Archive for August, 2007

Biotechnology giants in Oslo for food security conference

Agricultural experts from across the world have congregated in Oslo, Norway, to discuss the future of Africa’s agriculture, including agricultural biotechnology. They are strategizing on how to kick-start the African Green Revolution. Being envisaged is an agricultural renaissance in Africa along the lines of Norman Borlaug’s 1950s Green Revolution, which transformed dozens of Asian and [...]

A New Green Revolution for a Greener 21st Century

Source: Biotechnology
Date: August 30, 2007
This advertorial appeared in the Aug. 26, 2002, special edition of Time magazine titled “The Green Century.”
It’s no wonder that global plantings of biotech crops increased nearly 20 percent last year.1 Farmers around the world have learned how technology in a seed helps them grow more food and crops while [...]

Biotech Crops Safe and Pro-Poor Say FAO Economists

Source:Reason Magazine Blog
Date: August 30, 2007
Two U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization economists, Terri Raney and Prabhu Pingali write a sharp article in the September issue of Scientific American (sub required) on how genetically enhanced crops can and do help poor farmers in developing countries. I can’t quote everything, but one particularly good point [...]

Biotech beets gaining approval from processors

Source:Bismarck Tribune
Date: August 30, 2007
MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) - Sugar beet seed that has built-in resistance to the popular Roundup herbicide is expected to be in widespread use next year, as governments and sugar processors approve the biotech beets.
In the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, American Crystal Sugar Co. has decided to [...]

Sugar beet sweetens India’s output prospects

Source: MSNBC
Date: August 30, 2007
In the semi-arid farmlands east of Mumbai is a small ethanol plant that, in a modest way, represents a global first.
Controlled by the local farmers in the Baramati district, the factory, Harneshwar Agro Products Power & Yeast (India), or “Happy India”, uses a large rock-like vegetable known as tropical sugar [...]

Invoking “Food Imperialism” to Scare Public on GMOs

Ever heard of a phrase “food imperialism?” Opponents of modern crop genetic engineering regularly use it to discredit genetically modified (GM) foods, especially in developing countries. Since virtually all agri-biotech companies are U.S.-based, they reckon that they promote the America’s dream of colonizing the global food supply.
This argument resonates well with those xenophobic enough toward [...]

First All-African GM Crop Is Resistant To Maize Streak Virus

Source: Science Daily
Date: August 16, 2007
The first all-African genetically modified crop plant with resistance to the severe maize streak virus (MSV), which seriously reduces the continent’s maize yield, has been developed by scientists from the University of Cape Town and PANNAR PTY Ltd, a South African seed company.
The research, published in Plant Biotechnology [...]

Maddening Media Misinformation on Biotech

By Thomas R. DeGregori
American Council on Science and Health
August 14, 2007
Media bias is a charge that one often hears when a group less than favorable coverage. There are arguments about whether there is media bias and whom it favors and who is harmed by it. Media defenders argue that there are undoubtedly biased news sources [...]

Seeders at the ready for GM canola

By Philip Hopkins
The Age
August 14, 2007

THE Australian grains industry has upped the ante in its push for the introduction of genetically modified crops, saying it is ready to plant and handle GM canola.
Key grains industry organisations have endorsed a report that says the grains supply chain has the practices and processes in place to [...]

Japan Could Start Accepting GM Corn Seed

USAgNet.com
August 10, 2007
Japan looks set to approve Syngenta AG’s genetically modified corn seed as safe for use in food and animal feed, a relief to traders who feared unapproved seed could contaminate cargoes from the United States. Reuters News Service reports that Japan’s Food Safety Commission said on Thursday it would tell the [...]