During the m two de cade* many Asian isun tries made remarkable advance* tn biotechnology research and development and transferred many new technologies to the farmers held. It is a pity that Bangladesh has fallen behind.

Nepal

I had the opportunity to visit, with an International team, the tissue culture laboratory of Dr. Rajbhandari at Godavari in Nepal in 1992. We saw hundreds of tissue cultured plants growing in flasks arranged on shelves of the cosy, well illuminated laboratory (The tissue culture technique provides the Scope for rapid, multiplication in the laboratory of disease free plants that yield better when grown in the Held). We learnt that a number of Nepalese private entrepreneurs were engaged In the production of tissue cultured plants : potatoes, banana, chrysanthemum, rub-ber plant, gerbera. African violet. orchids, fodder crops. We visited some of the Arms. We saw farmers transferring tissue cultured potato shoots to sand containing trays for root production.

These days mushroom production has become popular among small farmers in the Kahmandu Valley. One private firm invested Nep Rupees 4 million in mushroom infrastructure. There were other large mushroom firms.

The Nepal Biofertilizer Programme is giving training ">n laboratory culture and use

Rhizobia bacterial cells oculum) for biofertilizer duction. These bacteria i the nitrogen rich root-ules in legume plants .ntil. mungbean, checkpea. cowpea, groundnut .soyabean, etc). The bacteria trap atmospheric nitrogen in the rootnodules and supply nitrogen to the plant. A minikit programme for rhizobia inoculation had been launched by Nepal.

Sri Lanka

The Chinese farmers have used blue green algae (BGAJ.a kind of moss that grows In water as a biofertilizer for centuries. BGA reduces the need for chemical fertilizers in recent years Sri Lanka has made significant progress with BGA research Soon it will be used as a biofertilizer.

Another source of biofertilizer is AzoUa/Anabaena. Azoila is an aquatic fern and has symbiotic relationship with the bacteria called Anabaena. The symbiotic process helps fix nitrogen in the soil. Research on

Azoila Anabaena has created Interest among Sri Lartkan farmers, and the application of the Azoila technology in rice fields in southwest Sri Lanka is under way.

Tissue cultured coconut and bamboo plants are available to farmers for field planting. Some tissue cultured coconut plants bear fruits in two years' time. This is a significant achievement because coconut has a long juvenile stage. The Ceylon Tobacco Company uses the tissue culture technique for production of orchids, foliage and indoor plants, and some tree species for rapid propagation for reforestation.

Thailand

Tissue culture is now a big business in Thailand. There are many government and private organizations engaged in the businesses. Plants include forestry species, horticulture, field crops to medicinal plants and ' cut flowers.

Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus ( NPV). a biopesticide that control Hellothis armigera (a worm which causes damage to cotton ball, tomato, citrus, asparagus) and Spodoptera ex-igua (which damages onions) has been marketed by the private sector in Thailand. Also a memotode (Neoplactana car-pocapsae). a soil bome .worm, is beihg marketed as a biopes-ticide by a private company. This nematode controls the

caterplller (Cossus sp) that eats up the plant bark.

Thailand Is a big mushroom producer, about $ 40 million worth a year. Thailand also produces about 200 tonnes of Rhizobia biofertilizer that is used for about one million hectares of legume crops. The Thai government encourages the private sector to produce Rhizobia inoculum and biofertilizer. and a few private companies have started the business. Research on blue green algae (BGA) as biofertilizer have progressed in Thailand to an extent where the private sector has started BGA production.

Vietnam

Production of haploid plants (with one set of chromosomes instead of normal two sefs). through th* use of another/pollen culture in the laboratory, are in large scale use for crop Improvement in Vietnam. The technique has shortened the rice variety development time to 4 years from 8-9 years required with conventional breeding.

Vietnam produces virus free potato, through tissue culture in large scales. Within a short period of time Vietnam has attained the status of mushroom exporter. Vietnam also produces biopesticides, about 100 tonnes a year using the bacteria. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This’ bacteria produces chemicals ■ (insecticidal crystalline

protein*) and protease in-^bitors) that are toxic to In sects.

Indonesia

Rhizobia biofertilizer for soyabean production has been commercialized in Indonesia. Mycorrhiza. a fungus associated with roots of many ■ plants, helps In nitrogen fixation in the soil. Indonesia is now in a stage of marketing micrrhlza-based biofertllizer Some mycorrhiza fungi have been discovered that serve dual functions : as a biofertll tzer and as a protection against wilt diseases In plants caused by some bacteria and fungi

Indonesia has marketed the Bt-based biopesticide. Thuri cide". for the control of larvae of a good number caterpillars, maggots and grubbs Indonesia exports mushroom, both dried and canned. The spawns (seeds) of mushrooms are cultured and supplied to growers by private firms.

India and China

Biotechnologies In India have made such an Impact that there are more than a dozen companies, each with multi . million rupee Investment In biotechnologies. In China the direct productive value of biotechnologies in 1990 was $ 66 million and the indirect productive value was $ 300 million. In the year 2000 AD these values will rise to $ 330 million and $ 900 million respectively. The ratio between Investment in biotechnologies to their direct productive value in China was 1:4.5 before 1990. This is expected to rise to 1:7.5 during 1990-2000 AD

Bangladesh

Protocols of tissue culture for rice, potato, banana, lentil, peanut. wheat. some ornamental and tree plants have been developed in Bangladesh. But none of the products has yet reached the farmers. Bangladesh has developed the capacity for production of Rhizobia biofertilizer, but its comipercialization has stumbled. The Mushroom Culture Centre at Savar. which made a good start, appears to have come to a standstill.

We are yet to establish suit able facilities for research on genetic engineering. The few biotechnoiogists that we have are grossly handicapped; some have already left the country. A serious effort is required to save Bangladesh from becom ing a ''technological blackhole” and from further depen dence on other countries for food, fibre and forest products.

The writer is associated with BARC.