The Australian New Crops Newsletter

Issue No 9, January 1998.

NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the Advice on Publications Available.

6. Thirteen steps for the commercialisation of new crops.

The marketability and productivity of a new crop can be predicted to some extent. However, the important economic outcomes, which should determine the choice of new crop to be developed, cannot be predicted with any precision.

Hence these steps have been proposed to monitor the economic status of the new crop commercialisation process:

  1. the proposal of the new crop by those willing to commit themselves financially to such development;
  2. the acknowledgment that new crops research is inherently a high risk venture;
  3. the recognition of the need to protect intellectual property rights;
  4. the assessment of the marketing potential of the new crop using all criteria published, identifying those criteria for which no information is available;
  5. a theoretical assessment of the production potential of the new crop using all criteria published, identifying those criteria for which no information is available;
  6. the establishment of an integrated development group comprising producers, processors, distribution and marketing teams with research providers, initially, in a facilitation role, only;
  7. agreement within the group of resource requirements, expected outcomes, action plans to achieve them, and distribution of any profits;
  8. the establishment of a process of project monitoring to identify and resolve problems quickly and efficiently;
  9. the establishment of economic benchmarks and an agreement to abandon the project once these have not been met;
  10. the establishment of a system of review to place on record the circumstances under which the project was successful or failed;
  11. trial production for trial marketing;
  12. trial production for trial processing and packaging; and
  13. experimental production.

Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter

Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email: r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au

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originally created by: GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF