Research

Agricultural production is an intrinsically risky business that constantly faces many sources of risks, such as production risks, market risks, institutional risks, and personal risks. To cope with agricultural risks, farmers rely on a number of technical and institutional options, including a variety of farm management practices, fertilizer and pesticide use, irrigation, disease monitoring, as well as crop insurance. My current research takes an integrated, bio-economic approach to assessing the role of these various risk management strategies in improving farmers’ welfare and helping to secure global food supplies.

With my interdisciplinary background in both agricultural sciences and applied economics, my research aims to create and apply bio-economic models using a spatio-temporal approach to access the impact of crop diseases. I have conducted research and published papers on the economic impact of wheat rust diseases and the benefits of agricultural R&D for global wheat production.

Investment in agricultural innovation plays an important role in maintaining and improving agricultural productivity for sustainable development. The global landscape of investment in agricutlural research and development (R&D) changes over time, which have siginficant impact on global food supply and economic development. My research investigates both the historical and future trends in global agricultural R&D investments and explores their social and economic implications.