Willingness of south Florida fruit growers to adopt genetically modified papaya : an ex-ante evaluation
Résumé
Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) has been a major factor inhibiting the expansion of papaya production in South Florida, USA. The University of Florida has developed a line of X17-2 transgenic papaya, tolerant to PRSV and suitable for commercial production. The expected yield improvement can reach 380%. Despite this, some fruit growers may be skeptical about adopting these improved GM cultivars for various reasons. Therefore, a probit model was used with data from a survey of likely producers to identify factors that could influence the adoption of the new technology. These factors include educational attainment, farm size and income from agriculture. The results suggest that a targeted education program will go a long way towards increasing the uptake of technology.
