Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
growing sections of the Indian biotech
industry. Since its introduction in 2002, the
Bt cotton area has expanded to over 90% of
the total area in cotton and accounted for
more than 95% of India's cotton production
in 2010 (see Chapter 14). India is the second
largest producer and exporter of cotton in
the world. h e government of India has
approved six types of GM cotton and more
than 300 hybrids for cultivation.
In addition to cotton, private seed
companies and public research institutions
are working on the development of various
biotech crops mainly for traits like pest
resistance, nutritional enhancement, drought
tolerance and high yields. Several varieties of
crops are undergoing development and i eld
trials for regulatory approval - banana,
castor, cotton, maize, rice, tomato, mustard,
potato, sorghum and papaya.
On 14 October 2009, the Genetic
Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)
recommended to the Ministry of Environ-
ment and Forest approval for the environ-
mental release of Bt aubergine; however,
this is still awaiting a i nal decision (USDA,
2011a).
and has developed a strong public insti-
tutional capacity for pioneering bio-
technology-related R&D. Several biotech
crops (rice, papaya, banana, sugarcane,
potato and tomato) are in development, and
i eld trials with government oversight have
been conducted on rice and maize. It is
noteworthy that Golden Rice, a GM rice that
contains enhanced levels of beta carotene,
bred (see Chapters 7 and 12) by the Inter-
national Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is
approaching the completion of its regulatory
requirements in the Philippines and
Bangladesh. It is expected that Golden Rice
will i rst be released in the Philippines in
2013/2014 (Clive, 2011).
Korea is dependent on imported food
(except rice) and feed grains, most of which
come from the USA. A limited amount of
food products are made from biotech
ingredients, given consumer concerns about
biotechnology, but the majority of feed is
made from GM maize and soybean meal.
Korea is developing a variety of GM crops,
such as herbicide-tolerant rice and virus-
resistant pepper (USDA, 2011c).
In addition, governments in Vietnam,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
h ailand and Singapore have given high
priority to plant biotechnology research,
and proof-of-concept research is ongoing on
a variety of GM plants. Most of the
remaining countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Nepal, have both upstream (functional
genomics) and downstream (backcrossing
biotech crop parents with local crops)
biotech research activities (see also Chapters
3, 12 and 14).
Japan is the world's largest per capita
importer of GM foods and feeds. It annually
imports about 16 million tonnes (Mt) of
maize and 4 Mt of soybeans, approximately
three-quarters of which are from GM plants.
Japan also imports billions of dollars worth
of processed foods containing GM plant-
derived oils, sugars, yeasts, etc. As of June
2011, over 95 GM varieties of seven crops
had been approved for environmental
release, including cultivation. As yet, there is
no commercial production of biotech crops
for food/feed, and the biotech blue rose
released by Suntory in 2009 is the only GM
plant commercially cultivated in Japan
(USDA, 2011b).
Plants in Asia
plants in China
h e Philippines was the i rst country in Asia
to approve a biotech crop for food and feed,
China has taken the lead in research on GM
plants in Asia. Achievements in functional
