environment matters

Adoption of innovations in the Green Revolution context versus the triple win context: The nature of innovation, capacity, and the enabling environment matters

Improved cereal varieties, fertilizers, irrigation (in East Asia, more than 20 percent of fields were under irrigation at the onset of the Green Revolution), and modern pest control methods supported by extension and markets lay at the heart of the Green Revolution (Evenson and Gollin 2003; Hazell 2009). A scale-neutral technology package was conducive to widespread farmer adoption, but the Green Revolution was much more than a technology fix. This early adoption of modern crop varieties and synthetic fertilizers did not generally require more than basic literacy skills; however, it depended on a supporting extension system (farmer education, access to inputs) and markets (product absorption, price). Meeting these requirements typically required proactive efforts by governments in the form of land reforms, small-farm development programs, and input and credit subsidies (Hazell 2009). In China and Vietnam, for example, the transformation of the agriculture sector was initiated with a significant policy focus on land tenure reform, opening of markets, infrastructure investments (rural roads, irrigation), along with investments in innovation—specifically agricultural technology and advisory services (Huang and Rozelle 2018; World Bank 2020). The widespread use of improved varieties also stimulated innovation in Asia’s agricultural machinery industry (Huang, Rozelle, and Hu 2007).

Post–Green Revolution innovations focus on productivity, sustainability, and food safety (the triple win) but are more knowledge-intensive and place a greater emphasis on management and new skills. The uptake and spread of more sustainable technologies and farming practices in Asia’s Green Revolution areas have remained inadequate (Waddington et al. 2014). Innovations geared toward sustainability (such as integrated pest management, the system of rice intensification, Vietnam’s eco-practices in its rice program) are essentially about gradual adjustments to agronomic practices that rely on an understanding of the cropping system. These new innovations are increasingly management- and skill-intensive (Gollin, Morris, and Byerlee 2005). Indeed, in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, farmers have often resisted the adoption of ecofriendly practices in rice. Adoption of eco-practices was, on the one hand, positively correlated with improved access to information and knowledge (as evidenced by membership in farmer organizations, perceived ease of use, difference in selling price, farmer experience, perception of biodiversity losses). On the other hand, farmers’ risk perceptions and the number of paddy plots negatively affected its adoption (Vo et al. 2018). There are several other possible reasons for inadequate adoption, including perverse incentives caused by input subsidies, labor constraints, insecure property rights, difficulty of organizing for economies of scale, and externality problems (Hazell 2009; scherr et al. 2015).

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton is a new technology integrated with existing cotton production practices. China is the largest cotton producer in the world. Historically, about a third of pesticides in China are used on cotton, and many of these are classed as extremely hazardous by the World Health Organization, contributing to 400–500 farmer deaths annually from pesticide poisoning. To address this threat, government research systems developed genetically modified Chinese Bt insect-resistant cotton and introduced it to Chinese cotton farmers in 1997. It reached full adoption by 2012 (Zhang et al. 2018). Both cotton bollworm infestations and the use of insecticide sprays to control the pest declined dramatically between 1997 and 2015. A resurgence in beneficial insects and arthropod predators was observed. since 2008 both spraying and pest infestations have shown a slightly decreasing trend, suggesting that cotton production in China is steadily becoming less environmentally destructive (Qiao 2015; Zhang et al. 2018). Although the health benefits, reduced pesticide use (55 percent), improved yield, and environmental improvements are undisputed (Huang et al. 2002), adopting genetically modified Bt crops has not been a Green Revolution–type silver bullet in reducing pesticide use. The practice of applying excessive amounts of highly toxic pesticides has continued even after the adoption of Bt cotton (Zhang et al. 2018). Behavioral factors such as risk aversion and lack of knowledge by Chinese cotton farmers can be important factors driving pesticide use, and others have suggested that