DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
12 Aug 2011 10:12 BST
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--The adoption of genetically modified crops in South East Asia is likely to increase considerably over the next few years as a slew of initiatives involving corn, cotton, sugarcane, potatoes, rice and eggplant start to bear results, an industry executive said Friday.
The spread of GM crops in the region has been slow due to concerns over bio-safety, but there has been a gradual change in that view. Global cultivation of genetically modified crops hit one billion hectares in 2010 but bulk of it has been in North and South America.
Next year is crucial for transgenic crops in the region because commercial planting of new GM varieties is expected in Indonesia and Vietnam, said Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, an agency that tracks the adoption of GM crops worldwide.
The multi-location trials in both GM corn and GM sugarcane in Indonesia and GM corn in Vietnam are now complete and bio-safety approval for commercial use is expected in 2012, he said on the sidelines of the Asian Food Security Conference.
This will likely be the first commercial cultivation of GM sugarcane anywhere in the world.
Hautea said this is significant because global prices of agricultural commodities are on the rise and an improvement in yields through the use of pest-resistant varieties can limit the need for imports.
He cited the example of the Philippines, which imported 500,000 tons corn annually before it permitted transgenic corn eight years ago, making the country nearly self-sufficient in corn production. Around half the country's yellow corn crop is now the transgenic variety.
Both Indonesia and Vietnam import GM corn from the Americas and local cultivation will be a logical next step, he noted.
Hautea said a large body of research on GM crops in Southeast Asia is being done by government-run institutions as part of national efforts to boost agricultural productivity.
A case in point is developing drought resistance in Indonesia's sugarcane crop through genetic modification, crucial for many islands of Java, he said.
The Indonesian government has also launched field trials for GM potatoes to tackle the Late Blight Disease, using the same technology deployed in Bangladesh and India, Hautea said.
Meanwhile, research on transgenic rice, eggplant and cotton is being conducted in the Philippines.
Growers in Myanmar have been informally planting GM cotton for a few years and in 2010, the government officially allowed its use in the country. Around 75% of Myanmar's cotton growers now use transgenic seeds, Hautea said.
The spread of GM crops in the region has been slow due to concerns over bio-safety, but there has been a gradual change in that view. Global cultivation of genetically modified crops hit one billion hectares in 2010 but bulk of it has been in North and South America.
Next year is crucial for transgenic crops in the region because commercial planting of new GM varieties is expected in Indonesia and Vietnam, said Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, an agency that tracks the adoption of GM crops worldwide.
The multi-location trials in both GM corn and GM sugarcane in Indonesia and GM corn in Vietnam are now complete and bio-safety approval for commercial use is expected in 2012, he said on the sidelines of the Asian Food Security Conference.
This will likely be the first commercial cultivation of GM sugarcane anywhere in the world.
Hautea said this is significant because global prices of agricultural commodities are on the rise and an improvement in yields through the use of pest-resistant varieties can limit the need for imports.
He cited the example of the Philippines, which imported 500,000 tons corn annually before it permitted transgenic corn eight years ago, making the country nearly self-sufficient in corn production. Around half the country's yellow corn crop is now the transgenic variety.
Both Indonesia and Vietnam import GM corn from the Americas and local cultivation will be a logical next step, he noted.
Hautea said a large body of research on GM crops in Southeast Asia is being done by government-run institutions as part of national efforts to boost agricultural productivity.
A case in point is developing drought resistance in Indonesia's sugarcane crop through genetic modification, crucial for many islands of Java, he said.
The Indonesian government has also launched field trials for GM potatoes to tackle the Late Blight Disease, using the same technology deployed in Bangladesh and India, Hautea said.
Meanwhile, research on transgenic rice, eggplant and cotton is being conducted in the Philippines.
Growers in Myanmar have been informally planting GM cotton for a few years and in 2010, the government officially allowed its use in the country. Around 75% of Myanmar's cotton growers now use transgenic seeds, Hautea said.
