Govts should stay out of agbiotech business: Raff

Government involvement in agricultural biotech industries is stifling innovation, a leading industry figure has warned.

Dr John Raff, a senior executive in the biotech and agribusiness sectors, believes Australia and other Western governments are struggling to establish viable agbiotech industries because they are actively competing with the private sector to commercialise biotech innovation.

Raff is CEO of Melbourne biotech company Starpharma (ASX:SPL), and the big canola-breeding company Dovuro Seeds. His private company NutraHealth is developing a healthier, mono-unsaturated canola variety, Monola, as a frying oil for the fast-food industry.

"Agbiotech is more important to Australia's economy than any other form of biotechnology, because agriculture is our major production base," he said.

Raff said that, around the world, the "absolute necessity" for quality control systems and traceability has become the major driver of change in agriculture.

"Once you have the capacity to understand how the market is changing, you can then differentiate your product to take advantage -- the better the differentiation, the more value you add," he said. "We desperately need agricultural biotechnology to remain competitive. We need to use the technology to differentiate our products in export markets -- it's happening very rapidly in other countries.

"Unfortunately, the whole issue of proprietary technology is complete anathema to governments that have traditionally been technology providers, dealing directly with farmers.

"It's just not working in the current environment. There are huge changes occurring in global agriculture, and governments are really struggling to adapt.

"Australia needs to establish an industry around proprietary technology, and support technology providers who will become the middle men between the farmer and the technology.

"My experience is that both the CSIRO and the Victorian Department of Agriculture are still struggling with this concept, and their role in the whole process. They're the biggest competitors to any new agbiotech company trying to establish a business in Australia, which is why we have no agbiotech industry."

Another problem is that government-funded research agencies are accustomed to dealing with large agbiotech companies, and need to establish mechanisms for supporting small, innovative companies that are generating technology advances, Raff said: "There's a lack of understanding by the industry generally of the important role of technology in creating higher-value, non-commodity products."

Raff said state governments now realised they had mishandled the GM crops issue and were seeking to make amends, by reviewing the potential benefits, and the impact of moratoriums on biotech crops on farmers.

He sees no need to change the dominant role of government-funded agencies and the universities in research. "They have around 90 per cent of the national research infrastructure, and most of the expertise, and we'd be crazy to try and duplicate that in the private sector," he said.

"But they should not be the commercialising agents. Every time they try, they stuff it up."