Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to.biotech.crops.and.biotechnology.were.attributed.to.critically.low.awareness.and.
knowledge. on. the. subject. by. the. public.
33-35
. This. knowledge. gap. has. also. been.
stressed. in. Taiwan. where. there. is. public. disconnect. on. the. topic. though. there. are.
many.ongoing.research.on.biotechnology.in.the.country.
34
The.effect.of.increasing.the.public's.knowledge.of.biotechnology.is.a.decrease.in.
their.perceived.risks.of.various.gene.technology.applications.in.food.production.and.
in. agriculture.. Collectively,. enhancing. the. awareness. of. the. public. will. help. them.
make.informed.decisions.and.hopefully.create.a.favorable.attitude.toward.products.
of. the. technology.. These. factors. are. important. in. spelling. success. or. failure. dur-
ing.the.commercialization.process.on.biotech.crops.
36,37
.There.were. recommenda-
tions.that.early.consultation.and.dialogs.with.various.stakeholder.groups.should.be.
considered.during.product.development,.regulatory.review.of.those.in.the.pipeline,.
and.prior.to.inal.genetically.modiied.(GM).crop.approvals.to.ensure.product.suc-
cess.
36,38
. Overall,. the. huge. economic. beneits. and. positive. experience. on. biotech.
products.already.being.grown.and/or.used.in.Asia.is.expected.to.help.pave.the.way.
for.future.success.and.consumer.uptake.of.other.biotech.horticultural.crops.
TRANSGENIC HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN THE PIPELINE IN ASIA
Since.biotech.crops.were.irst.commercialized,.there.has.been.a.steady.increase.in.adop-
tion.of.the.four.major.transgenic.crops.in.the.market.with.more.than.130.million ha.
planted.in.2009.
9
.However,.despite.current.and.potential.beneits.offered.by.the.tech-
nology,.development.and.commercialization.of.transgenic.horticultural.crops.in.the.
United. States. has. almost. ground. to. a. halt.
17
. This. is. in. marked. contrast. to. what. is.
happening.in.Asia.where.transgenic.horticultural.crops.have.taken.center.stage.par-
ticularly.in.India.and.China.
Led. by. China,.Asia. has.signiicantly.increased. its. investments. in. agricultural.
biotechnology.. In. 1999,. China's. investment. was. estimated. to. be. $112. million
39
.
and.in.2008,.the.government.announced.to.spend.up.to.$3.5.billion.for.a.special.
project. to. develop. new. transgenic. crop. varieties.
40
. Other. countries. in. the. region.
that. identiied. agricultural. biotechnology. as. important. for. their. future. economic.
development. have. also. allocated.part.of.their.national.agricultural.Research. and.
Development.(R&D).budget.to.investments.in.biotechnology.including.about.$10.2.
billion.in.South.Korea.and.$115.million.annually.in.India..Even.the.small.devel-
oping. country. like. the. Philippines. allocated. 5%. of. its. national. agriculture. bud-
get.(Agriculture.and.Fisheries.Modernization.Act).to.biotechnology..Overall,.the.
investment. of. the. public. sector. to. respective. national. agricultural. R&D. ranges.
from.90.7%.to.100%.in.various.Asian.countries.
41
As. a. result. of. this. favorable. investment. climate,. the. development. of. transgenic.
crops. has. begun. in. several. countries. in. Asia.. FAO. database. shows. that. about.
603. transgenic.crop.events.are.under.various.phases.of.development.and.commer-
cialization.pipeline.in.the.region.(Figure.7.2).although.majority.of.these.are.in.the.
experimental.phase..India.has.the.highest.number.of.transgenic.horticultural.crops.
in.the.research.pipeline.and.many.of.these.are.horticultural.crops..In.2009,.a.signii-
cant.number.of.transgenic.horticultural.crops.have.reached.advanced.R&D.pipeline,.
led.not.surprisingly.by.India.(Table.7.3)..Advanced.R&D.pipeline.refers.to.the.stage.
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