Eliciting farmer preferences for rice varietal trait improvements using an experimental methodology based on investment games
type: CreativeWork
description: Rice value chains are changing rapidly in Asia, partly due to changing consumption patterns, and also as a result of increasingly stringent quality standards imposed on producers. Rice farmers and other value chain actors must now consider rice varieties that are suitable for unique production environments and processing scenarios. Rice breeders face similar trade-offs, as demand for their products (genetics or new varieties of rice) is derived from farmers’ and other value chain actors’ (including consumers’) demand for rice varieties and traits. Ultimately, breeders need to make informed decisions about where to invest and how to allocate increasingly scarce research and development resources. To facilitate successful adoption, it is important that farmers’ preferences and needs are incorporated in the early phases of breeding research to make sure that rice varieties developed are suitable to local conditions and at the same time respond to market requirements. This thesis utilises an innovative experimental Investment Game Application (IGA), which is a newly developed application for eliciting preferences for rice variety traits. The game is designed to simulate an investment market in which farmers can participate in investment decisions for public rice breeding programs. In the IGA, farmers are asked to identify a replacement variety and the traits of this variety that they want to see improved. Farmers are provided with an endowment fund, which they are asked to use to invest in trait improvements. Therefore, using data from the investment games conducted in February 2016 in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, this thesis analyses farmer preferences for rice varietal trait improvements (VTIs). A total of 122 rice-farming households participated in the experiment, with both the husband and wife taking part in activities. The thesis consists of three core chapters, which specifically analyse the following: (i) farmers’ investment preferences for VTIs and the factors that…
abstract: Rice value chains are changing rapidly in Asia, partly due to changing consumption patterns, and also as a result of increasingly stringent quality standards imposed on producers. Rice farmers and other value chain actors must now consider rice varieties that are suitable for unique production environments and processing scenarios. Rice breeders face similar trade-offs, as demand for their products (genetics or new varieties of rice) is derived from farmers’ and other value chain actors’ (including consumers’) demand for rice varieties and traits. Ultimately, breeders need to make informed decisions about where to invest and how to allocate increasingly scarce research and development resources. To facilitate successful adoption, it is important that farmers’ preferences and needs are incorporated in the early phases of breeding research to make sure that rice varieties developed are suitable to local conditions and at the same time respond to market requirements. This thesis utilises an innovative experimental Investment Game Application (IGA), which is a newly developed application for eliciting preferences for rice variety traits. The game is designed to simulate an investment market in which farmers can participate in investment decisions for public rice breeding programs. In the IGA, farmers are asked to identify a replacement variety and the traits of this variety that they want to see improved. Farmers are provided with an endowment fund, which they are asked to use to invest in trait improvements. Therefore, using data from the investment games conducted in February 2016 in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, this thesis analyses farmer preferences for rice varietal trait improvements (VTIs). A total of 122 rice-farming households participated in the experiment, with both the husband and wife taking part in activities. The thesis consists of three core chapters, which specifically analyse the following: (i) farmers’ investment preferences for VTIs and the factors that…
author: Maligalig, Rio Lawas
keywords: Research by publication, farmer preferences, varietal trait improvements, investment games, rice, Philippines
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:50Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/113577