FBAE Blog

Check out the interesting article below. Anti-GM groups in India are coming out of the woodwork now because GM crops are starting to see some success. Bt Brinjal (an insect-tolerant vegetable) continues to do well in India, as do many other insect-tolerant vegetables around the world.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Tremendous scope for vertical growth in biotech crops
Sify.com
May 09, 2008

Mumbai: With trials of India’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop, Bt. Brinjal (insect-tolerant vegetable), progressing well, the anti-biotechnology lobby seems to have become active.

Those opposed to biotechnology in agriculture are spreading disinformation, according to Dr Usha B. Zehr, Joint Director of Research with Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (MAHYCO), pioneer in, brinjal the country’s foray into agbiotech.

Indeed, Bt. Brinjal is not the first GM vegetable crop. Globally, as many as 23 vegetable crop species (excluding potato and sweet corn) have been genetically engineered. China grows tomato, papaya, petunia and sweet pepper, while the US grows squash (a variety of gourd) and papaya.

Currently, over a dozen biotech crops are being field-tested in different parts of the world. These include three major staples (rice, maize and wheat) as also potato, tomato, soyabean, cabbage, peanut, melon, papaya, sweet pepper, chilli and rapeseed.

China’s agbiotech

Talking about China’s advances into agbiotech, Dr Zehr said the country has planted about one quarter of a million Bt. Poplars and in 2006, started to commercialise an approved virus-resistant biotech papaya (a fruit/food crop) developed by a Chinese university and grown on approximately 3,500 hectares.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 4:04 PM | Permalink

Everyone should take a look at the following article from the International Journal of Biotechnology. Bt maize is doing great things for farmers in the European Union!

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Navigating the genetic engineering maze
Alpha Galileo
May 8, 2008

In the decade since genetically modified strains of maize resistant to insects have been grown in the European Union, crop yields have gone up, farmers' reliance on insecticides has fallen significantly and the quality of maize has improved. That's the message from research published this month in the International Journal of Biotechnology from Inderscience Publishers.

Agricultural economist Graham Brookes of PG Economics Ltd, based in Dorchester, UK, has reviewed the specific economic impacts on yield and farm income as well as the environmental impact with respect to a lower reliance on insecticide usage since the introduction of GM maize in the EU in 1998.

So-called "Bt" maize carries genes for a highly specific insect toxin from the soil-dwelling microbe Bacillus thuringiensis. This toxin kills the European corn borer and the Mediterranean stem borer, which would otherwise damage maize crops without insecticidal spraying.

Brookes' analysis reveals that profits have risen by more than a fifth for some farmers who previously used synthetic insecticides to control these pests. He points out that GM technology has reduced insecticide spraying markedly, which also has associated environmental benefits. He also points out that the quality of the maize produced is higher because the GM crop is less susceptible than non-GM maize to infestation with fungi that produce mycotoxins, hazardous to human health.

Bt maize was planted for the first time in 1998 in Spain and in 2007 the total area of this crop in Spain was about 75000 hectares. In total, the EU plantings of Bt maize in 2007 were 110,000 hectares, with crops also in France, Germany, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. This represents 1.3% of total EU grain maize plantings in 2007.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 4:38 PM | Permalink

I was searching the Web for new articles on GM today and found the following New York Times article. The article discusses not only the need for GM feed in Europe, but also the growing interest in the development of genetically modified wheat.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

In Lean Times, Biotech Grains Are Less Taboo
New York Times
April 21, 2008

Soaring food prices and global grain shortages are bringing new pressures on governments, food companies and consumers to relax their longstanding resistance to genetically engineered crops.

In Japan and South Korea, some manufacturers for the first time have begun buying genetically engineered corn for use in soft drinks, snacks and other foods. Until now, to avoid consumer backlash, the companies have paid extra to buy conventionally grown corn. But with prices having tripled in two years, it has become too expensive to be so finicky.

“We cannot afford it,” said a corn buyer at Kato Kagaku, a Japanese maker of corn starch and corn syrup.

In the United States, wheat growers and marketers, once hesitant about adopting biotechnology because they feared losing export sales, are now warming to it as a way to bolster supplies. Genetically modified crops contain genes from other organisms to make the plants resistance to insects, herbicides or disease. Opponents continue to worry that such crops have not been studied enough and that they might pose risks to health and the environment.

“I think it’s pretty clear that price and supply concerns have people thinking a little bit differently today,” said Steve Mercer, a spokesman for U.S. Wheat Associates, a federally supported cooperative that promotes American wheat abroad.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:56 AM | Permalink

A UK manufacturing magazine just published the following positive article on genetically modified crops. The Soil Association recently tried to claim that genetically modified crops do not increase yield. This article quotes an agricultural economist as saying that he is frustrated with anti-gm activists picking and choosing the information they use to prove their point.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Organic lobby spreading ‘nonsense’ about GM, claim scientists
Food Manufacture
April 21, 2008

New claims by environmental lobbyists that genetic modification (GM) does not increase crop yields or reduce pesticide use have been dismissed by plant breeding experts as “total nonsense”.

According to the Soil Association (SA), “the yields of all major GM crop varieties in cultivation are lower than, or at best, equivalent to, yields from non-GM varieties”, while “any initial reduction in pesticide use is short-lived and often reversed as new pests arrive and old ones adapt”. Its comments came in the wake of recent moves to reignite the GM debate by scientists claiming that transgenic crops could boost agricultural productivity in the face of global food shortages and climate change.

Graham Brookes, an agricultural economist and director of consultancy PG Economics, said he was becoming “increasingly frustrated by reports that cherry-pick pieces of information out of context and use them to support a fundamentally unsound argument”.

Brookes, a joint author of a major report on the environmental and economic impact of agricultural biotechnology published last year, said: “This is just complete nonsense. Pesticide use has not increased as a result of the adoption of biotech crops – indeed, it has fallen significantly relative to levels of use that would have occurred without using biotechnology.”

Likewise, it was “deeply insulting to the intelligence of farmers” to say that there were no economic benefits to using GM technology, he said. “They criticise biotech companies for having a vested interest - along the lines of ‘you would say that wouldn’t you’, but they also have a vested interest in attacking GM crops and supporting organic agriculture, which typically delivers far lower yields.”

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:13 AM | Permalink

I found this blog entry today on rising costs of grain prices and its effect on genetically modified crops. The author, Ben Hood writes that the high prices of grain is causing less expensive genetically modified grains to gain popularity, “or at least objections to them are declining.” Read more about it below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Rising prices pushes people towards genetically modified foods
“dcdork” blog
April 21, 2008

There is nothing like cash to help focus the mind.

While in Britain, I saw first hand the public distrust of Frankenfoods, or genetically modified crops. The continent was much more suspicious than Britain about the foods, but there were some outspoken critics (like Prince Charles) in Britain as well. I was doubly mortified when some African countries started to reject genetically modified donations, because they reasonably assumed that what was bad for Europeans is bad for Africans. However, there is no indication that genetically modified foods are harmful, and while Europe is rich enough to reject genetically modified crops, Africa is not, and rejection of the crops yields starvation.

Fast forward to the food crisis of today, and an article in the New York Times shows that with grain prices doubling and tripling, the less expensive genetically modified grains are gaining in popularity, or at least objections to them are declining. I am pleased to see that irrational fears fall away when cash is at stake.

