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Advisory /
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Biotechnology: need to
do the needful
With bio-technology, we can successfully take on the
challenges of hunger, malnutrition, diseases and serious
illness. Through it we can isolate a particular gene (trait)
in one organism, remove it, and then transfer it to another
organism, where this same gene replicates itself, creating a
stronger and more resilient strain of the same substance.
Biotechnology offers tremendous opportunities for exponential
growth of agriculture. For production of rapid and high
quality planting material, currently three advance
technologies are being applied successfully in the world:
Plant tissue culture (PTC) technology; hybrid seed production
technology; seedling production technology.
Among the various biotechnologies, plant tissue culture (PTC)
also called as micro- propagation technology is most
successful and widely used discipline. PTC offers tremendous
opportunities for plant improvement. It is only through the
process of micropropagation that PTC has attained the status
of industrial technology.
There are several distinct advantages in commercial production
of plants through micropropagation over conventional methods.
Micropropagated plants are raised under sterile conditions
that exclude disease causing organisms, and induce rapid
multiplication, maintaining clonal and phenotypic uniformity
among the offspring, and conservation of space, round the year
production,
Breeding new plant varieties is a necessity but it is a slow
and costly process. However, by selecting individual high
yielding plants from within crop population and applying
micropropagation technique, entire crop can be produced with
the premium qualities of original parent plant.
Hybrid seeds embody an improvement over conventional seeds in
terms of qualities such as yield and disease resistance. They
are developed by crossing parent lines. Seeds produced from
hybrids tend to revert back to either of the original parent
lines, losing desirable qualities of hybrid. This compels
farmers to sow hybrids every time for similar results.
Development of new hybrids is research-intensive having long
gestation periods of 5-8 years.
Multiplication of hybrids is a labour-intensive process,
normally done by contract farming. It requires a careful
monitoring to ensure genetic purity. Hybrid seed is
high-valued alternative for conventional seed. For
high-technology cropping systems, where timing and quality is
a critical management factor, hybrid seed provides faster
emergence, more rapid initial growth and healthy product.
Planting material with faster emergence, more rapid and
uniform initial growth, certified, virus-free and disease
indexed, vigorous and healthy growth ensure the successful
transplantation and high yield. Among the agriculture inputs,
planting material (seed/seedlings) quality is extremely
important and a decisive factor for optimum yield. Use of un-hygenic,
unknown and poor quality planting material results drastic
yield losses. Although seedling production has gained a status
of huge industry the world over, but in Pakistan availability
of certified, high quality, disease and virus-free planting
material at cost effective prices is not possible, which is
one of the root-causes of low agriculture productivity,
because so far no scientifically compatible system is existing
in the country.
Plant tissue culture industry is in fact one of the recognised
global profit-making options. It is estimated that there is a
world market potential of 15 billion US dollars per year for
the tissue culture products. Among the South Asian countries,
India has developed PTC as a large industry. Being labour-intensive,
production of plant tissue culture is expected to shift from
developed countries to the developing countries.
Developing countries are facing the prospects of stagnant or
even declining area under cultivation and rising population.
This exerts pressure on existing land to increase the yield.
Diminishing returns from inputs such as fertilisers, farm
equipments and irrigation limit productivity growth.
Therefore, improving yield by adopting hybrids remains the
only solution to increase per captia agricultural production
and improve nutrition levels.
Keeping in view the technical and commercial status of PTC at
global level, the situation of Pakistan with the world
scenario is miserably poor and of least commercial
significance. Pakistan enjoys a unique advantage in setting up
micropropagation industry with its rich land resources spread
over diverse agro-climate zones, profuse solar radiation
throughout the year, good quality water, availability of
skilled manpower as well as labour at much cheaper rate.
In Pakistan, almost all PTC laboratories are in public sector
and universities. Despite noticeable contribution in basic
research in PTC technology, commercial exploitation remains
insignificant. Most of the research work conducted in
universities or research institutions has not been developed
beyond laboratory level achievements. Generally, research in
Pakistan is based on public funds and the interest of research
laboratories does not match with those of industry or the
results are technically immature.
Ironically, no commercially viable plant tissue culture
laboratory has been established in private sector, all over
the country. However, Agriculture Biotechnologies Pakistan (Pvt)
Ltd., is operating in the field of micropropagation and seed
production since 1995 to achieve the excellence in high tech
agriculture.
Horticulture is another important sector still untapped,
although Pakistan has spectacular competitive advantages in
this field both for domestic and global market. On export
scene a positive trend is observed in fruits and to a certain
extent in vegetable, however, our floriculture sector is
totally neglected specifically for export marketing. A
tremendous amount of effort is needed to develop trend in
advance, export-oriented floriculture to tap the unlimited
scope in export marketing.
The world market in floriculture is estimated at US $ 50
billion and has been fast growing. Major portion of the demand
is from the developed western countries, where cultivable land
is limited. Pakistan, with large land mass and good climatic
conditions is better placed to benefit from floriculture.
Another issue of great concern is absence of bio-safety laws
in Pakistan as there are no laws to protect the right of
researchers and anybody can steal new seeds, breeds and
technologies developed by the domestic scientists. Other SAARC
countries, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, have
already given approval to such laws. No biotechnology
development can work in the absence of these laws which are
meant to govern the technology. On the other hand, there would
be no foreign investment and other activities by any of the
multinational companies in the agriculture until and unless
these laws are made effective in the country.
For future economic uplift, it is not wise to fully rely on
the low-tech industrial set-up which is unable to sustain in
high competitive global market system. It becomes essential
now to embark on other potential resources like agriculture.
Biotechnology in this regard is a revolutionary and accessible
concept which can boost the agriculture and overall economy of
the country
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Nation
28 January 2002
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Pakissan.com;
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