Scientific Milestones in the
Agricultural Development of Asia
and the Pacific Region
2007 CGIAR Annual General Meeting
(Science Forum),
December 4, 2007, Beijing, China
Introduction
• The ESAP region consisting of some 33
sovereign countries is home to about 3.36B
people or roughly 53% of the world’s
current population, with China, India &
Indonesia constituting almost three quarters
of the region’s inhabitants.
EAST ASIA (China, Korea, Japan & Mongolia)
* SOUTH ASIA (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka)
* SOUTHEAST ASIA (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao
PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, TimorLeste & Vietnam)
* OCEANIA (Australia & New Zealand)
* PACIFIC (Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea,
Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands & Micronesia, FS)
*
Introduction
• Majority (55%) of this population are
still engaged in agriculture related
activities, predominantly as smallholders
relying on it for subsistence, livelihood,
income & other socio-cultural functions.
• In terms of land area, ESAP countries
covers about a fifth of the world’s land
mass.
Introduction
• In terms of trade, it produces:
~ 90% of global aquaculture production;
> 80% of the world’s supply of coconut,
vegetables, jute, sweet potato and rice;
> 50% of the world’s supply of tea,
tobacco and peanut;
> 25% of the global source of melons,
sugarcane, white potato, cassava, millet,
maize and wheat;
Introduction
• Other significant regional characteristics
related to agriculture:
– accounts for 55% of the world’s forest
plantation resources;
– has the greatest concentration of the
world’s mangroves; and
- home to 30% of the world’s livestock
species.
Introduction
• Annual growth rate in agriculture in the
region from 1992-2003 was recorded at
3.1% in contrast to just 2.4% for the
world’s average.
• The sector has also served as a buffer
and safety net thru employment
generation in the face of large economic
shocks, such as that of the Asian
financial crisis that hit the region in
1997-98.
Introduction
• Despite of its strong growth performance,
the agricultural sector’s relative importance
in Asia and the Pacific countries has been
declining, both in terms of its contribution
to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
its share of the labor force particularly
during the last three decades or so.
Trends in Asian/Pacific Agriculture
• It was largely after the end of WW II , that the
application of AKST to aggie production resulted in
the beginnings of major changes in agricultural
practices in the region.
• Over the past 5 decades, technological advances
in the agricultural sciences have enabled farmers
to feed twice as many people from a virtually
declining agricultural land.
• The principal agricultural technologies that made
this impressive achievements possible could be
attributed mainly to …
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

New Varieties (HYVs and hybrids)
 With
the release of IR8 in the early 60s, almost
all of the rice area under HYV seeds was in Asia.
 Among
its known impact are:
increased yields have contributed much to greater food
security within developing countries and have often led to
declining real prices of some food grains;
 Seed supply systems of new varieties replaced the traditional
cultivars
 encouraged the growth of allied agro-industries such as
fertilizer plants, chemical companies, seed suppliers &
agricultural machineries

AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Biotechnology
 Hastened
the development of new varieties
with desired traits
 Increased
the resilience of crops to major pests
and diseases and extreme weather conditions
 Among
its adverse impact associated with
biotech are…




encouraged farmers dependency on expensive external inputs
promotes decreased genetic diversity
increased costs of crop failure
limits farmers access to new technologies due to affordability
issue
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Irrigation

From 1961-2003, irrigated areas in ESAP more than
doubled with an annual growth rate of 2.6% increasing
the cultivated land under irrigation to 28%;

Groundwater irrigation was one of the most widelyused technology in ESAP such that by the 1990s, half of
China’s irrigation came from wells while 60% of India’s
irrigated areas relied on groundwater.

Among its known impact are:
offered a primary buffer against the vagaries of climate
preventing total crop failure
 stabilize and improved crop yields (2-5x that of rainfed areas)
 enabled more intensive use of limited arable land

AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Fertilization

Fertilizer usage within ESAP increased sharply over the
years which has reached 275kg/ha in 2005. Average
annual growth rate is about 6.6%

Among the fertilizers applied, 61% were nitrogen-based,
24% phosphate and 15% potash.

Among its known impact are:

over reliance on this input by most farmers has led to
excessive use of inorganic fertilizers resulting to some serious
environmental consequences.
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture
 Crop
Protection
 Pesticide
usage in agriculture among
developing countries of ESAP has been on the
rise indicating its growing popularity to control
the major crop pests and diseases raising
concerns on its negative effects on human
health of farmers and consumers.
 Crops
known to have been receiving the
highest pesticide applications are cereals, fruit
crops, cotton & vegetables.
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture
 Crop
Protection
 That
few pest & disease outbreaks have
occurred in the past 15 years is the result of
collaborative research undertaking between the
CGIAR centers and the NARS of many ESAP
countries.
 Likewise,
combining pest resistance with
ecologically-based crop management principles
has greatly reduced the incidence and impact of
pest outbreaks.
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Mechanization (tractors & threshers)

Rising wages & declining labor availability in most rural
areas forced many farmers to consider mechanization in
planting and harvesting operations.

