Biotech Updates

Crop Biotech for Resilience, Equity, and ASEAN Integration Tackled in Int'l Conference

November 19, 2014

Crop biotechnology's role in agricultural and rural development and lessons from the widespread and long history of biotech crop adoption were drawn from the Biotechnology and Biosafety Session of the 2nd International Conference on Agricultural and Rural Development in Southeast Asia or ARD2014 held on November 12-13, 2014 at Makati Shangri-La, Manila, Philippines. The Conference carried the theme "Strengthening Resilience, Equity, and Integration in ASEAN Food and Agriculture Systems" and derived evidence-based policy implications for regional, national and sub-national policies and initiatives in the context of intensified regional cooperation and integration. It was spearheaded by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

The session presented the technologies and products from the biotech industry and their contributions to food security and sustainability (Dr. Siang Hee Tan of CropLife Asia); the socioeconomic impact of Bt corn in the Philippines and agri-biotechnology's implications for ASEAN Economic Integration (Dr. Leonardo Gonzales of SIKAP/Strive Foundation); and the functional biosafety regulatory system necessary to deliver seeds to farmers by Dr. Saturnina Halos of the Philippine Department of Agriculture-Biotech Advisory Team.

"The technology as a whole has important opportunities to contribute to improved resilience, equity, and offers opportunities for regional collaboration," summarized the session moderator and ISAAA Global Coordinator and SEAsiaCenter Director Dr. Randy Hautea.

For more information about biotechnology developments in the Philippines or in Southeast Asia, visit SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center's website at http://www.bic.searca.org/. Details about ARD2014 Conference are available at their website: http://www.ard2014.searca.org/.