Crop breeding innovations with sustainable attributes are crucial for food systems of tomorrow; however, the economic worth of such innovations to producers and consumers has not received substantial assessment. This research aimed to fill up that gap by evaluating the effects of particular breeding-based parameters. Among these are climate resilience and nutrient-use efficiency (NUE) and other factors affecting consumer choice, willingness to pay (WTP), and welfare outcomes in food chains in Turkey and Eastern Europe. The study used the microeconomic model integrating farm-level production data with life-cycle assessment and a discrete-choice experiment (N = 472 consumers). The random-parameter logit model showed that breeding variables were the most influential determinants of market preferences, attributing 21%–35% variance in WTP and consumer welfare, which emerged considerably larger than sustainability labels (1%–3%) and income heterogeneity (4%–20%). Resistant cultivars considerably contributed to consumer welfare, and the producers were surplus by 15.8 index and 10.2 USD/ha, respectively. By providing evidence to breeders and policymakers, integrating climate resilience and NUE into germplasm, the congruent economic benefits reached their development across the entire value chain. This provided a scalable avenue for breeding programs to directly affect the sustainable agricultural consumption.
Sustainable agricultural consumption, breeding innovations, agri-food systems, climate resilience, nutrient-use efficiency, discrete choice experiment, economic benefits
Sustainability factors based on breeding innovations were the most significant consumer choice determinants, which enhanced the consumer’s willingness to pay and purchase likelihood. The disparity in income diminished the attained welfare of the lower-income consumers, showing distributional bottlenecks to adopting sustainable products.