E.3 Three-dimensional printing of food and machinery F.1 Foreign private agricultural research and development in

Three-dimensional printing of food and machinery

Food for the most affluent. Another high-tech innovation is three-dimensional (3D) printing, which can manufacture farming equipment and even food. Additive manufacturing layers ingredients to create bespoke products on demand and is attracting investment from global players including Mondelez and Hershey’s. 3D food printers could even become home appliances, allowing the production of everything from pizza to chocolates, and reduce food waste in restaurants by allowing tailored portion sizes and easier adaptation of products to exclude allergens. However, 3D printing is not currently a significant disruptive force for the Asian food system. It is most likely to be a product for higher-income consumers and those visiting high-end restaurants. The wealthy hubs of Asia, such as Hong Kong SAr, China; Seoul; Taipei; and Singapore, have been exposed to visiting roadshows and exhibitions showing off the wonders of 3D food, but it is not likely to be significant for the mass population of Asia.

Machinery. A more important trend is the application of 3D printing to the creation of bespoke agricultural tools and machinery. This is already a growing industry in the united States, and there is evidence of 3D-printed farm technology in low-income contexts such as Myanmar. Farmers seeking specific tools and technologies could find 3D printing useful.

Source: Green 2018.

automation (box 6.6). Indonesia, the philippines, and vietnam have also adopted diverse, less advanced, and less costly precision agriculture and field-monitoring tools, such as drones, suited to their needs, yet commercial adoption of precision tools tends to be slow.

Most East Asian countries have tried to optimize the outreach and coverage of extension with diverse e-extension services (discussed in chapter 6). China is the regional leader in promoting ICT in agriculture and has also integrated e-services into its nationwide decentralized extension system (box 6.9, box E.1). urban farming is most sophisticated and widespread among the most urbanized countries of the region but is expected to take greater hold more widely as urbanization accelerates. In addition to Malaysia, rapidly urbanizing China is far ahead of its less affluent neighbors in promotion (for example, agro-parks), research, and solutions in urban farming (box 5.7). Thailand has also embraced urban farming, both low- and high-tech. Indonesia, the philippines, and vietnam have adopted new innovations in urban farming; for instance, in the philippines vertical farming is part of the formal agriculture agenda and it has been piloted and tested (along with hydroponics). The rest of the countries engage in urban farming but it typically entails low-tech applications, such as growing kits, information packs, and polytunnel farming, offered by urban agriculture associations and start-ups. These innovations and technical advice may, however, spur urban farming to new levels in the less urbanized follower countries. The common challenges to urban farming include regulatory issues (such as quality control), land availability, access to innovations, and access to extension services, finance, and consumer acceptance (box 5.7). In addition to enabling innovation in technology and adoption (for example, through incentives for the private sector), governments can use a range of levers to encourage urban agriculture, from streamlining regulations (on safety and quality) to providing extension services and funding.

Most East Asian countries are making progress in developing or adopting climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and other sustainable agriculture approaches, but wider adoption faces barriers. Countries with strong r&D systems or functioning decentralized extension services,3 supported by the private sector and international agricultural research centers, tend to be better off. China, being by far the dominant emitter of agricultural greenhouse gases in the region, has pursued diverse programs to address agricultural pollution and climate change (appendix D). Among its peers, vietnam is ahead of the curve, and has pursued sustainable practices and CSA (boxes 4.2 and 4.3; table 4.4; appendix D), yet there is more to do given its thin knowledge base in sustainable production. The agriculture sector of the philippines is quite different and underdeveloped, also reflected in its low uptake of CSA practices.4 Cambodia, Lao pDr, and Myanmar have limited CSA work but can collaborate, for example, with international agricultural research centers and the regional networks on CSA (appendix F). Myanmar is one of the most vulnerable countries in the region to climate change, yet it is only in the early stages of CSA adoption.5

Most innovation on food loss and waste and the circular economy takes place in high-income countries, and, in East Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore are leading the way. Although the stakeholders in Indonesia, the philippines, and vietnam have become conscious of food loss and waste, limited adoption or innovation currently takes place. regional approaches, for example, on logistics pave the way for the lower-income neighbors to benefit.

All East Asian countries already fortify or have the capacity to fortify foods, yet capacity on more sophisticated nutrition innovations is limited. Capacity or perhaps propensity for reformulation is mostly concentrated in Korea and Singapore as well as in Indonesia and Thailand (green 2018). In the long term, food manufacturers are likely to focus on reformulation to meet demand for healthier alternatives.6 Functional foods have created momentum mostly in China and Singapore. Capacity for nutrigenetics is nearly nonexistent across the region. Science, technology, and innovation capacity requirements for meat alternatives vary, ranging from low (plantbased alternatives) to high (lab-grown meat). Today, only Japan has the capacity for lab-grown meat while China has resorted to importing labgrown meat from Israel.

1. Although Myanmar has begun using gE tools. 2. China has, for example, issued a series of policy documents for guidance, implemented numerous lower-tech demonstration projects in rural areas, and experimented with precision agriculture. Examples include a satellite navigation system that combines high-precision positioning technology with sensor technology for accurate monitoring of soil moisture, farm machinery autopilot control, and direct seed precision planting; the intelligent rice bud production system; and real-time data collection through temperature and moisture sensors in greenhouses to achieve intelligent micro-spraying and electric shutter ventilation control (ADB 2018). 3. For instance, some areas of China, vietnam, plantation crop sectors in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia with well-functioning extension. 4. Low adoption is mostly a result of poor availability of and access to improved seed, insufficient financial resources to cover investment costs, and the limited resources of extension services.

5. Myanmar’s government allocated most agricultural public expenditures to rice cultivation, while the sustainable management of livestock and manure treatment received little in the budget. The large investments in irrigation and flood control were not climate smart (World Bank 2017). 6. For instance, about 1 percent of the population suffers from celiac disease (an immune reaction to eating gluten) in Indonesia (green 2018).

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The assessment of agricultural innovation systems (AIS), and the key elements of agriculture research and development (R&D), extension, partnerships and co-innovation, skills, governance, and the enabling environment are discussed in chapter 6. The following boxes offer details on foreign private R&D in China, international cooperation in R&D, and public-private partnership models for R&D in Indonesia.

Private sector agricultural R&D is on the rise in the region. Box F.1 features China’s diverse strategies in acquiring foreign private R&D.

International collaboration overall, and on R&D, is increasingly important for East Asian countries struggling with new emerging challenges. Box F.2 describes international R&D collaboration in the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Key mechanisms for cross-country cooperation in the region include bilateral and multilateral development agencies, membership in international research networks (box F.3), and cooperation between higher education institutions (HEIs). All three methods of cooperation foster international partnerships with individual countries, the European Union, ASEAN, multilateral organizations, HEIs, and international agricultural research centers. Furthermore, ASEAN is a platform for regional cooperation on innovation (OECD 2017b). China along with others has participated in collaborative arrangements with ASEAN and ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan, the Republic of Korea) for overseas visits, study-abroad programs, training, and exchange and cooperation projects, which have significant spillover effects on the ASEAN countries.1 Although China has been active in the integration of international collaboration frameworks in the agri-food area, it has yet to advance substantially in exploiting the potential of these frameworks.