The Corn Farmers Coalition recently published a “Corn Fact Book” full of great stats on farming and corn production. Some of my favorites:

• By 2005, the U.S. was the world’s biggest grower of biotech crops with more than half. It’s thought that global farming would have been $5 billion less without these crops. The biggest gains have been in soybeans and cotton. However, corn boosted farm income by more than $3 billion in 2005.

• Thanks in part to ag biotech, it takes 40% less land and 50% less energy to produce a bushel of corn than it did in 1987.

• Farmers grow five times as much corn as they did in the 1930s — on 20 percent less land.

• Reduced tillage and other farm management practices have reduced soil erosion 43% in 20 years.

• A farmer can save as much as 3.5 gallons of fuel an acre from no-till farming, which is possible with some biotech crops.

• The Federal Bureau of Labor statistics say that most farms employ only the farmer and perhaps a family member or a hired hand or two.

• The US produces enough corn that we can afford to export one in every five rows of corn each year and still have enough for domestic needs.

• Individuals or families own 82% of American corn farms. Another 6% are family held corporations; 11% are owned by partnerships; and the remaining handful — less than 4,000 — are owned by other types of corporations or estates, trusts and institutions.

• The average corn farm has fewer than 250 acres. Only 8% are bigger than 2,000 acres according to government statistics.

We had the opportunity to chat with Sonny Tababa of CropLife Asia and presenter on the Global Product Stewardship panel at BIO about ag biotech outreach efforts in Asia and stewardship in plant biotech.

1. What is the status of ag biotech adoption in Asia?

Adoption of biotech crops in Asia remains vibrant which is reflective of the multiple benefits derived by millions of small-farmers.  In 2008, 10% of the total global area for GM crops or 12 million hectares have been planted to different biotech crops in Australia, China, India, and Philippines.  With functional regulations in place, different Asian countries– notably Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan– continue to import huge amounts of corn and soybeans from countries that planted biotech corn and soybeans.

2. What are the challenges faced by farmers in Asia?

Access to appropriate production and post-production technologies is a major constraint.  However, there are other non-technological factors like access to credit and markets, infrastructure like farm-to-market roads, access to basic services like health, etc.  Our farmers are resource-challenged and every bit that we can feasibly do to help them improve their situation in life must be done.

3. Rosalie Ellasus, a farmer from the Philippines and a panelist at BIO 2009, said that if Asian countries adopt agriculture biotechnology, it “will boost the economy of each country.” How do you think ag biotech can contribute to the economies of Asian countries?

There are many progressive farmers, like Ms. Ellasus, who tried the new technology-biotech crops and continue to adopt it to this day.  With better protection against insect pests and weeds, yields are much higher by at least 20-30%.  For Bt corn, dramatic increases are observed when there is higher incidence of corn borer in the farms.  This in turn, translates to higher incomes and opportunities to invest in other small businesses by farmers.  For instance, farmers can have ‘extra’ income that they can use to buy small farm implements, or buffalos for hire, or to start a small piggery business.  Or, use some amounts for home improvement, or to support the continuing education of their children.  With a bit more purchasing power in farming communities, benefits domino to local or community businesses. 

4. In your panel description you discuss the “importance of stewardship in plant biotechnology and the industry’s lifecycle approach to stewardship.” What do you mean by “stewardship” in plant biotechnology and what is its importance?

Stewardship is taking care of what is entrusted.  The plant science industry commits to develop high quality plant biotechnology products and promote its safe and responsible use.  Lifecycle approach to stewardship means an ‘inception to a life beyond’ approach of ensuring that our pledge of commitment is being met.  For instance, during the gene discovery phase, our scientists examine the source of each gene and the potential for allergenicity and toxicity.  Many of these genes do not see commercial light if found too risky.  Also, all of our member-companies support and comply with biosafety rules and regulations of importing and cultivating countries.  We support farmers and their responsible use of the technology during provision of technology via integrated pest and weed management and even after when technology has been provided so that the longevity of the technology can be maintained.  We work with farmers and regulators in insect resistance and weed resistance management programs.

Phil Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports on newly engineered corn that researchers say “opens the way for the development of nutritionally complete” grains. African lines of white corn have been engineered by scientists in Spain to provide high levels of beta carotene, a key source of vitamin A, and significant levels of vitamin C and folate. The corn, which scientists believe could alleviate malnutrition in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, has been funded through the Spanish government and a European Union program.

Reports Brasher, “Some 250 million preschool children are deficient in vitamin A, and as many as 500,000 kids go blind each year for lack of the nutrient, according to the World Health Organization. The Rockefeller Foundation is pushing ahead with an effort to produce large amounts of a vitamin A-enriched rice, known as Golden Rice. At the World Food Prize’s Borlaug Dialogue symposium last fall, the foundation’s president, Judith Rodin, said the rice could ‘save almost 3 million children’s lives, while nourishing as many as 300 million more.’”

Greg Jaffe, a specialist in agricultural biotechnology with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, adds, “We have so many millions of people around the world who have diets that are less than ideal. We should be using all the tools available to try to improve those diets.”

“There is strong justification for trying to use technology of this sort” to address malnutrition, Stephen Howell, director of Iowa State University’s Plant Sciences Institute, said.

Several stories here and here on a collaboration of scientists in Canada, the United States and Spain who report that they have found an elusive group of proteins that help plants survive drought, cold and heat. One of the researchers,  Julian Schroeder, Professor at the University of California at San Diego is on this year’s BIO Convention panel “Saving Harvests, Lives & Livelihoods: Breakthroughs in Plant Stress Tolerance Technologies.”

From the San Diego Tribune story:

By focusing on a plant’s natural defense mechanisms, University of California researchers believe they have cracked an elusive genetic secret – a discovery that someday could help farmers produce more food with less water.

Their prize is a protein molecule that relays signals to cells that help plants cope with environmental stress, such as drought.

“It has indeed been a holy grail,” said Julian Schroeder, a biologist at UC San Diego who was part of the research team.

The San Diego Tribune story quotes Dr. Michael Metzlaff, senior scientist for Bayer BioScience:

“The discovery from Schroeder and Cutler may open new routes for breeding new crop, fruit and vegetable varieties which can be grown in dry areas, (such) as California,” Michael Metzlaff, senior scientist for Bayer BioScience based in Belgium, said via e-mail.

“This would open novel routes in crop breeding and commercial agriculture. . . . The amount of water needed for irrigation could be cut down without loss of harvests. This would mean a substantial cost saving for farmers and the whole of California.”

Last year at the BIO Convention Dr. Metzlaff, Group Leader, Crop Productivity Research at Bayer CropScience stated, “The increased tolerance of crops to major environmental stresses and the enhancement of productivity will be critical as water scarcity and the world population grows. We must continue to develop plants that withstand short term stresses, increase yield stability and allow planting in high stress areas.”

Dr. Metzlaff returns to the BIO Convention this year as a moderator on the “Saving Harvests, Lives & Livelihoods: Breakthroughs in Plant Stress Tolerance Technologies” panel.