Abstract

Reference: ISNAR 2002b
Title: Next Harvest: Advancing Biotechnology’s Public Good. 
Authors: Luijben, M. and Cohen, J.I. 
Publisher: International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), The Netherlands
Publication details: Report of a Conference, 7-9 October 2002, ISNAR, The Hague, The Netherlands

Developing countries are advancing efforts to use biotechnology to improve food and fiber crops for the benefit of their populations. Publicly funded agricultural research programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are combining new biotechnology techniques with indigenous genetic diversity and local varieties, mainly to develop insect, virus, and herbicide resistant crops and improved fruits and vegetables. 

More than 40 crops are being targeted for improvement using biotechnology. The top-10 researched crops are rice (21% of all projects), potatoes (11%), maize (11%), papaya (8%), soybean (7%), sugarcane (5%), cotton (5%), tomato (3%), banana and plantain (3%), and alfalfa (2%). Virus and insect resistance are the traits most often targeted, accounting for 31% and 29% of the projects, respectively. Improving product quality accounted for 9% of projects. Research targeting fungal resistance, herbicide tolerance, and agronomic properties, accounted for 7%, 6%, and 6% of the projects, respectively.  

While intellectual property issues have thus far proven manageable for most countries, high regulatory costs, increased public concerns, and lack of knowledge regarding the potential benefits and risks of biotechnology confine research products to the laboratory.. Public-sector research institutes have a key role to fulfill in developing and disseminating GM crops for the poor. The public sector's comparative advantages in biotechnology lie in its ability to design needs-driven projects, focus on local priorities, use local germplasm and develop public goods. 

Now that many GM projects are in the pipeline, there is a need to advance and deploy the most important and safest products, and to establish evidence for the role of biotechnology in food security. But, will this next harvest occur, as many factors work against biotechnology's ability to serve the poor? 

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