Biotech Updates

Role of Agri-biotech in Solving Water Scarcity

February 22, 2008

Biotechnology has a valuable role to play in addressing the challenge of water scarcity in developing countries. However, many applications of biotechnology in this area have not yet met their full potential to deliver practical solutions to the end-user in developing countries. This was the consensus of the e-mail conference facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which attracted over 400 participants.

The summary document on “Coping with water scarcity in developing countries: What role for agricultural biotechnologies” discusses three main subjects: applications of biotechnology to develop crops with improved drought resistance or water use efficiency; the use of mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria as a biofertilizer; and the use of biotechnology in wastewater treatment.

Visit http://www.fao.org/biotech/logs/C14/summary.htm for the summary document.