The key word there is irrational. No one has shown popular genetically modified organisms to be harmful, and they can help feed multitudes more. To the people who object because we are "playing god," that ship has sailed. Wheat is the most crossbred organism in existence, not because we've turned our microscopes at it (indeed, it is one of the more difficult crops in a lab), but because we've been manipulating it for the last six thousand years. We've been doing the same with cattle. Ever seen a cow on a hike in the forest? That isn't natural.

I do hope that this allows people to get past their reservations for the "new."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:04 AM | Permalink

A friend passed along the following blog entry by Jackie Danicki. In her short entry, she criticizes other for telling her not to eat genetically modified foods and ends by saying “pas the franken-food.”

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

On genetically modified food
Jackie Danicki
April 18, 2008

People always look at me in horror when I say that I have zero problem with eating genetically modified foods. Even if I did, I would not consider it up to you or any politician to decide whether or not I should be permitted to do so, or whether it should be legal to do so or not. Of course it should be legal. Of course one should be allowed to eat whatever one wishes. If you are to make the offensive suggestion that it is your or another person’s decision to make for me, the onus is on you to make the case for that.

So, yeah: Pass the franken-food.

I would like to ask some of the [GM critics] how they imagine most strains of wheat, barley, soybeans or rice that have been staples of diets for centuries came along. They are, albeit through trial and error over eons, just as ‘modified’ as a Monsanto crop. And that I think is the kicker: it is the speed of scientific change, not the change as such, that gives people the heeby-jeebies about genetic modification. I am not sure how that can be easily addressed without massive improvements in popular understanding of science.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:51 AM | Permalink

BASF is having trouble with getting approval for commercialization of its GM potato, according to this Reuters article. After an unsuccessful meeting with EU Commissioner Stravros Dimas, BASF is now threatening legal action if steps to approve the GM potato are not put into motion. .

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

BASF ready for lawsuit against EU on GMO potato
Reuters
April 17, 2008

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German chemical company BASF may take legal action against the European Commission if approval of its genetically modified (GMO) potato is not issued soon, a senior company official said on Thursday.

"We are prepared to take legal action against the Commission," said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's board of executive directors told reporters at a briefing.

Asked about a possible timeframe, he said: "Not years, we are doing the utmost to meet the next planting season."

After an inconclusive meeting this week with EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, BASF sent him an open letter -- printed across German media, the Financial Times and other newspapers on Thursday -- demanding that the Commission approve its Amflora potato "without any further delay".

If approval is given, it would be the EU's first authorization of a GMO product for cultivation in a decade. Only one GMO crop may be grown commercially in the EU, a maize made by U.S. biotech company Monsanto and approved in 1998.

"We have not been satisfied with the process of approval so we took this unusual step (of the open letter)," Marcinowski said. "The decision has been sitting for nine months on the desk of Commissioner Dimas."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:44 AM | Permalink

As a regular reader of GMO Africa, I’m always interested in what James has to say on the topic of genetic modification. His post today applauds Dr. Pamela Ronald, a rice geneticist and director of the Plant Genomics Program and the University of California at Davis for her positive blog post. He notes that scientists do no speak out enough in favor of GM technology.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

UC Davis researcher blogs on genetic engineering
GMO Africa
April 15, 2008

Blogger Karl J. Mogel of The Inoculated writes that Dr. Pamela Ronald, a rice geneticist and director of Plant Genomics Program at UC Davis has a new blog called Tomorrow’s Table. Pam’s blog celebrates crop genetic engineering, from a scientist point of view.

Nobody’s excited by Pam’s blog than me. On this blog, on several occasions, I’ve exhorted scientists to take charge of the debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (Read this post on this subject that I made in December 2006.) Thumbs up Pam for taking the gauntlet.

Since the commercialization of the first genetically modified (GM) crop in 1995, scientists haven’t been forceful enough to educate the public about agricultural biotechnology. Many - except people like Norman Borlaug, Roger Beachy, Sir David King, Jeffrey Sachs, Dr. Clive James, Dr. Luciana De Ciero, Dr. Ruth Oniang’o - have opted to maintain a studious silence as the science behind crop genetic engineering is distorted right and left by people who couldn’t conduct a simple high school lab experiment. These are the people who have been ruling the airwaves and the internet with unsubstantiated decibel rhetoric against GMOs.

Scientists are to blame for this state of affairs. Had they, in the early beginning, demanded every charge against GMOs be scientifically substantiated, the current poisonous debate about GM crops would not be there. And it’s not too late. Pam, through her Tomorrow Table blog, has set the pace: others should follow.

The world wants scientists to take lead in this debate. It’s them who should be saying whether or not GM crops offer any hope to farmers not some shenanigans whose sole motive is to create confusion and despondency in farmers and policy makers.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:32 AM | Permalink

Biotech blogger James Wachai posted a new entry today on a Robert Paarlberg interview about GMOs and Africa. Wachai points to advocacy groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth as instigators in the fight to keep GMOs out of Africa. He writes that they have been intimidating African farmers and convincing them that GMOs are dangerous. Follow the link below to his full blog post.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Journalist counsels Africa on GMOs
GMO Africa
April 2, 2008

Journalist Kerry Howley of the Reason magazine has written a very riveting and informative article on how fear is being used to deny Africa cutting-edge technologies. Howley writes how activists descend on Africa every time new technologies emerge. They, using apocalyptic theories, misadvise and mislead Africans into not embracing these technologies.

Africans are usually warned of cataclysmic consequences if they adopt new technologies. Usually, they’re told the West wants to use them as guinea pigs, or to enslave them. Most play along, thanks to high illiteracy levels and unavailability and/or access to alternative sources of information. Always the consequences are grave: the rest of the world prospers, while Africa wallows in poverty. Essentially, Africa merely gawks as other countries industrialize.

Howley beautifully illustrates this point using the swirling debate about genetically modified (GM) foods. She writes how African countries have shunned GM foods on the advice of consumer advocacy groups such as the Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. These groups happen to have a big presence in Africa

Except South Africa, no other African country is currently growing genetically modified (GM) crops. We’ve read reports of countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe turning away food from the World Food Program (WFP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USaid) on suspicions they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs.) Many African countries have passed laws to completely bar GM crops.

In her article, Howley laments that Zambia and Zimbabwe’s turning away of GM food “…brimmed over and seeped into almost every African state.” She regrets that “…cutting edge farming technology is most feared where it is most needed.”

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:35 AM | Permalink

The author of the “Notes from a Gene Safari” blog posted an entry today on the visit of Roger Beachy of the Danforth Center to the University of California – Davis. Sounds like he was well received. Read about it in the post below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Let the people decide on GMOs
The Notes from a Gene Safari blog
April 2, 2008

Roger Beachy (of the Danforth Center) came to UC Davis this week to give a seminar. The grad students had the good fortune of meeting with him over lunch. He has some very interesting perspectives on genetic engineering that I haven't heard before.

One of his most striking points was that all this hype we hear of the public being against GMOs is largely generated by the media. The consumer public has been given very few opportunities to make decisions for themselves. He gave several examples of the public enthusiastically embracing GMOs.

• Most papayas now have engineered resistance to the papaya ringspot virus (due to disastrous epidemics in Hawaii). Non-engineered, infected papayas have cosmetic blemishes and spoil quickly. Consumers prefer the engineered, virus-free fruit despite labels that declare the inclusion of recombinant DNA technology
• The Flavr Savr tomato, engineered to decrease spoilage, apparently couldn't be stocked fast enough to supply the public during its brief existence (until Calgene went out of business and ceased production)
• A study in Pennsylvania found that consumers at a farmers market presented with three types of sweet corn (engineered for insect resistance, conventional and organic) preferred organic to conventional corn and GMO corn to both organic and conventional. The GMO crop was favored because it was produced without pesticides OR the insects/insect damage that usually occur in the absence of pesticides.

