March 8, 2010

 

Vietnam eyes biotech plants

 

 

The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the International Service for The Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) jointly held a seminar on genetic manipulation in Hanoi last week.

 

Addressing the seminar, Trieu Van Hung, Director of MARD's Department of Science and Technology, said the ISAAA's annual reports and analysis on genetically-modified (GM) plants were of great value to Vietnam, which has been studying technological advances in agricultural production.

 

"The development and application of advanced biotechnology in Vietnam through 2020 has been a key programme, aiming to create new varieties of plants and animals that provide high yields, good quality and economic efficiency," Hung said.

 

The added value from such plants from 1996-2008 was estimated at US$52 billion, with half of the value being from reduced production costs and the other half from increased output.

 

In 2009, the acreage for the farming of biotech plants was 134 million hectares, a 7% increase over 2008.

 

Twenty-five countries grew biotech plants in the 1996-2009 period. Of those, developing countries expanded the biotech plants areas faster than developed ones, making up 46% of the total area and are expected to reach 50% in 2015.

 

ISAAA President Clive James expected that Vietnam would soon stand among those countries in genetic mutation technology.