SCREENING CROPS FOR CLIMATE TRAITS October 3, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

 

Good morning!

 

Adapting food to climate change has been among the raging challenges of the times. This challenge is now being met head on by screening some specific crops for that purpose.

 

See the good news below.

 

[Writ 03 October 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.

 

 

 

World's crops to be screened for climate traits

Katherine Nightingale

22 September 2008 | EN | 中文

A taro plantation. Crops will be screened for adaptable traits to climate change.

Flickr\Richard sihamau

An international foundation is funding a drive to screen thousands of crops for traits that will be useful in adapting food production to climate change.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust is providing around US$300,000 of funding this year for researchers in 21 agricultural institutions in 15 countries across the developing world. Around US$200,000 will be spent next year with a continued commitment in the long term.

Crops from banana to sweet potato will be screened to identify material that plant breeders can use to produce varieties adapted to conditions associated with climate change.

Crop diversity is the biological foundation of agriculture, says Cary Fowler, executive director of the trust.

"Without it agriculture cannot adapt to anything: pests, disease, climate change, drought, energy constraints … nothing. With crop diversity we can have an agricultural system that — if we're smart — is sustainable and productive, can feed people and fuel development."

Researchers will screen the crops by growing them in different stress conditions — such as high salinity or high temperature — and assessing how well they grow.

Varieties with positive traits will be put into an open access database, says Fowler.

Some will also be entered into a 'pre-breeding' programme. Integrating one or two genes from an old or wild variety into a modern variety is costly and difficult, says Fowler, and pre-breeding produces early-stage, new varieties with the desired traits, so that plant breeders can get a 'head start' on producing varieties for farmers' fields.

"Plant breeders often have to make quick progress so they're loathe to get involved in the kind of cutting edge research to put exotic traits in [a crop]. So the pre-breeding at least gets that first set of genes into some kind of form that is easier for a plant breeder.”

Funded projects include a scheme in Papua New Guinea to screen over 20 varieties of the root crop taro for drought and salinity resistance. Taro is particularly important to the poor island communities of the Pacific region, as it need not be harvested for a number of years, making for a sustainable source of food and an ‘insurance policy’ at times when the prices of other staple crops become too high.

A programme in Bangladesh will screen varieties of the grass pea, a hardy crop that is often the only crop left in times of environmental stress and grown by the poorest communities.

Long-term consumption of grass pea can lead to paralysis, as the plant produces a neurotoxin — giving people a choice between starvation or paralysis. Researchers will search for varieties with low levels of this neurotoxin. 

CHILE BIOFUELS THE DAY September 4, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

 

Amigos y amigas, Buenos dias again!

 

Chile has boosted its own path to renewable energy by recently priming up its research & development efforts in biofuels. This is a long shot in the arm for Chile which had moved on to an ‘emerging market’ status over the last two (2) decades.

 

Below is the brightening news about Chile’s biocombustible development.

 

Happy reading! Venceremos!

 

[14 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

 

 

 

Chile enfatiza biocombustibles de tecnología avanzada

María Elena Hurtado

3 julio 2008 | ES

Los bosques sureños son materia prima ideal para producir combustibles líquidos

Instituto Forestal de Chile

[SANTIAGO DE CHILE] La asignación, en los próximos días, de hasta 6 millones de dólares a consorcios público-privados para la investigación, desarrollo y comercialización de biocombustibles de tecnología avanzada, o de segunda generación, confirma el anuncio sobre la prioridad que Chile dará a este tipo de biocombustibles que la presidenta Michelle Bachelet hiciera el 21 de mayo durante la exposición anual al Parlamento .

Los biocombustibles de segunda generación – que se obtienen de materias lignocelulósicas como los rastrojos o residuos de trigo y deschos de la silvicultura y madera – tienen la ventaja de no competir con los alimentos y aprovechar residuos. El proceso de conversión en bioetanol es más largo y complicado que el del bioetanol tradicional y costaría más que los demás biocombustibles

InnovaChile, dependiente del Ministerio de Economía, financiará hasta en un 60%, es decir hasta US$6.3 millones, a consorcios que propongan planes de investigación, desarrollo y comercialización de biocombustibles a partir de material lignocelulósico.

