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Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

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past experience. A susta<strong>in</strong>able programme of diversification could be achieved only throughfarmer participation <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g process. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Marambe et. al. (1999) for cropdiversification <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>or irrigation schemes <strong>in</strong> Sri Lanka, <strong>the</strong> major factors are <strong>the</strong> decisionsmade on selection of crops and efficiency of resource allocation and utilization.4.8 New Technology Development<strong>Asia</strong>n Agriculture has benefited from <strong>in</strong>novative front l<strong>in</strong>e research dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> pasttwo decades. Rapid progress has been made <strong>in</strong> cereal production due to <strong>the</strong> development ofhigh yield<strong>in</strong>g varieties of rice, wheat and maize. Cereal breed<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> production ofhybrids, is cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g which will enhance crop production <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Region.Modern biotechnology <strong>in</strong> which characteristics based on s<strong>in</strong>gle genes can betransferred from any organism to plants has resulted <strong>in</strong> transgenic plants comb<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g diseaseor <strong>in</strong>sect or herbicide tolerance. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> emerg<strong>in</strong>g genetic technologies could bebeneficial to farmers due to <strong>the</strong>ir cost effectiveness. On a global level, transgenic crops<strong>in</strong>creased from 2.8 to 12.8 million ha from 1996 to 1997. The <strong>in</strong>dustrialized countries growlarge extents (75 percent) while develop<strong>in</strong>g countries (especially Ch<strong>in</strong>a <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Region) growonly 25 percent. The use of transgenic crops has come under severe scrut<strong>in</strong>y <strong>in</strong> recent timesand some countries have completely banned <strong>the</strong>ir import until <strong>the</strong> actual situation is clarified.The development and utilization of new technologies have to be supported at <strong>the</strong>national level, both <strong>in</strong> terms of capacity build<strong>in</strong>g with appropriate tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, and policiesprogrammes, and mechanisms for <strong>the</strong>ir implementation. Increased resources for agriculturalresearch and development are essential so that conventional and biotechnologicalapplications can be accelerated and <strong>in</strong>tegrated to produce high yield<strong>in</strong>g crops and saferfoods. It is now widely acknowledged that conventional technologies will be less thanadequate to double food production, and biotechnology will be an essential strategy toachieve food security <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Region.REFERENCESIRRI. 1995. World Rice Statistics. 1993-94. Los Banos, Philipp<strong>in</strong>esYuan, L.P. 1996. Hybrid rice <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a. In Hybrid rice technology, Directorate of RiceResearch, Hyderabad, India 51-54.Marambe B, Sangakkara, U.R. and Azharul Haq, K. 1996.. <strong>Crop</strong> <strong>Diversification</strong> Strategiesfor M<strong>in</strong>or Irrigation Schemes. Proceed<strong>in</strong>gs of Workshop, 20 Feb. 1966, IMMI, SriLanka.Seckler, D. 1999. Water scarcity and challenge of <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g water use efficiency andproductivity. Susta<strong>in</strong>able Agriculture Solutions. Novello Press, London, 116-126.165

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