The Adoption of Genetically Modified Papaya in Hawaii and its Implications for Developing Countries

As agricultural biotechnology becomes increasingly commercialised, numerous constraints limit adoption by developing-country producers. These include technlogy acces, impacts on farmers' yields and profits, privatisation of research and intellectual property, biosafety regulatory frameworks, and trade-related market restrictions. This essay analyses development of the genetically modified papaya and its commercialisation in Hawaii as a response to a virulent plant disease, papaye ringspot virus. Results of a survey of Hawaiian papaya growers suggest that the unprecedentedly rapid adoption of GM papaya is due to this technology's having addressed many of these key constraints facing growers. The implications for developing-country adoption of GM varieties are explored.