Contents & Foreword, Characterizing And ... - IRRI books

iii. Unit cost reductioniv. Change in resource-use patternv. Characteristics of improved technology (i.e., technology traits)vi. Base level of area and production of major crops in the target domainvii. Fallow landB. Socioeconomic informationi. Input and output pricesii. Demand and supply elasticities. These are important for assessing howfarmers and consumers respond to changing prices.iii. Population below poverty lineiv. Percentage of literate farm womenC. Research processi. Research lag. This is the time difference between the starting year ofthe research project and when the research output (i.e., technology) isidentified.ii. Probability of success. This is the probability of success expected inachieving the objectives set in the target period.iii. Adoption of technology. This is the expected adoption and ceiling levelof adoption in the target domain.Data sets A and B were based on the information generated to characterize theproduction system, and the research team. Data set C was collected from the researchteam involved in developing technology. The information supplied by the researchteams was discussed with specialists and extension agents, and some modificationswere made based on their past experiences. More discussion focused on the probabilityof success, which largely depends on the strength of the research station in termsof facilities and human resources.Step IV: Assessment of benefitsThe economic surplus approach was used to assess the potential benefits generated asa result of the technology intervention. The approach is used with the assumption thattechnology intervention would improve supply, reduce the unit cost of production,and benefit consumers and producers. Figure 1 gives a simple, conventional, comparative-staticpartial equilibrium model of supply and demand in a commodity market.DD is the demand curve for the commodity under study. S 0 S 0 is the supply curveof the commodity under study before the technology intervention. With DD demandfor a commodity and S 0 S 0 supply of the commodity, the equilibrium price would beP 0 and the quantity Q 0 . With technology intervention, the production function wouldshift upward and the unit cost of production would come down. Under this scenario,the supply curve of the commodity would shift to the right-hand side. The new supplycurve would be S 1 S 1 . With the new supply function, the equilibrium price would beP 1 and the quantity Q 1 . Prices would fall and quantity supply and demand would behigher at the new equilibrium. If prices fell, consumers would always be the gainers.But producers would be losers as a result of the fall in prices, but gainers due to the294 Joshi and Suresh Pal