Much more importantly, he described the center's humanitarian efforts in Africa. They are engineering crops with disease resistance and greatly elevated levels of vitamins and protein to fight malnutrition. They are also creating corn varieties that are resistant to a fungal disease that has been linked to devastating cancer rates in certain regions (the fungus infects corn naturally and produces a carcinogenic toxin, fumonisin).

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:22 AM | Permalink

A friend brought this Reuters article to my attention today. Germany has approved genetically modified sugar beets and potatoes for field trials. The sugar beets, made by Planta and potatoes, produced by BASF Plant Science will be grown experimentally for four years. Read about the restrictions below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Germany approves GMO sugar and potato field trials
Reuters
April 2, 2008

HAMBURG, April 2 (Reuters) - Germany's state food safety agency said on Wednesday it approved open-air field trials of sugar beet and potatoes containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The company Planta has been given permission to sow 12,000 square metres of GMO sugar beet at two locations between 2008 and 2011, agency BVL said.

BASF Plant Science, part of German chemicals group BASF (BASF.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), has been given approval to plant GMO potatoes on 30,000 square metres divided among three locations between 2008 and 2012.

"The BVL's safety assessment came to the conclusion that the open-air trials would not have any dangerous influence on humans or animals or the environment," the agency said.

The crops may not be sold as food or animal feed.

The GMO sugar beet in the trials is resistant to the weed killer glyphosat.

To prevent GMO organisms being spread by pollen, Planta must check sugar beets every two weeks for flowering and destroy any flowers before they bloom, the agency said. There must be a 10-metre gap between the GMO potatoes and conventional crops.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:12 AM | Permalink

Fellow biotech blogger James Wachai just posted the following entry on the importance of biosafety legislation in Africa. He encourages African scientists to push this issue as well, since they have more credibility than pro-biotech groups.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Researcher wants biosafety laws in Africa
GMO Africa
March 6, 2008

Professor Walter Alhassan, a renowned agricultural biotechnologist from Ghana, recently raised a very salient issue regarding agricultural biotechnology in Africa. Alhassan moaned the unwillingness by African governments to enact laws to regulate safe acquisition of agricultural biotechnology. Alhassan regretted that the absence of biosafety laws in many African countries remains the greatest impediment to serious research on genetically modified crops in the continent.

I can’t but totally concur with Prof. Alhassan, and I would encourage other scientists, especially from Africa to stand by him. Unlike pro-biotech lobby groups and multinational biotechnology companies, they’ve the requisite credibility to force their respective governments to act. They’re the right people to explain, unabashedly, what biosafety laws entail. I say this because there’s this conventional belief in most African countries that the sole mission of biosafety laws should be to keep off genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from their territories. Sample this April 2007 statement from Zambia’s Chairperson of the Education, Science and Technology Committee, who said a biosafety law was needed to ensure “…Zambia remains a GMO free country.”

On this blog, just like Prof. Alhassan has said, I once emphasized that the first step to Africa benefiting from new technologies, including modern agricultural biotechnology, is to enact laws to regulate their acquisition. When computers emerged, African countries tried as much as they could to pass Information Technology (IT) laws to ensure their use for government and private businesses. The vigor with which African countries have enacted IT laws to ensure their safe use must, now, be applied to agricultural biotechnology. You can’t adjudge a technology - the way African governments are trying to do - as bad or good, before experiencing it. Europe, whose opposition to GMOs Africa seems to ape, is already conducting field trials of GM crops. Africa countries, except South Africa, are nowhere closer to here. They’re still dialoguing about whether biosafety laws have relevance to them. Isn’t this the time for Africa to heed Prof. Alhassan’s advice and pass biosafety laws, to allow farmers explore potential benefits agricultural biotechnology.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:41 AM | Permalink

I found the following blog posted today on an announcement last week concerning the development of several biotech crops in Indonesia. I’m happy to see other bloggers posting this positive information. Read the blog post below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Agriculture Ministry Growing Five Food Crops through Genetic Engineering
Food Security & Agricultural Biotechnology
March 4, 2008

A researcher at the Indonesian agriculture ministry's Research and Development Agency (Litbangtan) says that the agency is developing genetically modified (GM) varieties of tomato, potato, papaya, rice, and cassava. The researcher, M. Herman, reports that "The commodities are being researched and they are expected to be ready for commercial use after five years." Herman said it will be a relatively long period before the GM crops are made commercially available because they have to be subjected to meticulous tests to ensure their food and environmental safety. He also commented that the development of GM soybeans, corn, and cotton has so far been dominated by multinational companies.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 3:46 PM | Permalink

Check Biotech just posted this Irish Times article on the growing problem of rising animal feed costs. Many MPs are calling for restrictions on GM animal feed to be lifted to help livestock farmers make a profit.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

North Ireland plea over GM food imports
Check Biotech
March 6, 2008

Northern Ireland farmers must be allowed to import genetically modified (GM) animal feed to help them survive in the face of spiralling grain costs, Assembly members have claimed.

In a debate on the impact of the inflated global feed markets on the local intensive farming sector MLAs backed a proposal calling on the EU to loosen restrictions on the import of biotech feedstuffs.

The DUP added this amendment to an original Ulster Unionist motion urging the Agriculture minister Michelle Gildernew to provide financial support to those farmers who are struggling to cope with a 159% hike in grain prices in the last year.

William Irwin (DUP, Newry and Armagh) said the livelihood of many farmers depended on the EU lifting restrictions on GM feed for animals

"These are being grown on an increasing scale in America and would go some way to addressing the grain shortage."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:47 AM | Permalink

The European Union is reporting that more farmers are planting genetically modified maize. Current statistics show that nearly 110,000 hectares were used to grow GM maize in Spain, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Germany in 2007. That’s about 48,000 more hectares than was planted in 2006. Read more about this great news below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

GM Maize: 110,000 Hectares under Cultivation
Check Biotech
March 4, 2008

The cultivation of genetically modified plants in the EU is increasing. In 2007, genetically modified maize was grown on a total of nearly 110,000 hectares in Spain, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Germany. In the previous year, GM plantings comprised 62,000 hectares, totalling approximately 1 percent of maize cultivation areas.

To date, the only type of GMO grown in the EU is Bt maize. Bt maize contains a gene from a bacterium that produces a toxin ( Bt-toxin) to defend it from the European corn borer. An insect pest, the European corn borer primarily is present in southern and middle Europe, and is slowly making its way north.

Regions infested with the European corn borer can experience serious crop losses. Since biological and chemical control methods are expensive and only partially effective, Bt maize can be a money-saving option for many farmers despite its higher seed cost.

In Spain, a substantial amount of the maize production is genetically modified – it is estimated that 25 percent of the current production falls under this category. Bt maize was first grown in Spain in 1998, and by 2004 production had risen to 60,000 hectares. In 2007, GM maize was cultivated on more than 75,000 hectares.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:30 AM | Permalink

Farmers in the Australian state of Victoria are asking for field trials before genetically modified canola is available commercially. According to the following article, many farmers appear to be in favor of the technology, they just want to make sure it will be worth it before planting the crop.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Victorian farmers push for GM testing
Check Biotech
March 3, 2008

South-west Victorian farmers are keen to have genetically-modified (GM) canola tested before using it, the leader of a regional crop research body said yesterday.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe Helper yesterday announced the four-year moratorium on commercial plantings of two varieties of genetically-modified canola would lapse today.

