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Accelerating the rate of genetic gain has in recent years become a key objective in plant breeding for the Global South, building on the availability of new data technologies and bridging biological interest in crop improvement with economic interest in enhancing the cost efficiency of breeding programs. This paper explains the concept of genetic gain, the conditions for its emerging status as an indicator of agricultural development and the broader implications of this move, with particular emphasis on the changing knowledge-control regimes of plant breeding, the social and political consequences for smallholder farmers and climate-adaptive agriculture. We analyse how prioritising the variables used to derive the indicator when deciding on agricultural policies affects the relationship between development goals and practice. We conclude that genetic gain should not be considered as a primary indicator of agricultural development in the absence of information on other key areas (including agrobiodiversity, seed systems and the differential impact of climate change on soil, crops and communities), as well as tools to evaluate the pros and cons of the acceleration in seed selection, management and evaluation fostered by the adoption of genetic gain as a key indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper explains the processes behind the framing of drip irrigation as a promising technology to address current poverty and environmental challenges in the developing world. I draw from critical development and science and technology studies and highlight that this imagery has been actively performed. Insiders elaborated a compelling narrative calling upon a will to improve through technology and the moral legitimacy of social entrepreneurship in development; they worked hard to establish a supportive coalition in an ever wider network. This story hinges on several assumptions, which upon closer scrutiny appear to be problematic: the unicity of smallholder farming, the attribution of inherent technical characteristics to a specific object—the “drip kit”—regardless of the context in which it is used, and the framing of social entrepreneurship and market-based approaches as alternative models even though these rather constitute a re-working of existing arrangements within the international development community. Nonetheless, the pro-poor and environmentally friendly smallholder drip irrigation narrative still continues to be successful in harnessing the support of the international development community, despite the little capacity drip irrigation has had to transform smallholder farming, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Unpacking the origins, actors, and building blocks of the discursive success of smallholder drip irrigation provides fresh perspectives on the practices of development in the sector and is the first step toward more meaningful engagement with smallholder farmers in the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]