Los consorcios seleccionados deberán constituirse este año y obtener resultados en cinco años como máximo, aunque se espera que en tres años ya puedan entrar al mercado. Dos consorcios formados por empresas forestales y universidades – Bioenercel y ForEnergy – ya están desarrollando proyectos de estas características en el país.

“Aunque la superficie forestal chilena podría abastecer una industria de combustibles de segunda generación…lo más conveniente para el país es continuar plantando los abundantes terrenos forestales todavía disponibles pero con nuevas especies especialmente seleccionadas para uso energético, y de ese modo, evitar una competencia entre los dos tipos de uso de material prima,” comentó a SciDev.Net el Subsecretario de Agricultura, Reinaldo Ruiz.

Hasta fines del 2007 Chile -junto con Ecuador y Venezuela- eran los únicos países sudamericanos que no tenían leyes que promovieran los biocombustibles (Venezuela por ser productor de petróleo).

Pero Chile se ha estado poniendo rápidamente al día. En marzo de este año el Congreso aprobó una ley sobre energías renovables no convencionales que incluye los biocombustibles. En mayo se autorizó la mezcla de bioetanol con gasolina en 2 por ciento y 5 por ciento del volumen resultante de la mezcla. También se eximió a los biocombustibles del impuesto a la gasolina y el diesel, y las empresas estatales de cobre y petróleo – CODELCO y ENAP – empezarán a usar biodiesel en sus maquinarias para evaluarlo.

Finalmente, el 30 de junio se creó la Comisión Asesora Interministerial en Materia de Biocombustibles que asesorará a todos los organismos públicos involucrados en esta materia, fijará directrices, propondrá orientaciones estratégicas y prestará apoyo para implementar políticas.

PERU’S SERPENT BITE SERUM August 27, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

That serpentine fire can burn you or rather kill you. Make no joke about snake bites, as they are among those killers in our planet.

From Peru comes a heartwarming news about a new innovation in serum development to address the problems attendant to serpentine bites.

Happy reading!

[05 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

Perú produce suero en polvo contra veneno de serpientes

Zoraida Portillo

24 junio 2008 | ES

[LIMA] El Perú aspira a convertirse en pionero en la región andina en investigaciones científicas para la producción de sueros en polvo contra las mordeduras de serpientes y otros animales ponzoñosos.

Así lo señaló Patricia García, jefa del Instituto Nacional de Salud, durante el lanzamiento del primer suero antibotrópico liofilizado producido en el Perú, el que contrarresta los efectos del veneno por mordedura de las serpientes bótrox (Bothrops atrox.), cuya mordedura tiene la más alta prevalencia en el país.

El suero es producto de ocho años de investigaciones y pruebas por científicos del Centro Nacional de Productos Biológicos, y fue lanzado oficialmente el 17 de junio en Lima. Con la misma fórmula maestra de los inmunosueros antiofídicos, no requiere refrigeración pues es en polvo, y tiene una vida activa de cinco años.

Durante el lanzamiento del producto, el ministro de salud, Hernán Garrido Lecca, informó que el suero está destinado principalmente a los pobladores nativos e indígenas de la amazonía peruana, donde ocurre la mayor cantidad de mordeduras de estas serpientes.

El primer lote, con 800 dosis, será despachado en los próximos días a los lugares más remotos.

Según el ministerio de salud,el año pasado 2.585 personas fueron mordidas por la bótrox. Por falta de atención inmediata, 52 murieron.

Un estudio realizado por Alfonso Zavaleta, de la Universidad Cayetano Heredia, al que SciDev.Net tuvo acceso, afirmaque el botropismo constituye la primera causa de envenenamientos fatales producidos por animales ponzoñosos cada año. Un tercio de los pacientes son niños.

La introducción del producto irá acompañada de capacitaciones a los proveedores de salud y agentes comunitarios de las regiones con ocurrencias de accidentes ofídicos, con el fin de estandarizar y mejorar el manejo de las mordeduras de serpientes e iniciar el registro de casos y uso de los sueros, para adecuar la producción a la demanda, indicó el ministro.