Southern Farming Systems (SFS ) chief executive officer Mark McDonald said about three quarters of the 700 SFS members - 500 of whom are in south-west Victoria - want research trials before they would use the crops.

Mr McDonald said there would not be much GM seed available in 2008 for commercial plantings and Victorian Premier John Brumby said the uptake of genetically-modified canola crops would be limited to a small number of farmers.

Mr Helper said studies show the grain supply chain has the capacity to keep grain varieties separated "and this will be the case with GM canola".

"I think it (the end of the moratorium) is a great thing but how they segregate it is going to be a bit of a worry," Cavendish, Vic, farmer Don Price said.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 3:50 PM | Permalink

Ever wonder why African farmers are being denied access to technology like GM seeds? Take a look at Robert Paarlberg’s new book, “Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa.”

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Starved for Science
Harvard University Press
March 1, 2008

Heading upcountry in Africa to visit small farms is absolutely exhilarating given the dramatic beauty of big skies, red soil, and arid vistas, but eventually the two-lane tarmac narrows to rutted dirt, and the journey must continue on foot. The farmers you eventually meet are mostly women, hardworking but visibly poor. They have no improved seeds, no chemical fertilizers, no irrigation, and with their meager crops they earn less than a dollar a day. Many are malnourished.

Nearly two-thirds of Africans are employed in agriculture, yet on a per-capita basis they produce roughly 20 percent less than they did in 1970. Although modern agricultural science was the key to reducing rural poverty in Asia, modern farm science—including biotechnology—has recently been kept out of Africa.

In Starved for Science Robert Paarlberg explains why poor African farmers are denied access to productive technologies, particularly genetically engineered seeds with improved resistance to insects and drought. He traces this obstacle to the current opposition to farm science in prosperous countries. Having embraced agricultural science to become well-fed themselves, those in wealthy countries are now instructing Africans—on the most dubious grounds—not to do the same.

In a book sure to generate intense debate, Paarlberg details how this cultural turn against agricultural science among affluent societies is now being exported, inappropriately, to Africa. Those who are opposed to the use of agricultural technologies are telling African farmers that, in effect, it would be just as well for them to remain poor.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:18 AM | Permalink

The Washington Post published the following commentary this week on Europe’s resistance of genetically modified products. The article focuses on a ruling by the European Commission that will not allow GM animal feed would not be allowed into the European Union. Many agriculture officials are concerned that the livestock industry will continue to suffer if GM feed is not let in, according to the article.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Agricultural trade squeals
Washington Times
February 29, 2008

European Union officials adamantly refuse to let the World Trade Organization save them from themselves.

Despite a 2005 WTO ruling that some European countries were breaking international trade rules by prohibiting the importation of gene-spliced, or "genetically modified (GM)," crops and foods, Europe remains recalcitrant, unrepentant — and on the verge of slaughtering its own livestock industry.

European Union agriculture ministers failed yet again Monday to permit imports of five biotech crops intended for animal feed, causing a group that represents European farmers to warn that without greater use of gene-spliced crops, the livestock industry could be decimated.

European shortages of grain for animal feed and soaring prices — caused by both the rejection of gene-spliced grains and the diversion of corn to production of ethanol for fuel — are causing panic among livestock producers. Pig and poultry farmers have been forced to reduce their output, while consumer consumption is down because of higher prices.

Although the WTO bluntly scolded the EU for imposing a moratorium on gene-spliced crop approvals from 1998 to 2004, that finding was a foregone conclusion. European politicians, including then-EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem, had acknowledged that the moratorium was "an illegal, illogical, and otherwise arbitrary line in the sand."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 11:12 AM | Permalink

The biotechnology news site Check Biotech reported today that researchers in Indonesia are working on developing five genetically engineered crops that will hopefully be available for commercial use in five years. Tomato, potato, papaya, rice and cassava are the crops they are working on. Read more about this below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Agriculture ministry growing five food crops through genetic engineering
Check Biotech
February 27, 2008

JAKARTA - 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.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:41 PM | Permalink

ABC News in Australia is reporting that the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is standing by their endorsement of genetically modified crops, despite calls from anti-GM food groups to maintain a ban on GM canola. The article below includes a quote from VFF president Simon Ramsay who says that by ending the moratorium of GM canola, farmers will have more choices and can take advantage of new technology.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

VFF says GM crops give farmers 'choice'
ABC News
February 27, 2008

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is countering calls from anti-genetically modified (GM) food groups for the Government to maintain its ban on genetically modified canola.

The moratorium on GM canola expires in Victoria tomorrow, allowing seed and chemical companies to start selling their patented seeds.

Anti-GM groups are concerned conventional crops will be contaminated, and that herbicide resistant canola will become an environmental weed.

VFF president Simon Ramsay says farmers will be able to start the accreditation process to grow and sell GM grain under licence.

"What's important now with the sun setting here in Victoria tomorrow is that farmers will be able to have that choice, they'll be able to take advantage of the new technology," he said.

"It not only has good economic outcomes, but it has good environmental outcomes and that's important given that farmers are facing the challenge of climate change."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Fellow biotechnology blogger David Tribe posted a letter to the editor of the Canberra Times today. The writer seems to be correcting some previous ideas in the newspaper on the true benefits of GM canola.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Canadian agronomists detail the benefits of GM canola in the ground.
GMO Pundit
February 26, 2008

Dr Rene Van Acker is right to suggest Australia should learn from Canada's experiences regarding genetically modified canola (Look to Canada for GE solutions, February 5, p11).

However, he is less correct in the Canadian lessons he gives. The benefits of herbicide tolerant canola for western Canada have far out weighed the risks over the last 11 years.

A recent study on the impacts of GMHT canola in western Canada carried out by the University of Saskatchewan gives some real life lessons that can be heeded. Results show that 90 per cent of canola farmers report reduced soil erosion and increased soil moisture conservation.

Sixty per cent of growers reported a carry-over benefit to the subsequent crop year in terms of improved weed control, with half of these growers assigning a dollar value of $A13.09, or about the cost of one glyphosate application in Canada. Fifty per cent reported they used no chemicals on crops that followed GMHT canola which had dramatically reduced the volume of chemicals applied to fields.

Canola used to be reserved for the most weed-free fields but is now a crop for difficult fields with weed problems.

In addition to the direct benefits to growers of increased yield and profitability, breeding and crop development activities by private companies has increased dramatically. The result has been more (150) and higher-yielding hybrid variety choices.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 1:12 PM | Permalink

UK farmers are not opposed to genetically modified crops a study conduced by Open University found. The researchers found that farmers are not opposed to GM crops as long as they provide an economic benefit to the farmer. Read the Science Daily article on the study below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

What Farmers Think About GM Crops
Science Daily
February 24, 2008

Farmers are upbeat about genetically modified crops, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

A group at the Open University, led by Professor Andy Lane, has taken the first systematic look at what large-scale, commodity farmers -- not those mainly involved in organic growing - think about genetically-modified crops. We know how consumers, governments and the food industry regard GM, but this is the first proper look at the attitudes of the people who would use GM crops.

Lane and his colleagues found that both farmers who have been involved in GM crop trials and those who have not, regard GM as a simple extension of previous plant breeding techniques, such as those which have produced today's established crop types. They regard GM crops as an innovation which they would assess on its merits. Their real interest is in how GM crops would work in practice and whether they can contribute to the profitability of their farms. The research suggests that these farmers do not think that GM raises any issues of principle, or that it is a matter of right or wrong.

