Biosafety Regulations of Asia-Pacific Countries
Date: 06/10/2008
Introduction: By Kavita Gupta, J.L. Karihaloo and R.K. Khetarpal, Published by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions Asia-Pacific Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology and the FAO, 2008. World population is expected to increase from the current 6.3 to 7.5 billion by 2020 (IDB, 2007). Asia-Pacific region, being home to nearly 60% of the world’s population, is expected to contribute significantly to this increase. While spectacular rise in food production was made especially in Asia during 1970s and 1980s, the recent years have seen a slow down or even stagnation, raising concerns about food and livelihood security in the developing countries. Several countries are increasingly resorting to imports either because domestic production is too low or because there are growing demands for food and feed grain. It is predicted that developing countries in Asia will account for half of the increase in global demand for the cereals by the year 2020 (Rosegrant et al., 2001). It is also being felt that under the prevailing conditions, most of the developing countries in Asia and the Pacific will be unable to meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty and hunger by 2015 (UNESCAP, 2005). Biotechnology1 is globally recognized as a powerful tool of plant and animal genetic modification (GM) that holds promise of improving productivity, profitability and sustainability of farm production systems, including those existing in small and poor farming situations (Cohen,2005; Delmer, 2005; Brookes and Barfoot, 2006). The present chapter details the status of Asia-Pacific countries on adoption and research in genetically modified (GM) crops.
