ABRII Director General Message
One of the initial concerns of today's world intellectuals, authorities, and politicians is food security, specifically in developing countries. Novel technologies have found their way globally as the most prominent solutions to food security in the past few years. Consequently, countries invested in such fields have gained more political and scientific power while also achieving higher food security, health, and living standards. Biotechnology can be considered one of the most significant novel technologies throughout the world, with an estimated market of 550 billion dollars specifying 30 percent of the world's trade. The global market for agricultural biotechnology is significant (approximately thirty billion dollars). Without a doubt, utilizing novel technologies, particularly biotechnology, is a way to solve the problems in agriculture to achieve food security by improving the yield and quality of agricultural products. It will enhance food safety levels, preserve natural resources and the ecosystem, and produce knowledge and capital to improve sustainable development in the country.
Moreover, biotechnology plays a vital role in sustainable development and environmental protection by replacing the dangerous chemical herbicides and fertilizers with biopesticides, biofertilizers, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Also, it can decrease greenhouse gases, enhance water and soil efficiency, and consequently preserve forests from being utilized as farmlands, identify and increase biodiversity, and save endangered species. Accordingly, the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) was inaugurated in 2000. It soon became one of the most influential research institutes of the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO). ABRII, along with its four regional institutes, is recognized as a pioneer in developing novel agricultural technologies in Iran and the region by possessing expert and committed human resources and advanced equipment and infrastructures. According to the institute's vision to solve the agricultural problems, our experts have attempted to work on customer-based and problem-based research projects.
Consequently, the most fundamental issues of consideration are focusing on research projects in demand, privatization, profiting from knowledge-based companies and the private sector, reducing unnecessary expenses, renewing research equipment, and training experts. Performing the self-sufficiency program of producing potato seed via transferring the technology to twenty five private companies, which led to save more than 29 million dollars, sharing the knowledge of mass production of the Malling-Merton apple root stocks to four private companies using tissue culture, technology transfer and commercialization of animal probiotics and biofertilizers, producing GM crops resistant to pests, including transgenic cotton and potato at pilot level, mass propagation of Medjool Date and UCB1 pistachio using tissue culture technologies, transferring the technical knowledge of rapid production of enriched biocompost from municipal solid waste to the private sector, producing nano-emulsion coatings to enhance durability of fruits and vegetables, production of biopesticides and biofertilizers, constructing advanced biodiesel reactors, producing feed enzymes, producing bioenergy from agricultural and municipal solid waste, producing functional food additives and pharmaceuticals from microalga, designing microalga building bioreactors, and receiving accredited national and international awards and prominent scientific ranks, are only a part of the significant achievements of the institute. It is anticipated that by continuing the current research activities, ABRII will be able to uplift its scientific position regionally and internationally to play a more influential role in the resistive economy program of the country.
Prof. Dr. Mohsen Mardi
Director General, ABRII