In
This Issue:
ICMF Advocates
Cultivation of Bt Cotton
The
India Cotton Mills Federation (ICMF) has advocated the cultivation
of Bt cotton. According to its Chairman, R Jaipura, "the yield of
cotton in India is one of the lowest in the world at about 300 kg/hectare
against a world average of over 580 kg/hectare, despite having the
largest area under cotton cultivation. This poor yield per hectare
can be increased by improving the productivity of the crop through
the cultivation of the genetically modified cotton seeds."
Jaipura
added that environmentally conscious nations such as the US, Australia,
China, Argentina, Mexico, Indonesia, and South Africa have already
started cultivating the GM cotton after extensive field trials and
research. "What is suitable to them will be suitable to Indian conditions
as well."
Government
agencies have been examining the suitability of the GM cotton seeds
in India for the last six years.
"An
official pronouncement, clearing the seed for commercial use at the
earliest would definitely put to rest the misinformed debate on the
adverse effects of Bt cotton which is unnecessarily blown out of
proportion. Such a pragmatic step would help farmers to use the seed
extensively in the next sowing season and increase their cotton production
and reduce costs," Jaipura said.
Plant Biotechnology
Booming in China
A
recent study conducted by researchers in the US and China reveals
that research and development on plant biotechnology is flourishing
in China. Scott Rozelle, a professor in the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics at the University of California (UC) Davis
and colleagues surveyed 29 of China's plant biotechnology research
institutes and interviewed research directors of the major plant
biotechnology programs.
"In
the past decade, China has been accelerating its investments in agricultural
biotechnology research and is making breakthroughs on commodities
that have been mostly ignored in the laboratories of industrialized
countries. If China's success with GM cotton is any predictor of
future achievements, we can expect that plant biotechnology in China
will have a significant impact on world production, consumption,
nutrition, and trade."
The
study was conducted in collaboration with Fangbin Qiao, a graduate
student in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics,
and Jikun Huang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Mexican Government
Responds to GM Corn Story
Responding
to the news report recently published in Nature magazine on the presence
of transgenic corn in the Sierra of Oaxaca, Luis Herrera Estrella,
Director of Mexican research center CINVESTAV Irapuato, commented
that "there is no evidence that this represents a threat to maize
biodiversity in Mexico."
Earlier
this week, several articles were published expressing concern over
this discovery since Mexico is the center of origin and diversification
place of such an important crop.
Estrella
further commented that "for decades, maize landraces have lived together
with commercial varieties, including hybrids from multinational firms,
and such fact has not caused their disappearance, and in most of
the cases not even their replacement by small growers." He assured
that "during all this period of time, our maize landraces, and materials
enhanced through conventional techniques have had the chance to exchange
genes, and such fact, far from eliminating our domestic materials
biodiversity, have rather enriched them, and the small grower has
incorporated genes allowing him to obtain the native materials best
suited for his region, and which allow him for getting what suffices
for his consumption."
For
more information, please contact lherrera@irapuato.ira.cinvestav.mx
AFIC and
ISAAA Release CD-ROM on Biotech Communication
The Asian
Food Information Centre (AFIC) and the International Service for
the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) have joined
together to develop Food Biotechnology: a Communications Guide to Enhance Understanding, which
has been developed specifically for the Asia Pacific region.
The
Guide aims to raise awareness of this communications issue, and
provides lots of practical advice and resources to overcome problems
that people have with biotech foods. For example the Guide includes
lists of "Words
to use" and "Words to lose," and a slide presentation
that may be adapted according to audience needs and interests.
The
Guide also provides:
-
historical
development and context of food biotechnology developments
-
definitions
of key terms such as allergenic proteins, genomes
-
brief
explanations of fundamental principles of food biotechnology
such as substantial
equivalence and safety assessment
-
an
extensive directory of resources and sources of further country and topic-specific information
-
a
collection of quotes by prominent leaders and scientists on
the current and potential impact of food biotechnology.
The
Guide can be downloaded from the AFIC (http://www.afic.org)
or ISAAA SEA (http://www.isaaa.org/kc) websites.
It is also available on CD-ROM upon request.
Bt Cotton
Area in Indonesia Likely to Expand
The
area for Bt cotton in Indonesia is predicted to expand to 10,000-12,000
hectares due to the benefits that farmers experienced during their
first commercial planting of the crop. This is more than double the
area planted to Bt cotton earlier this year.
Bun
Hasanuddin Ibrahim from the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture stated
that the expansion will still be conducted in the seven regencies
in South Sulawesi, namely Gowa, Takalar, Soppeng, Bantaeng, Bulukumba,
Bone, and Wajo.
Up
until now, the monitoring showed good results from the Bt cotton
planting. Sixty percent of the area reached production of more than
2 tons per hectare, while 30% reached more than 3 tons per hectare.
These figures are three to four times higher than conventional cotton.
The
new decree on Bt cotton planting is expected to be out by the end
of the year. |
