ADOPTION AND FARM-LEVEL IMPACT OF GENETICALLY IMPROVED

Over the last four decades, the aquaculture sector especially in developing countries has experienced dramatic growth. The increase in aquaculture production is a combination of area expansion and technological change (enhanced strains, input of feed and fertilizer, and improved management). One example of such technological change is the selective breeding efforts on tilapia that were initiated in 1988 by the WorldFish Center (then ICLARM) together with (inter-)national partners. The outcome of the selective breeding effort was a tilapia strain called ”GIFT ” (genetically improved farmed tilapia) which was first made available in 1993 and which showed significantly higher growth rates in on-farm trials. The strain was first adopted in the Philippines but has since been disseminated in 11 Asian countries. Ex-ante studies had shown the potential of the GIFT strain and concluded that substantial impact from GIFT and GIFT-derived strains can be expected. Our study is an ex-post assessment of the farm-level impact of GIFT and the way the technology has been disseminated and taken up. The study is based on a survey of 780 tilapia producers conducted in 2006/2007 in three different regions in Luzon, the Philippines. We analyze adoption rates of the GIFT strain and compare the performance of GIFT vs. non-GIFT strains and the impact of different factors on tilapia yields. Lastly, we evaluate the profitability o