Brownfield Ag News’ 2009 Year in Review series honors the legacy of Dr. Borlaug, featuring interviews with  Ambassador Kenneth Quinn,  World Food Prize Foundation President, and Dr. Peggy Lemaux, University of California, Berkeley.

“This past year marked the passing of an incredible person, Dr. Norman Borlaug,” said Brownfield’s Tom Steever.

“[Dr. Borlaug] saved a billion lives with his breakthrough development of miracle wheat,” said Ambassador Quinn.  “He saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.”

“The work that he did creating short stature rice and wheat plants had a tremendous worldwide impact on people’s lives providing nutrition when there were many experts in the field who predicted massive starvation,” said Dr. Lemaux. “Through his work he was able to prove that through human ingenuity you could overcome challenges like that.”

Do you have a comment about Dr. Borlaug’s legacy? If so, we encourage you to leave a comment. 

To listen to Brownfield Ag News’ Year in Review radio series, click here and listen to Segment 3 to hear more about Dr. Borlaug’s legacy.

2009 was a big year for agricultural biotechnology, as top leaders and top-tier national media talked about the benefits of the technology. “We believe that biotechnology has a critical role to play in increasing agricultural productivity, particularly in light of climate change. We also believe it can help to improve the nutritional value of staple foods,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In The Economist’s “The World in 2010” issue, Matt Ridley wrote, “Genetically modified crops are proving to be an unmitigated environmental miracle… Within a decade there may be crops that are no-till, insect-resistant, omega-3-enriched, drought-tolerant, salt-tolerant and nitrogen-efficient. If they boost yields, then the 21st century will see more and more people better and better fed from less and less land.”

We turned to scientists for their opinions on the top three ag biotech stories of the year - those that stood out in terms of their significance and impact on the future of agricultural biotechnology worldwide.

Their choices:

1. Norman Borlaug’s Legacy: The loss of Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of the Green Revolution, was cited by several experts as the biggest story of 2009 because of his work to alleviate poverty and hunger.

According to Dr. Ronald Phillips of the University of Minnesota, “Norman Borlaug was one of the greatest humanitarians to ever have lived and he achieved this through hard work, impeccable ethics, a belief in training, and a vision as to what can improve the human condition.”

Reflecting on Dr. Borlaug’s legacy, Dr. Peggy G. Lemaux of the University of California, Berkeley wrote “far and away the year’s top story is Norman Borlaug. Biotech lost a strong and influential voice with his passing. One that cannot be filled by any other shoes.”

2. China Begins Approval Process for Biotech Rice: Many scientists also chose the story about China declaring two strands of genetically modified rice safe to produce and consume as one of the year’s most significant ag biotech developments.

According to Dr. Kenneth G. Cassman of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, “this announcement is a game-changer because China produces about 30% of rice in the world….Therefore, I believe this approval will create an overwhelming pressure to approve biotech crops in most developing nations.”

Dr. Chris Somerville of the University of California-Berkeley, chose China’s announcement as his top story of the year because “it is the official opening of the largest food market in the world to GMO.”

3. Mapping of the Corn Genome: Other scientists suggested that the mapping of the corn genome qualifies as the biggest ag biotech story of the year because of what can be achieved when we understand the genome sequence of this important crop.

Dr. Larry Heatherly of the University of Tennessee chose the mapping of the corn genome as the story of the year because “this achievement will lead to new/improved quality traits, enhanced genetic pest resistance, and increased production with fewer inputs resulting in lower cost of production and a more sustainable economic production system.”

Paul Voosen from Greenwire discusses the emergence of molecular breeding as one of the many techniques  of biotech crop development. Molecular breeding uses latent genes in discarded seed varieties of a particular crop type.

Voosen says, “This next generation could shake up what has become a stalled debate by introducing GM crops that, for example, use only their species’ native genes or have the expression of their own genes silenced.”

By utilizing native genetic information instead of foreign genes, molecular breeding has avoided criticism from some traditional opponents of biotech crops.

The entire article can be read here.

Last week’s climate talks in Copenhagen produced a draft agreement forming an international working group to reduce global warming emissions from the agriculture sector. According to The New York Times Green Inc. blog, the creation of this group reflects the “rising importance of agriculture in the climate change debate.”

The group will aim to mitigate the carbon emissions from crop and livestock cultivation by focusing on technologies, such as agricultural biotechnology, that can strengthen food security in developing nations despite rising temperatures and an increasing population.

You can learn more about the international working group on agriculture here.

Dr. Terry Etherton, the Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition and Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University posted a blog highlighting several research summaries by PG Economics that demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of agricultural biotechnology.

Dr. Etherton writes that biotech crops require “less-frequent herbicide or insecticide applications and reduced energy usage in soil cultivation from the use of no-till and reduced-till farming systems.” The research summaries show that in 2007 the GHG emission reductions from biotech crops were equivalent to removing nearly 6.3 million cars from the road for one year.

Read more about the results of the 2009 PG Economics study in Dr. Etherton’s blog here.

Watch Graham Brooks, Director of PG Economics, discuss the company’s findings about the benefits of agricultural biotechnology here.