Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
safety Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity is important, as it will influence
national approaches. Developing countries stand to derive the most benefit from this new technology,
and any excessive regulation will hinder progress and the sharing of benefits with small
resource-poor farmers in Asia. Asia is unique in its natural biological diversity, which serves as
a resource (and therefore justifies protection) but also as an important natural buffer to the
monocultural cropping systems needed to produce food efficiently in large enough quantities to
feed a growing population. It is hoped that as experience with biotech crops increases and its
safety is demonstrated, misconceptions and misinformation on this technology will decrease.
Promising signs are already in evidence, for example, the European Union’s recent decisions in
favor of selected field trials of biotech crops and the continued importation, albeit regulated, of
millions of tons of biotech crop products from North and Latin America.
Many countries in developing Asia have espoused national policies to promote biotechnology
in agriculture, the most recent being the National Biotechnology Policy of Malaysia
(MOSTI, 2005). Most of these have been developed based on biotechnology’s anticipated role in
creating new value and adding value to existing agricultural businesses such as the seed business
(Oliver, 2003; Sashi, 2004). Singapore government websites show that Singapore alone has
invested over USD3 billion in the past few years to make biotechnology a major engine for economic
growth. Its optimism is based on the anticipation that in a globalized, knowledge-based
economy, creating value through biology will likely add to or even exceed the value created by
digital information-communication technologies.
Ultimately, it is likely that the future of agricultural biotechnology in Asia will be decided
by its relevance to feeding people and providing the food security essential for national development.
The widely known economist Jeffrey Sachs (1999) has noted that most of the world’s new
technologies are generated and owned by a small group of countries which collectively account
for only about a third of the world’s population. Asia, in which more than 60% of the world’s inhabitants
live, is as yet not a notable contributor to new technologies, but rather has been a major
user and adapter of technology. This will change. Countries which recognize the potential of
biotechnology will likely benefit most from it, even in the seemingly mundane business of commercializing
biotech seeds.
REFERENCES
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Conway G. The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the 21st Century. Ithaca, NY:
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