Can yield gap analysis be used to inform R & D prioritisation?

Authors

P. A. J. van Oort, Africa Rice CenterFollow
K. Saito, Africa Rice Center
I. Dieng, Africa Rice Center
P. Grassini, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
K. G. Cassman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
M. K. van Ittersum, Wageningen University

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

Global Food Security 12 (2017) 109–118

Comments

© 2016 The Authors.

This is an open access article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2016.09.005

Abstract

The phrase “biggest bang for a buck” is associated with the policy making question that governments and development agencies face: “Where and which crops should receive highest priority for improving local and global food supply?”. A first step of prioritisation is to identify region x crop combinations for which high impact can be anticipated. We developed a new method for this prioritisation exercise and applied it to data from the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas (GYGA). Our prioritisation distinguishes between two policy objectives (humanitarian and economic) and builds upon the relative yield gap and climate risk. Results of the prioritisation are presented and visualised in Google Earth.