Fate of agricultural biotechnology hinges on how it is perceived by the policy makers and the public We can help provide information so the stakeholders can make informed choices and pave way for enabling policies

1. Enhancing Societal Acceptance
of GM Crops in India
C. S. Prakash
Tuskegee University, Alabama, USA
prakash@mytu.tuskegee.edu
www.agbioworld.org

3. Life Expectancy
Source: Wikipedia

4. Global Hunger Map

5. Low Productivity of Agriculture in
the Developing World
•Poor soils
•Unfavorable environment
•Little or no chemical input
•Small Holdings
•Drought
•Market Access
•Disease, Pests, Weeds
•Storage and Transportation

6. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
To feed a world of 9 billion people in 2050, without
allowing for additional imports of food:
Africa has to increase its food
production by 300 percent
Latin America by 80 percent; and Asia by 70
percent. Even North America must increase food
production by 30 percent
•Without an Increase in Farm Productivity,
Additional 1.6 Billion Hectares of Arable Land will
be Needed by 2050!

7. Innovation in Agriculture
 U.S. Food Production : 252 million
tons/year in 1960 to current 700 m.
tons/year with 25 million fewer acres
 North American Corn Yields up from
26 bushels/acre (1928) to 180 today
 One North American farmer in 1940
fed 22 people, feeds 150 today.
 1% of North Americans are Farmers.
 Average 11% of Income on Food

8. Green Revolution…
Revolution
 Lifted Billion Plus Out of Poverty
 Undernourished > from 38% to 19% in past 20
years
 Food Consumption per capita has increased
everywhere except in Africa - 18% Globally and
28% in LDCs
 India: Food production from 50 to 225 mil tons in
the past 5 decades. Wheat : from 6 to 85 million
tons per year!
 Less Starvation and Famine
 Increased Food Self Sufficiency

13. Plant Breeding - Genetic Modification by
Farmers and Conventional Breeding
(photos: Dr. Wayne Parrott, Univ of Georgia)

14. Crop Evolution and Human Civilization
• Hum
ans
have
alwa
ys
guid
ed
the
evol
utio
n of
crop
s
• A

15. Many crops never existed in nature
Einkorn x wild Emmer x goat grass Bread
wheat wheat
www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/pr/garten/schau/Triticumaestivum/wheat.html

17. Improving Our Crop Plants
• Developing Modern
Varieties of Crops
– Hybridization
• Crosses with Wild
Relatives
• Hybrids
– Mutation
• Irradiation
• Chemicals
– Cell Culture
• Embryo Rescue
• Somaclonal variation

18. Modern Genetic Modification
Inserting one or few genes to
achieve desired traits.
Transfer of Genes into Crop Plants
 Relatively Precise and Predictable
 Changes are Subtle
 Allows Flexibility
 Expeditious

22. Environmental and Economic Impact
Pesticide
Pesticide Global
Global
Carbon Emissions
Carbon Emissions
Reduction
Reduction Farm Income
Farm Income
393 million kg 2009 = cut of $64.7
17.7 billion kg billion
reduction in
pesticides & co2 release; increase
17.1% cut in equiv to taking
associated
environmental
7.8 million cars
impact off the road
After 14 years of commercialization, biotech crops have
yielded a net increase in farm income while significantly
©PG Economics Ltd 2011

23. How Can Biotechnology Add Value to Global
Agriculture?
 Environmental Impact - Decreased
use of pesticides
 Reduce losses from pests and
diseases
 Improve nutrient efficiency
 Improve productivity

28. Cotton - China, South Africa, India, Mexico, Burkina Faso
 Losses due to Bollworm $1.5
billion in India and China
 Cotton - 50% of the total
pesticides
India
• Bt Cotton - yield increases up to 40%.
• ~90% of Indian cotton farmers grow Bt
• Savings up to $182 per hectare
• More than 600 varieties
• Spraying reduced from 12 to 1
• Both private and public sector

29. ‘GM’ Eggplant in India – Not Approved!

30. Bt Corn
Bt
Convencional
(Low Mycotoxin)

31. Corn Earworm
Photos: Zamorano, Honduras by María Mercedes Roca; NPR

33. Better fertilizer use
Low N Average N High N
0 kg/ha 90 kg/ha 200 kg/ha

34. Herbicide Tolerance
Simplifies non directed applications
INBIO-Paraguay

35. Benefits of Biotechnology…..
 Post Harvest Quality - prolong shelf
life of fruits, vegetables and
flowers
 Extend crop area and season
 Stress tolerance - drought, acidity,
salinity, heat, flooding

36. Source: www.arborgen.us

37. Golden Rice
 Milled rice has no beta-carotene
 Vitamin A deficiency - 200
million children and woman
 About 500,000 children go blind
(60 every hour!)
 2 million children die each year
 Golden Rice may provide one of
the many solutions

38. Enhancing Food and Agriculture
 More Nutritious Food
 Healthy Produce. Low Toxins
 Pharmaceutical Proteins
 Clean Up Environment
 Biofuel - Ethanol, biodiesel
 Industrial Products
 Value-Added Products

39. Sweetpotato
 Fourth largest crop in the
developing world
 Excellent source of calories,
vitamins and minerals
 Grown by resource-poor farmers
 Very hardy
Resistance to Virus and Weevil
Enhancement of Nutritional Protein

