Ex ante impact assessment of herbicide resistant rice in the Sahel

Weeds are serious production constraints for rice in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, very few effective and suitable weed control options are known or accessible to farmers. Herbicide resistant (HR) technologies may have the labour-saving benefits of conventional chemical control without the concomitant risks of phytotoxicity and are expected to contribute to the control of problem weeds like weedy and wild rice. Despite world-wide interest in this technology, no study has ever attempted to assess the value of HR rice in SSA. In this paper we assess the potential value of HR technologies in irrigated-rice agro-ecosystems in the Senegal River Valley. We develop a simple graphical tool which can be used by breeders, crop protectionists and biosafety regulators to estimate the value of such technologies. The total value of HR rice is estimated at €22–26 ha −1, of which farmers would capture €16 ha −1, while the agro-industry would absorb €6–10 ha −1.