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Agricultural Biotechnology, Poverty Reduction, and Food Security

A Working Paper May 2001

Asian Development Bank 2001 All rights reserved

FOREWORD

Recent breakthroughs in biotechnology have led to rapid progress in understanding the genetic basis of living organisms, and the ability to develop products and processes useful to human and animal health, food and agriculture, and industry. In agriculture, there is increasing use of biotechnology for genetic mapping and marker-assisted selection to aid more precise and rapid development of new strains of improved crops and livestock. Other biotechnology applications such as tissue culture and micropropagation are being used for the rapid multiplication of disease-free planting materials. New diagnostics and vaccines are being widely adopted for the diagnosis, prevention, and control of animal and fish diseases. Many of these developments have taken place mainly in the United States and other developed countries. But in recent years several developing countries in Asia including Peoples Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam have begun to invest heavily in biotechnology.

Biotechnology has given us a new tool to improve food security and reduce poverty. This development is encouraging since the Green Revolution technologies, which have doubled food production and reduced poverty during the past three decades, have already run their course in much of Asia. Conventional breeding, widely used during the Green Revolution era, no longer provides needed breakthroughs in yield potentials, nor the solution to the complex problems of pests, diseases, and drought stress. That is particularly true in the rainfed areas where the poor are concentrated. The challenge is how to use new developments in biotechnology together with information technology and new ways of managing knowledge to make the complex agricultural systems of Asia more productive and sustainable.

The development of agricultural biotechnology is perceived by some as posing considerable risks to human health and the environment. Most of the debate on biotechnology has been focused on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The public debate surrounding GMOs has heightened concerns that genetic engineering may in the long run be harmful to human health and the environment unless effective regulatory frameworks are implemented. Indeed, the public and private sectors must manage the introduction and use of biotechnology to maximize benefits and minimize risks.

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