Plant Biotech Blog

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

Read more

C Kameswara Rao
Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness and Education, Bangalore, India
krao@vsnl.com, www.fbae.org, www.fbaeblog.org

http://www.fbae.org/Channels/Views/bee_colony_collapse_disaster_was.htm

Colony Collapse Disaster (CCD), the desertion and death of almost all the bees in a colony, occurs now and then, sometimes in epidemic proportions, in all countries resulting in 50 to 90 per cent losses. While several causes for CCD were identified, no specific reason or reliable remedies are known.

There was a collapse of Honey Bee colonies in the US and Europe in the middle of last year, causing enormous losses. The anti-Genetic Engineering (GE) activists were quick to attribute the CCD to the pollen of Bt crops, and used it vigorously in their campaign.

As there are several Bt transgenics in cultivation in the US, it is not odd to consider them as one of probable causes of the CCD. But in the case of the EU countries and elsewhere that argument is absurd, as there is a distinct lack of Bt pollen in the environment.

Poisoning by agricultural chemicals, unusually higher than normal winter damage and natural age dependent colony degeneration, are often confused with CCD.

A detailed write up by Christian Evans in News Target (March 2007) analyzed the various possible causes for last year’s bee colony disaster and considered that the heavy chemical inputs in modern agricultural practices as responsible for the problem

A very large number of detailed studies have shown that the Bt proteins in Bt transgenic crops are not dangerous to bees, as also emphasized by the consensus Document No. 42 (July 2007), released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. So far not even a single peer reviewed report has proved that the products of Bt genes in GE crops are harmful to honey bees, bumble bees or such other insect pollination vectors.

At a hearing at the US House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture about CCD (April 5, 2007), three experts testified that the pollen from GE crops was not one of the causes for the disaster. Nicotinoid pesticides, which may affect honey bee’s learning ability, were suggested as one of the probable causes. The general impression at the Committee hearings was that the problem was overblown from the level of normal over-winter losses.

The Irish Times (April 06, 2007) attributed bee colony losses to either the usually inexplicable CCD or a new form of Varroa destructor, a mite that attacks bees, which was prevalent for the past four or five years in Ireland.

The Omega News (April 15, 2007) raised the question if mobile phones are wiping out the bees, by scrambling their signals and same was reiterated in June 2007, in an article in the Independent (UK).

Using DNA sequencing and analytical methods, recently a team of scientists has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and honey bee CCD (Science Daily, September 6, 2007).

While it would require some more investigations and time to confirm the role of Varroa mites and/or the IAPV, it is now certain that Bt proteins are not the cause of CCD.

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.

Read more