PLANT
BREEDING NEWS
EDITION 153
29 January 2005
An Electronic Newsletter of Applied Plant Breeding
Sponsored by FAO and Cornell University
Clair H. Hershey, Editor
CONTENTS
SUBSCRIBER QUERY ABOUT PDAs
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01
Will 2005 be the year of 'science for development'?
1.02
Development aid 'must boost science in Africa'
1.03
Cutting World Hunger in Half
1.04 Germination magazine picks
this year's GENEiuses
1.05 A new director for ABSPII
1.06
Cultivating inter-center collaboration in southern
Africa: a seed network takes root
1.07
Peruvian 'potato park' to protect indigenous rights
1.08
Brazil's Embrapa to develop a sweeter melon
and varieties of rice, corn, sorghum and wheat more resistant to weather
problems
1.09 IRRI reviews progress of international hybrid rice
initiative
1.10
The Rice-Wheat Consortium wins prestigious science prize
1.11 ICARDA and CIMMYT:
harnessing the power of partnership in wheat improvement
1.12
Haskap - a new berry
1.13
Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2004
1.14
Orion Genomics donates sorghum sequence to public domain
1.15 New
IFPRI report debunks misconceptions about biotech
crop research in poor countries
1.16 German law stops research
project on GM potatoes with higher levels of an important carotenoid
1.17 New
strategies proposed for insect resistance management (IRM)
and integrated pest management (IPM) in transgenic
crops
1.18
Consumers to benefit from organic potato breakthrough
1.19 ICRISAT
working on biofortification of groundnuts
1.20
Research shows depth and breadth of testing needed to determine genotype
potential
1.21
Herbicide resistant sunflowers have roots in ARS
research
1.22 USDA/ARS diversifies sunflower traits
1.23
First report of an Rsv resistance-breaking
isolate of Soybean mosaic virus in Korea
1.24
CSIRO's High Rainfall Zone cereal lines show promise in stripe rust
battle
1.25
Insect resistant maize in Africa moves forward
1.26
Bambino watermelon named one of the "Most Amazing Inventions of 2004'' by
Time Magazine
1.27
New index possible for screening salt-tolerant rice lines
1.28
Asian vegetable becomes indicator of soil arsenic levels
1.29
Rice collection identifies valuable traits
1.30
Exploring the regulation of leaf growth
1.31 DNA
repair may lead to evolution, new transgenic techniques
1.32
Agreement protects genetic diversity of Peru's potato varieties and rights of
indigenous people to control access to local genetic resources
1.33
Lighting up gene expression in plants
1.34
Scientists find common roots for thousands of plant compounds
1.35 One gene could increase
biodiversity
1.36
Saving Africa's 'stubborn' seeds
2. PUBLICATIONS
2.01 CIMMYT publishes 4th edition of 'Maize Diseases: A
Guide for Field Identification'
2.02
New maize and wheat gene bank operations manual
2.03
IAEA Technical Document on genetic improvement
3. WEB RESOURCES
3.01 New
database on plant biotech projects
3.02 Update 1-2005 of FAO-BiotechNews
4 GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE
4.01 The
Cochran Fellowship Program - for training in the US
4.02
Partnerships for international research, education
5
MEETINGS, COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
6
EDITOR'S NOTES
=========================
PDA query
We are in the process, in Northern Ireland' Science Service, of replacing
our old handheld units, which the manufacturers will no longer support.
Primarily these are Husky Hunter 16's.
The programs are being recoded in VB.NET to run on CE.NET, and using SQL Server
CE (random access files are not supported in CE.net). The replacement handhelds
are to be selected from the TimbaTEc PocketPC and the Itronix Q200,
the final shortlisting of over 30 IP67 units
(necessary in our climate!).
Our immediate problem is that this recoding, naturally, takes time and until
the first team is kitted out in Autumn 2005 we are in the position that there
is now a shortage of 'backup' units to ensure that we can keep our trials
running until then.
I have two questions:
(1) Does anyone have any old units that they do not need any more, that we
could purchase?
(2) There are a large number of Hunter 1 units available online at the minute.
Does anyone know if our GW-BASIC programs - written
for the Hunter 16 - will also run on the Hunter 1, and what is the screen
resolution of the Hunter 1?
Many thanks for any advice that can be offered.
From: Dr Niki Reid
Biometrics
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
email: nicola.reid@dardni.gov.uk
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========================
1. NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESEARCH NOTES
1.01 Will 2005 be the year of 'science
for development'?
There have recently been encouraging signs that science and technology are
climbing back on to the international development agenda. The tsunami disaster
in the Indian
Ocean
has only underlined the urgency.
It was meant to happen in 1999. That was the year in which the World Conference
of Science, held in Budapest in July, was meant to draw
the attention of political leaders across the world to the importance of
science and technology in promoting economic and social prosperity. And this in
turn was intended to trigger a raft of political activity, both in developed
and developing countries, to boost efforts in this area.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, this did not happen. For most
countries, the focus of aid policy remained on alleviating poverty directly, an
approach that has all-too-frequently reduced science to a peripheral, even
optional, 'add-on'. This attitude was reflected in a relative lack of political
interest in science and technology within the developing countries themselves;
although many sent their science ministers to the Budapest meeting, few felt the topic
of sufficient importance to deserve the attention of more politically
significant figures, such as finance ministers.
Promising signs have been emerging over the past 12 months, from political
institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and the British
government, that the tide may have turned at last. As a result and
acknowledging the need for additional prompting 2005 could at last be the year
in which science climbs back on to the international development agenda,
reoccupying a position from which it had been displaced for the past two
decades.
If this does happen, however, the new challenge will be to avoid the mistakes
of the past by ensuring that science and technology become fully integrated
into policies at all levels, and are not seen as offering instant cures to
deep-rooted social and economic problems. Science and technology must become
embedded in the social fabric of developing countries, not only by building
local capacity but also by ensuring that such capacity is integrated into
initiatives designed to boost overall systems of social and economic
innovation.
The lesson of the tsunami
There could not be a more dramatic or terrible illustration of this need
than the devastation that swept through many of the coastal communities of
South and South-East Asia as a result of the tsunami that was triggered by the
earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on 26 December.
It seems almost a natural law that, when disaster strikes, those who suffer
most, and whose needs for both protection and help are therefore the greatest,
are those who are already the most disadvantaged. This is true not only between
developed and developing countries the richer countries on the Pacific Rim, for
example, have already installed sensitive tsunami-detection systems but also
within the developing countries themselves.