40. Cowpea

41. Cassava
 Eaten by 500 million Africans
 Very productive, drought-tolerant
 Rich in Calories. Cyanogenic
glucosides.
 African Cassava Mosaic Virus
devastating the crop
 ILTAB - Danforth Ctr (Beachy,
Fauquet)

42. Healthy Cassava
Virus-infected
Cassava

43. Black Sigatoka Disease of
Banana

44. Banana

45. Drought Tolerant Corn
Photo: Monsanto Co.

46. W heat

47. Rice

48. Ve getables

49. Fr uits

50. Blue Rose!

52. Assessment of Food Safety
Standard - “Reasonable certainty that no harm will
result from intended uses under the
anticipated conditions of consumption”
Food is not inherently safe
Considered to be safe based on experience
Not absolute but relative safety

53. Standards & Agencies
53

54. Substantial Equivalence - Evaluation
PHENOTYPE COMPOSITION SAFETY
ASSESSMENT
•Morphology •Macronutrients
•Toxicity
•Agronomic •AA composition
•Allergenic potential
•disease •FA composition
resistance •Nutritional
•Anti-nutrients
•drought
•Toxic substances FEED
resistance
EQUIVALENCE
•yields •Allergens
•Performance
•Organoleptic •Specific
constituents

56. Environmental Issues
 What are the Ecological Effects of New
Crops?
 Would Superweeds Emerge?
 Does Biotech Affect the Biodiversity?
 Genetic Pollution?
 Horizontal Transfer…..Will Bacteria or I
get those genes?
 ….What about Monarch Butterflies?

57. Addressing Environmental
Concerns
 Extensive Risk Assessment for the Past
15 years with 5,000 Field Studies;
Careful Monitoring
 Evaluate Risk on a Case-by-Case Basis.
 Most Introduced Traits Not Unique to
Biotechnology;
 Plant Breeding History - Introducing
Novel Genes All the Time

58. What Can Scientists Do?
 Write Commentaries, Op-Eds
 Social Media – Facebook, Twitter
 Regulatory and Legislative process
 Public Forums
 Regional Networks
 Community Outreach
 Respond to Misinformation
 Letters to The Editor

59. Why communicate?
• Fate of agricultural biotechnology
hinges on how it is perceived by the
policy makers and the public
• We can help provide information so
the stakeholders can make informed
choices and pave way for enabling
policies

60. Why Public Anxiety with Biotech
Crops?
• Societal Concern About Biotech is Understandable
• Strong Assurance of Safety Needed
• Unfamiliar with the Technology
• Benefits Not Clear
• Unaware of Safeguards
• Negative Media Opinion
• Opposition by Activist Groups
• Mistrust of the Industry

61. A good understanding of issues for
effective communication
• Understand agricultural context and
history
• Explain the benefits of technology
• Understand the regulatory process
• Be aware of concerns and criticisms
• Address arising issues rapidly

62. Key facts
• Genetic Modification practiced for centuries
and biotechnology is the most recent method
• Concerns about biotech crops are based on
perceptions, not on fact
• There are many sources but emphasis on
scientific and regulatory authorities

63. Key facts
• Understanding the rigorous biotech crop
development process helps to ease
concerns (?)
• Confidence in a science-based
regulatory process can help to improve
biotechnology acceptance
• Positive economic and environmental
impacts are driving biotech crop adoption
• Pipeline products offer consumer
benefits

64. Acceptance of science and
technology
• The public is often skeptical, even fearful of
scientific advancements – not because those
advancements are inherently risky—but
because people generally are unable to
critically evaluate innovation on the basis of
available information
• There is a growing sector of society that
mistrusts science, new technology, and
those that profit by innovationovation

65. Questions on the safety of biotech
crops…
• Misunderstanding of genetic modification
• Ignorance of risk assessment and regulation
• Misleading information promoted by activist
groups
• Sensational stories in the media
• Mistrust of multinational corporations
• Lack of direct consumer benefits

66. Myths and Misinformation
No Benefit to the Consumer
Not Adequately Tested or Regulated
Only Big Corporations
Does Not Benefit Small Farmers
No Reduction in Pesticide Usage
May Harm the Environment
Risks are Unknown; Cannot Recall
Europeans are Not Using it
Farmers Are Rejecting It

67. What Can Scientists Do?
Speak up!
• Write Commentaries, Op-Eds
• Regulatory and Legislative
process
• Public Forums; Community
• Respond to Misinformation
• Letters to The Editor
• Network with Reporters

68. Effective Communication
• Keep it simple and focused
• Avoid misquotes
• Power of metaphors

69. • Place the issue in context
• Story telling
• Use examples that they can relate
• Respectful of audience
• Use humor; in a measured manner
• Avoid negative terms (GMO; Contamination)

70. • Build on concerns, knowledge and
values of the audience
• Not one-way communication but
interaction
• Network with journalists

72. How Can Biotech Help
Third World Agriculture?
•Improve Food and Nutritional Security
•Increase Crop Productivity
•Enhance Production Efficiency
•Reduce Crop Damage& Food Loss
•Promote Sustainable Agriculture
•Reduce Environmental Impact
•Empower the Rural Sector through Income Generation
•Reduce Economic Inequity