Quantifying the Contribution of Plant Breeders' Rights and Transgenic Varieties to Canola Yields: Evidence from Manitoba

Canola yield functions that account for plant breeders' rights, changes in technology, measures of varietal diversity and environmental conditions are estimated for the province of Manitoba for the period 1995-2001. Various measures are employed to estimate the effect of plant breeders' rights (PBR) on canola yields. Panel data models, which allow for differences in behavior over cross-sectional units at the same point in time as well as differences in behavior over time for a given cross-sectional unit, are used for the analysis. The performance of canola yield response functions are superior with random effects models. The adoption of transgenic varieties and varieties qualifying for PBR are positively associated with increasing yields. The policy implication of this study is that a greater commitment of public funds to fundamental research may be necessary to complement the applied research that private companies are undertaking in producing finished varieties.