Ironically, the fact that the tsunami has had virtually no impact on the
outlook for the productive economies of the affected countries (outside their
tourist industries) directly reflects the way that the devastation has mostly
affected fishing communities and other groups that were already socially
marginalised, and thus among the countries' own poor.
There is obviously no way that science and technology could have prevented the
underlying events that caused such a tragic loss of life. But there is plenty
of evidence that the science and technology already exists, in fields such as
seismic detection, hydrological dynamics and telecommunications, with the
potential at least in principle prevent the loss of life occurring on the scale
that it did.
One obvious measure would have been to ensure that such communities were
provided with a more sophisticated early-warning system. With the benefit of
hindsight this is now being put in place in many of the countries that were
affected; the government of India, for example, has already announced a
significant enhancement of its detection capabilities (see India
to build tsunami warning system'). That may blunt the arguments of critics;
but it is unlikely to assuage those who have argued that much more could have
been done much sooner.
There are lessons, too, for ways in which scientific information is
communicated. The lessons of the tsunami events will no doubt be occupying the
minds of many of those in the research community in the months ahead. There
have been several reports of the frustration experienced by scientists who
have, in recent years, been unable to convince government officials of the
dangers revealed by their seismological investigations into the likelihood of
an earthquake occurring the region.
This frustration turned into despair on 26 December as many of those same
scientists, having detected the earthquake almost immediately, failed to
convince government officials of the likely outcome and thus that their
warnings of havoc threatened by the impending tsunami were communicated to many
thousands who might otherwise not have died.
Research has also pointed to other potential protective strategies. For
example, researchers at the M. S. Swaminathan
Research Foundation in Chennai, India, and elsewhere have noted
that destruction of mangrove forests along Asian coastlines have increased
their vulnerability to storms. But, again, their warning seems to have gone
largely unheeded in the pressure for commercial exploitation, for example, for
shrimp farming.
Putting science at the heart of development
For all these reasons, it is clear that, as the surviving members of
shattered communities around the Indian Ocean attempt to rebuild their
lives and their livelihoods, science and technology have a key role to play in
providing them with the knowledge and tools to do so in a secure and
sustainable way. This message is already clear in the debates over how
countries can adapt to the threats of global warming (link to spotlight in
climate change dossier on adaptation). The recent events surrounding the
tsunami and its aftermath may be different in origin; but their lessons on what
must now be done are no different.
All of which only strengthens the case for ensuring that science and technology
are placed firmly at the heart of the development agenda in the months ahead.
At a national and regional level, it is essential that researchers in
developing countries become directly engaged in discussions of the ways in
which their skills and interests can become better integrated into the policy
machinery. This will certainly involve but does not need to be restricted to
high-level scientific advisory committees offering their services to
governments keen to protect their populations from similar events in the
future.
Conversely, it is also important that these countries build up the scientific
and technological skills that will enable them not only to identify the most
effective protective strategies, but also to put these strategies into
practice. The same might also be said about the need to build an effective
capacity in science communication. It is perhaps not unrealistic to speculate that
a better awareness of the dangers of tsunamis among, say local radio and
television journalists provided that these are equipped to distinguish genuine
dangers could have formed the basis of an effective early warning system.
At the international level, there is a similar need to ensure that relevant
scientific knowledge is made available to those who need it for their
decision-making. This in turn requires that sufficient support is provided for
building science and technology capacity on the one hand, and enhancing the
channels by which scientific information is put into practice (and communicated
to decision-makers) on the other.
Britain's treasury minister, Gordon Brown, has already suggested that one
immediate step the world's developed countries could take to help the countries
of South and South-East Asia rebuild their shattered coastal areas would be to
agree jointly to temporarily freeze repayments of debts owed by these countries
to international banks. An equally significant move would be to persuade such
countries to make a similar joint commitment to significantly enhance their
support for science and technology capacity building initiatives and efforts to
ensure that such capacity is properly embedded into the social and economic
fabric within the developing countries themselves.
The opportunity for such a step already presents itself: the G8 meeting of the
world's largest industrialised economies in Scotland in July. The British
government, which will host this meeting, has already indicated its own
willingness to put science more firmly at the heart of its own aid efforts (see
UK
to boost support for research capacity building). Even without the recent
tragic events there was a strong case for taking similar action at the
international level, and thus using the G8 meeting as an opportunity to make
2005 the year of 'science for development'. That case must now be overwhelming.
Source: SciDev.net
4 January 2005
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1.02 Development aid 'must boost science in Africa'
[ALEXANDRIA] Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Africa, asked
to recommend ways that rich countries could assist the continent's development,
say aid should include increased support for science and technology.
Among the recommendations is a call for partnerships between African research
centres and those in the developed world to be strengthened.
The suggestions were made in a series of consultation conferences involving
some 500 NGO representatives from across Africa, the last of which was held
in Alexandria, Egypt last month. The other
consultations were held in Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal and Zambia.
These conferences were organised by the Commission for Africa, an initiative of the UK prime
minister Tony Blair and musician and development activist Bob Geldof, to help prioritise international efforts in Africa.
The NGOs also called for foreign aid to be used to set up multi-disciplinary
research centres in Africa and for educational scholarships in specific
scientific fields. They added that richer countries could facilitate the
transfer of new technologies to Africa, particularly for water desalination and
renewable energy supplies.
"There was a strong feeling that we need more centres of research
excellence in Africa and more partnerships with
institutions in developed countries so that we can learn from their
experience," says Masse Lo, director of LEAD International's Francophone
Africa programme based in Dakar, Senegal.
The commission has set up similar consultations with governments, businesses,
expatriate Africans, and UK development organisations.
The views that emerge from these consultations will be compiled and presented
with corresponding recommendations to members of the 'G8' group of the major
industrialised countries and to the European Union in March.
Many of the participants wanted to know why the UK government would want to
set up such a commission. At the meeting in Alexandria, they asked why the United Kingdom should want to help Africa develop while helping the United States in Iraq.
"Does Tony Blair really want to help us?" asked Farida
Allaghi from Libya who works with the Mentor
Foundation, an anti-drugs charity. "Why do I get the feeling we are being
used? If Blair is really interested in helping us, he should be here, and not
doing this by remote control."
K. Y. Amoako, a member of the commission and
undersecretary-general at the United Nations, acknowledged that people had a
number of "legitimate concerns". He said he had sat on many such
commissions in the past, but this one had the strongest potential to make a
different as it had influential political backing.
He said, for example, the appointment of Peter Mandelson,
a personal friend of Tony Blair and the former UK minister for trade, as new
trade commissioner at the European Union would help Africa to secure better terms of
trade. "The timing of this could not have been better," said Amoako.
