In This
Issue:
VIETNAM IDENTIFIES KEY STRATEGIES FOR AGRI DEVELOPMENT
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Vietnam
has identified the application of advanced science and technology
to agricultural production as a key task of the agricultural sector
for 2004-2005. Other strategies include the development and production
of advantageous agricultural exports and import substitutes; development
of the processing industry, occupations, services and rural industries;
and the development of the processing industry in combination with
material zones and mechanized production activities.
In its development plan, MARD indicated its hope to link agricultural
production and the processing industry with consumption market to
raise the competitiveness of products and to put a premium on education
and training, especially on occupational training for farmers.
Vietnam intends to shift paddy-farming land, especially one-crop
land with low and unstable yield, into land area for aquaculture
and other productive crops. Simultaneously, it is planning to apply
intensive cultivation methods to raise productivity of rice and corn
and to expand the farming area of new cassava seeds. In 2004, it
will strive for a rice yield of 34.5 million tons including 4 million
tons for export, a corn yield of 2.8 million tons, and a cassava
yield of 5.5 million tons.
More information
on Vietnam’s agricultural development targets
are available online at http://www.agroviet.gov.vn/en/newsletter/2003/DevelopmentVision2004-2005.asp
INDIAN FARMERS’ COMMISSION
TO ADDRESS AGBIOTECH
The Indian Government has set up a National Commission on Farmers
aimed at building a farmer-friendly framework for biotechnology.
The Commission will recommend policies, programs and measures to
accelerate and diversify agricultural development. It will likewise
address the issues of agricultural technology and input delivery
mechanism.
The Commission will review the status of Indian agriculture and
assess the conditions of different categories of farmers in various
regions. It will identify factors responsible for imbalances and
disparities and suggest measures for achieving sustainable and equitable
agricultural development.
The Commission is headed by Shri Sompal, a former Union Minister
of State for Agriculture. He will hold the rank of a Union Cabinet
Minister.
GLOBAL FUNDING TO BOOST RESEARCH IN POOR COUNTRIES
The InterAcademy
Council, a coalition of 90 scientific academies worldwide, submitted
to Kofi Annan, secretary-general, United Nations
(UN), a report entitled “Inventing a Better Future: A Strategy
for Building Worldwide Capacities in Science and Technology,” which
calls for the establishment of two funds to boost research efforts
in poor countries. Annan, however, stated that his top priority,
if the said research funding will materialize, is the application
of science and technology in agriculture.
The report recommends that a Global Institutional Fund be established
to support the research efforts of 20 national or regional centers
over a span of five to ten years. These centers will be selected
based on the quality of their science, independence, management caliber,
and relevance of their work to the needs of their respective regions.
A second Global Program Fund would operate a competitive grant system,
with international referees assessing proposed joint projects between
laboratories in rich and poor countries.
Further, governments, foundations and existing international organizations
are proposed to support these said funds - although the scale of
their support is not yet specified.
The
full story is available at http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v427/n6975/full/427577b_fs.html.
NO HEALTH RISK OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES IN PLANTS
There are no objective scientific grounds to believe that bacterial
antibiotic resistance genes will migrate to bacteria to create new
clinical problems. This was the conclusion of the Working Party of
the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy which examined
the possibility that genetically modified (GM) plants containing
antibiotic resistance (AR) genes could lead to transfer of the genes
to bacteria.
In a report published
in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the working party
noted that the “theoretical possibility of
transfer by novel mechanisms can’t be ruled out” but
that the risk of transfer of AR genes from GM plants to bacteria
is remote, and that the “hazard arising from any such gene
transfer is, at worst, slight."
The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy can be viewed online at
http://www.jac.oupjournals.org.
PHILIPPINE NEWSPAPERS GENERALLY POSITIVE TOWARDS BIOTECH
A survey of national daily English newspapers in the Philippines
in 2002 and 2003 reveal that journalists are writing about biotechnology,
find it important enough to merit space and coverage, and follow
developments in the biotechnology arena. Three important milestones
on agri-biotechnology were reported extensively in the country. These
were the signing of Administrative Order No. 8 in April 2002 on the
rules and regulations for the importation and release into the environment
of plants and plant produce derived from the use of modern biotechnology;
the approval of the first genetically modified crop or Bt corn in
the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in December 2002; and the hunger
strike against the commercialization of Bt corn in May 2003.
