Role of Science and Technology

Science and technology have been the foundation of the social and economic gains made in agriculture over the past 30 years and will continue to underpin any necessary

increases in agricultural productivity. Plant biotechnology is one such technology that has

been regarded as part of the “sustainable productivity equation” in agriculture (Cohen, 2001). Its present applications in agriculture include conventional breeding, tissue culture and micropropagation, molecular breeding or marker-assisted selection, plant disease diagnostics, genetic engineering and the production of GM crops, and the “omics” sciences (e.g., genomics,

proteomics, metabolomics, etc.). Unfortunately, harnessing biotechnology and its

applications for the benefit of the poor will require considerable attention in many areas including: allocation of additional public resources to agricultural research; appropriateness of, and access to, biotechnology by resource-poor farmers; improvement in the seed distribution

and extension systems; capacity-building of the public sector in biotech R&D; public education; policies and regulatory frameworks on biosafety, food safety, and intellectual property rights (IPRs); and stronger public-private sector links for both international and local collaborative undertakings. Current Status of Plant Biotechnology in Asia Many Asian governments—including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam— have given high priority to plant biotechnology research in the hope of addressing the pressing challenges related to improving productivity, farmers’ livelihoods, driving rural development, and meeting food

security demands.

Emerging Challenges

The future also presents a formidable challenge for Asia. In the next 20–25 years, Asia will have the highest absolute increase in population, from 3 billion to 4.5 billion. During the same period, the urban population will nearly double from 1.2 billion to 2 billion, as rural people move to the cities in search of employment. Urbanization and income growth frequently lead to shifts from a diet based on root crops (cassava, yam, and sweetpotato), sorghum, millets, and maize to rice and wheat, which require less preparation time, and to more meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, and processed foods. Meeting the food needs of Asia’s growing and increasingly urbanized population requires increases in agricultural productivity and matching these increases to dietary changes and rising incomes. The demand for cereal production is predicted to increase by about 40% from the present level of 650 million tons. This increase will have to be achieved with less labor, water, and arable land, because there is no scope for increasing the cultivated areas.

Current Problems

Although life has improved for many Asians, about 900 million still live in poverty (ADB, 2001), and approximately 536 million of them remain undernourished. Growth rates of yields have slowed during the period between 1987 and 2001 (Huang, Pray & Rozelle, 2002). The intensification of agriculture and the reliance on irrigation and chemical inputs resulted in problems ofsoil salinity, pesticide misuse, and degradation of natural resources. The Green Revolution technologies were useful in the favorable and irrigated environments, but they

had little impact on the millions of smallholders living in rainfed and marginal areas. Further, there has been an alarming decline in public sector investments, which account for about 90% of the total investments in agricultural research and development. Asia’s growth in agriculture research spending slowed to 4.4% in the 1990s from 7.5% in the 1980s (Pardey & Beintema, 2001). Even research investment by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural

Research (CGIAR) is on the decline. The CGIAR has been instrumental in the spread of improved crop varieties of basic staples and new agricultural technologies; unfortunately, the budgets of many of its international agricultural research centers (not to mention many of

their national program counterparts) have declined sharply in real terms over the past decade. For example, from 2001–2003, annual core funding for the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), one of the CGIAR centers based in the Philippines, dropped by 26%; similar

cuts are expected in the future (“Rice institute,” 2003). This is most likely due to the fact that development agencies have tended to shift funding away from agricultural research and toward other priorities

Agricultural Biotechnology

Making a contribution to our growing energy needs – It is well known that our energy needs are growing. Agricultural biotechnology is playing a role to meet this growing demand today and is poised to do so tomorrow.

• Ethanol – Production of ethanol—derived from corn, sugarcane and other crops—is up 300% in the U.S. since 2000.6 In fact,more than 40% of the gasoline used in the country today is actually a blended fuel containing up to 10% ethanol.

• Biodiesel – made from soybeans and other oilseed crops—is increasingly having an impact today through its use in farm equipment, trucks and buses. Sales of biodiesel in the U.S. have

tripled since 2004 and are expected to exceed 200 million gallons this year—up 100-fold since 2000.Boosting crop yields – Biotechnology helped increase crop yields by 8.34 billion pounds in 2005, according to experts.9 Take corn, for instance—since the introduction of biotech corn in 1996, yields have increased more than 33.1%.10 This growth is expected to continue in the

coming years with more advances in technology. Higher yields mean more grain for food and fuel – Biotechnology has boosted the amount of grain produced per acre. This is important

because farmable land is limited, yet the demand for grain for both food and fuel is growing dramatically. Improved yields from biotechnology are playing an important role in meeting the growing demand for grains. More yield per acre equals more grain for food and more grain for fuel. Helping reduce foreign oil imports – The production and use of nearly 5

billion gallons of ethanol in 2006 reduced America’s dependency on imported oil by 170 million barrels,11 equal to nearly a month’s worth of U.S. imports from OPEC.12 At current prices, this means $11 billion stayed in the U.S. instead of going overseas. A small contribution overall, but a

step in the right direction.13

Consumers React to Biotech Food Information

Biotech food labeling has become a contentious issue in the United States and between the United States and some of its trading partners. The Economic Research Service has released a technical bulletin, The Effects of Information on Consumer Demand for Biotech Foods: Evidence from Experimental Auctions, that provides new evidence on the power of science-based information to affect consumer response to agricultural biotechnology. Agricultural biotechnology is a collection of scientific techniques, including conventional hybridization that are used to modify or improve plants, animals, and microorganisms. Recently, the term “biotechnology” has been used to refer more specifically to products that have been genetically engineered (biochemical manipulation of genes or DNA). This is the meaning of the terms “biotech” and “genetically engineered” used in

this report.

European Union

In the EU, the treatment of labeling of foods and food additives derived from biotechnology is treated somewhat differently. Currently, the Novel Foods Regulation3 requires mandatory labeling of foods and food ingredients derived from biotechnology. However, products initially derived from biotechnology that no longer contain protein or DNA resulting from genetic modification are exempt from these labeling requirements as long as the bioengineered food is not substantially different by characteristic or property from the traditional food4. See the chart5 provided below for specific examples of products that would be exempt from biotechnology labeling under current regulations. Additionally, for traditionally produced products, where biotechnologies do exist within the product group, a threshold for adventitious contamination by bioengineered materials has been established by Regulation (EC) 49/20006 at 1% under which products do not require biotechnology labeling. This threshold applies to adventitious contamination only and manufacturers must be able to demonstrate that they have used appropriate steps to avoid the presence of material derived from biotechnology to be

exempt from labeling requirements.

In July, 2001, the European Commission adopted two proposals affecting the traceability and labeling of foods and food ingredients and feeds produced using biotechnology7. These proposals including amendments were affirmed by the European Parliament in July, 2002 and are predicted to be approved by the Council later in 2002. The proposals define a model for labeling biotechnology products that is more comprehensive than the current legislation. Under the pro posals, all foods or food ingredients derived from biotechnology, regardless of the protein/DNA content of the final product (see chart5 below for examples), would be required to bear special labeling indicating such derivation. Note that food additives such as highly filtered lecithin

derived or potentially derived from plants produced through biotechnology will need to be labeled under the new labeling proposals even if they do not contain any detectable

protein or DNA content. Additionally, the threshold for adventitious contamination would

be lowered to 0.5%.