24th May 2007
By Tan Ben Jane, Administrator of INSAP
Introduction
Since the dawn of agriculture, humans have been managing crops to enhance their quality and yield. For 10 years and a billion acres, farmers have embraced agricultural biotechnology as it provides answers to the problems of world hunger, improve our environment, as well as enhance farm productivity and profitability (Goodlatte, 2005). It has been argued that consumers are also the beneficiaries of the biotech products because the increased production leads to lower prices. (Duffy, 2001)
Agricultural biotechnology is one of the most promising developments in modern science. As the third engine of growth in the 9th Malaysia Plan, it will be the mainstay of the Malaysian economy in the long run. About nine million acres of land in West Malaysia and millions of acres of land in Sabah and Sarawak are still available for agricultural development. It is projected that RM6.3 billion in revenue can be generated for the country from the potential projects in the agriculture sector by the year 2010.
Significance of Modern Agriculture Biotechnology
Here I take the example of MARDI. In future, MARDI will go into hybrid rice production because hybrid rice provides 15% to 20% higher yield than ordinary rice. Since we can not grow wheat and wheat flour can be replaced with sweet potato flour for bakery products, MARDI attempts to substitute wheat flour with sweet potato flour. The local production of sweet potato flour could reduce the wheat import bill and the outflow of foreign exchange.
According to K. Weidner, about 40% of cocoa is lost each year due to disease. Even so, the agricultural biotechnology technique could help to boost cocoa yields and improve disease resistance (Weidner, 2006). In fact, Malaysia is now the twelve largest world cocoa producers. High productivity of between 2 to 5t per hectare can be achieved in cocoa cultivation through adopting best agriculture practices. Besides, we are also the major producer of rubber and palm oil coupled with the best technology in these industries. By adding value to our primary commodities and natural products, we create lots of wealth for the nation.
Historically, we are an agriculture-based country and there is great potential for research in herbal medicine and to produce the healthcare products. New health markets emerge with bioinformatics. New drugs are having better remedies, with a growing market for food supplements and personalized medicine. Through research and biotechnology, government is able to nurture the Cordyceps Stroma and decrease the price greatly instead of importing it entirely from China. Next, the bintangor plant from Sarawak which is known as a possible cure from HIV is now in the clinical trial stage.
Another point, agriculture provides employment for up to 40% of Malaysia’s population. It is projected in the 9th Malaysia Plan that 220,000 new jobs will be created annually; of which 44,000 will be graduates who will be attracted to agriculture jobs. The career prospects of agriculture includes employment in the industries related to pharmaceutical, medical, food, healthcare products, environmental control, waste-treatment, diagnostics and manufacturing.
Current trends and Modern Agriculture Biotechnology Bureau (MABB)’s Role
Most rural poor people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Consequently, low productivity in agriculture is a major cause of poverty, food insecurity, and poor nutrition. Then, food insecurity and malnutrition result in serious public health problems and lost human potential. As consumers become increasingly concerned about the quality of food products issues, we need to use biotechnology techniques that enhance food production efficiency. Furthermore, through the increasing population; we are actually putting intolerable pressure on the environment and the natural resources. Meeting the challenges implicated in the trends, MABB provides the access of information on nutritious and safe food to people and looks into biotechnology as a way to build a food-secure Malaysian Society with reduction to the food import bill. Besides, MABB involves people in activities of agriculture and utilizes the natural resources for agriculture products and services.