These were highlights of a media monitoring study conducted by the
Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology of the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications in collaboration
with a country network contact. The network contact scanned national
papers and sent monthly summaries of all news stories that were featured
for the specific time period. The study is a part of a bigger project
that will compare the media situation in six other Asian countries.
Nine national English dailies published a total of 446 articles
for a 17-month period or a monthly output of 25 articles. The three
major newspapers (Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, and the Philippine
Daily Inquirer) accounted for 61% of all articles published. Generally,
articles were positive, supportive of government and private sector
initiatives, and guided by social/cultural interest. Majority of
articles were positive in tone, or those that were in support of
biotechnology. Topics on government regulations dominated the articles
in agri-biotech due to government approval of guidelines related
to the use of genetically modified organisms, and approval of the
first GM crop for commercialization.
For more information on this study, email m.navarro@isaaa.org.
IPR AND AFRICA’S
INVISIBLE WEALTH
“Africa must urgently seize (the) opportunity of protecting
intellectual property not only in order to protect her own and make
her people more innovative and provide solutions to African problems,
but also to attract more investment and exchange of goods from other
countries.” Says James Shikwati, director, Inter Region Economic
Network and Africa Resource Bank Coordinator, in his article entitled “Africa:
Time to Focus on Invisible Wealth” featured in the AfricaBiotech.com.
According to
Shikwati, Intellectual Property Rights or IPR is a useful tool
in maintaining the innovation process that is needed
to make Africa industrious. States the author, “It's only through
Intellectual Property that Africa will move from focusing only on
the ‘visible wealth’ to the invisible. This will not
only improve the economies, give more avenues for investment but
also reduce conflicts in the continent.”
The author added
that the challenge facing Africa now is basically how to produce
high quality goods and services while, at the same
time, addressing problems concerning poverty and unemployment. Shikwati
opines that “Africa is seen to participate in IPR as late comers
already faced with other priority issues and lacking (the) capacity
to enforce IPR regimes.”
Download James
Shikwati’s article at http://www.africabiotech.com/news2/article.php?uid=59.
AUSTRALIAN PERCEPTION OF RISK IS CHANGING
Australians are more likely to be concerned about pollution, the
greenhouse effect and nuclear waste than the use of gene technology.
This is the finding of a four-year study by Biotechnology Australia
to track changes in public attitudes towards biotechnology. Biotechnology
Australia is a multi-departmental government agency, responsible
for coordinating non-regulatory biotechnology issues for the Australian
Government.
"The general trend from 1999 to 2001 was an increase in support
for many applications of gene technology. From 2001 to 2003 there
was an increase in risk perception, but no parallel increase in concern," said
Craig Cormick of Biotechnology Australia. He noted that the concept
of risk has changed enormously in the last two years fuelled by global
insecurities such as September 11 and the Bali bombing.
The major findings of the study showed a continued high support
for the use of gene technology in medicine. The public perception
of risk from biotechnology pertaining to agriculture was less straightforward,
with 56% stating a belief that Australian farmers need access to
gene technology to remain internationally competitive. About 45%
of the population said they would eat GM foods, which is down from
49% in 2001. Opposition to GM foods is largely based on a perceived
lack of benefit for consumers.
View more of Biotechnology Australia at http://www.biotechnology.gov.au.
Details of the study can be obtained from Millward Brown at http://www.millwardbrown.com.
BIOTECH FOR WHEAT IMPROVEMENT
The development of wheat, in terms of using new technologies, has
been rather slow as compared to other crops such as corn, rice or
tomato. This is due to certain characteristics of the crop such as
its ploidy level, size and complexity of its genome, its very high
percentage of repetitive sequences, and its low level of polymorphism.
For years, scientists have observed that wheat is a difficult species
for the application of molecular genetics. The low level of polymorphism
between elite wheat varieties and the hexaploid nature of the crop
provide challenges for scientists who are attempting to develop molecular
markers to be used in genetic studies.
