In This
Issue:
ASIAN
FARMERS FORM REGIONAL NETWORK
Farmers
from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam
have grouped themselves into the Asian Farmers Regional Network
or ASFARNET to promote the active exchange of experiences and knowledge
on alternative modern farming technologies. This was a major highlight
of a capacity building workshop on “Farmer to Farmer: Sharing
Experiences Related to Agricultural Biotechnology” held in
Manila and Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines from December 3-6,
2003.
The
workshop aimed to, among others: increase Southeast Asian farmers’ awareness
of the challenges facing agricultural biotechnology; enhance farmers’ knowledge
of policy issues, based on stakeholders’ experiences with
agricultural biotechnology in the Philippines; and discuss farmer-level
experiences with biotechnology crops. Farmers from the United States,
India and the Philippines shared their experiences in planting
genetically modified crops and how they have benefited from the
technology.
In the
interim, ASFARNET will be assisted by the International Service
for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) after
which it will be coordinated by a Secretariat headed by Mr. Edwin
Paraluman, a farmer-leader from the Philippines. The farmers’ network
will also engage in activities that will ensure responsible farming,
accelerate transfer of appropriate modern technology, and ensure
community participation in these activities.
A total
of 31 farmers were joined by representatives from media from the
Philippines and Thailand, researchers, and representatives from
research agencies and related institutions. They attended a series
of lectures on biotechnology from experts in the field, visited
field trials and actual farmers’ fields planted to Bt corn,
and engaged in active discussion of research activities in the
International Rice Research Institute and the Institute of Plant
Breeding at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. Farmers
were unanimous in saying that they should be given the right to
choose what crop to plant and having alternative crop varieties
is important to allow them to make the right decisions.
The
workshop was co-organized by ISAAA, UP Los Baños, SEAMEO
Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture,
Cornell University, and the United States Government under the
auspices of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
For
more information about ASFARNET email Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Southeast
Asia Center director at r.hautea@isaaa.org.
RASCO: BANNING
BIOTECH IS UNDEMOCRATIC
”Banning
biotechnology or specifically Bt corn, as some sectors propose
because of (certain) claims, is clearly undemocratic,” says
Dr. Eufemio T. Rasco, Jr., Professor, University of the Philippines,
Mindanao. Rasco presented a paper during the recent Farmer to Farmer
workshop that was held last December 3 to 6 at the Asian Institute
of Management Conference Center in Makati City, Philippines.
Rasco
argued that the “fear of plant biotechnology” is the
real issue that people should be greatly concerned about. He also
clarified some of the fears and false beliefs about plant biotechnology
which are: 1. that biotechnology is new and untested; and 2. that
the process involved in plant biotechnology is not necessarily
bad, but its products can be harmful.
Speaking
before 31 farmers from six countries, namely: Indonesia, Thailand,
Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines, Rasco reiterated
that modern plant biotechnology is grounded on principles learned
from nature, and unlike natural biotechnology, it is more predictable
and is subjected to more systematic tests.
Also,
negative claims or issues pertaining to plant biotechnology are
generally not supported by scientific evidence.
EFSA: GM CORN
AS SAFE AS CONVENTIONAL CORN
The
European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Scientific Panel
on Genetically Modified Organisms has concluded that the herbicide-tolerant
GM maize NK 603 is as safe as conventional maize and making it
commercially available is unlikely to have an adverse effect on
human or animal health. This published opinion was released recently
as the first of a series of risk assessments of different GM plant
varieties.
Dr.
Harry Kuiper, chair of the scientific panel, said that they reviewed
the evidence presented on the GM maize to evaluate its safety.
The risk assessment process include the examination of: the DNA
integrated into NK 603; the nature and safety of the target proteins
by the transgenic event; and the possibility that the genetic modification
may have influenced the safety, allergenicity and nutritional value
of NK 603 in comparison with conventional maize.
More
details about the EFSA opinions can be viewed online at http://www.efsa.eu.int/
pdf/pressrel_gmo_0203_final_en.pdf
BIOTECH POLITICS
IN INDIA
Peter
Newell of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University
of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom, stated in an IDS working
paper that in India, firms that are engaged in biotechnology have
played an important role in the formulation of biotech policies.
Newell added that the policy agenda appears to be influenced by
a close-knit policy network of biotech entrepreneurs from larger
multinational companies and successful start-up firms with good
national and global connections.
The
author theorizes that the extent to which biotech companies are
involved in primary research, how they export their products, or
whether they require protection for their products help to determine
their political affiliation with leading organizations that are
active on biotechnology issues. In turn, these associations would
illustrate distinct patterns of interaction with particular regulatory
agencies, and differing degrees of contact with global industry
coalitions.
Newell
concludes that whose influence would prove strongest would depend
on the individual firms’ biotechnology development efforts,
which are supposedly consistent with the national interest, and
the roles that foreign investors would assume as opposed to local
entrepreneurs.
