Can owners afford humanitarian donations in agbiotech: the case of genetically engineered eggplant in India

ABSTRACT

Are humanitarian donations in agbiotech economically feasible for the donor? We address this question by conducting an ex ante analysis of genetically engineered (GE) eggplant in India. Our analysis indicates that it is economically viable for a firm to donate the technology for poor farmers’ use by restricting use to open pollinated varieties while selling hybrid verities. By extension, this means of segmenting markets would likely apply in cases where different levels of production technologies are used based on access to market, irrigation, and credit, at least for perishable crops.