Special Edition on Cotton Policies PRECISION AGRICULTURE ADOPTION POLICY: EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON WORLD COTTON MARKETS

World cotton trade is being affected by variables like recent expansion of new production areas, prices of alternative crops, and the impact of WTO rulings on the use of agricultural subsidies. Moreover, a potential new WTO agreement following the current Doha Round negotiations may imply drastic reductions on the level of current domestic support to cotton production. Another variable with potential implications on world trade markets is the likely adoption of a new generation of production technologies. This article explores the potential effects on world cotton markets of “precision agriculture ” technologies using a partial equilibrium world model under alternative policy scenarios