Biotech Sugarcane for Indonesia
January 18, 2008| |
Sugarcane consumption for food and beverage is projected to increase especially in the rural areas in Indonesia according to a study by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia. Wth the limiting land and water resources, the expected demand for sugar till 2010 of 3 million tons of sugarcane annually will be hardly met. To meet this challenge, Indonesian and German scientists developed a transgenic sugarcane that has greater sugarcane yield with minimum fertilizer requirement.
Researchers from Bogor Agricultural University and the Center for Molecular Biology in Karlsruhe, Germany developed a transgenic sugarcane that contains the phytase gene that would improve the absorption of important minerals in soil such as calcium, magnesium and potassium, hence increasing sugar production without excessive fertilizer. Dwi Andreas Santosa, a molecular biologist and leader of the research team said that 70 transgenic lines are now being evaluated in a field trial. The selected line will not be patented and will be made available to farmers.
For details contact Dewi Suryana at Biotrop Indonesia at: dewisuryani@biotrop.org or see the press release at http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/mbmtempo/arsip/2007/12/31/INO/.
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