The new responsibilities include determining the benefits and risks of biotechnology applications in a particular country, identifying the key productivity constraints, and deciding the extent to which a national research agenda should embrace biotechnology. Government officials, institute directors, and scientists assuming these responsibilities play a crucial role in setting policies and research agendas and developing regulatory capacity for agricultural biotechnology. Their task is difficult because public budgets for agricultural research are severely constrained in most developing countries. The data covered the period from the mid to late 1980s to the mid to late 1990s for the 34 public and private organizations surveyed. The survey shows that advanced research techniques are being used only in a few public-sector organizations.
Most organizations remain in the early stages of developing the capacity for biotechnology research.
Although expenditures on biotechnology research grew annually in all four countries, the percentage of biotechnology expenditures in total agricultural research expenditures remains small. The public sector accounts on average for 92 percent of total expenditures on biotechnology in the four countries. Against this background of limited capacity and financial resources for biotechnology research, it becomes even more important to stimulate informed decisionmaking regarding future investments. Special efforts have to be made to assist individuals who manage research programs or institutions in which agricultural biotechnology is becoming increasingly important. Specialized courses have been developed to enhance the managerial capacity and competency of directors and managers in public research organizations, with an emphasis on building a strategy, setting priorities, managing biosafety and intellectual property, coping with funding issues, ensuring product delivery, and accessing information to assist decisionmaking.