Top of the NGOs' list of recommendations are calls for rich nations to cancel
the continent's debt, negotiate terms of trade in which Africa's exporters
received a fairer price, and overseas development aid that is increased to 0.7
per cent of gross domestic product.
The NGOs also said that richer nations must work within existing Africa-led
initiatives such as the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development known as NEPAD. They also called upon rich nations never again to
support undemocratic regimes in Africa, and stop selling weapons, which have
fuelled so many of the continent's past wars.
Source: SciDev.Net
7 January 2005
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1.03 Cutting world hunger in half
Pedro A. Sanchez and M. S. Swaminathan
To reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015, the
Millennium Project's Task Force on Hunger recommends seven mutually reinforcing
actions: political action; national policy reforms; increased agricultural
productivity for food-insecure farmers; improved nutrition for the chronically
hungry; productive safety nets for the acutely hungry; improved rural incomes
and markets; and restored natural resources essential for food security. The
Task Force concludes that "it can be done"-the Hunger MDG can be attained. In this Policy Forum,
the task force chairmen explain why achieving that goal will require
unprecedented levels of effort, but it is well within the reach of our
technical and financial capabilities.
P. A. Sanchez is at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, NY
10964, USA. E-mail: sanchez @iri.columbia.edu; M. S. Swaminathan chairs the M.S. Swaminathan
Research Foundation, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, India. E-mail: msswami@mssrf.res.in. The authors cochair the U.N. Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger.
Source: Science, Vol 307, Issue 5708
21 January 2005
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1.04 Germination magazine picks this year's GENEiuses
Germination magazine has announced
this years list of six forward thinking movers and shakers in the seed industry
and theyre an inspiring group. Hand-picked from
across Canada by the staff at Germination
magazine, these GENEiuses are making an impact in the
seed industry.
The origin of the GENEius Edition stems from a need
to recognize the unsung heroes of an industry made up of a number of different
sectors, including seed growers, traders, analysts, brokers, breeders,
distributors, and suppliers. Thus, this years
recipients have touched the breadth of the industry.
Mike Snobelen recognized consumer demand for
identity-preserved programs and responded by seeking Canadian Identity
Preserved Recognition System certification.
Tim Tregunno is President of Canadas oldest, continually operating seed company and
oversaw the Canadian Seed Trade Associations role as an intervenor
in a lawsuit; the outcome of which would determine the future direction of the
seed industry in Canada and beyond.
Bruce Mathieus
seed cleaning plant will process just about anything, proving that
diversification can grow a business and expand opportunities for farmers.
As Executive Director of the Canadian Seed Institute, Jim McCullagh has been instrumental in bringing high
standards to third-party certification for the Canadian seed industry.
Garth Hodges has turned his abounding passion for canola into a major
increase in Bayer CropSciences market share.
And Ray Mazinke combined his first-hand
knowledge of new varieties with a genuine concern for customers to make Rosenort Agro a leading Manitoba seed retailer.
The seed industry is receiving a lot of attention lately and the people who are
making a difference in it deserve some recognition,says Robynne Anderson, Publisher
of Germination magazine. Germination helps highlight the major issues in this
sector, and we are pleased to profile these leaders.
Germination is the magazine of the Canadian seed industry, covering the latest
technological developments, industry advances, new varieties, regulatory
issues, and breakthroughs in research and breeding.
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 January 2005
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1.05 A new director for ABSPII
ABSPII is pleased to announce the appointment of
its new Director, Frank Shotkoski, effective January
1, 2005.
Frank has 20 years of academic and industrial experience in both agricultural
and medical biotechnology. In his most recent position as Global Cotton Traits
Technical Manager with Syngenta, Frank built a cotton
biotechnology research program that resulted in the development of trait-based
products. Prior to joining Syngenta, Frank held the
position of Research Fellow at the University of Washington's Department of Medical
Genetics where he conducted research on human gene therapy applications for the
treatment of hematopoietic diseases. Frank also has
postdoctoral experience from the department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin. His Ph.D. is from the University of Minnesota and his Master of Science
and undergraduate work was done at the University of Nebraska, his home state.
The Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII)
is a USAID-funded consortium led by Cornell University that supports scientists,
regulators, extension workers, farmers and the general public in developing
countries to make informed decisions about agricultural biotechnology. Where
demand exists, ABSPII supports the safe and effective
development and commercialization of bio-engineered crops as a complement to
traditional and organic agricultural approaches and acts as a resource for
local partners seeking to improve their scientific, management and
policy-making capabilities. The project helps boost food security, economic
growth, nutrition and environmental quality in East and West Africa, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. (www.absp2.cornell.edu)
Contributed by Andrea Marshall Besley MBA
Communication Coordinator
Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII)
213 Rice Hall
Cornell University
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1.06 Cultivating inter-center
collaboration in southern Africa: a seed network takes root
The collaboration of several CGIAR centers on varied crops is a fresh approach to tackling
seed supply issues in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It recognizes the multiple-interest,
multi-disciplinary and multi-level nature of seed issues, and brings
smallholder farmers to the foreground.
From CIMMYT e-Newsletter 30
November 2004
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell U.
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1.07 Peruvian 'potato park' to protect indigenous
rights
Farming communities in Peru have signed an agreement with the
International Potato Centre (CIP) to protect both the genetic diversity of the
region's numerous potato varieties, and the rights of indigenous people to
control access to these local genetic resources.
Under the scheme, CIP scientists and local farmers will 'repatriate' potato
varieties from CIP's collection of specimens the world's
most comprehensive and conserve them in a 'potato park'. As well as providing
food for the six communities that jointly own the land in southern Peru, the 15,000-hectare park
will serve as a 'living library' of potato genetic diversity.
Peruvian farmers have 'lost' some of their traditional potato varieties for
various reasons, including government policies to push ahead with commercial
production and discard old-fashioned growing methods.
The agreement, which is the first of its kind, aims to ensure that the control
of genetic resources is kept with local people. Alejandro Argumedo,
associate director of the Association for Nature and Sustainable Development a Cusco-based civil society group that helped broker the deal
believes that it could serve as a model for other indigenous communities.
"Biological diversity is best rooted in its natural environment and
managed by indigenous peoples who know it best," says Argumedo.
Despite this, he says that the agreement was not drawn up for local communities
to secure intellectual property rights over indigenous potato strains. Rather,
the intention is to ensure that the genetic material does not become
"subject to intellectual property rights in any form" and that the
diversity of Peruvian potato varieties is maintained.
Argumedo told SciDev.Net that CIP has agreed to pay
for the cost of reintroducing the strains as an acknowledgment of the benefits
the organisation has derived from the indigenous knowledge of the region.
