Joint decision-making, technology adoption and food security: Evidence from rice varieties in eastern India.

This study investigates the effect of married couples' joint decision-making on rice variety selection on rice productivity-a measure of food security. The study uses the 2016 Rice Monitoring Survey and the endogenous switching regression (ESR) method. Results show that rice farms with joint decision-makers (husband and wife) would have higher yields, particularly in households that adopted MRVGen1 (before 1986) rice varieties. Thus, families with joint-decision making have higher food security. Intervention programs for food insecurity should acknowledge and incorporate information regarding the persons responsible for making rice varietal decisions and the characteristics of modern rice varieties to ensure food security.

Domestic and international impacts of rice export restrictions: The recent case of indian non-basmati rice.

This study examines the impact of India's export restrictions on domestic retail rice prices using a dynamic panel GARCH model. The findings suggest that export restrictions are not a sufficient condition to lower domestic prices. Export restrictions are associated with lower retail price volatility in the East Zone. Moreover, the international price transmission to a sample of Asian and African economies shows that all countries are vulnerable, but the degree and kinds of vulnerability differ. Rice exporters appear to be the most susceptible as domestic prices increase in these countries. Rice importers are also vulnerable because of price increases, but the increases are less than in countries where the private sector decides on import quantities.

Assessing returns to research investments in rice varietal development: Evidence from the Philippines and Bangladesh.

•This study estimates economic returns to investments in rice varietal development in the Philippines and Bangladesh.•The net returns to IRRI and national partners' investments remain strongly positive.•However, the returns are decreasing at a faster rate in the Philippines (24%) than in Bangladesh (6%).•IRRI and national partners should continue investing in rice R&D, especially to develop superior rice varieties.

Helping feed the world with rice innovations: CGIAR research adoption and socioeconomic impact on farmers.

Rice production has increased significantly with the efforts of international research centers and national governments in the past five decades. Nonetheless, productivity improvement still needs to accelerate in the coming years to feed the growing population that depends on rice for calories and nutrients. This challenge is compounded by the increasing scarcity of natural resources such as water and farmland. This article reviews 17 ex-post impact assessment studies published from 2016 to 2021 on rice varieties, agronomic practices, institutional arrangements, information and communication technologies, and post-harvest technologies used by rice farmers. From the review of these selected studies, we found that stress-tolerant varieties in Asia and Africa significantly increased rice yield and income. Additionally, institutional innovations, training, and natural resource management practices, such as direct-seeded rice, rodent control, and iron-toxicity removal, have had a considerable positive effect on smallholder rice farmers' economic well-being (income and rice yield). Additional positive impacts are expected from the important uptake of stress-tolerant varieties documented in several Asian, Latin American, and African countries.

Rice Grain Quality and Consumer Preferences: A Case Study of Two Rural Towns in the Philippines.

Hedonic pricing analysis is conducted to determine the implicit values of various attributes in the market value of a good. In this study, hedonic pricing analysis was applied to measure the contribution of grain quality search and experience attributes to the price of rice in two rural towns in the Philippines. Rice samples from respondents underwent quantitative routine assessments of grain quality. In particular, gelatinization temperature and chalkiness, two parameters that are normally assessed through visual scores, were evaluated by purely quantitative means (differential scanning calorimetry and by digital image analysis). Results indicate that rice consumed by respondents had mainly similar physical and chemical grain quality attributes. The respondents' revealed preferences were typical of what has been previously reported for Filipino rice consumers. Hedonic regression analyses showed that grain quality characteristics that affected price varied by income class. Some of the traits or socioeconomic factors that affected price were percent broken grains, gel consistency, and household per capita rice consumption. There is an income effect on rice price and the characteristics that affect price vary between income classes.