Professor Lane said: "New technology such as GM is attractive to farmers. They want to produce high-quality food profitably and they want to farm in an environmentally sensitive way. GM may allow them to reconcile this conundrum by doing both of these things at once."

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 1:05 PM | Permalink

According to Pioneer Hi-Bred, a distributor of genetically modified seeds, GM crops may be the answer to rising food costs. Reuters interviewed Pioneer President Paul Shickler on the subject; Shickler believes that the only way we can meet the growing demand for food is through improved productivity and that improvement can come from GM technology.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Pioneer sees GMOs gaining global market acceptance
Reuters
February 22, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rising food prices will encourage worldwide acceptance of genetically engineered crops as more consumers set aside health concerns for the lower prices that biotech crops may deliver, a leading seed company executive said.

Governments that have been slow to accept biotech crops, or GMOs, will find it increasingly difficult to deny access to the technologies as food costs are poised to continue climbing.

"The only way we're going to meet some of these demand expectations that we have and are going to have in the future is through improved productivity. A lot of that productivity will come through technology," said Paul Shickler, president of Pioneer Hi-Bred International and vice president of DuPont Co (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

U.S. food prices rose by a 17-year high of 4 percent last year and were seen rising by another 3 to 4 percent in 2008. Food inflation was expected to outpace the general inflation rate through 2010, the U.S. Agriculture Department forecast.

Global food prices have risen even faster and will continue to do so, economists said.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 12:57 PM | Permalink

Reg Clause, a board member for the agricultural biotechnology group Truth about Trade & Technology, recently posted a commentary on the ISAAA report on the state of biotechnology in the world. Clause addresses the response by Friends of the Earth to the report and also writes on sections of the report citing the benefits of GM crops.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

The Farmers Choice
Truth about Trade & Technology
February 22, 2008

I noticed a news headline the other day, “Biotech reports spark debate over potential benefits.” I discovered two things upon reading the article. 1) Utilization of biotech crops is growing in double digits annually, increasing global productivity substantially, reducing poverty by helping farmers and keeping food affordable, reducing the environmental impacts of farming and contributing to the potential for cost effective biofuels. All backed up by objective evidence. 2) A group called “Friends of the Earth” will have none of this and take issue with the report line by line; generally backing up their statements with all-to-familiar spin and bluster.

Now, in regards to the “Friends” mentioned above, I couldn’t help thinking of a line from a comedian I once heard. He said, “some people are afraid of heights. Not me, I’m afraid of widths.”

I mean, really, there is no amount of good news that will satisfy some folks.

Check out the new report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), which determines the global area of biotech crops each year. The latest one, covering 2007, was just released. It tells a now familiar story of rapid growth in the use of biotech and the totally positive impacts on the environment and people’s lives.

Twelve million farmers in 23 countries were responsible for this achievement, up from 10.3 million in 21 countries in 2006. The number of biotech acres they planted increased by 12 percent from a year before. The newest members of the GM club are Chile and Poland.

Farmers in the United States accounted for about half of the world’s biotech acres. Growers in South America--mainly Argentina and Brazil, plus Paraguay and Uruguay--planted about one-third of the total. Canada, India, China, and South Africa also devoted substantial acreage to GM crops.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:21 AM | Permalink

GMO Africa blogger James Wachai posted a blog entry on the newly released report by the ISAAA. Wacahi writes about attempts by anti-biotechnology advocacy groups to mislead Africans into thinking the worst about biotech crops. He concludes his post by listing a few highlights from the report.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

ISAAA reports a surge in biotech crops cultivation
GMO Africa
February 21, 2008

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) has released a report that shows a surge in cultivation of biotech crops. Contrary to many anti-biotech critics, the surge seems to portend biotech crops striking a nerve with farmers.

What’s perhaps more interesting is the fact that developing countries continue to perform as well as developed countries in growing biotech crops. This disambiguates a widely held argument that biotech crops are a preserve of developed countries. On this blog, in August 2006, I argued that smallholder farmers benefit from biotech crops as much as large-scale farmers.

Despite this, sadly, Africa continues to lag behind in the adoption of biotech crops. To the continent, crop genetic engineering remains an enigma. Politics has, unfairly, been infused into this debate. As the rest of the world angles itself to share the spoils of modern agricultural biotechnology, African countries, with the exception of South Africa, are still haggling on whether or not to admit biotech crops to their farms.

The 2007 ISAAA’s latest report, perhaps, sends an unambiguous message that there’s something striking in modern crop genetic engineering that Africa, and other parts of the developing world, can’t afford to ignore. Africa ought to know that a lot of debate swirling around biotech crops, principally, is meant to mislead and confuse. There are groups ought to hijack landmark scientific innovations, especially in the field of agricultural biotechnology, for their own selfish ends. Let’s all take a lesson from the ISAAA report, whose other highlights include:

• Biotech crops cultivation grew by 12%, which translates to 12.3 hectares.
• There are currently about 114.3 million hectares of land under biotech crops.
• The number of countries growing biotech crops increased to 23 from 21 in 2006. The new entrants are Chile and Poland.
• From 1996, when the first biotech crop was commercialized, to 2007, the accumulated hectarage of these crops stands at 690 million hectares.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:27 AM | Permalink

During a speech at the National Farmer’s Union Conference in England, Iain Ferguson, chief executive of Tate & Lyle and president of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation endorsed the use of biotechnology. He said that he believed that genetic modification could be help with rising food costs and food shortages. Food Navigator posted the following article about his speech.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

GM may provide solution to rising food prices
Food Navigator
February 20, 2008

The continuing increases in raw material costs could shine a favourable light on genetic modification as pressure mounts in Europe to boost harvests.

Speaking at yesterday's National Farmer's Union Conference, Iain Ferguson, chief executive of Tate & Lyle and president of the UK's Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said British food prices are rising at their fastest rate since records began.

He quoted the Daily Telegraph as saying food prices in the UK are fuelling a rise in the average family's annual shopping bill of £750.

"We have to face up to the issue of genetic modification and rise to the challenge of helping to foster a fair and scientific debate on an issue that has typically been clouded by suspicion and a lack of trust," Ferguson said.

"The current economic climate with rising food prices and concerns over long term availability of commodities may well give us the opportunity to begin to do this."

Farmers have remained cautious to support the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) while consumers continue to express concern on their environmental impact and possible long term health risks.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:51 AM | Permalink

I found this article today on SciDev.net. A report released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications found that the majority of farmers growing genetically modified crops – ninety percent – are from developing countries! Researchers found that 114.3 million hectares of GM crops were cultivated worldwide last year, with 43 percent of the global GM crop area in developing countries. Read the article below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

GM production 'growing in developing countries'
SciDev.net
February 18, 2008

Ninety per cent of farmers growing genetically modified (GM) crops are from developing countries, according to a report.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non-profit organisation promoting agricultural biotechnology for the poor, say that GM crops were grown by 11 million small and resource-poor farmers in 2007 — 90 per cent of the total number of GM-growing farmers worldwide.

This was an increase of 18.3 per cent from 2006, when some 9.3 million small farmers were represented.

"With increasing food prices globally, the benefits of biotech crops have never been more important," said Clive James, one of the authors of the report and chairman of the ISAAA, in a press statement.

According to the report, launched last week (13 February), 23 countries — 12 of which were developing nations — planted GM crops in 2007. In total, 114.3 million hectares of GM crops were cultivated worldwide, with 43 per cent of the global GM crop area in developing countries.