BRAZIL’S GM SOYA RESISTANT TO PEST August 26, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

We may as well dance a lot of samba today as many news about new breeds of agri-products that are resistant to pests and drought have been filtering in.

From down south comes the Brazilian news that invites samba dances in the streets, regarding new breeds of soya that are resistant to pests and related diseases.

Happy reading!

[04 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

Brasil lanza dos variedades de soja transgénica

Catarina Chagas

22 junio 2008 | ES

La soya es el cultivo genéticamente modificado más cultivado en Brasil

USDA

Después de diez años de investigación, la Empresa Brasileña de Investigación Agropecuaria (Embrapa) lanzó dos variedades de soja genéticamente mejoradas para adaptarse a plantaciones en el norte y noreste del país, regiones de gran importancia en la producción agrícola.

Embrapa está vinculada al Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Abastecimiento y a la Fundación de Apoyo a la Investigación del Corredor de Exportación Norte.

Las variedades de soja BRS 278RR y BRS 279RR, además de presentar alta productividad y estar adaptadas a las condiciones climáticas locales, son especialmente recomendadas para áreas que tienen dificultad con las malezas, pues presentan alta tolerancia al herbicida glifosato.

Los investigadores afirman que la BRS 278RR es estable en varios ambientes, lo que permitiría plantarla en áreas de distinta altitud. A su vez, la BRS 279RR es especialmente resistente a plagas que causan problemas en la región.

Los investigadores crearon ambas semillas después del cruzamiento sucesivo de especies de soja, hasta alcanzar las características deseadas. Luego, hicieron pruebas para estudiar el desempeño de las semillas una vez plantadas en lugares con condiciones como las del norte y noreste de Brasil.

“Esta diversificación de semillas permite al agricultor elegir cómo manejar o diversificar sus modos de producción, permitiendo optimizar el uso de máquinas e implementos, tanto en la plantación como en la cosecha”, explicó a SciDev.Net el ingeniero agrónomo José Ubirajara Vieira Moreira, de Embrapa.

Lo anterior se debe a que ambas variedades tienen ciclos de crecimiento distintos y si el productor desea usar diferentes tipos de semillas, podrá sembrar y cosechar en tiempos diferenciados cada sector de su plantación.

Para otro especialista de Embrapa, José Francisco Ferraz de Toledo, el lanzamiento refuerza las nuevas e interesantes posibilidades de mercado de la soja transgénica.

“Con las nuevas tecnologías hay formas de introducir en la soja cualidades deseables de otras especies, abriendo nuevas oportunidades de avance de la agricultura”, dijo.

La soya genéticamente modificada está permitida en Brasil desde el año 2005, a pesar de las controversias alrededor del tema (ver Brazil delays GM crops and cloning bill  y Brazil says ‘yes’to GM crops and stem cell research).

CHINA’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLAN BOOSTS PATENTS August 24, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

Magandang araw! Good day!

Intellectual property planning has been a fairly neglected area in planning engagements by developing economies. Often than not, development planning presumes that citizens will patent or copyright their innovations, with the effect of scaling up patents at turtle pace.

China has shown the way to accelerate the pace of patenting by innovative citizens precisely by addressing the problem of intellectual property planning. This is new area in development planning, as one can see from the news caption below.

Happy reading!

[03 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

New intellectual property plan to boost Chinese patents

Hepeng Jia

24 June 2008 | EN | 中文

Flickr/H@r@ld

[BEIJING] China has launched a national intellectual property rights (IPR) strategy to encourage innovation and strengthen its legal framework in the field.

The National IPR strategy outline, published earlier this month (5 June) by China’s State Council, aims to turn China into “a nation with an internationally leading level of creating, using, protecting and managing IPR by 2020″.

The strategy aims to boost the number of patents held by Chinese citizens over the next five years.

It also seeks to establish an effective legal protection system for genetic resources and indigenous knowledge.

Although China is one of the world’s top three nations in terms of patents issued (see China hits top three in patent applications), most of its patents for invention are owned by foreign companies operating in the country. According to China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), 53 per cent of the 67,948 invention patents issued in 2007 were filed by foreign individuals or companies.

