| Current Status and Challenges of the Biomaterial Industry in the Agricultural Sector | |||
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| Author | Park, Jiyeon | ||
| Views | 46974 | Publication Date | 2018.02.14 |
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Backgrounds & Purpose of Research The global bio-industry is estimated to reach 330 trillion won (about $ 300 billion) in 2013. It grew by 76.3% compared to 2010 and it has been growing at 9.8% since 2010. The domestic bio-industry is growing rapidly too, and total production of the bio-industry in Korea was 5.8 trillion won in 2010. It was increased by 46% to 8.5 trillion won in 2015. The constant controversies about safety, such as the Oxy-humidifier disinfectant incident, insecticide egg shock, and toxic sanitary pad debate, have raised concerns about chemical products used in everyday life, not just food and drugs. Therefore, demand for the bio-industry, which replaces chemical substances with bio-materials, is expected to increase, and rapid growth is expected to continue. The growth of the bio industry can not be achieved without the bio resources, especially the agricultural resources, and it is important to utilize the bio resources as materials in various industrial fields along with the growth of the bio industry. The bio-industry, especially the biomaterial industry, is regarded as a driving force to expand the boundary of Korean agriculture and to lead new growth. However, the role of agriculture in the bio-industry is very limited. Therefore, this study analyzes the status of the biomaterials industry, development and commercialization of related technologies, and the actual state of related policies in order to support the biomaterialization of agricultural resources and systematically promote the biomaterial industry in the agricultural sector. Based on the result, this study examines the problems and improvement plans for promoting biomaterials of agricultural resources and fostering the biomaterial industry. Methods of Research In order to grasp the current status and structure of the biomaterials industry in the agriculture sector and to present future improvement plans, the related literature review, statistical analysis and qualitative analysis were conducted. In order to examine the status of R & D and the bio industry related to biotechnology and biomaterials, we analyzed related statistical data provided by the National Science and Technology Knowledge Information and results of surveys of the domestic bio industry. In order to examine the scale of biomaterials used in the domestic bio industry and the actual situation of supply and demand, an interview was conducted with a total of 156 domestic biotechnology companies. In order to understand the structure and status of industrialization of biomaterials, we carried out qualitative analysis through in-depth interviews and consultations at each stage and with each subject, and conducted case studies and analyses of companies that succeeded in biomaterializing and commercializing agronomic resources. Current Status of Biomaterial Industry The domestic bio industry is estimated to reach 9.87 trillion won as of 2015, and is growing relatively fast mainly in exports. However, the growth of the domestic market has stagnated, and the proportion of biopharmaceuticals and biofoods is 78.5% of the total biotech industry. The size of bio materials used in the bio industry is estimated to be 779.4 billion won as of 2016, which is 8.7% of the bio industry's total sales. The size of biomaterials in 2020 is expected to range between 1 trillion and 1.4 trillion won. Currently, bio-food is the field that most uses biomaterials, and 19.6% of total sales are spent on biomaterial purchase and production. On the other hand, biomaterials, which have the largest industry size among biomass companies, accounted for 1.4% of biomaterial use. In particular, microbial resources are currently being used in the biotechnology industry, but biotechnology companies are highly interested in microbial resources in the future. Structure and Actual Condition of Biomaterial Industrialization The major issues in the R & D stage of the agriculture sector are the economic evaluation of raw materials for biomaterials public R & D in agriculture, the role of public research institutes related to biomaterials R & D, and the construction of infrastructure for supporting biomaterial R & D in the private sector. In the commercialization stage of R & D achievement, the main problem is the lack of systematic support for export, the disconnection between agriculture, biotechnology and the biomaterials industry, and the quality control of raw materials in mass production stage. In this way, the support for biomaterials by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has not been differentiated from the support of other ministries and the role of agriculture in biomaterials has not been established yet. As a result, the disconnection between the biomaterial industry and agriculture has been severe in the entire bio-material industrialization process. A case study of biomaterial companies has examined the difficulties of accessing and supplying agricultural raw materials encountered by non-agricultural based biomaterial companies and damages of enterprises and farms that can be caused by unstructured raw materials management. It is analyzed that the close collaboration between the biomaterial industry and agriculture is failing. However, by carrying out the R & D of bio-materialization of domestic agronomic resources and the domestic agricultural purchasing program for co-existence with domestic farmers, companies are enhancing their image and competitiveness. There is also a case where companies and local farmers win-win together by building a positive image such as high-quality agricultural production. Challenges for Promoting Biomaterials in Agriculture First, the biomaterial R & D strategy should be systematically evaluated from the selection stage of biomaterial R & D to agriculture. If such an evaluation system is introduced, the direction of biomaterial R & D investment in the agriculture sector is expected to change significantly. In addition, public R & D should be given priority in areas where the importance of private investment is low due to low development success rates or marketability. Biotechnology, biochemistry, biotech, and bio-food industries are the areas where R & D funding for companies that want to conduct R & D should be supported. For fields with low profitability such as bio-energy and bio-pesticides, national R & D institutions need to actively perform R & D. Second, in order to solve the disconnection between the agricultural production and the biomaterials industry, the agriculture-related organizations under the local governments or the local governments have to support farmers' raw materials production, or purchase agricultural products from farmers and sell them to companies through pretreatment. If the role is actively carried out, it will help farmers to increase agricultural income and to supply stable raw materials to enterprises. In addition, prior to cultivation of the raw materials, it is necessary to issue a breed certificate from the Agricultural Technology Center or the Agricultural Institute of Technology so that the farmers can grow with confidence and the companies can receive the stable supply of the good. Third, infrastructure support for biomaterial R & D is urgent. It is necessary to integrate a database of sporadically provided plant materials and continuously provide baseline evaluation and precision evaluation that the industry needs. If the agriculture research resource bank project provides the agriculture resources collected by the Ministry of Agriculture in the state that can be utilized as materials for R & D, it is possible to respond to the industry's demand for the agricultural research resources, and it will be a great help in related research. It is needed to establish a microbial cell plant (tentative name) that can enhance R & D related to microbial resources producing excellent strains and useful substances, and perform mass production and scale-up demonstration tests of useful substances. Through this, it is necessary to support industrialization of biomaterials. Finally, there is a need to improve regulations on agricultural and bio-related materials. The bio-industry is closely related to people, ethics, and the environment. Therefore, there are many problems and institutions that are obstacles to industrial development such as bioethics and environmental protection. Particularly in the case of agronomic material, sensitive issues such as genetic manipulation should be solved. Researchers: Park Jiyun, An Hyunjin, Park Yeonggoo Research period: 2017. 1. ~ 2017. 10. E-mail address: jiyunpark@krei.re.kr |
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