In This
Issue:
Kline Says
Biotech Will Reduce Pesticide Use
By the
year 2009, biotechnology-based row crops will be responsible for
a 13-million-lb-a-year reduction in insecticides and a 45-million-lb
reduction in herbicide use, according to rojections by Kline & Company,
Inc., a US consulting firm.
In its
recently published report, BIOTECH 2009 Business Analysis, Kline
projects that using insect-resistant maize and cotton will substitute
an estimated $200 million in grower insecticide purchases.
Kline
claims that public acceptance of biotechnology will determine whether
growers of these crops will be able to realize the benefits of
this technology. Its projections are based on the hypothesis that
the controversy will abate when: (1) traits are made available
that are more clearly beneficial to consumers; and (2) industry
communication programs outlining the benefits take effect.
"We
found in our research that the industry expects the newer output
traits to be utilized in a genetic background that includes insect-resistance
and herbicide-tolerance traits," said Mancer Cyr, a senior
associate at Kline.
The
maize insecticide category, historically a $250 million to $300
million sector, is projected to be the hardest hit. After resistance
to corn rootworm is incorporated into seeds that already resist
European corn borers, Kline estimates that the market will drop
by 70%.
Cotton
will be less affected by the trend because of a broader mix of
insect pests.¨
ABSP Creates
Directory of African Research
The
Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP), based at Michigan
State University has produced a report containing an inventory
of transgenic crops applicable to the Eastern and Central Africa
region. This was made in response to a request by USAID's Africa
Bureau on behalf of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural
Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA),
While
not exhaustive, this inventory lists transgenic crops that are
potentially available for field testing or commercial release within
the next 2-5 years.
Primarily
this document was prepared for ASARECA in order to provide that
organization with some of the background information required to
enable them to develop their strategy for biotechnology research
in the Eastern and Central Africa region.
"Our
hope is that an additional outcome of this report will be to demonstrate
the potential benefits, in the short and longer term, of agricultural
biotechnology to Africa," says Andrea Johanson, Assistant
Director, ABSP.
The
report is now available for download in .pdf format from the ABSP
website at http://www.iia.msu.edu/absp/inventory1.html.¨
Contact:
Andrea Johanson Ph.D., Assistant Director, ABSP, Institute of International
Agriculture, CANR Office of International Programs, 319 Agriculture
Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824 USA Tel:
+1 (517) 353-2290 Fax: 1 (517) 353-1888 Email: andreaj@pilot.msu.edu
EPA Says
Bt Corn Not A Risk to Monarch Butterflies
The
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reaffirmed its view
that monarchbutterflies are at very little risk from Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) maize products. A review of all available
scientific information refuted allegations forwarded by widely
published reports and that "In fact, some authors are predicting
that the widespread cultivation of Bt crops may have huge benefits
for monarch butterfly survival."
The
controversy surrounding the butterflies was based an a 1999 Cornell
University study that showed pollen was toxic to monarchs in the
laboratory. The butterfly feeds on milkweed, which often grows
in and around maize fields in the US Midwest.
EPA
conducted a comprehensive scientific assessment to evaluate the
health, safety and environmental risks, as well as benefits of
Bt maize, cotton and potato plants. The results are contained in
the "Bt Plant-Pesticides Biopesticides Registration Action
Document" reviewed bythe agency's Scientific Advisory Panel.
The full EPA report is available at: http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/.
The
report notes that "significant benefits accrue to growers,
the public, and the environment from the availability and use of
certain Bt plant- pesticides," adding that direct benefits
to growers in 1999 probably exceeded $100 million.
After
incorporating peer review and public comments, EPA will use this
information to decide on matters regarding renewal of registrations
for several Bt products and development of any necessary mitigation
measures.
Val
Giddings, Vice President for Food and Agriculture of the Biotechnology
Industry Organization (BIO), said that "The assessment confirms
the findings of EPA and numerousother regulatory agencies and
scientific bodies around the world that crops and food produced
through biotechnology pose no adverse health or environmental problems." ¨
Monsanto Releases
Rice Breeding Tool
Researchers
worldwide can now access Monsanto's rice genome sequence to identify
genetic traits in rice. The data includes approximately 7000 segments
of sequences of the draft genome known as Simple Sequence Repeats
(SSRs).
Considered
to be the most useful in rice breeding, SSRs vary in different
varieties of rice. This variability is frequently used to develop
tags, called molecular markers, that are then used in mapping genes
and traits in rice In addition, Monsanto has also included the
information thatprovides a probable chromosomal location for over
50% of the sequence segments described in the file.
The
data file is posted on Monsanto's external rice genome sequence
web site. It can be downloaded freely from http://www.rice-research.org without
registering for access to the rice-research.org database.¨
Taiwan to
Label GMO Products in 2001
Taiwan
has given in to pressure from consumers and environmental groups
to label all products made from genetically modified organisms
(GMO) by 2001. Chen Shu-kong, director of the Health Department's
Bureau of Food Sanitation, said that the country will first enforce
thelabelling on maize and soya products, then gradually on other
agricultural products.
Chen
told Reuters that "there is no safety concern on genetically-altered
foods. When the gene modification technology is applied to commercial
production of other crops, we would expand the labelling to those
products.''
Meanwhile,
the Bureau will complete detailed guidelines for labelling GMO
foods and map out regulations that would require GMO farm products
to meet government safety standards by the end of 2000. A decision
will still have to be made to on how much GMO material would have
to be a product before it is labelled. |
