Agricultural Biotechnology: Trends and Challenges

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to assess the leading edges of today’s knowledge in agricultural biotechnology on a global scale and offer some recommendations on the possible niches for the Philippines. Until recently, biotechnology was neatly classified into agricultural (including forestry and aquaculture), health, industrial, and environmental fields. Presently, however, a great revolution is underway—agricultural biotechnology is invading these other fields! We can call this the third agricultural revolution. The first revolution began the process we now call civilization 10,000 years ago; the second (the Green Revolution) saved civilization from hunger about 40 years ago. The third hopes to address the problems created by the first and second revolutions and provide the material needs of future generations in a sustainable manner. The scope of agriculture is now being extended from providing basic needs—namely food, fiber, and clothing—to including the needs of modern civilization, such as energy, materials, drugs, and industrial products like enzymes. The definition of agricultural crops is also expanding to include not only higher plants but all photosynthesizing organisms. Techniques traditionally used for the industrial-scale culture of bacteria and fungi are now being applied to single-cell, tissue, and organ cultures of higher plants and other photosynthesizing organisms.
Thus, we are looking forward to a new generation of biofactories and production systems using photosynthesis as the main engine. These biofactories promise to produce traditional and non-traditional products cheaper, faster, safer, and better. It is an exciting future with many promises, but also many challenges and unknown perils. The niche for the Philippines is dictated by the reality that its land area—the traditional basis of agriculture—is limited. Additionally, its climate is generally less favorable for traditional agriculture than many other environments. On the other hand, the Philippines has a huge surplus of unemployed manpower, abundant sunshine, and water. A review of recent literature suggests the following leading edges suitable for the Philippines in the field of conventional and modern agricultural biotechnology: 1) new agricultural crops that are less susceptible to the vagaries of the local climate and limitations of arable land; 2) new approaches for recombinant DNA technology, specifically plastid engineering; and 3) bioreactors and less sophisticated production systems using higher plant cells and organ cultures, as well as other photosynthesizing organisms such as mosses and algae. Scientific literacy is a prerequisite for the third agricultural revolution. A scientifically literate nation will formulate policies that encourage innovation, deploy its best minds in the service of science and technology, and create a public that is receptive to new ideas. Even as we look to the future, the struggle for public acceptance of the third agricultural revolution is happening today. There are existing biotechnologies waiting to be utilized, such as transgenic crops, livestock, forest trees, and fish. These technologies will not prosper if public reaction and corresponding government regulation are guided by imagined risks rather than demonstrated benefits. The paper argues for a regulatory system that strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring public safety in agricultural biotechnology and exploring new technologies to solve the challenges of modern living.