Scientific Point-of-View
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Scientific Point-of-View
- From: F* T*
- Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 12:35:27 -0800
Helping to Save the Environment
Some agricultural practices, such as heavy tillage and
overuse of chemicals, have led to environmental damage to our
rivers and soils. Responsible use of the products of agricultural
biotechnology can help solve these problems.
Crop plants can be refined by biotechnology to fight off many
pests on their own. This can reduce insecticide use up to 50%,
leading to less insecticide in run-off water. This means less
damage to our waterways and less exposure of farm workers to
insecticides when applied to fields and when crops are harvested.
Crops are being developed that better utilize fertilizers. This
will lower the amount of chemical input needed to achieve the same
crop yields.
Plants resistant to weed killers can lead to less tilling of
production fields. Less tillage leads to less soil erosion and
less pollution of our waterways.
Insect-protected crops can lead to lower insecticide use and lower
fungal contamination. Bt corn prevents insect damage that leads
to fungal infections, like Fusarium, which produces a toxin that
causes illness in humans and animals. Use of Bt cotton in 1998
resulted in 5.3 million less insecticide treatments than previous
years. Insect resistance to Bt crops needs to be managed to
prolong the life of Bt approaches for conventional and organic
farming.
Greater drought, salt and cold tolerance in plants is being
achieved through biotechnology. Farmers in developing countries
can achieve suitable yields even if their climatic and soil
conditions are not ideal. These approaches also open up farmlands
in California that have been lost to salt intrusion.
Better livestock feeds are being developed that increase the
ability of animals to absorb phosphorous and other nutrients.
These approaches reduce the amount of damaging phosphorus found in
animal wastes that end up polluting our ground water. The amount
and quality of the protein in feed can also be improved to
increase the nutrients animals and humans can get from the same
amount of food.
Let's Get the Facts about GMOs
Agricultural biotechnology provides benefits to a world
population that needs increasing amounts of food to survive and
with less environmental damage.
New farmland is limiting. Twelve billion people will be on this
earth in 2035 (six billion today). Agricultural biotechnology can
help us develop crops with higher yields that can grow in less
optimal soils and climates. We don't want to sacrifice more
rainforests.
Countries worldwide need to be self-sustaining. Agricultural
biotechnology can help people in developing countries to plant
crops that are hardier and that farmers can grow on their own
farmland at yields that can support their families and neighbors.
Pharmaceuticals are expensive and often difficult to deliver. For
developing countries and often large animal populations, the
delivery of vaccines is problematic. Agricultural biotechnology
can help put vaccines into dietary staples, making them easier to
deliver and more likely to save lives.
Vitamin consumption needs to be increased. The value of vitamins
and micronutrients in our diet is increasingly apparent. In
developed countries, kids and adults often don't get enough of
these health-enhancing compounds. In developing countries this
lack can lead to blindness and immune deficiencies. Biotechnology
can be used to enhance the level of these nutrients.
Our water needs to be kept free of agricultural chemicals.
Insecticide use needs to be reduced. One way of achieving this is
to use crops developed by biotechnology that fight off insects
themselves, without adding insecticides.
Allergens and naturally occurring toxins in foods can be reduced.
Many foods contain naturally occurring compounds that are toxic or
allergenic to humans. Biotechnology can be used to reduce or
eliminate the levels of these antinutrients.
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Wilhelm Gruissem, Professor
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
111 Koshland Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3102
(510) 642-1079
Susan G. Laughlin, Ph.D
Director, Central Coast and South Region
DANR
University of California at Riverside
Riverside, California 92521
Phone: 909-787-3321
Fax: 909-787-4675
Cell phone: 510-367-5562
http://www.ideachannel.com/Ames.htm
