This report examines the amount of money that the private sector of the food, agricultural, and biofuel industries spend on research and development (R&D). From 1994-2007, R&D grew by about 4.3% in the food and agricultural industries, with animal breeding experiencing some of the largest growth.

Excerpt from Executive Summary:

“Growth in R&D investment was uneven across industries. The most rapid increase in R&D was in crop breeding/biotechnology. Significant growth in R&D spending also occurred in farm machinery and food manufacturing.
However, real (inflation-adjusted) R&D spending declined for crop protection chemicals and animal nutrition. ”

“Other key findings include the following (figures below are in current or nominal dollars, unadjusted for inflation)”

• “In 2010, global private-sector investments in R&D related to agricultural inputIn 2007, global private-sector investments in R&D related to food manufacturing reached $11.48 billion, an increase from $6.02 billion in 1994.s reached $11.03 billion, an increase from $5.58 billion in 1994.”
• “In 2009, global private-sector investments in R&D related to biofuel reached $1.47 billion, with most growth in this area occurring since 2000.”
• “In most of the agricultural input industries, market concentration increased during 1994-2009, with the highest levels observed in the animal breeding and crop seed sectors and the largest increase observed in the crop seed sector. “
• “Rising levels of market concentration were not associated with larger R&D investment in agricultural input sectors.”
• “The globalization of food and agricultural R&D may accelerate the rate of international technology transfer, reducing productivity differences across nations and regions.”