Open Access Article

Title: Demystification of GM crop costs: releasing late blight resistant potato varieties as public goods in developing countries

Authors: Benjamin Schiek; Guy Hareau; Yona Baguma; Akshat Medakker; David Douches; Frank Shotkoski; Marc Ghislain

Addresses: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office, International Potato Center, P.O. Box 25171, Nairobi 00603, Kenya ' Social and Health Sciences, International Potato Center, P.O. Box 1558, Lima 12, Peru ' National Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 295, Entebbe, Uganda ' Sathguru Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Plot 54, Sagar Society, Road No 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad – 500034, India ' Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA ' International Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 214 Rice Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA ' Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office, International Potato Center, P.O. Box 25171, Nairobi 00603, Kenya

Abstract: A few studies have reported some of the costs associated with bringing to market genetically-modified (GM) crops but no comprehensive studies exist on the real cost of the entire process of developing and releasing one GM variety by a not-for-profit institution in a developing country for sustainable agriculture. Despite the lack of documented studies, it is commonly assumed that such an undertaking is cost prohibitive, based on mere hearsay, and on two private sector cost assessments. The present study assesses the costs and the time expenditures to two not-for-profit programs, one lead by CIP and the other by Cornell University, of developing a late blight resistant (LBr) potato variety for release in one developing country. CIP's costs run to $1.6 million over eight years, while Cornell's costs amount to $1.4 million over nine years. Exogenous disturbances might result in insignificant increases in cost, but can increase time expenditure significantly. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the total cost is markedly influenced by technical parameters determining the production and identification of the pre-commercial LBr transgenic event.

Keywords: GM crops; genetically-modified crops; transgenic crops; GM costs; not-for-profit institutions; potato blight; late blight resistance; LBr; developing countries; potatoes; sustainable agriculture; sustainability; time expenditure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBT.2016.077942

International Journal of Biotechnology, 2016 Vol.14 No.2, pp.112 - 131

Received: 06 Mar 2015
Accepted: 26 Oct 2015

Published online: 23 Jul 2016 *