Green biotechnology: collaboration with external partners
Green biotechnology: collaboration with external partners
Business Model Description
Open business model that creates and captures value through systematic collaboration with external partners (public universities, INTA, etc.).
Expected Impact
Promote agricultural activities that use green biotechnology to achieve sustainability, productivity, and gender inclusion.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
- Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
- Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
Sector Classification
Food and Beverage
Development need
Catalyze the Brunca Region economically.
Policy Priority
Promote a resilient system with the potential to adapt to climate change.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
The pole has a medium-high percentage of unemployed women of working age (4.66 potential gender index).
Investment opportunities introduction
Main port of the country (Limón-Moín) and Brunca-Caribbean corridor. It is expected that the pole will be strengthened with the implementation of the TELCA corridor.
Key bottlenecks introduction
18.73 km of roads in poor condition, 292.654 square km with access problems to energy substations, 217.86 square km without 4G connectivity, 224.84 km with gaps in social development.
Food and Agriculture
Development need
Contribute to the transition from a low-emission agricultural sector to a bio-economy based, among other aspects, on the direct use and sustainable transformation of biological resources, including biomass residues generated in agricultural and agro-industrial processes.
Policy Priority
Green biotechnology contributes to mitigating climate change by generating more environmentally sustainable production inputs.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
The biotechnology industry, in general, tends to employ a high percentage of women.
Investment opportunities introduction
ginger, turmeric, cocoa, roots and tubers, creole corn.
Key bottlenecks introduction
High costs of in-house laboratories.
Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
Pipeline Opportunity
Green biotechnology: collaboration with external partners
Open business model that creates and captures value through systematic collaboration with external partners (public universities, INTA, etc.).
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
In 2020 USD 6.8 million of ginger was exported and in 2019 USD 258,000 of Tumeric was exported.
Between 2019 and 2020, ginger exports grew 135%. Turmeric production grew 94% (2018-19) (21).
In 2019, 13,305.7 tons of corn were produced. In 2018 3,135 tons of ginger were harvested.
Ginger: among the main export destinations, the following stand out USA. (56%), the Netherlands (16%), Puerto Rico (12%) (21).
Turmeric: 91% of Costa Rica's organic turmeric exports go to the Netherlands. The reference price is India for 2019, the average price was USD/kg100 by the end of the year, this dropped to 85.3USD/kg100 (21).
Cocoa: as of 2016, international cocoa bean prices exceeded $3,000 per ton, and world production was 4.5 million tons (21).
The Roots and Tubers sector has great socio-economic importance for the Northern Huetar Region. There is an accumulated experience of more than 25 years in the establishment, production, and marketing of products. It is an activity that concentrates majorly small and medium producers. The crops that build this productive sector are cassava, ginger, yam, malanga, yampi, and others (14)
Corn: In 2019, 83.6% of the farms mainly use chemical fertilizer. (INEC) In Costa Rica, in 2018, 8,964 ha of certified agricultural products were reported. The supply is based on fresh fruits such as bananas (37%), pineapple (20%), cocoa (18%), sugar cane (9%), and coffee (7%), while processed products are mainly based on juices, jams and purees from organic fruits (2).
Indicative Return
Cocoa, roots/tubers, and Corn have 0.6%, 10.8%, 2.7% yield per ha. (14, 21).
There is a huge potential market to tap into biocontrols: Costa Rica imported USD 2.7 million in 2016. But, although 92% of companies indicated that they are interested in acquiring biocontrols produced in the country, the local supply is limited (21). At the same time, because of their low cost, bioferments are an alternative option to reduce external inputs and production costs (14).
Investment Timeframe
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Ginger completes its cycle between 8 and 9 months after planting.
Turmeric cultivation cycle is 6 to 10 months.
Cocoa fruit production begins at 2-4 years, yields increase every year until 8 to 10 years, stabilizes between 11-15 years, and is maintained from 16 to 30-35 years (22).
Varies according to the species. Each cycle of sweet potato varies between 2 and 4 months, yam between 9 and 10 months, and cassava from 10 to 14 months.
The corn cycle is very variable and can be up to 232 days.
Ticket Size
R&D is an expensive investment that few producers can afford, so they partner with public universities and other organizations to access the creation of new seeds, bio-controllers, and others (21).
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Business - Supply Chain Constraints
Distrust
Market - High Level of Competition
Capital - Requires Subsidy
Market - Highly Regulated
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
Constitute this pole in the port complex with the broadest scope of all Central America.
Gender & Marginalisation
Promote the sustainable increase in the productivity of women-owned farms.
Expected Development Outcome
To increase the Social Development Index (SDI) in this development pole.
Gender & Marginalisation
To decrease the gaps in the Potential Gender Index in this development pole.
Primary SDGs addressed
2.5.1 Number of plant and animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium- or long-term conservation facilities
Carbon emissions from pole's exports: 0.68%
By 2050, promote highly efficient agri-food systems that generate low-carbon goods for export and local consumption.
15.3.1 Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Outcome Risks
Overexploitation of soils by increasing the yield per hectare.
Fewer labor hours per hectare could reduce labor requirements.
Genetic manipulation of species carries risks of impact on native biodiversity that must be considered in each case.
Impact Risks
Ensure continuous follow-up and training for producers to complete the process successfully and do not give up.