However, he maintains that this agreement would not hamper collaborative research
between the CIP and scientists elsewhere provided that the research is not used
for exploitative or commercial purposes.
CIP is one of the 15 research centres of Consultative Group for International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which aims to reduce
poverty and increase food security in developing countries through scientific
research.
Rachel Wynberg of Biowatch
South Africa, an organisation that
monitors the commercialisation of biological resources, hopes that "this
agreement signals a new way of working for CGIAR
centres one which advances the rights of local farming communities, over those
of corporations, and which places the ownership of genetic resources firmly
with the local custodians of these resources".
At a meeting in Mexico in November 2004,
environmental activists protested that CGIAR was
building too many links with large biotechnology corporations that promote
genetically modified crops (see Agriculture group panders to GM giants, say
activists).
Alejandro Argumedo is on the advisory panel of SciDev.Net's
indigenous knowledge dossier
For more on this subject, visit SciDev.Net's
dossiers on intellectual property and indigenous knowledge
Source: SciDev.Net
19 January 2005
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1.08 Brazil's Embrapa to
develop a sweeter melon and varieties of rice, corn, sorghum and wheat more
resistant to weather problems
After having concluded genome sequencing of of
the coffee and eucalyptus the start the trial of the banana genome the
Brazilian agricultural research company Embrapa
bets on the biotechnology to develop a sweeter melon and varieties of rice,
corn, sorghum and wheat more resistant to weather problems.
This year Embrapa Biotecnologia
has started the genetic mapping of the sorghum, rice and corn to detect the
sections of the DNA responsible for the resistant to cold and dry.
The Orygens projects started in 2003 with the
research on the rice arroz (Oryza
sativa L.).
The work is to be completed in 2007 and has the participation of seven
divisions of Embrapa, Empresa
de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (Epagri-SC), Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq/USP), Instituto Riograndense do Arroz (Irga), Universidade
Catolica de Brasilia and Universidade
Estadual do Norte Fluminense. In 2003 and 2004 there were invested R$550,000
and from 2004 to 2007 Embrapa plans R$3.2mil in the
research.
The genetic sequencing has a budget of R$174,200 from the World Bank.
Source: Valor Econômico S.A. via
SeedQuest.com
28 December 2005
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1.09 IRRI reviews
progress of international hybrid rice initiative
Los Banos, The Philippines
The progress of the Asian Development Bank
(ADB)-funded international hybrid rice initiative,
titled "Sustaining Food Security in Asia through the Development and Use
of Hybrid Rice Technology" was recently reviewed at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
IRRI is the coordinating institution for the project
that is set to end this year.
PhilRice deputy executive director for R&D Edilberto D. Redo represented the Philippines in the workshop. Among the
agreements reached was a no-cost extension of the project until May 2005.
Activities to be focused on are sensitization of policy makers, socioeconomic
impact assessment, R&D, promotion of public-private-NGO partnerships, and
training.
National hybrid rice leaders of India, Vietnam, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Korea, and Thailand as well as representatives from the
China National Hybrid Rice R&D Center, the Asia
Pacific Seed Association, the Food and Agriculture Organization, seed
companies, the ADB, and IRRI
presented their progresses in the development and use of hybrid rice technology
in their respective countries/organizations since project implementation in
2001.
According to IRRI principal scientist Sant S. Virmani, "Hybrid
rice currently covers an area of 1.46 million ha outside China, with 27 hybrid
rice varieties released in India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Bangladesh
using IRRI germplasm."
He also said that an average yield superiority of commercialized hybrids over
certified inbred seeds ranging from 1.02 to 1.65 t/ha is noted in Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines and that new parental lines
with improved outcrossing ability and grain quality
are already shared with various participating countries.
Virmani also reported that there are now about 58
seed companies involved in hybrid rice breeding and seed production with
increased seed production yields in many countries, with various opportunities
for the use of hybrid rice technology under aerobic and fragile ecosystems.
Challenges that must be addressed are the development of simplified breeding
and seed production procedures, grain quality matching that of popular inbred
varieties, economically viable seed production systems, and economically viable
agronomic management systems.
To expedite the dissemination of hybrid rice technology, an organized and
efficient seed industry is needed in public, private and NGO sectors. Cost of
hybrid seeds should be lowered, as well as achieve more stable hybrid
performance with improved management systems.
Action plans and partnerships with the seed industry are also critical factors.
Source:PhilRice
news release,
via SeedQuest.com
6 December 2004
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1.10 The Rice-Wheat Consortium wins prestigious
science prize
In recognition of its seminal role in charting a course toward more
ecologically-friendly, higher-producing agriculture among the poor in Asia, the
Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (RWC) received the King Baudouin
Award of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) at a ceremony attended by 1,000 international
agricultural researchers and development specialists who met in Mexico City
during 25-29 October 2004.
http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/science_prize2.htm
From CIMMYT e-Newsletter 9
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell U.
November 2004
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1.11 ICARDA and CIMMYT:
harnessing the power of partnership in wheat improvement
This report presents selected achievements in Central and West Asia and
North Africa of the two centers, in collaboration
with the government of Turkey and many other partners. The work includes
exchanging seed and information, but goes beyond to help improve the precarious
livelihoods of winter wheat producers in many other ways. "This year
scientists from the two centers met to plan
complementary research for this important region," says Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT
Director General. "We are extremely excited about this collaboration with ICARDA and how it will benefit the resource-poor."
http://www.icarda.org/ICARDAandCIMMYT/Index.htm
From CIMMYT e-Newsletter 9
Contributed by Margaret Smith
Dept of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell U.
November 2004
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1.12 Haskap - a new
berry
Unless you count rhubarb, strawberries have always been the traditional
first fruit of the spring for home growers. In recent years, however, another
early fruit has been gaining attention.
Haskap, a subspecies of edible honeysuckle (Lonicera caerula ssp emphyllocalyx) is a fruit you
might take for an oddly shaped blueberry at first glance. The name Haskap itself is from the language of the Ainu, the ancient
native people of Hokkaido, Japan,
and means many fruit on branches. While Lonicera
caerula is presently being sold by some nurseries,
most of the currently sold varieties are from Russia.
The big draw is that Russian material is super hardy, actually grown north of the
Arctic Circle in
some places, but it has not performed well in the U.S.