In a paper entitled “The application of biotechnology to wheat
improvement” written by David Hoisington of the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, and colleagues,
and recently published in the Food and Agriculture Organization’s
(FAO) Plant Production and Production Series, the said authors stated
that studies are currently being conducted to analyze the genetic
basis of the different important traits of the wheat crop. Gene isolation,
and how to store, process and access the information generated using
new marker systems in wheat are the envisioned future challenges
for wheat scientists.
The authors added that the challenge that these new innovations
present for developing countries is for them to be able to tap as
much of this emerging technology as possible. It is imperative that
developing countries recognize the importance of the new approaches
and ensure that appropriate legislation and regulations are enacted
to allow them to acquire, evaluate and deploy new plant varieties
produced thru biotechnology.
Read the full paper at http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/006/Y4011E/y4011e0d.htm#bm13.
GM CORN WITH GREATER FROST TOLERANCE
Iowa State University
in the United States reports that they have discovered a way to
increase corn's frost resistance by incorporating
a tobacco gene that activates the crop’s natural defense systems
against cold temperatures.
Kan Wang, associate
professor of agronomy and director of the Center for Plant Transformation,
and colleagues inserted a tobacco gene
with an activator protein called NPK1 which sets the corn's defense
systems to stabilize and protect cells in times of stress from heat,
cold or water loss. "Plants naturally acclimate to environmental
stresses, for example when they are gradually introduced to cold
temperatures. During the acclimation process, many genes that protect
the plants from stress are turned on. The tobacco gene we inserted
encodes a protein that mimics the acclimation effect and activates
corn's natural responses to stress faster than through natural acclimation," Wang
explained.
More details of this research can be viewed online at
http://www.iastate.edu/%7Enscentral/releases/2004/jan/wang.shtml
NEW INSIGHTS ON PAPAYA EVOLUTION
Scientists led
by a team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) report the first direct evidence
that papaya sex chromosomes are evolving from other chromosomes.
This discovery may help scientists understand inheritance or traits
responsible for the size, shape, and quality of the fruit. Papaya
trees inherit a specific combination of genes on their sex chromosomes
that produce fruit with the desired shape that consumers refer.
Genetic material
from more than 2,000 fresh papayas were analyzed. Scientists found
a chromosome with a small region of genes for male
traits. This comprises only about 10% of the chromosome’s length
which actually determines sex in papaya.
The full article is available in the journal Nature but a short
article from ARS can be viewed at http://www.ars.usda.gov/news.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
ASIAN CONFERENCE ON BIOTECH
The Second Asian Conference on Biotechnology and Development will
be held on April 7 to 8, 2004 in New Delhi, India. Organized by the
Confederation of Indian Industry, Research and Information System
for the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (RIS), and the
Regional Biodiversity Programme-Asia, the conference hopes to discuss
these major issues:
- Agriculture,
food security and economic contribution of biotechnology
- Public-private
partnership in financing of biotechnology
- Biotechnology,
trade and IPR related issues
- Implementation
of biosafety protocol, national legislations and other regulatory
issues
Fore more information about the conference, email Dr. Nagesh Kumar
of RIS at dgoffice@iris.org.in.
EUROPEAN WHITEFLY SYMPOSIUM
The 2nd European Whitefly Symposium will be held on October 5 to
9, 2004 in Cavtat, Croatia. The latest developments in all areas
of whitefly study and control will be discussed. Contact the symposium
secretariat at liz.robertson@bbsrc.ac.uk or visit their website at
http://www.whitefly.org.
NEW DISCUSSION PAPER FROM IFPRI
The discussion
paper entitled “Public-Private Partnerships
in Agricultural Research: An Analysis of Challenges Facing Industry
and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research,” authored
by David J. Spielman and Klaus von Grebmer of the International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is now available at the http://www.ifpri.org together with other recent discussion papers.
BIO-SCIENCE WEEK IN CANADA
The Ag-West Biotech Inc, Bio-Products Saskatchewan Inc, and the
Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network are jointly sponsoring the Bio-Science
Week in Saskatoon, Canada on May 16 to 20, 2004. Presenting the latest
developments in their industries, the schedule is as follows:
- Co-Existence:
The Challenges and Opportunities (May 16 and 17)
- Bio-Logical
Futures II (May 17 to 19)
- Forging
Links to Health Care (May 20)
For more details, visit http://www.bio-science.sk.ca. |
