This week, we found more ag biotech stories to share, including some great news out of the EU that could lead to the approval of more biotech crops in Europe.
CTIC releases latest Sustainability & Biotechnology Report
The Conservation Technology Information Center just released its latest report on improving sustainability efforts with agricultural biotechnology, according to AgWired. The report, released at the end of May, stresses the importance of environmental and economic sustainability to farming. “Biotechnology-derived crops and the sustainable farming systems they facilitate are key tools in the race to grow more food, feed, fiber and fuel while protecting the environment,” according to a statement made in the executive summary for the report. READ MORE »
CBI Expert Dr. Pamela Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at UC-Davis and author of Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food, provided CBI, in the lead-up to our BIO 2010 panel about public perception and agricultural biotechnology, her expert opinion on this important topic. Thanks, Pam!
Council for Biotechnology Information: What do you believe is the public’s perception of agricultural biotechnology and do you believe this is a fair portrayal of the science?
Dr. Ronald: There is no doubt that GE [genetically engineered] crops have an image problem in Europe and in some parts of the US. Part of the problem is that many see the process of GE as a tool that only benefits large corporations and large farmers in the US and other countries. But it’s also a tool for breeding, it’s a tool for biologists, it’s a tool for farmers. READ MORE »
As a guest blogger on Dr. Pamela Ronald’s Tomorrow’s Table, Dr. Kent J. Bradford, Professor of Plant Sciences and Academic Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis and member of the CBI’s Experts List, discusses the role biotechnology plays in sustainability. Bradford cites a Keystone Center study that found that corn, cotton, and soybeans all improved in their level of sustainability between 1997 and 2007, a period during which GE varieties became dominant in these crops.
“The results from 13 years of commercial GE crops are clear,” Bradford says. “If CUESA (The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) and other groups are serious about advancing agricultural sustainability, they should encourage producers to use GE crops rather than avoid them. And if they want to educate urban consumers about sustainable agriculture, there is a great story to tell about biotechnology FOR sustainability.”
The entire article can be found here.
Please share your thoughts on biotechnology’s role in achieving sustainable agriculture.