The plants seem to do all right in Saskatchewan,
where the climate is more like Siberia,
but elsewhere they are shy bearing. This is due to flowering very early,
when it is too cool for insects to pollinate then, and
because the Siberian plants have a very short rest period. That
is, in regions where winter temperatures fluctuate between cold and warm, the
plants lose hardiness in warm spells are then subject to bud death when cold
returns. Haskap is a Japanese subspecies
which has shown superior adaptation to western Oregon
and appears worthy of trials elswhere in North
American locales. The Japanese use the name Haskap
which is from the language of the Ainu, the ancient native people of Hokkaido, Japan,
who have long collected these berries from wild plants. The name means many fruit on branches.
Haskap blooms a month or more after the Russian
material and therefore sets much better crops. Since much of the Japanese
material comes from the cold northern islands, such as Hokkaido,
it is still extremely hardy. One outstanding trait of the small, white or cream
colored flowers is their extreme resistance to spring
frost damage. In Japan, Haskap blooms have been shown to withstand minus 10 degrees
C. Further, the island climate has humid
summers, so Haskap plants ought to have fairly good
disease resistance. Even so, this is one of the areas where test growing
of the plants in many areas is needed.
There are Haskap plants with several growth habits,
from sprawling, to mounded, to upright shrubs
almost like blueberries. The form of the plant varies with the individal variety, though it can be influenced some by
pruning and training. Determining how much pruning and training Haskap plants need is another area where more tests will be
needed.
Depending on the selection, the berries may be as large as an average
blueberry, with varying shapes including; a sort of elongated football shape,
barrel-shaped, pointed, and more. Color is an
intense, dark blue. The seeds are small enough to be ignored when you eat the
fruit. Flavor is variable, but in most
selections I have tasted, the closest thing in flavor
I could describe is somewhat like a tart blueberry, though there is a hint of
an exotic flavor in many. The tartness isnt more intense than a tart apple, so the fruit can be
eaten out of hand, though most people will prefer to cook them. Tartness
decreases the longer the berries hang on the bush with the berries becoming relatively
sweet if left long enough. Additionally, there is evidence that careful
selection could produce types with sweet fruit that would be good to eat
uncooked. At present, the fruits best home use is in jams and baked goods
such as pies.
The berries have a unique structure, being composed of two separate ovaries
that are covered over with an outer fleshy layer,
making the structure look like a single berry. In some selections,
the covering doesnt go completely over the underlying
structures, which look for all the world like two eyes
peering out the end of the fruit. In most selections, however, the
covering is complete, leaving just a small dot at the end of the berry.
Some selections of Haskap ripen before strawberries,
though most ripen about with strawberries, depending on climate. Since
the bush forms have the right traits to be machine harvested with the same
equipment used on blueberries, Haskap would be
attractive for commercial growing. It could be harvested and processed
before blueberries, allowing a berry grower to extend his season with a crop
handled with his existing equipment, but done before that equipment was needed
for the blueberries.
Recognizing the potential of the edible honeysuckle, Dr. Maxine Thompson,
professor emeritus from Oregon State University,
has undertaken to improve the plant and bring it up to its full
potential. She began in the 1990s, collecting as many varieties and
related forms of the plant as possible. Her collection includes more
material than any other of its kind in North America.
In the course of this work, she found that despite the fact that most currently
available selections originated in Sibera, the plant
has also been grown in Japan
for a long time. In fact, the Japanese material proved to have some of
the best traits available for improving the species, including later blooming,
larger fruits, and better growth habits.
Dr. Thompson is longtime friend, and Ive followed her work with considerable interest, even
being fortunate enough to help a little in gathering breeding material. Ive visited her work and have seen all aspects, from
examining seedlings in the greenhouse to observing some
of her first crosses in the field, and more.
Haskap is extremely easy to work with for breeding
purposes. Fruit ripens in May and the seed can be harvested and planted
immediately, germinating and growing into plants. The seedlings become
established the first season, and are then grown in pots the following
spring-summer for fall planting 16 months after seeding. The spring
following planting in the field, these same
plants bloom and set their first crop, on shoots coming out of the previous
seasons wood. This means that evaluation of selections can begin about
twenty-two months after planting the seed. That allows fast removal of a
very large percentage of unpromising plants, rather than having to spend space
and long time growing plants just to remove most of them. At the same
time, it also means that breeding is much faster because good selections
identified in the first season can be used as parents in the next
season. Considering that most perennial fruits, such as
blueberries, dont even germinate until the spring of
the following year, and that it takes as much as five years to get even one crop
from a seedling of most perennial fruits, progress with Haskap
has the potential to be very rapid for a perennial.
Its noteworthy that some plants, after setting one
crop, will begin to set again later in the spring, as the new shoots get
larger. Since there is a small break between the first and second set, the
second set is usually still green when the first is ripe, creating the effect
of two crops, though its essentially just a later part
of the same crop. Large numbers of both ripe and green fruit
is quite a sight on plants that havent even been in
the ground a full year. These extended cropping types would have their greatest
use for home or where hand harvest could be used. For machine harvest,
more uniform ripening would be needed. However, it could be that some
selections could be left until all the fruit is colored,
with the early fruit becoming sweeter, while the later fruit would add tartness
to the mix. Again, this is something to be examined in trials of the
plants.
At present, it is necessary to have two selections for cross pollination, to get a good crop. However, some of the
collected material includes plants that are able to set small seedless fruit by
themselves. Seedlessness isnt
any advantage, but the ability to set without pollination suggests that there
are genes that could make it possible to breed self-fruitful varieties.
On Thursday,
May 20, 2004,
I visited Dr. Thompsons field plots at Oregon State University to
see some of the selections in action. It had been an early year, so that most
of her selections had already been harvested, but there was more than enough
fruit left on most (many) bushes to at least give a good idea of the
varieties.
The oldest plants in that field were three years old that spring and most were
at least three feet (one meter) tall, with a good number that were
bigger. Growth habits ranged from nearly prostrate, sprawling vine-like
plants, to mounds, to upright bushes.
The majority of the fruits I sampled were tart, without any strong flavors. A few had a very subtle, perfumy
undertone, and Dr. Thompson said she had one selection that was actually sweet
that early. Unfortunately, that one had already been picked, so I couldnt compare. Because of the earliness, none of the
other selections had been on the plants long enough to have a chance to
sweeten.
She also showed me a big, healthy looking plant with very large leaves and the
biggest berries Id seen in the plot. She invited me to try it. Ive known her long enough I should have realized her smile
had a twinkle of mischief in it; the berry was unpleasantly bitter. In
visiting a Japanese botanic garden she collected seed from a Haskap plant with good quality fruit she found there,
growing next to a plant that had bitter berries. But she forgot the good flavored one would have been pollinated by the bitter
one. Apparently the bitterness gene is a single dominant because half the seedlings were bitter, including the
one Id just tasted.
