Diversity of research publications: relation to agricultural productivity and possible implications for STI policy

Technologies may have significant effects on productivity in the agricultural sector as documented in the related literature. However, those impacts vary from country to country. These differences could partially reflect the distinct scientific landscapes, science technology and innovation (STI) policies and approaches to R&D. In order to explain the cross-country volatility of agricultural productivity, we aim to study issues of STI development in the agricultural sector in each country. Among other characteristics of STI in general and the scientific landscape, in particular, we looked at the diversification of research publication between subfields of agricultural science. We estimated the research diversification parameter and studied its relation to economic performance of an agricultural sector. Our main finding shows that R&D funding, if carefully balanced with the diversification of agricultural science, could improve research performance and eventually productivity in an agricultural sector.