The strategy will see China’s government revise laws on patent, trademarks and copyrights. The website of SIPO quoted its head, Tian Lipu, as saying that the new patent law will be submitted to the legislature for approval before the end of the year.

Previous Chinese patent law focused on the protection of the patent, but this revised law will also outline how a patent can be used and benefits shared, as well as how to avoid patent abuses.

The strategy will also seek to increase the ability of government departments and courts to help protect IPR.

Sun Pingping, a spokesperson for SIPO, told SciDev.Net that although there are many existing laws and regulations on IPR, the national strategy can coordinate their functions by guiding their revisions, refining and updating when necessary.

Sun Guorui, an intellectual property law professor at Beihang University in Beijing, says that the main significance of the strategy is it makes IPR creation and use a core value for policymaking.

“For example, in the science community, awards or promotion are given mainly as the result of publishing high-impact papers. But in the future, the number of patents filed can be an important indicator of scientists’ output,” Sun told SciDev.Net.

He adds that the strategy will need to be followed by more concrete action implemented by different government departments. For example, the health ministry will have to finalise its measures on how to protect the patents of traditional Chinese medicine.

PHILIPPINES, INDONESIA, CHINA LEAD MAIZE DROUGHT-RESISTANCE August 19, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

We peoples of Southeast Asia have been caught up in the cycles of droughts and heavy rains for as long as our memories can recall. The El Nino comes every now and then, bringing either a rainy season or too dry a spell for an entire crop season, thus endangering our own agricultural production.

Biotechnology innovations incidentally are very dynamic in the region, or in East Asia as a whole. The breeding of maize varieties that are resistant to drought has been among the forefront of research & development. Below is a news caption of the R&D efforts in maize by exemplar countries Philippines, Indonesia, and China.

Happy reading!

[31 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

A-maizing: Asia’s drought-resistant maize varieties

Source: CIMMYT

16 June 2008 | EN | 中文

Flickr/thisfrenchlife

Maize is a staple crop in South-East Asia, both as a food and animal feed. But the farmers that grow the crop often live in drought-prone areas, where poor soil and disease exacerbate poor harvests.

To counter this, the Asian Maize Network was created, funded by the Asian Development Bank and led by CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre).

The network, running from 2005–2008, brings together scientists from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to develop drought-tolerant maize varieties — and deliver them to farmers.

Genetic material from drought-tolerant varieties was supplied by CIMMYT and funds put into setting up testing programmes in all five countries.

The first varieties have already been released for further testing in individual countries, and many more are in the pipeline, with the eventual aim of providing them to poor farmers at affordable prices.

The scientists involved say the project has helped them both in terms of capacity and partnership building. Many agree that the training and working with researchers from other countries has given them a new perspective on their work.

“I’m motivated to see that what I’m doing will really help farmers,” says one.

MOLECULAR BIOLOGISTS RECEIVE SHOT IN THE ARM August 16, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

Going back down southern Africa, here comes a welcome news about incentives for biotechnologists in the region. The governance innovation has to do with improving processes whereby biotechnologists can get employed and practice their profession accordingly.

Enjoy your read!

[30 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

African molecular biologists receive European boost

Carol Campbell

17 June 2008 | EN

USAID / R. Zurba

Updated [18 June 2008]

Molecular biologists in Africa will be able to tap into greater resources after South Africa signed a cooperation agreement with the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).

The agreement, announced on 5 June, is the first for an African country and follows five years of discussions. 

South Africa will now have access to core EMBO activities and programmes, such as fellowships, courses and workshops.

Iqbal Parker, director of the Cape Town branch of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, told SciDev.Net that South Africa-based scientists can also apply for grants previously only available to scientists working in EMBO’s 27 European member countries. The closing date for this year’s applications is August.

Flexible long-term fellowships, most beginning in January 2009, “will allow South Africa-based scientists to apply to work at institutions in other EMBO countries”, said Parker, who was a major driver of the agreement.

“Short-term fellowships will enable masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students to learn new techniques at Europe’s top institutions,” he adds.

Some practical training courses organised locally, but funded by EMBO, have already been run in South Africa in anticipation of this month’s membership approval. Although no other African nation is in the pipeline for membership, the practical training courses in South Africa are open to scientists from across the African continent.

