Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
INTRODUCTION
The Multi-Country Study Mission on Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology
Products, organized by the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) and hosted by the Government
of the Republic of China, was held in Taipei from 23–28 May 2005. The Taiwan Agriculture
Research Institute, Taichung, hosted the meeting. Twenty-two participants from twelve
member countries and seven resource persons from the U.S., Singapore, Republic of Korea, and
Republic of China attended this mission.
The objectives of the study mission were to review the business potential of agriculture
biotechnology products and to suggest how private companies, especially SMEs, including the
government corporate sector, could actualize such potential in member countries.
The study mission consisted of presentation and discussion of resource papers as well as
country papers and field visits to selected institutions and private businesses involved in agricultural
biotechnology research and development and commercialization of biotechnology products.
The topics covered by the resource papers were: “Why Agricultural Biotechnology?,” “Global
Status and Trends of Commercialized Biotechnology in Crops,” “Frontiers and Advances in
Transgenic Biotechnology of Animals and Fishes,” “Development and Application of Biofertilizers
in Taiwan,” “Current Status of the Transgenic Approach for Control of Papaya Ringspot
Virus,” “Commercial-scale Production of Valuable Plant Biomass and Secondary Metabolites
Using a Bioreactor System,” and “Commercialization of Agricultural Crop Biotechnology Products.”
The following summary presents the highlights of the study mission.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RESOURCE PAPERS
The seven resource papers addressed different aspects of the process to commercialize agricultural
biotechnology products. The rationale for agricultural biotechnology was made, and
aspects of biotechnology ranging from applied microbiology to applied molecular biology to
genetic engineering were discussed by authors using real-world examples. The overall performance
of biotech crops was reviewed in the context of market share and market potential by
geography. Issues of biosafety, food/feed safety assessment, and public acceptance were further
discussed as integral components of the commercialization process.
Why Agricultural Biotechnology?
Crops improved through agricultural biotechnology have provided demonstrable economic,
environmental, and social benefits globally. In the Asia–Pacific region, five countries have
grown biotechnology-derived crops commercially: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. Specific examples describe insect-protected cotton in China, Australia, and India,
insect-protected maize in the Philippines, and herbicide-tolerant cotton in Australia. Future uses
in Asia–Pacific include more widespread adoption of herbicide-tolerant crops currently grown
elsewhere, including herbicide-tolerant maize. In addition, China and India are two countries
within the region that have very active crop biotechnology research and development programs
in a diversity of crops (including chickpea, rice, cotton, maize, mustard, and potato) and biotechnology
traits (including insect, disease, and virus resistance, herbicide tolerance, stress tolerance,
oil improvements, and fruit ripening). Other biotech-derived traits will improve food and feed
nutrition, including vitamin and mineral enhancement, increased essential amino acids, and
altered fatty acid composition. However, the successful development and commercialization of
biotech-derived crops will be impacted by the costs of doing so, and the costs of regulatory ap-
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