Agricultural Biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean

The area of land viable for agriculture is diminishing each year due to topsoil erosion, loss of soil fertility, water insecurity and climatic change, factors which limit productivity and threaten crop yields. The changing climate will exaggerate the existing differences between developed and developing countries and may also see pests and diseases infiltrating wider geographical zones, further threatening productivity. These factors are particularly important for many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Hence, with the current range of agricultural land having reached a supply threshold and limited prospects of increasing the area, the rate of increase in food production will not keep pace with the rate of population growth. Modern biotechnology offers a means of delivering sustainable agricultural practices and this chapter provides an overview of the institutions and research projects in LAC countries, whose objective is to provide more food in a safe, sustainable way. There is a wealth of research being undertaken in Latin America on both commodity crops and locally-important staples. Molecular breeding, genetic engineering, in vitro micropropagation, germplasm screening and conservation projects are being used to identify useful traits, improve resistance to a variety of abiotic and biotic factors and boost crop yields throughout the region. An overview of the current status of GM crops–research, approval and commercialisation status–demonstrates that these biotechnological methods, together with the development of novel bioproducts and integrated pest management strategies, are facilitating an environmentally conscious attitude to crop protection and enabling more sustainable agricultural practices in a number of countries from the LAC region. Engineering crops that are tailored to the environment, so as to resist climate change and environmental stress, may permit marginal lands to be brought into agricultural use to produce locally-important crops and commercially relevant crops for a growing population, as well as feed for the livestock on which the population depends. Some countries in Latin America, such as Costa Rica and Colombia, have a particularly rich biodiversity so changing agricultural practices and the adoption of genetically modified (GM) varieties in such regions must not pose a threat to local biodiversity. Projects to assess the likelihood of GM traits passing into weedy and wild relatives are being conducted in centres of biodiversity for key crops within Latin America. Agriculture in Latin America will come under increasing pressure to provide food, income and livelihoods for current and future generations. Its success will depend on the appropriate integration of traditional methods with contemporary technologies to enhance productivity in a sustainable way, without jeopardising ecological security. Keywords: agricultural biotechnology; bioproducts; biodiversity; Bt cotton; crop productivity; disease resistance; environment; environmental stresses; food security; genetically modified crops; genomics; integrated pest management; Latin America; micropropagation; sustainability