“For most African scientists, attending training courses in Europe is out of the question because of cost, time and visa administration hassles. Hosting these courses in South Africa encourages more scientists from throughout the continent to participate,” says Tsungai Jongwe, a molecular biology masters student at the University of Cape Town Medical School.

”And there are many scientists from other African nations studying and working in South Africa, so they will benefit as well,” Jongwe, a Zimbabwean, told SciDev.Net.

Hermann Bujard, executive director of EMBO, says that the agreement includes provision for European scientists to visit South Africa, to give them “insight into the magnitude of problems on the African continent”.

“South African scientists will be empowered to employ the latest scientific advances to benefit their own communities.”

NEPAL JACKRABBITS S&T FUNDING August 14, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

Magandang hapon! Good afternoon!

People around the world are still savoring today the euphoria of Nepal and South Asia over the victory of the nationalist forces there against the monarchy which they abolished recently. The hegemonic victory of the modernist-nationalist forces there signal the shift to a new order of things, which will be marked by the growth of S&T and its impact on the physical economy.

The good news for the people of Nepal and sympathizers across the globe is the decision of the state recently to jackrabbit S&T via massive funding. The news is contained in the summary below.

Enjoy your read!

[29 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

Nepal planning 12-fold increase in science budget

Source: Science

16 June 2008 | EN | 中文

Maoist leader Prachandra

Wikipedia

Nepal’s new government is planning a US$125 million science budget for 2008 — a staggering 12-fold increase from last year.

The money will go to the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), with the budget set to be approved next month.

Shortly before the country’s April elections, the Maoist party — which has the largest share of seats in Nepal’s assembly — released a manifesto declaring, “Without science a country cannot develop.” Prachanda, the party’s leader, has a degree in agricultural science and also taught science in a prep school.

Biotechnology research will be a focus — primarily to exploit Nepal’s rich biological resources. A biotech lab in Kathmandu is due to be completed in 2009, while MEST plans to construct a national biotechnology research and development centre.

Nepal often experiences electricity and gasoline shortages, so the government will also devote a large part of the money to developing clean energy, including the use of a jatropha as a biofuel.

World Bank figures on science spending currently put Nepal behind Burundi, the country with the world’s lowest per capita gross domestic product.

BIOPIRACY CONTROL VIA UN ROADMAP August 8, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

Good afternoon from Manila!

Controlling or regulating biopiracy is among the toughest tasks regarding intellectual property. Currently, there is an ongoing research by a corporate group to map the genome of Indigenous Peoples or IPs in the Philippines, the results of which will redound to improving the survival chances of the human species in general. The research is so surreptitious, however, that nobody knows who are the data gatherers and how is data collected.

That behavior is tantamount to biopiracy. Incidentally, the United Nations released a roadmap recently, which has direct implications on improving regulatory aspects of biopiracy. The news is contained below.

Enjoy your read.

[27 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]

UN roadmap paves way for curbing biopiracy

Hepeng Jia

13 June 2008 | EN | 中文

Yading Nature Reserve, China

USDA/pirateparrot

[BEIJING] Countries have agreed a roadmap for negotiating an agreement for the sharing of genetic resources, following a UN biodiversity conference.

The two-week conference in Bonn, Germany, ended last month (30 May) with renewed promises from countries to substantially reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

The conference set out a roadmap for negotiations on access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources to help curb biopiracy. Delegates discussed and tentatively agreed a variety of options on elements for the future agreement that could be legally binding, non-binding or a combination of the two.

Participants hope to reach a global agreement on ABS at the next UN biodiversity conference in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010.

Xue Dayuan, director of the China Institute of Environment and Resources Protection for Minority Areas and a member of China’s delegation to the conference, says the roadmap anchors the diverse debates over the issues and narrows down action to a set of suitable options that could be further explored.

But environmental groups have expressed scepticism, saying developed nations have failed to offer enough financial aid to developing countries for biodiversity protection.

Xue says previous efforts for biodiversity protection focused too much on funding from the developed world, and that countries should develop their economy first in order to fund their own, more sustainable, protection measures. 

