Biotechnology takes root in the third world

Journal Article · Fri May 25 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2343311· OSTI ID:6323576

Gibbons, A

Biotechnology offers the hope of increasing crop yields in the highland of communist Viet Nam. Thirty Vietnamese families have been culturing potato seedlings for planting. Their potato progeny earn the families $100 to $120 a month, a considerable sum in rural Viet Nam. Some of the farmers are starting to use the same techniques to propagate other vegetables in vitro. This is proof that biotechnology can be beneficial in developing nations. Now agriculture in countries from Indonesia to Ecuador is gaining from biotechnology, thereby helping them compete in the international marketplace. Third World leaders want their own biotech centers and to set their own research agendas, rather than relying on the First World to decide what genetically engineered crops would be most useful for them.

• OSTI ID: 6323576
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (USA), Vol. 248:4958; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BIOTECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CROPS
PRODUCTIVITY
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
PLANT GROWTH
POTATOES
SOLANUM
VIET NAM
ASIA
FOOD
GROWTH
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
MAGNOLIOPSIDA
PLANTS
TUBERS
VEGETABLES
550200* - Biochemistry