Gary Atlin, “plant breeder, quantitative geneticist, and consultant,” according to his Linkedin profile, has an interesting series of posts on that social network trying to figure out why varietal turnover is so slow in much of the developing world, and what can be done about it.
Public sector plant breeding programs develop the crop varieties that feed most of the world. These programs need support to modernize and accelerate the rate of genetic gains they deliver to farmers in the developing world. In much of the world, these farmers are using cultivars that are 20, 30, and even 40 years old. These farmers are inadequately protected from the effects of climate change and are not being provided with the tools they need to adapt to intensifying and commercializing cropping systems.
The discussion started about a week ago, and is well worth following. I thought there might be a way to post a thread here, but it looks like you have to actually go to Linkedin to see the posts.