Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Agriculture Ministry's Research and Development Agency (Litbangtan) is currently cultivating five food crops through biotechnological engineering for commercial use in five years' time, a spokesman said.

M Herman, a Litbangtan researcher, said here Tuesday the food crops the agency was growing through genetic engineering were tomato, potato, papaya, rice and cassava.

"The commodities are being researched and they are expected to be ready for commercial use after five years," Herman said, adding that biotechnological development of soybean, corn and cotton in the agricultural sector was dominated by multinational companies.

Herman said a relatively long time was needed before agricultural produce grown through genetic engineering could be released for commercial use because they had to be subjected to meticulous tests to ensure their food and environmental safety.

Multinational companies had been carrying out research and tests on biotechnological produce since 1996 but the produce were only released for public use after 10 years, he noted.

Citing another example, he said the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines had been doing research on so-called "Golden Rice" since 1990 but the rice variety would be made available to the public only in 2011.