In terms of hectarage, the biggest GM producer is still the United States, followed by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and China.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:13 AM | Permalink

Fellow biotech blogger James Wachai posted an entry this week on an announcement by researchers in New Zealand and Japan that they have genetically modified an onion to be “tear-free.” James addresses how the anti-GM activists will respond to this, saying he is curious about their response since the scientists silenced a gene instead of inserting one.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

No more teary onion, thanks to genetic engineering
GMO Africa
February 5, 2008

The blog, Rael the Prophet, reports on an article in the UK Telegraph about a research on a genetically engineered tear-free onion being collaboratively conducted by researchers from Japan and the New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research. We’re all aware how teary an onion can be if mishandled when chopping. To men and women who spend considerable amounts of time cooking, this, definitely is news worth celebrating.

In addition to ridding onion of the gene that causes teary effects on our eyes, these researchers promise that this new variety will be sweeter and healthier.

What an exciting research? Indeed, it has generated quite a buzz. The journal Onion World, in its December edition, has featured this work, which is being piloted by Dr. Colin Eady. The popular environmental blog Environmental Grafita gleefully proclaims, GM onions means no more tears, with sarcasm:

Anti-GMO activists may soon be tearing up after a New Zealand company announced the development of a genetically modified tear free onion.

I can’t also wait to see their [anti-biotech activists] reactions. Instead of inserting a foreign gene into the onion, which has been the practice in crop genetic engineering, researchers in this project will be working to suppress the gene that makes onions teary.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:28 PM | Permalink

Biotechnology news Web site Check Biotech posted an article reporting on the status of India’s cotton cultivation. The article states that an estimated 66 percent of all cotton planted in India is currently that of the Bt variety. The author breaks the percentage down by region, with the central region of India planting the most percentage wise.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Bt cotton acreage touches 66% in current season in India
Check Biotech
February 5, 2008

Mumbai - Cultivation area of transgenic Bt cotton in the country has reached 63.3 lakh hectares or 66% of the total estimated cotton area of 95.3 lakh hectares during the current season 2007-08.

Maximum acreage of Bt cotton in the country is reported in the central zone at 43.8 lakh hectares, followed by the south zone with 10.8 lakh hectares and north zone with 8.7 lakh hectares, according to the latest issue of Cotton Statistic and News released by Cotton Association of India (CAI). The total coverage of Bt cotton comes to 72%, 68% and 69% of the total area in the central, south and north zones, respectively. Such extensive coverage by the high yieldingbollworm-resistant Bt cotton is helpful in boosting cotton production to an estimated all-time high cotton crop of 310 lakh bales.

The national average yield of cotton in the country is almost at the bottom level compared to most other leading producers in the world. The average yield is expected to be around 553 kg per hectares (as against world's average of 765 kg/hectare). This has helped the country in narrowing the gap between national and world average yields. While the gap between national and world averages has been as high as 338 kg/hectare in 2000-01, it is only 212 kg/hectare in 2007-08. The yields in some leading states seem to strengthen this expectation. The relevant yield figures to the major four states, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab are expected at 743, 691, 667 and 630 kg/hectare, respectively.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 5:52 PM | Permalink

I just ran across an article today on the negative views Europe still holds towards genetically modified organisms. Food Navigator quoted a director at Europabio, the European Association for Bioindustries, about such topics as the approval process in Europe, competition around the world, University research and bans in EU member states of GM crops.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Fickle European GM policies stifle competition, say experts
Food Navigator
February 4, 2008

The unstable political situation surrounding the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops is restricting university research and pushing small companies out of the arena, thereby restricting competition, said a GM expert.

Natalie Moll, a director at Europabio, the European Association for Bioindustries, told FoodNavigator.com: "The agricultural industry is lacking courageous people who are willing to take the chances in an area where the market is uncertain. Only big companies can survive."

As European member states struggle to agree on a biotech policy, with different countries applying their own bans and restrictions on GM research and cultivation, research and development is being sacrificed.

At the moment, the only type of GM crop grown in the EU is maize, which was approved in 1998. It is not cultivated for human consumption, but for animal feed only.

GM crop cultivation is expanding in Europe, with over 110,000 hectares of biotech crops harvested in seven EU member states last year, representing a 77 per cent increase.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:14 PM | Permalink

News from New Zealand this week could be encouraging for the avid cooks out there. Researchers in Japan and New Zealand have created a “tear-free” onion that is also healthier and tastier. Using a technique called RNS interference, scientists silenced the gene responsible for crying and redirected it into compounds responsible for flavor and health. Read more about this in the article below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

GM tear-free onion created by scientists
The Telegraph
February 1, 2008

A tear-free onion that should be tastier and healthier has been created by using genetic tinkering to turn off the enzyme that makes us cry.

The onions, which can be chopped without painful, stingy, weeping eyes, have been tested in the laboratory by New Zealand Crop & Food Research scientist Dr Colin Eady, with his collaborators in Japan.

"If the research progresses well, would like to see them become the household and industry norm within the next decade," says Dr Eady.

The research team has been unable to induce tearing by crushing their model tearless onions, which emerged from a discovery by Japanese scientists of the gene behind the tears. "When you slice the vegetable, it doesn't produce tears."

The key is not to introduce a foreign gene but to silence one using a phenomenon called RNA interference. By stopping sulphur compounds from being converted to the tearing agent and redirecting them into compounds responsible for flavour and health, the process could even improve the onion.

"We anticipate that the health and flavour profiles will actually be enhanced," Dr Eady says.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:22 PM | Permalink

I ran across some interesting news from the United States today. Reuters is reporting that U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab has pledged to carefully watch the European Union for signs that it is accelerating the approval of new biotech products. The World Trade Organization ruled a couple years ago that some European countries were breaking international trade rules by prohibiting the importation of GM food and crops. Schwab wants to make sure this ruling is enforced.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

USTR Schwab urges EU to hasten biotech approvals
Reuters
January 30, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Tuesday pledged to watch for proof that the European Union is accelerating approval of new biotech products and ending a delay that has been costly to U.S. exporters.

Schwab declined to specify how long she might be willing to wait before she would ask the World Trade Organization to probe whether the EU is in violation of its ruling that found the 27-member bloc dragged its feet for years in approving new genetically modified food and crops.

"We have been tremendously frustrated at the lack of progress on the biotechnology issue," Schwab, who discussed the issue last week with European officials, told reporters.

"We need to see some progress," she said.

Earlier this month, Schwab's office announced it would give the EU more time to speed up its approval process and comply with the ruling.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:24 PM | Permalink

The Business Standard reported this wee that India’s agri-biotech sector has grown 30 percent over the last five years, growth that is expected to continue in the future as well. The article notes that within the last six years, the Bt cotton acreage in the country has grown manifold accounting for about 70 percent of the total area under cotton cultivation in 2007-08. Read the full article below by following the link.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Agri-biotech sector grows at 30%
Business Standard
January 30, 2008

Backed by the government, the industry logs Rs 926 cr sales in 2006-07.

The agri-biotech sector in India is growing at 30 per cent for the last five years, and it is likely to maintain the growth in the future as well, says a Rabobank report titled “Indian agri-biotech sector: Emerging scenario, issues and challenges”.

The country made its entry into agri-biotech in early 2002 with the government giving its nod for commercial cultivation of Bt cotton. Since then, agri-biotech continues to be the fastest growing industry among all the biotech industries in the country.

