Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
WHY AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR THE ASIA–PACIFIC REGION?
Adoption in Asia–Pacific
In the Asia–Pacific region, five countries have grown biotechnology crops commercially
(Table 2).
Table 2. Biotechnology Traits and Crops That Have Been
Commercially Grown in the Asia–Pacific Region
Trait and crop Nations with commercial growings
Insect-protected cotton India, China, Australia, Indonesia
Herbicide-tolerant cotton Australia
Insect-protected maize Philippines
Importation of Biotechnology Crops
In addition to crops being grown within Asia, a significant amount of crops grown in the
Americas are exported to Asia, especially to the Pacific Rim countries, for feed and food use.
USDA data shows that in 2003, approximately 19 million metric tons of maize were exported
from the U.S. to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea and approximately 17 million metric tons of soybeans
were exported to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (USDA–FAS, 2004). Given that large
amounts of herbicide-tolerant soybean (85% of total soybean) and herbicide-tolerant and insectprotected
maize (45% of total maize) are grown in the U.S. (James, 2003), these major grainimporting
countries, as well as other Asia–Pacific countries, including Australia, New Zealand,
and the Philippines, have established science-based regulatory approval systems for import of
biotechnology crops.
Uses and Benefits to Date
Insect-protected Cotton
China was an early adopter of insect-protected (Bt) cotton and now has the highest number
of hectares in the region. In 2004, insect-protected cotton was grown by seven million farmers in
China on 3.7M ha (James, 2004). A number of studies have documented the economic, environmental,
and social benefits from this technology (Table 3). The improved economics and reduced
use of pesticides seen with the adoption of insect-protected cotton have also yielded social
benefits for the individual and for society as a whole in China (Huang et al., 2002).
Table 3. Impact of Insect-protected Cotton, China
Year Net revenue
Pesticide usage
(USD per hectare)
(Kg per hectare)
Insect- Conventional Insect- Conventional
protectedprotected
1999 277 -225 11.8 60.7
2000 367 -183 20.5 48.5
2001 351 -6 32.9 87.5
Source: Adapted from Pray et al., 2002; Huang et al., 2002
India has seen a rapid expansion in the number of acres on which insect-protected cotton is
being grown. The product was first introduced in 2002. In 2004, India had highest percentage
annual growth of biotech acres of the eight leading biotech crop countries, with 0.5M ha planted,
providing a 400% increase over the hectares planted in 2003 (James, 2004). Studies are now
being published documenting the impact of the product. For example, the performance of insect-
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