Thinking in terms of commercial production, Dr. Thompson had been selecting
upright, open bushes that rather resembled blueberry bushes, with the aim of
having plants that could be easily harvested by machine. Unfortunately,
they were also easily harvested by birds, as attested to by the number of
berries on the ground under each such bush. While Haskap
fruits arent hard to pick, they dont
readily fall until they are extremely ripe, but the birds were able to knock
off many of them in looking for the ones they liked best.
Among the other growth habit types, I noted plants that made a neat, rounded
mound of foliage that almost looked as if it had been sheared. I thought
those plants had potential as ornamental shrubs, at least. Dr. Thompson took me to one and lifted the foliage up. Underneath,
low to the ground, the shoots were covered with fruit. While such plants couldnt be harvested readily for commercial use, they would
be ideal for a home grower. They made a neat shrub that would fit right
into the landscape, and their dense growth habit kept the fruit hidden from the
birds. You could easily pick by lifting the shoots, sliding a box under
the bush, then just strip the fruit into the
box. I believe a home grower might prefer a bird-resistant bush even if
it required the slight effort of bending over to pick the fruit, over having to fight birds for the fruit on a
more upright shrub.
In spite of the many qualities of Haskap, the real
story is Dr. Thompson herself.
At 77, she is doing the majority of the work herself. As professor emeritus,
she is allowed to use Oregon State University
land and greenhouse space for which she pays researcher's fees. She has
been able to get a few small grants, but she still winds up paying a lot out of her own pocket, and even doing much of
the work herself, including much of the field and greenhouse work such as
planting, propagating, even weeding and mowing.
Given how much she has accomplished already, it would be a shame if her work didnt live up to its tremendous potential for lack of
finances. The nice thing is that aiding the work would help both
commercial AND home growers, since the plant types each group would want arent necessarily the same. As noted, different Haskap selections could be good ornamentals, as well as
being bird resistant, in addition to the types for commercial use.
The fruit is excellent for processing as jam, pie filling, and highly colored juice, suitable by
itself or in blends with other juices. The intensity of Haskaps color is such it could
even have use as a natural food coloring. Haskap is an extremely healthful berry, as well. The
fruit has been tested and found to be very high in anti-oxidants, comparable to
values reported in other berry crops, and other healthful substances. Raw Haskap is very high in vitamin C.
Right now, Haskaps best home uses are, as with
commercial production, for processed products such as jam, pie, and
others. More trials are needed to test its potential for being eaten
raw. As noted, there was at least one of Dr. Thompsons selections that became sweet very early,
but apparently the average types need to hang on the plant after coloration to
develop more sweetness, or at least for the acid to decrease to make them taste
less tart. Given the fast turn-around time in breeding, developing additional
sweet fruited selections might not take an excessively long time.
While there is not yet material available for home testing, a commercial
blueberry nursery has started a test plot of advanced selections. Dr.
Thompson wants to be sure of the quality of her selections before releasing
them. Nor does she plan to restrict distribution once she is satisfied
with selections. She believes in the potential of Haskap
and wants to see it reach the public. She is being cautious because the
blue honeysuckle material now being sold by nurseries is giving the plant a bad
name and she wants to be certain of the quality and characteristics of her
selections before releasing them. When its time, though, increase
will come quickly because the plants root easily from both dormant and green
cuttings, so propagation of the released selections will proceed quickly.
Dr. Thompson will want to have her Haskap selections
tested in a wide range of conditions, so there will be opportunities to work
with these plants as the breeding work progresses.
At this time, Haskap is a plant for the future, but
that future could arrive soon, given how quickly these plants bear and can be
tested. IF there is support for Dr. Thompsons
work.
Haskap; its new, its different,
but not difficult.
This is a project with great potential that deserves support. To help
further it, you can donate directly to:
Dr. Maxine Thompson
2715 NW. Frazier Creek Rd.
Corvallis, OR 97330
Contributed by Lon J. Rombough
Aurora, OR
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1.13 Global status of commercialized biotech/GM
crops: 2004
Highlights of ISAAA Brief No. 32-2004
Clive James, http://www.isaaa.org
ISAAA, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications)
The Brief was released on 12 January 2005.
ISAAA Brief 32 characterizes the global status in
2004 of commercialized transgenic or GM crops, now often called biotech crops,
as referred to consistently in the Brief. The focus on developing countries is
consistent with ISAAA's mission to assist developing
countries in assessing the potential of biotech crops. The principal aim, is to present a consolidated set of data that will
facilitate a knowledge-based discussion of the current global trends in biotech
crops.
Brief 32 provides the most recent data on biotech crops globally for 2 004, and
confirms that the global biotech crop area continued to grow for the ninth
consecutive year at a sustained double-digit rate. In 2004, the global area of
biotech crops continued to grow at a substantial rate of 20%, compared with 15%
in 2003. The estimated global area of approved biotech crops for 2004 was 81.0
million hectares, equivalent to approx. 200 million acres, up from the 67.7
million hectares or 167 million acres in 2003. In 2004, 5% of the 1.5 billion
hectares (3.7 billion acres) of all global cultivable cropland was occupied by
biotech crops.
Biotech crops were grown by 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries in 2004, up
from 7 million farmers in 18 countries in 2003. Notably, 90% of the beneficiary
farmers were resource-poor farmers from developing countries, whose increased
incomes from biotech crops contributed to the alleviation of poverty. The
increase in biotech crop area between 2003 and 2004, of 13.3 million hectares
or 32.9 million acres, is the second highest on record.
In 2004, there were fourteen biotech mega-countries (countries growing 50,000
hectares -125,000 acres - or more, of biotech crops), compared with ten in 2003
- 9 developing countries and 5 industrial countries; they were, in order of hectarage/acreage, USA, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China,
Paraguay, India, South Africa, Uruguay, Australia, Romania, Mexico, Spain and
the Philippines. During the period 1996-2004 the accumulated global biotech
crop area was 385 million hectares or 951 million acres (almost 1 billion
acres), equivalent to 40% of the total land area of the USA or
China,
or 15 times the total land area of the UK.
The continuing rapid adoption of biotech crops reflects the substantial
improvements in productivity, the environment, economics, health and social
benefits realized by both large and small farmers, consumers, and society in
both industrial and developing countries. During the nine-year period 1996 to
2004, global area of biotech crops increased more than 47 fold, from 1.7 mill
ion hectares (4.2 million acres) in 1996 to 81.0 million hectares (approx. 200
million acres) in 2004, with an increasing proportion grown by developing
countries. More than one-third (34%) of the global biotech crop area of 81
million hectares (200 million acres) in 2004, equivalent to 27.6 million
hectares (68 million acres), was grown in developing countries where growth continued
to be strong.