See
the full paper entitled “Biotech firms, biotech politics:
Negotiating GMOs in India” by Peter Newell at http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp201.pdf.
BIOTECH: AN ARENA
FOR CORPORATE DOMINANCE
”Biotechnology’s
evolution will be driven largely by the decisions of company directors
and research scientists in the private sector, who are preoccupied
with corporate profitability and competitiveness, rather than the
problems of poverty, food security and economic development in
poor countries,” states Dominic Glover of the Institute of
Development Studies, University of Sussex, in Brighton, United
Kingdom.
Glover
observed that whether developing countries and poor farmers have
access to agricultural biotechnology, the science would still have
a profound effect on them. Private companies have continued to
concentrate on the high-value proprietary of genetic modification
(GM) technologies which are primarily attuned to the needs of wealthy
markets.
Thus,
to lessen threats on farmers in developing countries, Glover suggests
a public policy and regulatory framework which includes the following
elements:
- Public
funding for research and development (R&D) should address
the needs of developing country farmers for affordable, appropriate
technologies; and
- A
regulatory framework that would ensure that the core business
activities of companies contribute to development. This may require
additional policies on: private companies’ incentives;
re-examination of intellectual property rights (IPR) policies;
effective enforcement of competition and anti-trust laws; and
policy and regulatory frameworks that should include ethical
practice of corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship.
Download
the briefing paper “Corporate Dominance and Agricultural
Biotechnology: Implications for Development” at http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/env/PDFs/%20Briefing3.pdf.
STUDY SHOWS
GM BEET MORE ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY
Researchers
at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom (UK) say that
genetically modified (GM) sugar beet is more environmentally friendly
than conventional beet. “Overall, herbicide-resistant GM
beet was 15 to 50 per cent better for the environment, depending
on what impact was being measured,” explained Richard Phipps
of the School of Agriculture at the University of Reading. Major
benefit was that farmers spray less weed killer and pesticide on
GM beet.
The
results are a contrast to the findings of the recently completed
UK farm-scale evaluations which concluded that GM sugar beet and
GM oilseed rape had a negative impact on farmland wildlife. Differences
in results were attributed to the impact measurement used. The
University of Reading study took into account the wider impacts
of crop cultivation such as their contribution to global warming,
damage to the ozone layer and toxicity to aquatic life while the
farm-scale evaluations did not.
Phipps
presented his preliminary findings to the UK government’s
Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment. For more information,
contact Richard Phipps at r.h.phipps@reading.ac.uk.
NCFAP: GM CROPS
OFFER BENEFITS TO GROWERS
The
widespread adoption of plant biotechnology in corn, oilseed rape,
wheat, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, sugar beets and stone fruit in
Europe can result in significant yield increases, savings for growers,
and pesticide use reduction. This was revealed by the National
Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) in their report
entitled “Plant Biotechnology: Potential Impact for Improving
Pest Management in European Agriculture: A Summary of Nine Case
Studies”.
Together
the nine crops could increase yields by 8.5 billion kilograms per
year, increase grower net income by EUR 1.6 B per year, and reduce
pesticide use by 14.4 million kilograms per year compared with
existing practices. Biotech tomato offers the greatest yield and
income, while herbicide tolerant corn would result in largest pesticide
reduction.
The
report further notes that crops like virus resistant stone fruit
(peaches, apricots and plums) could save the industry in certain
parts of Italy, Austria, Spain, Greece and many other growing areas,
while crops like herbicide tolerant wheat could reduce pesticide
use by 1.4 million kilograms. Leonard Gianessi, program director
of NCFAP says that “these case studies show every country
stands to benefit from development of the new varieties evaluated
in this study.”
View
the full report online at http://www.ncfap.org/reports/Europe/ExecutiveSummaryDecember.pdf
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW CD-ROM FROM PHILRICE
The
Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) has released its
new publication on the golden apple snail (GAS). The new publication,
which is available in CD-ROM, contains a scientific information
database on GAS. It provides three decades of literature on ecology,
damage, management options and utilization of GAS as an invasive
pest of rice, and other crops that grow in aquatic environments.
The database includes 400 articles, and over 100 images sourced
from experts worldwide. For more information, email Dr. RC Joshi
at joshiraviph@yahoo.com.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
The
African Journal of Biotechnology has released its November 2003
issue. Abstracts and full articles are available for free at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/contents/2003contentlist/November%202(11).htm. Authors may also submit their papers for posting
to ajb_acadjourn@yahoo.com.
NEW
PAPER ON CO-EXISTENCE OF GM AND NON-GM CROPS
Graham
Brookes and Peter Barfoot's paper entitled "Co-existence of
GM and non-GM Arable Crops: Case Study of the UK" is available
at http://www.isaaa.org/kc.
The authors discusses the issue of co-existence between these two
types of crops with specific applicability to the other crops grown
in the United Kingdom. | 