“China, together with other fast-developing countries like India, could offer an exemplar in realising economic growth with relatively less destruction of biodiversity.”

According to the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, China had established 2,531 natural reserves by the end of 2007, covering more than 15 per cent of its land.

China’s vice environment minister Wu Xiaoqing pledged a “strong commitment” at the conference to participating in global biodiversity protection.

Delegates at the conference also agreed action plans to expand nature reserves and launch the ‘Life Web Initiative,’ a network that aims to enhance partnerships to support the preserves. For example, an online database will help global funders match nature reserves to finance.

Germany pledged €500 million (US$775 million) over the next four years to aid global forest protection, particularly those in developing countries, and another €500 million each year after that.

Norway also announced plans to spend €600 million (US$936 million) on global forest conservation annually over the next three years.

BOOSTING INNOVATIONS BY COSTA RICA July 27, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

Magandang umaga! Good morning!

We’ve known Costa Rica all along as a peace-advocating country. As an exemplar of peace-keeping, it abolished its national army and confines peace & order functions to its domestic police.

Here is a welcome news about innovations being boosted in the peace-keeping nation. Our developing countries should better look up to Costa Rica for this combination of peace-sustenance with innovations and should study following the ‘Costa Rica way’.

Happy reading.

[23 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to the SciDev database/news.]

Noticias

Costa Rica: ¿cómo subirse al tren de la innovación?

Alejandra Vargas

25 may 2008 | ES

Oscar Arias, presidente de Costa Rica, durante la presentación del documento

Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología

[SAN JOSE] A pesar de que en Costa Rica hay dinero, personal capacitado y recursos tecnológicos suficientes para innovar, su índice en este campo es de los más bajos de América Latina.

Teniendo en cuenta este escenario, ocho expertos del país prepararan el llamado Atlas para la Innovación en Costa Rica, para hacer un diagnóstico de la situación. El reporte –lanzado este mes (6 de mayo) y sometido durante todo este mes a consulta popular– reveló errores y retos que le esperan a Costa Rica, si quiere subirse al tren del desarrollo.

El reporte señala que los recursos existentes para la innovación en Costa Rica son dispersos, intermitentes, rígidos e insuficientes.

Según el documento, el país carece de una cuantificación adecuada del gasto y la inversión que requiere para implementar la innovación. Esta indefinición impide diseñar y aplicar efectivamente los incentivos financieros, fiscales, legales y ambientales para promover el proceso.  

Para erradicar estas faltas, el Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Micit) propuso, en la ceremonia de lanzamiento del reporte,la creación de una Comisión para la Innovación, que justamente pueda evaluar aún mejor qué es lo sucede en el país y el mundo y cuya misión sea proponer ideas claras para que los políticos tomen decisiones ágilmente.

Esa comisión decidirá cómo y dónde se encaminan los esfuerzos y el dinero y creará un marco regulado de incentivos que fomentará la creación de empresas financiadas por capital de riesgo.

El Atlas para la innovación también apuesta por la creación de más incubadoras de empresas y sugiere la formación de asesores y gestores para la agilización de los procesos de innovación en pequeñas y medianas entidades.

Esto tiene como objetivo que exista un acompañamiento real de las PYMES hasta ver resultados en el mercado mundial.

“Costa Rica es aún un país con un bajo esfuerzo en innovación tecnológica, lo que nos obliga a impulsar un cambio profundo. Es preciso reorganizar un sistema de ciencia y tecnología que debe evolucionar en el tiempo, que debe ser ágil, flexible y ajustable a los cambios de entorno”, dijo Eugenia Flores, jerarca del Micit, durante la presentación del documento.

“En los últimos 25 años, del aumento total de la producción mundial, el 88 por ciento proviene de mejoras en las tecnologías y solo el 12 por ciento proviene de la expansión de los sistemas de producción vigentes. Esto encierra una advertencia que no podemos ignorar: o nos involucramos, todos, en el proceso de potenciar la innovación en Costa Rica, o nuestro país será cada vez menos competitivo”, sentenció Oscar Arias, presidente de Costa Rica, en la ceremonia.

