Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
and animal production techniques. Although technologies such as embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization,
and embryo sexing are known to some scientists, there are still technological and economical
limitations to their use.
The agrobiotechnology business is still in its initial phase. It is divided into three main
areas: disease diagnosis, biocontrol, and tissue culture. Diagnostic kits have been developed for
several important plant and animal diseases; the Avian influenza virus test kit, widely used in
both the public and the private sectors, was developed in 2004 with the cooperation of the
National Science and Technology Agency and INNOVA Biotechnology. The Shrimp Biotechnology
Business Unit (SBBU) was established in 1999 under the National Center for Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) to assist the shrimp industry. SBBU has commercialized
diagnostic kits (EZEE Gene) for important viral diseases in shrimp, including White
Spot Syndrome Virus, Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus, Monodon
Baculovirus, Taura Syndrome Virus, and Yellow Head Virus/Gill Associated Virus. Most of the
test kits are stripped kits, simple and portable. Others are PCR-based. The income is returned to
the investor, BIOTEC, and royalties go to the inventor, Mahidol University. Recently, the technology
was transferred to a private company, Farming IntelliGene Technology Corp. For plant
diseases, monoclonal antibodies for detection of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) were
developed, commercialized, and proven to be useful to several seed companies in viral detection.
The use of commercial microbial insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is common
in many countries. In Thailand, similar practices started in 1996 when the Department of
Agriculture approved the use of Trichoderma harzianum as the first registered biofungicide
under the trade name of UNIGREEN UN-1 (Uniseed Co. Ltd.). There are currently two companies
producing Trichoderma and Ketomium (for Phytophthora control) commercially. Cut
flowers, particularly orchids, have become an important source of revenue for Thailand. Micropropagation
is widely used in the cut flower industry for commercialization of many cut flowers
including orchids, gerberas, carnations, chrysanthemums, anthuriums, cucumas, red ginger,
torch ginger, lilies, and calla lilies.
It is clear that development of agricultural biotechnology products is still in the initial phase
and that strategic improvement is needed. The major issues, such as the weak link between the
private and public sectors, lack of a proactive plan for upgrading local technical capability, and
high levels of technology transfer, urgently require solutions. There are several good signs for
the future, including the establishment of new companies using local technologies and agricultural
biotechnology projects initiated by the private sector.
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