Biotechnology seen as solution to world food problem

BEIJING, China – Thousands of people all over the world are dying of hunger and malnutrition everyday even as modern science provides the technology to help achieve food security and sustainable agriculture, particularly in developing countries.

This was the common observation of over a thousand experts and policy makers from all over the world who were gathered together in this booming Asian city for the First International Rice Roundtable and other conferences and events collectively known as The International Rice Congress 2002 held at the China International Hi-Tech Convention and Exhibition Center.

Scores of agricultural scientists discussed various topics related to rice which is the staple food to an estimated 2.6 billion people all over the world and this number is expected to grow to 3.5 billion by the year 2025.

Among the numerous speakers and panelists who made presentations during the congress was Dr. Randy A. Hautea, the global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and director of SEAsia Center.

According to Dr. Hautea, world population is set to increase by three billion and possibly by as much as 4.5 billion over the next 50 years. He pointed out that per estimate of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), global demand for staple foods such as rice, wheat and maize will increase by 40 percent.

"It is perceived that production for traditional crop production system, including the use of current plant types and varieties developed through conventional breeding programs, cannot provide sufficient amounts of food, feed and natural fiber needed to meet the projected demands, he said.

Fortunately, he said there is an increasing realization, bolstered by experience and a growing body of evidence, that crop biotechnology has the immense potential to contribute to improved agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Dr. Hautea said documented benefits derived from the culture of genetically modified (GM) crops include higher farm incomes, increased and protected yields, significant reductions in pesticide use and greater flexibility in crop management.

"If modern biotechnology, particularly genetic engineering technology, is harnessed within an enabling and responsible regulatory environment, the technology may find broader public acceptance and wider applications to help address pressing agriculture, food and environmental problems," Dr. Hautea who was formerly director of the Institute of Plant Breeding at the University of the Philippines Los Banos said.

According to the Filipino agricultural scientist, modern biotechnology-facilitated crop improvement is undoubtedly one of the most significant technological developments in agriculture. He said the first wave of genetically modified or transgenic crops include cultivars with important input traits such as herbicide tolerance and insect resitance.

Future products are expected to provide benefits that could include tolerance to environmental stresses and enhanced nutritional contents, which can be particularly valuable in crops that are important to many developing countries, where the challenges of sustainable food production are critical, he added acceptance of biotechnology can be gleaned from the fact that the global area planted to transgenic crops expanded by more than 30 times from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 52.6 million hectares in 2001. Dr. Hautea pointed out that the rapid increase in global area of transgenic crops indicates growing appreciation of the technology by farmers in both industrialized and developing countries. Transgenic plants, he said, are now adopted in 14 countries worldwide including, most recently, India.

Dr. Hautea reported that there are ore than 120 transgenic crops approved for planting, food or feed use worldwide. Most of the plantings have occurred in industrialized countries, with the United States accounting for 68 percent of total area. There is a similar increase in favor of GM crops across developing countries, he said, adding that in 2001, their combined area accounted for nearly 25 percent of the total area planted to GM crops.

Significant growth in adoption rates in developing countries is expected as the large pipeline of GM crops undergoing field testing are approved for commercialization, the ISAAA official said. To date, the dominant GM crops grown worldwide are soybean, maize, cotton and canola, he added.