In 2006-07, the industry made Rs 926 crore in sales, accounting for 10.84 per cent of the country’s biotech market. In 2005-06, it registered a growth of over 81 per cent with a value of Rs 598 crore compared to Rs 330 crore in 2004-05.

Within six years, the Bt cotton acreage in the country has grown manifold accounting for about 70 per cent of the total area under cotton cultivation in 2007-08.

The report says that the industry was backed by the government through streamlined regulatory framework, policies and fiscal benefits that resulted in a functional genomics project with an investment of $8 million.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:15 PM | Permalink

Chrysler announced this week that they are teaming up with Purdue University research to help clean up pollutants at a former oil storage site in Kokomo, Indiana. Chrysler plans to sponsor the planting of genetically engineered poplar trees that are proven capable of absorbing trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other pollutants including leukemia-causing benzene. The pollutants are then metabolized into harmless products. They remove pollutants 100 times faster than non-genetically modified poplars. The EcoGeek blog talks about this below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Chrysler's Mutant Poplars Clean Up Oil Spills
EcoGeek
January 30, 2008

Auto maker Chrysler is pairing with Purdue University researchers to clean up pollutants at a former oil storage site in Kokomo, Indiana. They are turning not merely to technology but to nature. Specially bred transgenic poplar trees are being planted by the researchers, funded by Chrysler.

These trees have proven capable of absorbing trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other pollutants including leukemia-causing benzene. The pollutants are then metabolized into harmless products. They remove pollutants 100 times faster than non-genetically modified poplars.

The research is funded by a $1.3 million-grant as exploring ways to alter the trees to absorb even more pollution. Richard Meilan, a Purdue associate professor, is leading the study. The duration of the study is relatively short term and is designed to minimize genetic impact via breeding with natural trees; Meilan explains, "Three years should be enough time for them to grow up, send down roots to suck the pollutants up and break them down, then we'll cut them down before they have the chance to pass on their genes to the environment."

The burgeoning field of using plants to remove pollution is known as phytoremediation. If the study succeeds, poplars may become one of the field's biggest tools, as they are relatively hardy and grow over a broad range of climates.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:11 PM | Permalink

Fellow biotech blogger David Tribe posted an entry in his blog GMO Pundit on the growth of Bt cotton in India. David posted a Financial Express article which states that farmers of Vempavur village, in Perambalur district, in Tamil Nadu have decided to increase the acreage under genetically modified Bt cotton (both Bollgard and Bollgard II varieties) next season indicating the increased popularity of the seed among the state's farmers.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Bt cotton continues to open up economic opportunities in India
GMO Pundit
January 29, 2008

Bt cotton acreage up 29% in TN

- Joseph Vackayil, The Financial Express (India), Jan. 27, 2008 via Agbioview

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Bt-cotton-acreage-up-29-in-TN/266029/

Perambalur - Farmers of Vempavur village, in Perambalur district, in Tamil Nadu have decided to increase the acreage under genetically modified Bt cotton (both Bollgard and Bollgard II varieties) next season indicating the increased popularity of the seed among the state's farmers.

Of the 2.85 lakh [=100,000] acres of Bt cotton planted in Tamil Nadu in 2007, 29% up from 2.2 lakh acres in 2006, 92,000 acres are in Perambalur district. In the season beginning July-August, 2008, ''if we get enough quantity of the Bollgard II seeds we will plant only cotton in our entire land'', N Venkatachalam and S Kamaraj leading cotton cultivators in the region told FE.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 9:22 PM | Permalink

According to a research report by Rabo India Finance Ltd recently, India could soon become a major producer of transgenic rice and other GM vegetables by 2010. This is great news for India! Read more below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

‘India may turn big producer of GM rice, vegetables by 2010’
The Hindu Business Line
January 24, 2008

Chennai, Jan. 23 India has the potential to become a major producer of transgenic rice and several genetically modified (GM) or engineered vegetables by 2010, according to a research report by Rabo India Finance Ltd on the Indian agri-biotech sector. It has emerged as one of the leading destinations for investment in biotechnology in the recent years. It is also emerging as an important destination for both biomarkers and validation services, the report said.

A biomarker is a substance used as an indicator of a biologic state. It is a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention.

According to the report, there is an increasing use of molecular markers in crop breeding and a growing realisation that some of these new technologies could lead to future growth in the productivity and quality of crops such as rice, wheat, eggplant (brinjal), tomato and okra (lady’s finger).

Stating that alliances were becoming increasingly important in seed industry to bridge the gap between field experience and emerging technologies, the report said most research and development works in the country are being done in the public sector. “These institutions are being generously funded by the Union Government,” it said.

Research work on

Research work is being carried in 19 crops. They are rice, wheat, cotton, potato, banana, tomato, rapeseed, mustard, coffee, tobacco, eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower, melon, citrus fruit, black gram, groundnut, chickpea and pigeon pea.

Eight institutions, as per the report, are concentrating on two or more crops, while others are concentrating on one each.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:34 AM | Permalink

I ran across this op-ed written by Gregory Conko and Henry I. Miller today. The two biotechnology supporters discuss the European Union’s resistance in forcing member countries to lift bans on genetically modified products after the World Trade Organization ruled that such acts were breaking international trade rules. The WTO announced this ruling in November 2005, but the EU is still not enforcing it. Read more about this below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Europe's Continued Hostility to GM Crops Runs Afoul of Science, WTO
Competitive Enterprise Institute
January 23, 2008

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom may have new leaders who bring the promise overall of better trans-Atlantic relations, but when it comes to the politics of global trade, some things never change. This month, the European Union missed yet another deadline for correcting its illegal regulation of gene-spliced, or "genetically modified" (GM), crop varieties, following a World Trade Organization decision in November 2005 that some European countries were breaking international trade rules by prohibiting the import of GM foods and crops.

Although the WTO bluntly scolded the EU for imposing a moratorium on gene-spliced crop approvals from 1998 to 2004, that finding was a foregone conclusion. European politicians, including then-EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrцm, had acknowledged that the moratorium was "an illegal, illogical, and otherwise arbitrary line in the sand."

The WTO also made clear that national bans on certain gene-spliced foods in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Luxembourg were blatant violations both of those countries' treaty obligations and EU rules, but the European Commission has been impotent in persuading its rogue members to conform to EU policies. Not only are most of those national bans still in place but, in October 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy implemented a new moratorium on the commercial cultivation of gene-spliced corn.

The most important victory for the United States and its partners was the WTO's judgment that the European Commission failed to abide by its own regulations by "undue delaying" of approvals for 25 gene-spliced food products. The culprit here was (and is) the European Commission's highly politicized, sclerotic, two-stage approval process: Each application first must be cleared for marketing by various scientific panels, and then voted on by politicians, who routinely undo the scientific decisions.

As the WTO pointed out, the relevant EC scientific committees had recommended approval of all 25 product applications. But, for transparently political reasons rather than concerns about consumer health or environmental protection, EU politicians repeatedly refused to sign off on the final approvals.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 7:00 AM | Permalink

I found this article today on GMO Compass. The European Commission (EC), the ruling body of the European Union, ruled that Poland would not be allowed to ban genetically modified crops that are already approved in the European Union. Poland submitted a draft law last year that would restrict the planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to designated zones and also place additional requirements on the use of GMO seeds. Read more about this below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Poland may not ban genetically modified plants
GMO Compass
January 23, 2008

Poland must allow the cultivation of genetically modified plants approved in the EU. The European Commission has rejected a draft law on genetically modified organisms (GMO) that would have restricted any plantings to designated zones and placed additional requirements on the use of GMO seeds. According to the Commission, Poland did not provide any new scientific evidence to justify the national measure in reference to the protection of the environment or the working environment. Consequently, the ban cannot be based on the "safeguard clause" foreseen in the EU law. Reports from Polish media indicate the willingness of the newly elected centre-right government to ease its stance over biotechnology.