Total # of aggie tractors used in ESAP countries have
been expanding rapidly since 1960, reaching 6.5M in
2005.

Among its known impact are:

since aggie machineries entailed substantial cost in acquisition
and operation, it stimulated the growth of a well-functioning
machinery rental markets
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Livestock production
 Sustainable
endoparasite control for small
 Crop-animal
integration in rainfed areas…
ruminants…
 Capacity
building of selected NARS
scientists…
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Forestry (sustainable resource management)
 In
terms of production technology, the
forestry sector concentrated its efforts on
developing new forest management
systems…
 Wood
processing seemed to be the only area
on forestry that has received the greatest
impact from technological improvements…
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Capture Fisheries
 Modern
fishing fleet with cold storage,
processing facilities, fish scouting airplanes & its
highly sophisticated acoustic technology
coupled with extremely efficient fishing gears
including the use of purse seine and trawl nets
made dramatic increases in marine production
possible.
 But
the unscrupulous use of said technologies
have eventually led in over fishing and rapid
depletion of the ocean’s fish stock…
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Aquaculture Fisheries (in freshwater, brackish
water & marine ecosystem)

Major milestones in aquaculture technologies made it
possible to produce quality fish & crustaceans in
artificial environment (pond culture, pen culture,
fishcages) under commercial scale:
development of the artificial spawning technology
development of superior brood-stock by selective breeding
liming & fertilization of the pond to induce the growth of
natural food organisms
 formulation and & use of balanced artificial feed to promote
good fish growth
 use of pumps to ensure & stabilize water supply quality &
temperature



AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Aquaculture Fisheries (in freshwater,
brackish water & marine ecosystem)

Major milestones in aquaculture technologies made it
possible to produce quality fish & crustaceans in
artificial environment (pond culture, pen culture,
fishcages) under commercial scale:
use of artificial aeration to ensure adequate oxygen supply for
increasing the pond’s carrying capacity
 use of pesticides to control predatory or harmful organisms
 use of probiotics to maintain quality of pond environment
 waterless transport of fish fry

AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Aquaculture Fisheries (in freshwater,
brackish water & marine ecosystem)
 Impact
of such technologies:

Within the aquaculture sector, ESAP contribution in
the global supply rose from just 54% in 1950 to
90% in 2004.

In terms of gross aquaculture production by volume
in 2004, leading countries are China, India,
Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam & Thailand.
AKST Milestones in Asian Agriculture

Indigenous Knowledge and the active
participation of NGOs and civil society
 Important








AKST contributions:
in-situ genetic crop conservation
crop diversification (farming systems approach)
regenerative soil & water conservation methods
organic agriculture
ecological pest management & bio-pesticides
participatory research schemes
use of medicinal plants
social mobilization methods
Trends in Asian/Pacific Agriculture
• Without these technologies, world prices of most
agricultural products would have been higher,
caloric availability per capita lower and thousands
more hectares of forestlands and other fragile
ecosystems would have been brought under
cultivation.
• Paradoxically however, while the so called “Green
Revolution” has been widely hailed as one of the
major success stories of development in the
region, not all farmers and locations have
benefited equally from it.
Lessons Learned
• The face of poverty is the face of
agriculture-based rural Asia, the lot of
many small farmers, municipal fisher folk,
upland dwellers and indigenous peoples –
Overall, some 70% of the poor in developing
countries reside in rural areas and many derive
their income from agriculture directly or
indirectly. This dependence on agriculture is
greater in those countries where hunger and
poverty are most prevalent.
Lessons Learned
• R&D beneficiaries are now becoming
important partners in rural transformation
– Former technology users are becoming more
central in innovation and technical change. In
the past, farmers and LGUs were considered as
mere technology users but now, they are
increasingly becoming major players/partners in
rural development.
Lessons Learned
• New emerging fields such as biotechnology,
bio-energy, supply chain management,
indigenous knowledge systems and ICT are
greatly influencing how agricultural RDE is
being conducted – aggie production is
becoming increasingly knowledge-based and
science intensive; RDE are relying more and more
on ICT tools to take advantage of knowledge
developed elsewhere or for other purposes.
Lessons Learned
• Development potential of the agricultural
sector is increasingly being defined in
the international arena – agricultural
development is increasingly taking place in a
globalized setting where production, trade &
consumption for agricultural products are
growing more dynamic and evolving in
unpredictable ways.
Lessons Learned
• S&T can make a difference in peoples lives
but only under the right conditions –
improved technologies provide options for
combating poverty and hunger but could not be
readily adopted if the conditions for its usage are
absent or lacking. Gaps in infrastructure, seed
and input markets, extension and credit systems,
and market access hamper widespread
technology adoption and prevents farmers from
receiving the benefits from these new
technologies.
Lessons Learned
 Continued
funding of science and
technology yields higher pay-offs than other
forms of public investments - Evidences
closely link productivity improvements to
investments in agricultural R&D, with average
rates of return of over 40%. Experiences of China,
India and Thailand showed that increased public
expenditure on agricultural research and
extension improves agricultural productivity the
most and was the second most powerful way of
reducing rural poverty.