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Abstract
When farmers consume much of their grain output, end-use quality, in addition to standard
production characteristics, affects farmers' seed choice and the economic returns to investment in crop
breeding. Evidence from Malawi suggests that despite a lengthy research lag, emphasizing grain quality in
recent years will amplify returns to research. Yet the story of that research breakthrough also suggests that
when market signals are weak, physical and the social scientists who seek to play an informative role must
be especially cautious in their assessment of research priorities.