In April 2007, Poland had notified the Commission of its plan to prohibit the planting of genetically modified plants by law. Any cultivation would be obliged to take place within designated zones. After application and the subsequent solicitation of the responsible municipal council, such zones could have been established by governmental decision. Comprehensive obligations also were foreseen in the case of a deliberate release for experimental purposes. The draft act foresaw a risk assessment and technical documentation, as well as written declarations of consent from neighbouring farmers. In rationalising such measures, the government made reference to the small structured agricultural land-use in Poland. The country has almost two million farms and the average area of a single farm is less than 8 hectares. Given this level of fragmentation, the isolation of GM from conventional and organic crops was assessed by the government as impossible.

Comparing the Polish act with the EU Directive on the deliberate release, the Commission concluded that the national measures are more restrictive. In accordance with EU law, experimental releases are not subject to the consent of any third party such as neighbouring farmers. Furthermore, without entitling any Member State to adopt a general ban of the cultivation or any other use of a genetically modified organism, the provisions of the EU Directive indicate that the cultivation of a GMO can be prohibited only on a case-by-case basis. Poland did not refer to new scientific studies, literature or other possible findings indicating new evidence concerning the protection of the environment or the working environment. The Commission's decision was dated as October 12th, 2007 but was not published in the Official Journal until Monday, 21th January, 2008.

Read more...

Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:51 AM | Permalink

The New Delhi publication The Deccan Herald posted an article this week reporting that their government has approved “in-principle” herbicide tolerant crops. Field trials should start soon.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Herbicide-tolerant crops are coming
Deccan Herald
January 18, 2008

Known as herbicide tolerance, the technology actually offers a package to the farmer.

Notwithstanding the ongoing controversies related to Bt cotton and Bt brinjal, the government is all set to embrace another genetically modified technology which generated considerable heat in the US and Canada during the last decade.

Known as “herbicide tolerance”, the technology actually offers a package to the farmer — a broad spectrum pesticide that can kill allmost all types of weeds and a GM crop that can withstand that pesticide. The net result is an increase in productivity.

The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has given “in-principle” approval to herbicide tolerant crops which are genetically modified to withstand a particular herbicide.

The ICAR approval came at a consultation meeting on December 10 and 11, which was attended by the council’s director-general, Dr Mangala Rai, and deputy director general Dr A K Singh, sources told Deccan Herald.

One of the ICAR institutes, the Jabalpur-based National Research Centre for Weed Science (NRCWS), plans to undertake a five-year project with the technology’s worldwide leader Monsanto during the 11th Plan. Monsanto manufactures a herbicide called Roundup that kills almost all plant species including most crop plants though it is safe for humans and animals. The same company also produces genetically modified crop plants like corn, canola, cotton and soybean, which can withstand Roundup’s onslaught.

The same herbicide kills other weeds thereby increasing the overall crop productivity. Weeds reduce 30-40 per cent productivity for any crop. Monsanto and its Indian partner Mahyco tested two Roundup ready products — flex cotton and yield guard corn — in confined fields in a limited way. But larger trials could not be carried forward because of restrictions imposed by the apex court. “We are waiting for a verdict from the Supreme Court, which had stayed trials of all GM crops. Scientifically herbicide tolerance is a correct technique that gives value to the farmers,” NRCWS director Dr Jay G Varshney told Deccan Herald from Jabalpur.

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Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:50 AM | Permalink

I found the following article on the biotechnology news site Check Biotech this week. The article quotes the Indian scientist M. S. Swaminathan as stressing the need to “harmonize organic farming and the new genetics.” Read more about it below.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Harmonise organic farming with biotechnology, says noted Indian scientist
Check biotech
January 10, 2008

Renowned Indian scientist M.S.Swaminathan has stressed the need to “harmonise organic farming and the new genetics” to ensure that agricultural productivity does not compromise ecological sustainability.

Addressing a seminar in Chennai, southern India, a couple of days ago, Dr.Swaminathan, hailed as the father of India’s green revolution, affirmed that while biotechnology had a vital role to play in helping India and the world achieve food security.

In that context, he felt that only an autonomous, professionally-led national biotechnology regulatory authority would “inspire public confidence” in genetically modified organisms.

Dr. Swaminathan said food security was one of the biggest challenges the world was now facing. The global demand for rice was expected to be 800 million tonnes by 2025, and 585 million tonnes was the global production in 2003. This would imply an increase in average yield from the current five tonnes per hectare to 8.5 tonnes.

“Land is a shrinking resource, so we need to produce more and more food on less and less land. What we need is an Evergreen Revolution, but with ecologically sustainable techniques like organic farming, horticulture and green agriculture,” he said.

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Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:45 AM | Permalink

I found a great article in the London Times this week. The article discusses the success of biotechnology companies Monsanto and Syngenta and the growth of acceptance of genetically modified crops throughout the world.

Dr. C Kameswara Rao

Frankenstein foods are not monsters
The London Times
January 09, 2008

All hail Doctor Frankenstein, maker of monsters. God is in retreat, skulking outside the laboratory while modern imitators of Mary Shelley’s mad boffin brew potions, splice genes and bring more new life forms into profitable being.

Ten years after the Prince of Wales accused genetic engineers of taking us into “realms that belong to God and God alone”, those who trespassed into the Kingdom of Heaven have emerged triumphant with a bag full of swag. Monsanto, the American corporation that brought us maize that makes its own pesticide, is thriving, rolling in cash, its stock price ascendant.

A decade ago, Europeans could sneer at genetically modified crops, deriding them as a US-food industry phenomenon, invented to service the food needs of America’s burger-chomping fatties and as attractive as mechanically recovered meat. While we sniffed in our bunkers, the seed barons were winning hearts, minds and stomachs in Asia and Latin America. By 2006, genetically modified crops were grown on more than 100 million hectares in 22 countries, with farmers in China and India clamouring for the seed. The driver is demographics, economics and plain old commerce. Food prices have soared, prompting government agencies to engage in panic buying of wheat. Land is becoming scarce as cities advance and companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta, its Swiss rival, make plants that repel predatory bugs and that use less herbicide. The promise for farmers is bigger yields at lower cost and, in a world that needs to feed an extra three billion people by 2050, the need is powerful.

These companies have won the commercial argument, making the right products at the right time, and have profited hugely. Syngenta’s share price surged by 50 per cent last year, while Monsanto’s grew by 140 per cent and the American company last week revealed that its net income in the first quarter had almost tripled to $256 million (£128 million). Its sales of seeds had risen by 23 per cent from the previous year because of soaring demand in Latin America, an astonishing achievement for a business that was almost on its knees in 2002, accused of poisoning the world for profit. So successful was the ideological assault against GM food that Zambia was persuaded to reject American food aid on the ground that it contained GM ingredients that might pollute Zambia’s biosphere.

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Posted by Dr. C Kameswara Rao at 6:57 AM | Permalink

Neil Parish, Chairman of the European Parliament agriculture committee spoke at the Oxford Farming Conference in England last week. In his speech he encouraged farmers to embrace genetically modified crops to help with clima