The increased hectarage/acreage and impact of the
five principal developing countries (China, India, Argentina, Br azil and South Africa) growing biotech crops, is an
important trend with implications for the future adoption and acceptance of
biotech crops worldwide; Brief 32 has biotech overviews for each of the five
countries. In 2004, the number of developing countries growing biotech crops
(11) was almost double the number of industrial countries (6) adopting biotech
crops.
2004 is the penultimate year of the first decade of the commercialization of
biotech crops, during which double-digit growth in global hectarageof
biotech crops has been achieved every single year; this is an unwavering and
resolute vote of confidence in the technology from the 25 million farmers, who
are masters in risk aversion, and who have consistently chosen to plant an
increasing hectarage of biotech crops year after
year, during the period 1996 to 2004.
The 10th anniversary in 2005, will be a just cause for celebration worldwide by
farmers, the international scientific and development community, global
society, and the peoples in developing and indust rial countries on all six continents that have benefited
significantly from the technology, particularly the humanitarian contribution
to the alleviation of poverty, malnutrition and hunger in the countries of
Asia, Africa and Latin America.
For the future, there is cause for cautious optimism with the global area and
the number of farmers planting biotech crops expected to continue to grow in
2005 and beyond. There were signs of progress in the European Union in 2004
with the EU Commission approving, for import, two
events in biotech maize (Bt 11 and NK603) for food and feed use, thus signaling the end of the 1998 moratorium. The Commission
also approved 17 maize varieties, with insect resistance conferred by MON 810,
making it the first bio tech crop to be approved for planting in all 25 EU countries. The use of MON 810 maize in conjunction with
practical co-existence policies opens up new opportunities for EU member countries to benefit from the commercialization
of biotech maize, which Spain
has successfully deployed since 1998.
In the near term, the one single event that is likely to have the greatest
impact is the approval and adoption of Bt rice in China,
which is considered to be likely in the near term, probably in 2005. The
adoption of biotech rice by China
not only involves the most important food crop in the world, but the culture of
Asia as
well. It will provide the stimulus that will have a major impact on the
acceptance of biotech rice in Asia
and, more generally, on the acceptance of biotech food, feed and fiber crops worldwide. Taking all factors into account, the
outlook for 2010 points to continued growth in the global hectarage
of biotech crops, up to 150 million hectares (375 million acres), with about 15
million farmers growing biotech crops in up to 30 countries.
Source: AgBioView
17 January 2005
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1.14 Orion Genomics donates sorghum sequence to
public domain
Orion Genomics, a Second Code
biotechnology company, announced today that it is donating to public
researchers all of its proprietary gene-enriched DNA sequence from the sorghum
plant, a close relative of corn and one of the most important cereal crops
worldwide. The sequence is expected to help researchers understand and harness
sorghums unusual resilience in sub-optimal environments to improve other crops
such as maize, and to contribute to the development of biofuels.
A paper authored by Orion researchers appears online today in The Public
Library of Science and describes the way in which Orions
GeneThresher" technology was used to quickly and
cost effectively elucidate for the first time more than 95 percent of the genes
in sorghum. Previously, using traditional technologies, the sorghum sequence
was too large to be cost-effectively determined. The sorghum sequence is
available at Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank)
of the National Center
for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Orion's public release of more than half a million sequences derived from the
gene-rich portion of the sorghum genome represents a significant advance in
U.S. cereal genome research,said John Mullet, Ph.D.,
Director of the Crop Biotechnology Center and
Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University and a worldwide expert in sorghum
research. Orion's collection of a half million gene rich sequences and the more
than 20,000 different gene sequences derived from NSF funded cDNA sequencing projects provide the first in-depth look at
sorghum's gene complement. This information will significantly advance
comparative analysis of the sorghum, rice and maize genomes and accelerate the
discovery of genes that contribute to sorghum's unusual adaptation to hot, dry,
adverse environments.
The sorghum sequence was developed using Orions GeneThresher technologies as part of a project that
leveraged a 2001 cost share grant awarded to enhance sorghum by the Department
of Energy. The grant was awarded to an Orion-led consortium of researchers from
NC+ Hybrids and Solvigen,
LLC to develop new enhanced sorghum lines with higher starch more efficient in
the production of biofuels and bioproducts.
Our hope is that Orions gift of the sorghum sequence
to public researchers brings tremendous benefit to people worldwide by leading
to improved grain crops and environmentally friendly fuels,said Nathan Lakey,
President and CEO of Orion Genomics.
Source: SeedQuest.com
4 January 2005
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1.15 New IFPRI report debunks misconceptions about biotech crop research in poor
countries
Poorer nations turn to publicly developed GM crops
Joel I. Cohen, Nature Biotechnology, Volume 23, No. 1, January 2005, pp.
27-33.
Complete report in PDF format (462K): http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/articles/2005/naturebiotech.pdf
In developing countries, public institutions are
conducting groundbreaking research to produce genetically modified (GM) crops,
according to an article published today in Nature
Biotechnology.
The article highlights the results of a new IFPRI study on
the development of genetically modified crops by research institutes in 15
developing countries. The first of its kind, this study assesses the state of
biotech crop research, the types of genes being used, and the biosafety and regulatory challenges poor countries face.
"Our study debunks many misconceptions about biotech crop research,"
said Joel Cohen, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow and
author of the article. "Many people assume that large multinational
corporations control the global development of genetically modified foods, but
the reality is that poor countries have vibrant programs of public biotech
research. Often this research draws upon indigenous plant varieties to
cultivate improved crops for local use by small-scale farmers."
According to the study, current biotech research has the potential to reduce
the use of pesticides. In the future, biotech crops may increase drought tolerance
and resistance to saline soils and improve the nutritional value of staple
foods.
The study documents biotech research on 45 different crops, including cotton,
corn, cacao, and cassava. The majority of this research focuses on improving
resistance to diseases and pests which can devastate yields for farmers in poor
countries. However, most of the research is currently being developed in
laboratory, greenhouse, or confined field trials. Very little is currently
available for use by farmers.
"Unfortunately, most poor countries lack the knowledge, capacity, and
funding to develop and comply with biosafety
regulatory requirements. As a result, GM crops face difficulties moving from
the lab to farmers' fields," noted Patricia Zambrano
of IFPRI, who contributed to the study.
While previous reports have examined biotech crop research in developing
countries, this study is the first to draw the connection between regulation
and specific crops and genetic traits, showing the policy implications of the
research. This information will be critical to policymakers for improving biosafety regulation.
