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Agricultural biotechnology
research and development in Ethiopia
Adane Abraham
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Agricultural
Biotechnology Program,
P. O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
E-mail:
adaneabraham@yahoo.com.
Tel: 251
112362036, 251 911896135. Fax: 0112362325.
Accepted
30 January, 2009 |
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Ethiopia is an agrarian country that can have enormous
benefit from the applications of biotechnology for
increasing its agricultural productivity. The country is at
initial stages of research and development in agricultural
biotechnology with scattered efforts underway in various
public institutions. Research
efforts and applications in crop production include plant
tissue culture, biofertilizers and biopesticides, molecular
markers for disease diagnosis and genetic diversity.
Livestock related applications include artificial
insemination, molecular diagnostics, vaccine production and
molecular genetic analysis. Infrastructure and skills in
recombinant DNA and other cutting edge technologies such as
proteomics and bioinformatics are still limited and need to
be strengthened. A number of crop production constraints can
be solved by using advanced biotechnology tools/products
including genetically modified organisms. Cognizant of this,
Ethiopia has recently given a due emphasis for capacity
building in agricultural biotechnology extending from
promoting research, development and education in various
public institutions to setting up of an independent
agricultural biotechnology research center. The constraints
holding back progress in agricultural biotechnology are
numerous ranging from poor technical and regulatory capacity
to lack of appreciation of opportunities provided by
agro-biotechnology by the public and decision makers.
Key
words:
Ethiopia, biotechnology, tissue culture, molecular markers,
diagnostics, GMOs. |
