There were several panels related to agricultural biotechnology on the second day of the BIO Convention focusing on a variety of issues including high-performing energy crops, emerging standards for stewardship in agriculture, private public partnerships to promote agricultural development and increasing drought tolerance in plants.

We had the opportunity to interview Michael Metzlaff of Bayer CropScience, the moderator of the “Breakthroughs in Plant Stress Tolerance Technologies” who spoke of the advances in research in drought tolerant crops.

We also talked with Daniel Mataruka of African Agricultural Technology Foundation, who spoke on the “Public-Private Partnerships in Agricultural Biotechnology: Going Beyond Development Impact” panel. Dr. Mataruka spoke of the political resistance to ag biotech in Africa and the efforts to overcome the opposition.

BIOtechNOW Blog wrote about the “The Value Proposition for Next-Generation Energy Crops: Value Chain and Business Model Considerations” panel:

Food & Ag sessions got off to an interesting start this morning as three companies told their very different tales of sailing turbulent economic waters over the past two years in search of profitable harbors.

With oil at $140/barrel, it looked like a game almost anybody could play. With oil at $50/barrel things are a lot more competitive.

Aaron Schuchart (Mendel BioTechnology) described Mendel’s approach to the challenges of making and selling improved seeds to serve farmers seeking to provide feedstock for biomass energy and fuels. When a 10 percent increase in yield can improve producer margins by 114 percent, it’s a market worthy of attention. Mendel is working with a variety of materials including sugarcane and, Miscanthus, testing a broad variety of germplasm in search of the best material to adapt to regional markets.

Special CBI guest blogger, Dr. Nina Fedoroff - Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State and to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development

Over the past year, the world has experienced a succession of shocks:  a global food crisis, spiraling energy costs, accelerating climate change and most recently, a financial meltdown. But even as each crisis sweeps the previous one out of awareness, it is important to recognize that the food crisis is neither sudden nor quickly fixed.  It has developed gradually as a result of relentless increases in demand in the context of a finite natural resource base and decreasing global investment in agricultural research and development. At the present rate of growth in population and affluence, we will need to double the food supply by mid-century.  Yet the amount of land farmed hasn’t changed appreciably in more than half century, nor is it likely to change substantially over the next half century. And climate change is expected to decrease yields, even on today’s most productive farm land.  Where will the food come from?

Contemporary genetic modification of crop plants is embedded in a history of plant domestication that transformed plants profoundly from their wild origins.  No crop better illustrates both the genetic plasticity of plants and the inventiveness of humans better than the maize (corn) plant.  Thousands of years before science formally entered agriculture in the late 18th century, early peoples had transformed the hard-seeded teosinte rachis into the soft-kernelled early maize ear through the accumulation of a handful of genetic changes that completely altered the architecture of the plant.

Scientific advances in the understanding of plants’ chemical requirements throughout the 19th century culminated in the invention of the Haber-Bosch process for synthesis of fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen in the early 20th century, removing a major limitation on the productivity of agriculture. The rediscovery of Mendel’s genetic experiments in the early 20th century led serendipitously to the development of today’s highly productive maize hybrids, one of humanity’s handful of major cereal grains. The identification of mutant dwarf varieties of wheat and rice that are highly responsive to fertilization belied renewed Malthusian predictions at mid-20th century, giving rise to the Green Revolution.

The late 20th century witnessed a second genetic revolution with the invention of recombinant DNA technology, the explosion of genome sequencing, and the development of techniques for the introduction of individual genes into microorganisms, plants, and animals.  Today, it is possible to modify organisms, including crop plants, in extremely precise ways, adding just one or a few genes at a time. Curiously, these latest genetic modifications, much less profound than those that gave us our crops to begin with, have come to be viewed as unprecedented and possibly even dangerous by a largely urban public unfamiliar with farms and farming, plants and plant breeding.

While contemporary genetic modification (only this kind is called GM) was readily accepted both in medicine and in the food and beverage industry, GM crop plants have remained controversial for more than 25 years.  Nonetheless, despite the controversies, several important crop plants modified to resist insects and tolerate herbicides have steadily gained acceptance throughout the world.  Today, genetically modified cotton, corn, soybeans and canola are grown in 25 countries by more than 13 million farmers, 90% of whom are resource-poor farmers with small holdings.  To date, there is no evidence of adverse effects on either human or animal health, while substantial environmental benefits have been realized, including decreased use of pesticides and increased adoption of no-till farming. Although some countries remain adamantly opposed to the use of contemporary genetic modification, there is increasing awareness that these are important tools in the success of global efforts to lift the last billion out of hunger and poverty through agricultural intensification and decreased crop loss.  Moreover, molecular modification will be an indispensable tool in the adaptation of crop plants to changing climatic conditions. Let’s get on with it!

There is a great deal of positive talk about ag biotech’s role in helping to provide a sustainable energy alternative to petroleum. Speakers at the “Leadership Summit: Biotechnology and Sustainability Meeting Tomorrow’s Food and Fuel Needs” spoke of the significant beneficial contribution biofuels is and will make in reducing the impact of motor vehicles on the environment.
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Also yesterday Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the BIO Industrial and Environmental Section, stated:  

“Advanced biofuel companies are ready to deploy their technology and begin meeting the requirements of the National Renewable Fuel Standard. Now that the rules of the program are finally moving forward and the Obama administration has demonstrated a firm commitment to the industry, companies are prepared to build the next generation of biorefineries.”
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“The recent analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that biofuels produced with biotech tools will dramatically reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transportation - more than 100 percent compared to gasoline, in some cases. In addition to enabling production of cellulosic biofuels, biotechnology can continue to help biofuel producers reduce carbon emissions by increasing yields of fuel per ton of raw material and decreasing energy use in production of biofuels. Biotechnology can also help farmers increase yields per acre and reduce petroleum inputs in agriculture.
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This echoed a statement from the panel that there “needed to be a predictable policy on biofuels for it to succeed and have a real impact” in addressing climate change.

Gabriela Cruz, a fourth generation farmer from Portugal who has been farming for 20 years, talked with us about the benefits of agriculture biotechnology farming for conservation. Cruz discussed the economic and environmental benefits of ag biotech farming for both farmers and the Portuguese government. According to Cruz, ag biotech farming reduces costs, water and energy consumption, erosion effects, and carbon emissions, while improving air quality, biodiversity and income.  Says Cruz, “…without agriculture biotechnology, I would not be able to carry on my conservation agriculture practice.”

Listen to why Cruz finds ag biotech beneficial for conservation here.

Grower from the Philippines, Rosalie Ellasus, shared with us why she is a “living advocate for agriculture biotechnology” and actively helps other farmers with their ag biotech production. Coming from the Philippines, the first country in Asia to use biotech crops for food and approve them for commercialization, Ellasus tells us that ag biotech improved her standard living, allowing her to live a different life and send her three sons to college.

Listen to her story here.