Malaysian farmers will soon be able to grow crops with preselected superior genes. Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp) chief executive Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood tells TAN CHOE CHOE that they are looking at acquiring a biotechnology tool to help farmers choose the best genes for their plants

Q: There are high hopes on biotechnology to help solve the food crisis.
A: I'd like to redefine that (as an) issue of sustainability of food supply. Crisis means an issue to which you do not have a solution. But in this case we think that biotechnology, or technology in general, will be able to come into the picture to help.

Q: So you're saying that there is no food crisis in Malaysia now?
A: Are we having problems going to the supermarkets or hypermarkets to get things that we need?

Do you see a food shortage here at this point in time? No.

But there is an issue of escalating prices.

Just look at the price of a bowl of rice. The cost of a plate is about 30 to 40 sen. But some mamak shops are selling at RM1.20 to RM1.80 a plate. Is the increase all because of fuel costs alone?

Q: Let's talk about biotechnology and padi production. What has biotechnology done to increase its yield?
A: Technologies like bio-fertilisers have been used. There's also tissue culture, which has been around for decades. There are many technologies, that are available to increase farming output.

There's another technology that's available but not utilised much in Malaysia. It's called molecular assisted selection (MAS).

This biotechnology tool goes down to the molecular level of a plant, say padi, it looks at the sequence of genes and enables us to select the genetic markers for whatever traits, for instance resistance to drought or pesticide.

It then isolates it and duplicates it for breeding. At the end of the day we get a superior seed.

Q: So what you're saying is, with this technology, I can identify exactly how I want my crop to be?
A: Yes. But some people think that this is genetically modifying things. It's not because the traits are already inherent in the crop itself. What the technology does is just selecting the best genes there are and making sure that it's expressed consistently.

Q: Can MAS be used for all kinds of crops?
A: It works with every crop in the world. That's the beauty of it. And it's been used widely in other parts of the world.

We've identified a company in the Netherlands for negotiations.

Q: How much would it take to acquire it?
A: I don't want to preempt the negotiations as we're just going into it. Let's just say we're pretty good at negotiating.

Q: What has BiotechCorp been doing since it was incorporated three years ago?
A: Under our flagship BioNexus programme, we've accredited 56 companies with BioNexus status. Of these, there are 23 in healthcare, 17 in agriculture, 14 in industrial and two in bioinformatics.

In livestock, we have companies going into breeding Boer goats, embryonic transfers, artificial insemination.

BiotechCorp is a government agency that has been mandated to spearhead the development of biotechnology in Malaysia. We have been nurturing companies which incorporates biotechnology in their business and also bring in foreign direct investments. .

Q: There are 17 BioNexus companies in agriculture. Realistically, how much can the technology brought in by these companies help increase Malaysia's food self-sufficiency in the near future?
A: In terms of absolute numbers, its quite hard to predict. The companies that we have now are still start-ups.

Q: Despite all these technologies being available, why are we still not self-sufficient?
A: I think this is where the private-public partnership has to happen and has to happen fast.

All these (technologies) are already there and Mardi is also looking into it. BiotechCorp is looking to expedite the adoption of technology.

Just a week ago, we had a dialogue with the industry and most of the players are saying that they would like to have MAS technology.

But that technology resides elsewhere, but BiotechCorp doesn't mind acquiring that technology and allowing industry players to use it.

Q: There have been many news reports recently of new plans and allocations to improve our food supply situation. Are these just knee-jerk reactions by the decision-makers?
A: The government has actually realised this since the 8th Malaysia Plan. If you look at the 9th Malaysia Plan, it's a continuation.

Agriculture is spread all across the pages of the 9MP. Why?

At that point in time, a lot of people, especially the critics, questioned the emphasis on agriculture.

The government, being dynamic to changes, on top of the RM11.4 million announced for new agriculture in 9MP, announced another RM4 billion, not just for food, but to curb inflation.

The master agenda, the blueprint for action, is already there and so are the funds. The public-private partnerships must take off.

Q: In curbing this food crisis, wastage has been touted as a possible cause. Can biotechnology be used to lessen wastage?
A: Biotechnology is already used to clean the world. There are microbes that can be used to eat up whatever waste you have. To compost it.

But in Malaysia, our stable of BioNexus companies are not looking into this yet.

There are companies in the US and Latin America looking into it, but we don't see that coming into play for Malaysia yet.

But it's a natural progression and we may move into that at a later stage.