Para Gabriel Macaya, director de la Academia Nacional de Ciencia, “la innovación es un tema que nos encontramos en muchas propuestas y análisis que ya se han hecho en el país. Espero que se den los medios para que los sectores involucrados comiencen a trabajar y avancemos.”

Enlace al documento completo 

GM COMMERCIALIZATION UPDATE IN EGYPT July 26, 2008

Erle Frayne Argonza

 

Magandang araw! Good day!

 

From the Land of the Pharoahs comes a welcome news about genetically-modified crops. It has got to do with the commercialization of a Bt maize variety, a pattern that has already taken off in the Philippines.

 

The contentious issue here concerns the entry of Monsanto, the agri giant, in the control over the patent of the food variety. Let the Eqyptians deal with the matter themselves, but for now I am of the opinion that the corn variety is a good news altogether for our fellows in the great Land of the Pharoahs.

 

Let Isis make us dance with delight over this welcome news!

 

[22 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to the SciDev news summaries.]

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Egypt approves commercialisation of first GM crop

Wagdy Sawahel

13 May 2008 | EN

Flickr/simpologist

[CAIRO] Egypt has approved the cultivation and commercialisation of a Bt maize variety, marking the first legal introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops into the country.

A report last month (16 April) from the US Department of Agriculture, noted that the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture had “approved decisions made by the National Biosafety Committee and Seed Registration Committee to allow for commercialisation of a genetically modified Bt corn variety”.

The endorsement was based on a series of field trials conducted between 2002 and 2007 for the variety MON 810, produced by biotechnology company Monsanto. Bt crops produce a toxin that guards against pests.

The variety to be distributed, Ajeeb-YG, is a cross between MON 810 and an Egyptian maize variety with resistance to three corn borer pests, developed by Monsanto scientists in South Africa — currently the only African country planting GM crops commercially.

Cairo-based company Fine Seeds International is partnering with Monsanto to distribute the variety in Egypt.

Ahmad Yaseen, an agricultural engineer at Fine Seeds, says the seeds will be available this month to farmers in ten Egyptian governorates.

Yaseen said the seeds will initially be imported from South Africa, but “starting from next year, Ajeeb-YG will be produced in Egypt”.

Amr Farouk Abdelkhalik, an Egyptian biotechnologist and regional coordinator of the Agricultural Biotechnology Network in Africa, says the new variety “points to the potential agronomic and environmental benefits of Bt maize in Egyptian cropping systems and accordingly the reduction of the massive use of pesticides”.

“We should develop our own GM plants using our genes and technology to protect small-scale farmers,” he added.

Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a plant biotechnologist at the National Research Centre in Cairo, expressed concerns about the long-term effects of the crop.

He says research on the issues surrounding GM crops “must be conducted in Egypt, and an in-depth assessment must be carried out to examine the impact of GM plants on small-scale farmers”.

Egypt currently has no official biosafety legislation, though a regulatory framework exists. Hisham El-Shishtawy from the National Biosafety Committee secretariat told SciDev.Net that the existing framework follows the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and encompasses ministerial decrees regulating the registration of GM seeds. 

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE (FROM INDIA) July 24, 2008

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE (FROM INDIA)

 

Erle Frayne Argonza

 

Putting together nanotechnology, biotechnology and bio-informatics is a new challenging area of R&D in the field of agriculture.

 

The experts of India, with the co-sponsorship by the state, are now into the next exciting phase of developing food production via this new integration methodology and practice. The implications of the new practice on quality control are legion, to say the least.

 

Happy reading.

 

[21 July 2003, Quezon City, MetroManila. Via SciDev update reports.]

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India looks to nanotechnology to boost agriculture

M. Sreelata

16 May 2008 | EN

Nanotechnology could help water delivery systems for farming

Flickr/IRRI

The Indian government is looking towards nanotechnology as a means of boosting agricultural productivity in the country.

In a report released in April, the Planning Commission of India recommends nanotechnology research and development (R&D) should become one of six areas for investment.

The commission recommends policies to and carries out financial planning for government departments. The report was written by a subgroup of the commission, and will be incorporated into India’s eleventh five-year plan, for 2007–2012.

