In
This Issue:
NASS REPORT:
GM CROP ACREAGE CONTINUOUSLY RISING
The National Agricultural Statistics Service prospective planting report of
the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that biotech acreage
will increase for a sixth consecutive year worldwide. The report released last
March 28 reinforces the essential role that agricultural biotechnology is playing
to farmers worldwide. It is one of the most important annual indicators of
adoption and acceptance of plant biotechnology.
In the US, farmers are expected to grow more than 79 million acres of GM corn
and soybeans, 13% more compared to last year's plantings. Another 10.5 million
acres of cotton or about 71 percent of this year's cotton crop will also be
GM, up from 69 percent in 2001. Commodity analyst, Don Roose, says that farmers
are basing their acceptance of GM crops from an economic standpoint. Michael
Philips of the Biotechnology Industry Organization adds that the report shows
the continued high confidence that US farmers have placed in seeds improved
through biotechnology.
Just recently, India approved the commercial growing of Bt cotton. This is
the first GM crop that this Asian country has approved.
The increase in acreage is expected to continue this year, as more products
developed through biotechnology are approved by regulatory agencies throughout
the world.
Get a full copy of the prospective planting report at this site: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/
reports/nassr/field/pcp-bbp/pspl0302.pdf
CHINA RELAXES GM GUIDELINES
China's Ministry of Agriculture has simplified the guidelines on GM soybean
imports. The new procedures reduce the approval of safety certificates from
270 days to only 30 days.
Foreign soybean exporters do not need to apply for a safety certificate for
each cargo, as long as they have applied for the same GM product and that the
same suppliers and buyers are involved. The Ministry likewise announced that
exporters need not apply for GMO labels for their products.
PHILIPPINES APPROVES
GM GUIDELINES
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo approved the guidelines covering
the use and imports of farm products containing genetically modified organisms
(GMOs). During a recent Cabinet meeting, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor
formally presented a draft of the guidelines to the President. The Agriculture
Secretary eventually signed the administrative order containing the guidelines
which also covers the field testing, propagation and commercialization of GMOs
in the country.
Assistant Secretary Segfredo Serrano quoted the president as saying that the
set of guidelines was the first step towards a regulatory system on GMOs. The
present system does not distinguish between GMO and non-GMO products.
DA officials announced that specific provisions of the guidelines will be published
in two national dailies within the month.
DUPONT AND
MONSANTO AGREE ON GREATER ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGIES
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont, and Monsanto Company
recently reached an agreement that will guarantee access by farmers all over
the world to the agricultural technologies and products the companies have
developed.
The agreement gives both companies cross licenses to enabling technologies
that enhance the performance of corn, canola, and soybean crops, and improve
the farmer's productivity.
Among other provisions, Pioneer will receive royalty-bearing licenses to Monsanto's
Roundup Ready corn and soybean technologies. It also received freedom to operate
from Monsanto and its affiliates for its second generation insect-protected
corn products and future rootworm-protected corn products through a royalty-bearing
license.
In turn, Monsanto received freedom to operate for certain corn transformation
technology. Both entered a plant breeding accord affirming the intellectual
property and other rights that protect proprietary germplasm.
More details about the agreement can be viewed at http://www.monsanto.com
IRGS PROJECT ON RICE GENOME NEARS
COMPLETION
The National Science and Technology Council's National Plant Genome Initiative
reports that mapping of the rice genome will be completed six years ahead of
schedule. The project's acceleration was spurred by Monsanto's turnover of
its draft rice genome data and research materials to the International Rice
Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP) last August 2000. The information it has
shared with IRGSP accounts for approximately 30 percent of the publicly available
rice genome sequence data.
Ben Burr, co-lead of the IRGSP claims that "there has been an enormous increase
in the amount of sequence data being deposited in public database. The result
is an expanded knowledge base for the community of scientists working on rice
and related crops."
Frank White, professor of plant pathology at the Kansas State University, says
the database has provided his team with valuable resources, which they could
not have attained in their study on how rice and other plants resist disease.
Aside from sharing its rice genome data, Monsanto has put up a rice genome
database (http://www.rice-research.org),
which makes the data available free of charge to publicly funded researchers.
NATURE EDITORIAL:
CORN PAPER EVIDENCE NOT SUFFICIENT
Nature, a science journal, came out with an editorial saying that an article
it published in 2001 on the discovery of genetically engineered corn growing
in Mexico should not have been published. It said that the "evidence available
was not sufficient to justify the publication of the original paper".
The article entitled "Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces
in Oaxaca, Mexico" by David Quist and Ignacio Chapela generated much controversy
after its publication. It reported that corn from the southern state of Oaxaca
contained genetically modified material, although Mexico has prohibited all
engineered corn since 1998. The article became a hotbed of debate because corn
originated in the southern valley of Mexico and Central America, remains the
international center for corn diversity. It likewise challenged the environment
by which biotechnology thrives in by offering evidence that the genes spliced
into corn plants were unstable.
Nature said that the authors obtained some additional data, but there was "disagreement
between them and a referee as to whether these results significantly bolster
their argument". Nature eventually concluded that the evidence did not justify
its publication. "As the authors nevertheless wish to stand by the available
evidence for their conclusions, we feel it best simply to make these circumstances
clear, to publish the criticisms, the authors' response and new data, and to
allow our readers to judge the science for themselves."
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