This paper shows that the current generation of transgenic crop varieties has significant potential to improve economic welfare in low-income countries. These varieties might increase crop yields in low-income countries in cases when pesticides have not been used. They will reduce negative health effects of chemicals when they replace them. With low transaction costs, appropriate infrastructure, and access to intellectual property, multiple varieties of transgenics will be introduced.

For millennia, humans have modified plant genes in order to develop crops best suited for food, fiber, feed, and energy production. Conventional plant breeding remains inherently random and slow, constrained by the availability of desirable traits in closely related plant species. In contrast, agricultural biotechnology employs the modern tools of genetic engineering to reduce uncertainty and breeding time and to transfer traits from more distantly related plants.

Agricultural biotechnology and, specifically, the development of genetically modified (GM) crops have been controversial for several reasons, including concerns that the technology poses potential negative environmental or health effects, that the technology would lead to the (further) corporatization of agriculture, and that it is simply unethical to manipulate life in the laboratory. GM crops have been part of the agricultural landscape for more than 15 years and have now been adopted on more than 170 million hectares (ha) in both developed countries (48%) and developing countries (52%).

This article presents lessons from the rich adoption literature for the nascent research on adaptation. Individuals' adoption choices are affected by profit and risk considerations and by credit and biophysical constraints. New technologies spread gradually, reflecting heterogeneity among potential adopters, processes of learning and technological improvement, and policies and institutions. Adaptation is the response of economic agents and societies to major shocks. We distinguish between reactive and proactive adaptation.

Genetically engineered (GE) foods apply new molecular technologies to Widely adopted in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina for the p corn, soybeans, and cotton, they are practically banned in Europe and tigh throughout the world. We have found that GE foods have significantly incr of corn, soybean, and cotton, and lowered their prices, thus improving food foods have already contributed to a reduction in the use of pesticides and

Group work by participants in the SEARCA Forum-workshop on Platforms, Rural Advisory Services, and Knowledge Management: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development, Los Banos, 17-19 May 2016.

Feedback from participants in the SEARCA Forum-workshop on Platforms, Rural Advisory Services, and Knowledge Management: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development, Los Banos, 17-19 May 2016.

This guide is developed by synthesizing successful field experiences within a project known as Improving Productivity & Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers Project or IPMS Project. The main purpose of the IPMS project was to test methods, approaches, and processes that can help transform Ethiopian smallholder agriculture from subsistence to a market‐oriented agriculture.