The Effects of Plant Breeders’ Rights on Wheat Productivity and Varietal Improvement in South African Agriculture
1
Department of Finance and Economics, Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, Midrand 1685, South Africa
2
Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3378; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123378
Received: 31 January 2019 / Revised: 12 April 2019 / Accepted: 13 April 2019 / Published: 19 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Economics of Biotechnology)
The strengthening of the intellectual property rights (IPRs) for plant varieties provide incentives for breeding companies to invest more resources in plant breeding. The main objective of this paper was to analyze the effects of strengthening the wheat variety intellectual protection on wheat productivity and the release of new varieties. The strength of IPR systems was measured using an intellectual property (IP) protection index, and plant breeders’ rights (PBRs) granted for wheat varieties. The empirical analyses were based on correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results showed that strengthening IPR systems in South Africa contribute to improving wheat productivity and increasing the number of wheat varieties released. Furthermore, although the robust coefficients of the other IPR variables are positive, they are statistically insignificant for all scenarios. There is a need for more incentives beyond granting PBRs and strengthening of IPR systems to be provided in the whole wheat sector to stimulate increased investments and the release of new varieties.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Nhemachena, C.R.; Kirsten, J.F.; Muchara, B. The Effects of Plant Breeders’ Rights on Wheat Productivity and Varietal Improvement in South African Agriculture. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3378. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123378
AMA Style
Nhemachena CR, Kirsten JF, Muchara B. The Effects of Plant Breeders’ Rights on Wheat Productivity and Varietal Improvement in South African Agriculture. Sustainability. 2019; 11(12):3378. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123378
Chicago/Turabian StyleNhemachena, Charity R.; Kirsten, Johann F.; Muchara, Binganidzo. 2019. "The Effects of Plant Breeders’ Rights on Wheat Productivity and Varietal Improvement in South African Agriculture" Sustainability 11, no. 12: 3378. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123378
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