdf
N2  - Recent trends in farm productivity and food prices raise concerns about whether the era of global
agricultural abundance is over. Agricultural R&D is a crucial determinant of agricultural
productivity and production, and therefore food prices and poverty. In this paper we review past
and present agricultural production and productivity trends and present entirely new evidence on
investments in public agricultural R&D worldwide as an indicator of the prospects for
agricultural productivity growth over the coming decades. The agricultural R&D world is
changing, and in ways that will definitely affect future global patterns of poverty, hunger and
other outcomes. The global picture is mixed. In the world as a whole crop yield growth has
slowed. In high-income countries productivity growth has slowed significantly, and real
spending on agricultural R&D is being reduced. In China, and other middle-income countries,
spending on agricultural R&D is being ramped up and productivity growth has not slowed. The
overall picture is one in which the middle-income countries are growing in relative importance as
producers of agricultural innovations through investments in R&D and have consequently better
prospects as producers of agricultural products.
PY  - 2012
PY  - 2012
T1  - Agricultural Production, Productivity and R&D over the Past Half Century: An Emerging New World Order
TI  - Agricultural Production, Productivity and R&D over the Past Half Century: An Emerging New World Order
UR  - https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/131824/files/PardeyEtAlFinal.pdf
Y1  - 2012
ER  -