Transgenic Horticultural Crops in Asia - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 155

7 Transgenic Horticultural

Crops in Asia

Desiree M. Hautea, Von Mark Cruz,
Randy A. Hautea, and Vijay Vijayaraghavan

CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................ 155
Horticulture.Crop.Supply.and.Demand.in.Asia...................................................... 156
Overview.of.Current.Adoption.of.Transgenic.Crops.in.Asia................................. 159
Public.Acceptance.and.Perception.of.Biotech.Crops.in.Asia................................. 161
Transgenic.Horticultural.Crops.in.the.Pipeline.in.Asia.......................................... 162
Development.and.Delivery.of.Transgenic.Horticultural.Crops:.Experiences.
and.Lessons.Learned.from.South.and.Southeast.Asia............................................ 165
Development.of.Transgenic.PRSV-Resistant.Papaya.for.Southeast.Asia.......... 166
Development.and.Commercialization.of.Fruit.and.Shoot.Borer-Resistant.
Eggplant.in.South.and.Southeast.Asia............................................................... 168
Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 170
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................. 171
References.............................................................................................................. 171

INTRODUCTION
Asia.is.home.to.more.than.half.of.the.world's.population.and.many.of.the.countries.
situated. in. the. region. are. developing. countries.. According. to. the. United. Nations,.
the.world's.population.reached.6.82.billion.in.2009.with.the.population.in.Asia.at.
approximately. 4.12. billion.. By. the. year. 2050,. this. is. projected. to. increase. to.
6.01.billion,.which.is.about.54%.of.the.projected.world.total.of.11.03.billion. 1 .The.
Asian. population. growth. coupled. with. increases. in. per. capita. incomes. caused. by.
economic.growth.and.urbanization.has.rapidly.expanded.the.demand.for.food.and.
other.resources. 2 .Most.notably,.the.change.in.consumption.patterns.and.diet.due.to.
increasing.incomes.in.Asia.can.be.seen.as.a.shift.from.basic.staples.to.a.more.diver-
siied.diet.of.meat,.vegetables,.fruits,.and.processed.foods. 3 .On.the.other.hand,.Asia.
continues.to.have.the.highest.absolute.incidence.of.hunger,.accounting.for.about.two-
thirds.of.the.world's.hungry.people. 4
The.large.food.market.and.demand.in.Asia.create.challenges.on.ways.to.ensure.
increased. and. sustainable. food. production.. In. the. past,. the. Green. Revolution. has.
helped. avert. widespread. food. shortages. in. the. region,. most. notably. in. the. Indian.
subcontinent.and.countries.in.Southeast.Asia. 5,6 .The.continuing.challenge.to.provide.

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