Impact Classification
What
Increasing agricultural productivity.
Who
Small farmers and exporters.
Risk
Fear of change with new technologies because of lack of knowledge.
Impact Thesis
Promote agricultural activities that use green biotechnology to achieve sustainability, productivity, and gender inclusion.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
Territorial Economic Strategy for an Inclusive and Decarbonized Economy 2020-2050 in Costa Rica: Transform agriculture through R&D&I towards technological innovations (1).
National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050: Promoting efficient agri-food systems that generate low-carbon goods for export and local low-carbon consumption.
Strategic interventions plan 2019-2022: Promote sustainable and competitive production through innovation, access to technology, application of good production and manufacturing practices, value addition, and associativity (9).
PIEG: Land tenure and private property for women are fundamental factors in the fair and equitable distribution of wealth (3).
National Bioeconomy Strategy Costa Rica 2020-2030: Attract foreign investment in the green (agricultural), blue (aquatic resources), gray (bioremediation), and white (industrial) biotechnology sectors.
Financial Environment
Financial incentives: Of the funds placed by the Development Banking System in 2019, 45.09% went to agricultural activities. In turn, in the Rural Credit System -INDER- placed ₡719.6 million current (12).
Fiscal incentives: Law 7210, Free Trade Zone Regime Law; Law 7092, Income Tax Law, which gives differentiated treatment to MSMEs and SMEs.
Other incentives: Multiple projects and academic research units at CATIE, public universities, EARTH University, and INTA working in agricultural extension with local producers for technology transfer.
Regulatory Environment
Law 7779, Law of Use, Management and Conservation of Soil: Promote the implementation and control of improved practices in the systems of use that avoid erosion or other forms of degradation of the soil resource.
Law 7064, Law for the Promotion of Agricultural Production and MAG: Promote the production of agricultural goods by encouraging producers to increase production.
Law 7778, Biodiversity Law: Authorization for basic bioprospecting research, obtaining or commercialization of genetic materials or biochemical extracts of biodiversity elements, as well as their associated knowledge to persons or institutions, national or foreign.
Law 7664, Phytosanitary Protection Law: regulating the import, export, research, experimentation, mobilization, multiplication, industrial production, commercialization, and use of transgenic materials and other genetically modified organisms for agricultural use or their products.
Executive Decree N°37561MAG-MEICCOMEXRTCA65.05.61:11. Microbiological pesticides for agricultural use. Requirements for registration, in force since June 2013.
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
EARTH University, Indigo Drones Company, CORBANA, National Union of Cooperatives of the Atlantic Zone S.A.
Government
School of Agricultural Engineering of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), National Biotechnology Program of SENASA, National Commission for the Management of Biodiversity (CONAGEBIO).
Target Locations
Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
Costa Rica: Buenos Aires
References
- (1) MIDEPLAN (2021) Estrategia Económica Territorial para una Economía Inclusiva y Descarbonizada 2020-2050 en Costa Rica
- (2) Gobierno de Costa Rica (2018) Plan Nacional de Descarbonización 2018-2050.
- (3) INAMU (2018) Política Nacional para la Igualdad Efectiva entre Mujeres y Hombres 2018-2030, PIEG
- (4) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1998) Ley 7779, Ley de Uso, Manejo y Conservación de Suelos.
- (5) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1997) Ley 7064, Ley de Fomento a la Producción Agropecuaria y MAG
- (6) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1997) Ley de protección fitosanitaria
- (7) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1997). Ley de protección fitosanitaria.
- (8) PROCOMER (2017) OFERTA DE BIOCONTROLADORES DE ORIGEN COSTARRICENSE. Como insumo para la producción agrícola.
- (9) MAG (2017) Guía técnica para la producción agropecuaria sostenibe en fincas integrales.
- (10) BCCR (2021) Exportaciones FOB Totales por Producto. Matriz de datos.
- (11) INEC (2019) Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria 2019.
- (12) SEPSA (2019) Comportamiento de la cartera de crédito para actividades agropecuarias.
- (13) INEC (2015) VI Censo Nacional Agropecuario RESULTADOS GENERALES
- (14) MAG (2008) Programa Regional de Producción de Alimentos para los ciclos 2008-09 al 2010-2011. Sector Agropecuario de la Región Brunca
- (15) Chacon (2019) SITUACION ACTUAL DEL CULTIVO DE CACAO EN COSTA RICA. Oficina Nacional de Semillas.
- (16) PROCOMER (2016) OPORTUNIDADES COMERCIALES PARA LA EXPORTACIÓN DE CACAO. Dirección de Inteligencia Comercial
- (17) MAG (1991) Pimienta. Dirección General de Investigación y Extensión Agrícola
- (18) Gonzalez (2017) Efecto de tratamientos biológicos sobre pimienta. UCR.
- (19) FAO (2021) FAOSTAT. Crops and livestock products. Costa Rica.
- (20) Morales, L (2018) Producción y rendimiento del cultivo de la piña (ananas comosus) en Costa Rica, periodo 1984-2014. Revista Agronegocios, 4(2). TEC
- (21) PROCOMER (2016) Guía del sector de ciencias de la vida. Esencial Costa Rica
- (22) CATIE (2021). Unidad Bioestadística. Matriz de Datos