Dr. Clive James, Founder and Emeritus Chair of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) shared the recent global developments in biotechnology during a seminar on "Global Status of Biotech/GM Crops in 2014" held in Jakarta on February 11, 2015 which was organized by the Indonesian Biotechnology Information Center (IndoBIC), ISAAA, Ministry of Agriculture, and National Outstanding Farmers Association (NOFA).

Dr. James revealed that in 2014, a record 181.5 million hectares of biotech crops were grown globally, an increase of more than six million hectares since 2013. With Bangladesh as the latest addition, there were 28 countries growing biotech crops in 2014. Dr. Clive also highlighted a significant development in biotechnology in Asia. Developing countries Vietnam and Indonesia are close to the commercialization of biotech crops, which is expected to begin in 2015. This includes several hybrids of biotech maize for importing and planting in Vietnam and drought tolerant sugarcane for planting as a food crop in Indonesia.

Dr. Ir. Hasil Sembiring, General Director of Food Crops of the Ministry of Agriculture represented the Minister to deliver opening remarks on that event. He highlighted that several studies showed that biotech applications in crops provide some positive results such as generating eco-friendly products, decreasing pesticide application, and reducing soil erosion. He also mentioned that Indonesia accepts biotechnology with precautionary approach. Indonesia already has several guidelines for the assessment of GM products.

The seminar was held with the support from the Indonesian Society for Agricultural Biotechnology (PBPI), CropLife Indonesia, and SEAMEO BIOTROP. It was attended by 150 stakeholders consisting of scientists, academicians, policy makers, farmers, journalists, and entrepreneurs.

For more information, contact Dewi Suryani (catleyavanda@gmail.com) of the Indonesia Biotechnology Information Center.