170 | Agricultural Innovation in Developing East Asia
BOX E.3
Three-dimensional printing of food and machinery Food for the most aff luent. Another high-tech innovation is three-dimensional (3D) printing, which can manufacture farming equipment and even food. Additive manufacturing layers ingredients to create bespoke products on demand and is attracting investment from global players including Mondelez and Hershey’s. 3D food printers could even become home appliances, allowing the production of everything from pizza to chocolates, and reduce food waste in restaurants by allowing tailored portion sizes and easier adaptation of products to exclude allergens. However, 3D printing is not currently a significant disruptive force for the Asian food system. It is most likely to be a product for higher-income consumers
and those visiting high-end restaurants. The wealthy hubs of Asia, such as Hong Kong SAR, China; Seoul; Taipei; and Singapore, have been exposed to visiting roadshows and exhibitions showing off the wonders of 3D food, but it is not likely to be significant for the mass population of Asia. Machinery. A more important trend is the application of 3D printing to the creation of bespoke agricultural tools and machinery. This is already a growing industry in the United States, and there is evidence of 3D-printed farm technology in low-income contexts such as Myanmar. Farmers seeking specific tools and technologies could find 3D p rinting useful.
Source: Green 2018.
automation (box 6.6). Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have also adopted diverse, less advanced, and less costly precision agriculture and field-monitoring tools, such as drones, suited to their needs, yet commercial adoption of precision tools tends to be slow. Most East Asian countries have tried to optimize the outreach and coverage of extension with diverse e-extension services (discussed in chapter 6). China is the regional leader in promoting ICT in agriculture and has also integrated e-services into its nationwide decentralized extension system (box 6.9, box E.1). Urban farming is most sophisticated and widespread among the most urbanized countries of the region but is expected to take greater hold more widely as urbanization accelerates. In addition to Malaysia, rapidly urbanizing China is far ahead of its less affluent neighbors in promotion (for example, agro-parks), research, and solutions in urban farming (box 5.7). Thailand has also embraced urban farming, both low- and high-tech. Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have adopted new innovations in urban farming; for instance, in the Philippines vertical farming is part of the formal agriculture agenda and it has been piloted and tested (along with hydroponics). The rest of the countries engage in urban farming but it typically entails low-tech applications, such as growing kits, information packs, and polytunnel farming, offered by urban agriculture associations and start-ups. These innovations and technical advice may, however, spur urban farming to new levels in the less urbanized follower countries. The common challenges to urban farming include regulatory issues (such as quality control), land availability, access to innovations, and access to extension services, finance, and consumer acceptance (box 5.7). In addition to enabling innovation in technology and adoption (for example, through incentives for the private sector), governments can use a range of levers to encourage urban agriculture, from streamlining regulations (on safety and quality) to providing extension services and funding.
