Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

– 13 –
Summary of Findings
Bioconversion of cellulose material, i.e., rice straw, has been found to be accelerated by the use
of cytophaga and trichoderma as activators. Several native strains of Bacillus thuringiensis have
been identified as effective in controlling army worm, Asian corn borer, rice stem borer, cotton
bollworm, and sugarcane borer. Development of biofertilizers consisting of effective nonsymbiotic
N-fixing, phosphate-solubilizing, and aggregate-stabilizing microbes, of bioinsecticides
composed of entomophogenic fungus, Beuvvaria bassiana, of biopulping activators using white
rot fungi, and of microbially induced flavoring agents are major activities in the application of
microbial technology in the estate crops area. Antagonistic fungal isolates have also been recognized
as effective in controlling the white-rot disease of rubber and the pod-rot disease of cacao.
Some biotechnological products have been launched and commercialized and treated as biofertilizers
and biopesticides.
There are many biotechnology products based on applied microbiology in Indonesia, all of
which together constitute a small but growing industry. The production and marketing experience
gained from this aspect of biotechnology can provide a basis for the expansion of more
modern biotechnology applications.
Agricultural Biotechnology Status in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Progress, Products,
Limitations, and Future
Although there has been some biotechnological research in the Islamic Republic of Iran
during the past 20 years, effective research in the field of agricultural biotechnology began only
after the establishment in 1998 of the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran
(ABRII), the most advanced agricultural biotechnology research center in the country. Nowadays
molecular research in agriculture is growing very fast, not only in ABRII, but also in other
research centers in the country. Despite the short time, the products are satisfactory. Bt-transgenic
rice, biofertilizers, biopesticides, in vitro-derived pistachio seedlings, and virus-free potato
are the most important products and are produced on a commercial scale.
Status of Agricultural Biotechnology in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran started using modern biotechnology one or two decades after the developed countries,
that is, from the mid-1990s, but only in the past five years has this technology been seriously
considered. The government’s investments in agricultural biotechnology together with the efforts
of researchers and experts led to the production of transgenic rice and cotton, biofertilizers
for paddy, biopesticides to kill agricultural pests, virus-free potato seed, and date and pistachio
seedlings, as well as the use of tissue culture methods for mass production of seedlings. It is
likely that in the upcoming years a considerable increase in agricultural products will be witnessed.
Despite the efforts of researchers, Iran still has no share of the increasing trade of biotechnological
products and is only an importer of some of these products. Without exact statistical
reports, the amount of imported products cannot be determined. In keeping with the capabilities
and facilities for biotechnology and the needs of the country, agricultural biotechnology plans
are being prepared. Long-term plans for agricultural biotechnology include:
• Cultivation of transgenic plants amounting to 0.5% of the global area of biotech plants by
the end of the long-term plan period.
• Production of forage and supplements of livestock amounting to 10% of the needs of the
country.
• Production of biofertilizers and biopesticides amounting to 10% of the needs of the
country, replacing chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• Production of at least five kinds of new vaccines for livestock diseases and the export of
30% of total products.