http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/events/detail-events/en/c/1440/

1. Opportunities for research to help
smallholders engage with biotechnologyMaggie Gill
University of Aberdeen and Chair of ISPC

2. Common perceptions of biotechnology
• Genetics/DNA
• Involves molecular biology
• Applies to crops
• Involves moving genes between species so not ‘natural’
• High risk to people and/or environment
But biotechnology is much more than that!

3. What is technology?
Technology is “the application of scientific knowledge and frequently
involves invention i.e. the creation of a novel object, process or
technique”
“Science underpins improvements in human welfare, through
technologies which it develops for health, food production, engineering
and communications”
From Science and Innovation for Development (2010) by Conway and Waage

4. Definitions of biotechnology
CBD (1992) defines biotechnology as: “Any technological application
that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to
make or modify products or processes for specific use”
In organizing the Symposium in Rome (2016) FAO defined ag-biotech to
include: “low-tech approaches such as those involving artificial
insemination, microbial fermentation and bio-fertilizers as well as high-
tech approaches such as those involving DNA-based methodologies and
genetically modified organisms”

5. Biotechnology is nothing new
• Since humans became farmers rather than hunter gatherers, people have
benefitted from biotechnology
• What is new is:
• the speed at which we can develop new technologies
• the rate at which we need new biotechnologies
• The challenge is to ensure that these two processes are aligned – in this
meeting with a focus on biotechnologies which will be used by smallholder
farmers

6. Structure of talk
• Illustrations of new techniques and technologies relevant to
Asia and the Pacific
• Demand for new technologies in Asia and Pacific
• Some issues related to the use of new techniques by
researchers and to the adoption of biotechnologies by
smallholders
• Recommendations for research agenda to enhance adoption
by smallholders

7. New Plant Breeding Techniques
 Facilitated breeding – final food producing line is non-
transgenic
 Grafting of transgenic with non-transgenic plants – foods
derived from the non-transgenic part
 Cisgenesis/intragenesis – gene technology used to
introduce genetic material from the same or cross
compatible species
 Gene technology used as a tool for mutagenesis – Genome
editing
A range of techniques which rely on gene technology but where the end products may not
be transgenic:

8. Natural genetic
variation
DNA
sequencing
Sequence alignment and
SNP detection
Genome-wide association mapping
Gene functional analysis (massive job)
Breeding
New variety for
farmer
CRISPR should accelerate
this step hugely
Exploiting natural genetic variation in rice (Adam Price, University of Aberdeen)

9. Crop GM biotechnologies under development CGIAR
with Asian partners
• Pigeon pea and groundnut with Vitamin A (India)
• Pigeon pea and Chick pea with pod borer resistance (India)
• Rice with Vitamin A (South Asian NARS)
• Rice with drought tolerance (JIRCAS)
From Strategic Study of Biotechnology Research in CGIAR (2014)

10. Non-genetic biotechnologies for crops - examples
• Organic fertilizer
• Inoculants – beneficial microbes to promote plant growth
• Biocontrol of pests and diseases e.g. push/pull systems
• Conservation agriculture

11. Livestock genomics for low input systems
adapted from Marshall and Kemp ILRI (2014)
Genomics for livestock feed: improved nutritive value of crop
stover and genomics of rumen microbes
Genomics for improved breeds: matching existing breeds to livestock
system, developing breeds fit for changing environments, new cross-
breeds with improved productivity
Genomics for food safety: testing for pathogens and tracing and
authenticating livestock products
Genomics for livestock health: creation of disease resistant breeds
and production of new vaccines and therapetuics

12. Non-genetic livestock biotechnologies presented at
Rome meeting
• Animal feed additives
• Traditional milk fermentation
• Diagnostic tools to detect pathogens that cause tuberculosis
• Aflasafe for biocontrol of aflatoxins

13. Biotechnologies for other sectors
• Fish: Genetics to improve growth, control maturation and sex
determination
• Fruit and vegetables: to increase storability and shelf-life of fruit e.g. shelf-
life of apples increased by 2 weeks up to 4 months
• Forestry: chemical fingerprinting to identify trees resistant to disease and
genetic techniques to design climate-based seed transfer strategies to
transfer warm-adapted trees to locations where climates are warming

14. Demand for new biotechnologies

15. Genetic improvement (Foresight)
 Based on utilising variation
 Conventional breeding uses natural
or induced variation in “crossable”
gene pool
 Genetic engineering can use
variation from all possible sources
 New technologies
Adapted from Langridge (2017)

16. Future increases in crop production in Asia?
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Yield
Cropping intensity
Arable land
FAO, 2010
No more land in Asia: yield increase is
the only option
Adapted from Langridge (2017)

17. Issues related to use of new techniques and adoption of
new biotechnologies by smallholders and
recommendations on what to do about them

18. Challenges associated with biotechnology
development using new techniques
• Data management systems
• Support for core capabilities – field phenotyping, genotyping and
germplasm analysis (both conventional and GM)
• Delivery pipeline for GM outputs
• Quality control systems
• Training and capacity building
• Building system wide critical mass

19. Develop clear biotechnology delivery pathways
• Establish clear and rigorous quality assurance procedures
• Ensure thorough stewardship of materials generated from
biotechnology projects
• Develop pathways for delivery of GM products to national programs

20. 0
20
40
60
80
100
Rice Wheat Maize Sorghum Cassava Potatoes
Sub-Saharan
Africa
South Asia
East Asia &
Pacific
Middle East &
North Africa
Latin America
Adoption of modern varieties
2000-2005 % crop area
Source: WDR 2008
Highest among
developing countries

21. Challenges associated with adoption of biotechnology at
farm level
• Complexity and risks to smallholders
• Specific traits such as Vitamin A cannot be at the expense of the
traits which are important to smallholders such as yield
• Yield gains contribute only a small proportion of household income
• Profitability of technology is difficult to estimate and limited by
heterogeneity

22. Flood tolerant rice
from de Dar, de Janvry et al (2013)
• Approx 30% of cultivated rice area in India prone to prolonged
flooding
• Randomised field expt showed that Swarna-Sub 1 (tolerant to
flooding) positive impacts on rice yield when fields are submerged
for 7 to 14 days with no yield penalty when no flooding
• Disproportionately benefits most marginal groups of farmers
Recent study showed also adopted in areas where risk of flooding low

23. Issues related to adoption
adapted from de Janvry (2017)
• “Technologies offered for adoption need to be profitable and with
low risk in local contexts – they may also be adopted where not
originally envisaged”
• “In spite of some spectacular successes, the presumption of
extensive existence of profitable technologies ……needs to be
revisited in view of the great degree of heterogeneity of
circumstances” (rainfed agriculture)
• “To achieve adoption of available technologies, better access to
information and learning options is still lagging, especially through
demand-driven social learning, extension services, and motivated
agents in value chains”

24. Recommendations for research for successful adoption by
smallholders
• Understand the context i.e. what are the barriers at farm level in
particular how to minimize risk to poor farmers - spend time
understanding why they adopt new varieties
• Identify policy and institutional barriers particularly with respect to
environmental benefits (McMillan, Rodrik and Sepulveda, 2016) be aware
of national investment in structural transformation (industrialization vs
investment in fundamentals (human capital and institutions)
• Think of beneficiaries not just as smallholder farmers but also poor
consumers – (Evenson and Gollin, 2003)

25. Thank you for listening – more details
on some of these issues published in
Biotechnology research in the CGIAR
http://www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org/publication/st
rategic-study-biotechnology-research-cgiar