ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some aspects of the interaction of agricultural technology transfer, domestic research capacity and the development of agricultural research systems. It provides a model of agricultural research and technology transfer, indicating some circumstances when technology transfer is desirable and others when it is a sign of a weak research system. The chapter models some of the factors which influence a research system's choice between adapting a foreign technology and developing a local technology. It estimates the inherent advantages of local varieties over foreign varieties and of local adaptations of improved foreign varieties over the foreign parents. The chapter explains the importance of domestic research capacity, and also examines some reasons for underinvestment in such capacity. With competitive salaries and stable funding, however, the system retains a stable cadre of researchers, lessening the burden on the training system, and produces a system better able to produce independent advances and take advantage of foreign advances.
