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CBI Panel at BIO Conference 2010 – We need your ideas!

News Stories — Tags: , , , , , , , , — CBI — April 5th, 2010

CBI is organizing a panel this year at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Conference on May 5 titled “How Public Perception Affects Adoption of Technologies that Help Feed the World.” We are excited about our distinguished group of panelists and are looking forward to a robust discussion about the political, communication and regulatory hurdles that slow acceptance of agricultural technologies.

The panel will address the connection between public perception of technologies, such as agricultural biotechnology, and their adoption. The speakers will address the political hurdles, which often result from cultures of misinformation and unfounded fears, that inhibit acceptance of agricultural technologies and that prevent certain populations from access to their many benefits.

We would love to hear ideas from our readers and let you help shape our panel discussion. Please feel free to submit questions for our panelists through Twitter, Facebook or the comments section of the blog. Our moderator, Sally Squires, will choose the best and use them throughout our panel.

Below are our excellent panelists, an accomplished group of authors, journalists, academics and advocates. We look forward to hearing their unique and informed perspectives about the role perception plays in the adoption of crop technology.

Sally Squires

Sally Squires - Moderator
Senior Vice President, Weber Shandwick; former medical and health Staff Writer and Nationally Syndicated Columnist for The Washington Post

Michael Specter

Michael Specter
Staff writer for The New Yorker, author of Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives

Maywa Montenegro

Maywa Montenegro
Senior Associate Editor, Seed Magazine

Bruce Chassy

Bruce Chassy, Ph. D.
Professor of food microbiology and a professor of nutritional sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kenneth Kamiya

Kenneth Kamiya
President, Hawaii Papaya Industry Association

Margaret Zeigler

Margaret Zeigler, Ph. D.
Deputy Director, Congressional Hunger Center

Focus on ag biotech growing in Hawaii

Ag Biotech Across the Nation — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — CBI — March 9th, 2010

hawaiiHawaii’s agricultural biotech industry is thriving.  The state’s seed industry has grown at steady clip and is now valued at a record high of $146.3 million according to the Hawaii Ag Statistics Service.  That’s an increase of 42% since 2006.

Hawaii’s ag biotech industry is represented by the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, a non-profit trade association founded in 1971 by Dr. James Brewbaker as an offshoot of the Corn Research Program at the University of Hawaii College of Agriculture.

HCIA member companies have farms and facilities on the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Molokai and employ more than 1,800 workers. Although Hawaii is the leading producer of seed corn, the papaya crop is perhaps the best-known example of how ag biotech has truly flourished there.

Hawaii’s papaya industry was in the verge of extinction due to the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) when USDA plant virologist Dr. Dennis Gonsalves and a team of biologists and horticulturalists began efforts to develop transgenic papaya that was resistant to PRSV. One PRSV-resistant line was discovered and farmers began planting the transgenic cultivar in 1999, effectively sparing the industry from disaster.

Since then, growers in Hawaii have been focusing on the role that their state can play in the global economy. “Food, agriculture and growth must be the fundamental and sustained objectives of our state,” said Hawaii Crop Improvement Association President Adolph Helm. “It’s very easy to say ‘no’ to genetically modified food when your stomach is full. It’s time for us to ‘grow locally and feed globally.’”

Helm also responded to ISAAA’s annual report on the global status of commercialized biotech crops, saying, “The report confirms that the research work being conducted by the seed industry in Hawaii is having a profound impact on agriculture worldwide.  The increased demand for biotech crops is proof that the technology has become a vital tool for farmers in developing countries who struggle with poverty, malnutrition and resource-poor farmlands. ”

Also, check out the introduction to HCIA’s new video, “Seeds of Promise,” which shares how biotechnology is shaping Hawaii’s future, and features academics, researchers and state policymakers discussing the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.

 

Hawaii’s Robust Seed Crop Industry

News Stories — Tags: , , , — CBI — October 2nd, 2009

untitledA new report, commissioned by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service, Hawaii’s seed crop industry is experiencing exponential growth and serves as one of the few stable sectors for jobs in the state.

The report highlights the important role biotechnology has played in Hawaii’s expanding seed industry and urges continued research and development.

The entire report can be read here.

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