The authors recommend ways to harness nanotechnology, biotechnology and bioinformatics to transform Indian agriculture, including creating a national institute of nanotechnology in agriculture.

The report says nanotechnology such as nano-sensors and nano-based smart delivery systems could help ensure natural resources like water, nutrients and chemicals are used efficiently in agriculture. Nano-barcodes and nano-processing could also help monitor the quality of agricultural produce.

The report proposes a national consortium on nanotechnology R&D, to include the proposed national institute and Indian institutions that are already actively researching nanotechnology.

It also recommends that Indian universities and institutions develop suitable graduate and postgraduate programmes to train young scientists in nanotechnology.

Vandana Dwivedi, coordinator of the subgroup and an advisor in the Planning Commission, says implementing all the report’s recommendations will take time, though she hopes to see some of the aspects rolled out in the 2007–2012 five-year plan. No specific initiatives on nanotechnology have yet been announced.

But not everyone is impressed by the government’s plans. India should be cautious about rushing for technologies, says M. S. Swaminathan, a former head of the National Commission for Farmers and widely considered the father of India’s green revolution. 

“If technology has applications, it has limitations too. Right from the beginning it is advisable to have a national regulatory commission on nanotechnology so that people don’t get into litigation later,” he told SciDev.Net.

Swaminathan believes transferring existing technologies to farmers should take priority, saying, “We should first disseminate ordinary technology to the farmer. Even the basic know-how has not reached fields yet. The gap between scientific know-how and field level do-how remains as wide as ever.”

 

BRIGHTER PROSPECTS FOR RICE CULTIVATION IN CHINA July 23, 2008

BRIGHTER PROSPECTS FOR RICE CULTIVATION IN CHINA

 

Erle Frayne Argonza

 

Good day!

 

Let me now shift my attention a bit and diversify our BrightWorld updates with news from across the oceans.

 

Here is a news, culled from the SciDev Forum materials sent to its members. The search for high-yielding varieties of grains is a continuing one, and had definitely not reached a dead end yet in biotech innovations.

 

Happy reading.

 

[19 July 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

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Scientists find ‘yield-improving rice gene’

Jia Hepeng

14 May 2008 | EN | 中文

The newly discovered gene may help improve rice yields

Flickr/Cbcastro

[BEIJING] Chinese scientists have identified a rice gene that could simultaneously control the crop’s yield, plant height, and number of days to flowering.

Publishing their study in Nature Genetics online this month (4 May), researchers from Wuhan-based Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) say the gene could play a role in improving rice productivity.

The scientists found that in individual rice breeds, the three traits appear strong –– or weak –– simultaneously.

“This fact makes us infer that the three traits were controlled by a single gene,” says Xing Yongzhong, one of the lead authors and a professor at HZAU.

Previous studies have found that a region on chromosome seven of rice can regulate all three traits but the specific gene involved had not been discovered.

The HZAU scientists mapped the relevant gene site on chromosome seven and located the specific gene named Ghd7. They discovered that shorter rice plants with fewer grains per cluster of flowers and earlier flowering do not have the gene Ghd7.

When they transferred Ghd7 into Ghd7-free varieties of rice, they found that time to flowering was increased by 105 per cent, they grew around 70 per cent taller, and the plants had more rice grains per cluster of flowers.

Numerous rice genes have been reported to control such traits alone, but Ghd7 is notable because of its large, multiple effects on an array of traits, write the authors.

Xing told SciDev.Net that the gene could be incorporated into varieties with traditional breeding. “Although we have used the genetically modified method in the study, we need not adopt this method in the practical seeding because the gene is identified from the rice itself.”

The team of scientists also studied the status of Ghd7 in 19 rice varieties from rice growing in a wide geographic range in Asia and found five different versions of the gene.

“We are exploring the subtypes of Ghd7-containing rice that are most suitable to their growing regions, so as to cultivate the most appropriate high-output rice varieties,” Xing adds.

Huang Dafang, former director of the Institute of Biotechnologies of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, welcomes the study as a major scientific breakthrough.

But he says that usually, multiple genes regulate the traits related to rice yields, and whether the Ghd7 could play its claimed role in promoting yields needs further research and seeding tests.

Link to full paper in Nature Genetics