Biotech is vital to sustainability in S.E. Asia

A combination of biotechnologies is vital in ensuring global food security, according to Dr. Tantono Subagyo. In a report posted in the Philippine Department of Agriculture website, he said that “the danger of not adopting modern biotechnology and GM crops is that the current agricultural sector might not be able to produce enough food to sustain the needs of the rapidly increasing world population.” Regulatory director at Crop Life Asia, Dr Subagyo spoke at a biotechnology workshop held on 12-13 November held at Novotel Bogor Golf Resort and Convention Center in Bogor, Indonesia.

“These require not only traditional breeders’ skills but the use of novel molecular techniques and transgenic crops,” he said.

In 2012, developing countries grew more biotech crops than industrial countries for the first time with 17 million farmers culturing 170 million hectares of biotech crops in 28 countries, the report said.

“The adoption of biotech crops since it started in 1996 up to 2011 has resulted to lesser stress to the environment and increased global farm income,” Dr Subagyo said.

Cultivating biotech crops reduced pesticide use by 474 million kg (which translates to 18.1% cut in associated environmental impact) while increasing farmers’ income to $98.2 billion.

According to International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) global coordinator Dr Randy Hautea, “the current challenge in agriculture is to produce enough food over the next forty years to meet the expected requirement of over 9 billion people on less land area, water, and nutrients.”

“Biotech crops are the fastest adopted agricultural technology contributing to global food security and sustainability while conserving biodiversity,” Dr Hautea said.