Possible Socio-Economic Impacts of Biotechnology in Indonesia
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Date
1977-11
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Perhimpunan Bioteknologi Pertanian Indonesia
Abstract
There are scanty studies specifically focused on the impact of biotechnology in general, let alone the impact of biotechnology in developing countries. This is apparently due to the complexity of such an impact study which is highly determined by the dependence of a country's economy on the product concerned, its technological potential to respond to changes in the world market, and the dominant farming systems in which the crop is grown. Most of the available publication on the impacts of biotechnologies are dealing with the possible impacts on developing countries, which might be positive, negative, or both. Inspite of limited information about the actual socio-economic impacts of biotechnology in developing countries, the trend for development in developed and advanced developing countries, particularly in Asia and ASEAN countries, seem to be encouraging. This is shown by the high priority given to biotechnology in their national development programs. In many cases the different possible impacts of biotechnology on developing countries in general and on ASEAN countries in particular, are also applicable to Indonesia, especially in areas where (traditional) biotechnologies have been practiced for a long time as well as in new endeavours involving extensive and intensive utilization of the rich Indonesian biological resources. Some salient examples are presented. Obviously, more focused studies are needed at national level in order to distinguish the actual impact of biotechnologies from that of other technologies applied in the same sector, e.g. agriculture, health, animal husbandry, industry, the environment, bioremediation, biodiversity, and to establish which techniques are the most appropriate and whether they may be used in other similar locations.
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Keywords
Socio-economic, impacts, biotechnology.