"Poor countries are often unwilling or unable to test commercial GM crops
because of national policies or regulatory systems that are not prepared to
grant approval for general use," Cohen explained. "Researchers in
industrialized and developing countries need to work together to provide
science-based information for decision makers, so that they can enhance the
clarity of regulatory policies and procedures."
The study recommends an increase in small-scale, confined field trials to test
crops and receive feedback from farmers. It also stresses the need for improved
information sharing among developing countries.
"The information in this study will assist developing countries to
strengthen the effectiveness of research and regulation, so that they can
maximize benefits to small-scale farmers," said Mark Rosegrant,
director of Environment and Production Technology at IFPRI.
Source: SeedQuest.com
6 January 2005
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1.16 German law stops research project on GM potatoes
with higher levels of an important carotenoid
In the wake of a law seen as a major blow for science, a major project's
funding dries up
By Ned Stafford, The Scientist
A German research project aimed at producing genetically modified (GM)
potatoes with higher levels of an important carotenoid
will likely be cancelled before completion because of what the study's leader
calls the German government's negative attitude toward GM crop research.
Helmar
Schubert, from the University of Karlsruhe's Institute of Food
Process Engineering,
told The Scientist the German research ministry has refused to provide
additional funding needed to complete the 5-year project.
The group has succeeded in producing GM potatoes with 250 times more zeaxanthin than found in conventional potatoes, said
Schubert. Past studies have indicated that higher dietary levels of zeaxanthin reduce the risk of
age-related macular degeneration, a frequent cause of vision loss in the
elderly.
Schubert said his group needs just one more year to finish the project, but
"at the moment, we have no money to finish the project."
The project, which started in 1999, received a grant of around ¬10 million (USD $13.2 million) under the government of the previous
chancellor, Helmut Kohl. Schubert said Kohl supported GM research more than the
current government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose SPD
party relies on the support of the Greens party to maintain a parliamentary
majority.
Schroeder's government last year supported parliamentary passage of a new
highly restrictive GM crop law that most in the bioscience community see as a
major blow to German science. Mark Stitt, managing
director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, reflected
the prevailing disillusionment during an interview with The
Scientist in late November. "Germany
has potentially one of the most flourishing bioscience industries in the
world," he said. "But now, research will be leaving Germany.
Firms will be leaving Germany."
Schubert said simply: "You can imagine that the current government has
some problems with our project."
In the spring of 2003, seed potatoes developed by a University of Frankfurt
team were planted in a test field by a research team headed by Gerhard Wenzel from the
Technical University of Munich. But as has often been the case in Germany,
the test field was destroyed by anti-GM activists,
throwing the project a year behind schedule. Last spring, the team installed
¬23,000 (USD $30,400) worth of security cameras
before planting a fresh test field, which survived until harvest, yielding 2
metric tons of GM potatoes this past autumn.
The first batch of potatoes was to have been analyzed by the Federal Research Center of Nutrition and Food in Karlsruhe,
Schubert said. But funding for the center and most
other project participants ended in October, and the 2 tons of GM potatoes are
now in storage.
"The potatoes, in our opinion, are very valuable," Schubert said.
About half a million euros is needed to complete the project, which would
include a second test field planted next spring.
Barbara Dufner, a Research Ministry spokeswoman, told
The Scientist that additional funding to continue the program is not
expected, adding that funding for Wenzel's University of Munich
team ends on May 28. Schubert said he will seek funding from other sources. But
if he fails, he said it "does not make sense" for Wenzel to plant
another test field this spring.
Christoph Then, a Greenpeace Germany GM expert, told The
Scientist that in addition to his organization's opposition to the concept
of GM crops, it also is generally opposed to enriching foods with vitamins,
minerals, or other nutrients, some of which can be harmful if ingested in
excess. "It makes no sense to enrich certain types of food with GMOs," he said.
Source: SeedQuest.com
13 January 2005
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1.17 New strategies proposed for insect resistance
management (IRM) and integrated pest management (IPM) in transgenic crops
New strategies are needed for insect resistance management (IRM) and integrated pest management (IPM)
in transgenic crops. These were outlined by Sarah Bates of Cornell University and colleagues, in Insect
resistance management in GM crops: past, present and future,published in Nature
Biotechnology.
Authors recounted several deployment tactics designed to delay resistance,
including moderate toxin dosage to ensure the survival of a fraction of
susceptible insects; a high toxin dosage to kill insects heterozygous for
resistance; the used of stacked genes in transgenic plants; temporal or
tissue-specific toxin expression of the genes in question; and refugeor provision of non-transgenic plants.
The researchers likewise reported new techniques for integrated pest and insect
resistance management. These were the use of pyramided transgenic strains, as
in the latest strains of transgenic cotton, which can ensure better pest
control, and which require a smaller refuge; and the use of novel toxins, such
as Cry and Bt toxins with different modes of action, or vegetative insecticidal
proteins (Vips) which have shown insecticidal
activity against a wide range of pests.
Researchers also proposed that molecular breeding should be complemented by
traditional methods of integrated pest management, including cultural and
biological controls.
Full article at www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v23/n1/full/nbt1056.html&filetype=pdf
Source: CropBiotech Update via
SeedQuest.com
21 January 2005
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1.18 Consumers to benefit from organic potato
breakthrough
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Shoppers throughout Europe are enjoying a greater variety of organic potatoes
at more affordable prices, according to researchers who publish an
international study today.
Several varieties of organic potato, suitable for a range of national palates
and cuisine, are adorning supermarket shelves across the continent for the
first time.
A European study, led by Nafferton Ecological Farming
Group at the University of Newcastle
upon Tyne, found up to ten
varieties of potatoes, which can be grown without using chemical fertilisers
and pesticides whilst being particularly resistant to the deadly fungal
disease, blight. Most of these are newly available on supermarket shelves
throughout the continent.
'Designer composts' were created as part of the project, and were shown to
increase organic potato crop yields by up to 40 per cent. New and effective
organic crop management strategies have also been tried and tested.
Results of the project (called Blight-MOP), which involved 13 partners in Europe, will be presented
today at a conference in Newcastle
hosted by the Soil Association and the University of Newcastle
upon Tyne.
One of the project's main objectives was to encourage more consumers and
producers to 'go organic' - currently just four per cent of shoppers buy
organic vegetables.
Among the newly-available organic potato selection are two Scottish varieties,
Eve Balfour and Lady Balfour, which have been bred by the Scottish Crop
Research Institute and are on UK
supermarket shelves. Other examples include a "purple" potato from