This is What MCA has Done
i) Trawling Industry
On 1st January 2007, the Department of Fisheries, Malaysia (DOF) requires all trawlers to have a minimum mesh size of 38mm. MABB considers that the imposition of net size requirement cannot be practically applied to Malaysia as the net size is supposed to be imposed on single variety fishing in temperate countries. MABB recommends that Malaysia should reduce the number of trawling licenses, provides alternative methods of fishing for the displaced fishermen, and upgrades the fishing methods of traditional fishermen especially for the Malays.
ii) Farmers in Kinta Valley:
By planting vegetables and fruits for sale as the source of income in supporting the entire family, the New Village farmers in Kinta Valley have been settled down for more than 2 generations. Some farmers even exported their products overseas and have successfully formed a famous branding abroad. However, the issue arises as the lands that they are usually planting became illegal with some restrictions from the local authorities. Hence, the farmers felt insecure in investing the crops and in increasing the production. In conjunction with the “Taman Kekal Pengeluaran Makan” scheme, which is launched by the government to fulfill the “balance of trade” of the country, Ministry of Housing and Local Government as well as MCA has taken this opportunity to suggest the State Government to legalize the illegal farming land in order to boost the productivity and profitability of the particular area and the country. (K.T.Lim, 2007)
iii) Biosafety Bill
The major concern of biosafety is the potential impact of intentional and accidental release of non-native organisms into the native environment which could eventually upset the ecosystem. Biosafety Bill aims to ensures the development and the exploitation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) as well as the products derived from GMO do not negatively affect plant, animal, human health, agricultural systems, or the environment. Besides, it develops and strengthens the agricultural system in order to regulate the biotechnology safety application. Additionally, the Biosafety Bill enables the public research systems to address regulatory and intellectual property right issues. Other Biosafety Bill objectives are to build scientific capacity among the Malaysian scientists and to build technologies that helps small farmers. (MABB, 2007)
In short, Modern Agriculture Biotechnology Bureau (MABB) has established an MABB Resource Centre aimed at helping farmers and fishermen to enhance the quality of agriculture products and to narrow the disparity of income in the rural and urban areas.
Conclusion
Modern Agricultural biotechnology is a revolutionary tool that is transforming the agriculture sector and it has the potential to spur economic growth, provide job opportunities and affordable food, reduce hunger and malnutrition, as well as minimize risk and environmental degradation. It is critical that biotechnology be viewed as one part of a poverty alleviation strategy, not a technological quick-fix for world hunger.
The introduction of MABB presents unquestionable opportunities for an improved quality of life in Malaysia. In future, MABB will be a provider of knowledge and advice in the sphere of agriculture and biotechnology including providing online advice by facilitating links between mobile clinics and production centres. Besides, MABB will be an active partner of organization that ventures in new growth areas based on new technologies. In addition, MABB is still working actively to install some long term programmes in order to modernize the economic activities. It is MCA’s role to explain the government policies to the people, and to help ease the burden of change for them.
Recommendation
Government and MABB should facilitate the small holder developments in agriculture and review its present agricultural policy. It appears that policy decisions taken in regard to biosafety regulations that are either too lax or too stringent will have long-term implications for the sustainability of agriculture and food security.
Besides, a research and development strategy needs to be formulated. More research must be directed to the development of appropriate technology for resource-poor areas, where a high percentage of poor people live, and where environmental risks are severe. However, research and technology alone will not drive agricultural growth. The beneficial effects of agricultural research and technological change will materialize only if government policies are supportive of poverty alleviation and sustainable management of natural resources. Next, more than 75% of our population is found in the rural areas. Consequently, agricultural education and technological advancement should be provided more to the boys and girls from the rural areas.
Reference:
Editorial Board of MCA, February 2007. The Guardian.
Modern Agriculture Biotechnology Bureau (MABB), 2007. A Review of the Biosafety Bill 2007.
K.Weidner, 2006. Biotechnology: Food & Agriculture.
http://biotech.cas.psu.edu (accessed on 21st May 2007)
M. Duffy, 2001. Who Benefits from Biotechnology?
http://www.mindfully.org (accessed on 21st May 2007)
B. Goodlatte, 2005. News from the House Agriculture Committee.
http://agriculture.house.gov (accessed on 21st May 2007)
Economic and Social Council, 2000. Sustainable agriculture and rural development
http://www.un.org (accessed on 21st May 2007)