Biotech talk tops '06 US wheat conference
Here's a good article on the latest developments at the US wheat conference, including discussions on biotech wheat.
Regards,
Alisa
Biotech talk tops '06 US wheat conference
By Phyllis Jacobs Griekspoor
Wichita Eagle
July 28, 2006
The time has come for wheat to join the biotechnology revolution. That was the message as producers, researchers, wheat breeders and government regulators gathered in Wichita on Thursday for the 2006 Kansas Wheat Conference.
"The future of the wheat industry and the future of the human food supply rests on biotechnology," state Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polanskysaidin his opening remarks at the conference. "We must embrace biotechnology."
Wheat farmers have missed out on the benefits that biotechnology has brought to producers of corn, cotton, canola and soybeans, including $27 million in increased revenue over the last 10 years, said Kansas State University research and extension leader Forrest Chumley.
"A lot of the talk you hear makes it seem that biotechnology has not been widely accepted and that it has been less than successful," Chumley said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
He said biotech crops are grown by 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries.
A variety of factors has slowed the research into biotech wheat, Chumley said, notably a small number of researchers, a complex genome and fears of losing export markets.
Colby producer Mike Brown said he thinks the fact that wheat is primarily a human food product also has played a role.
"People are a little quicker to accept genetic modification of fiber crops or animal feed crops than they are human food," he said.
The wheat industry has also been divided on the issue.
"I think the fact that the first trait offered was herbicide resistance hurt progress," Brown said. "There was only a small segment of the industry that actually wanted that trait."
One of the most promising new gene traits is resistance to a disease called fusarium, which causes head blight and creates a toxin that can cause serious health problems.
"You offer fusarium resistance as a genetic trait and I think you'll see farmers embrace the technology," Brown said.
Dean Stoskopf, former president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, farms near Hoisington. He said he wouldn't hesitate to plant biotech wheat if he thought the modified trait would add value to his operation.
"I think drought tolerance and disease resistance would be popular," he said.
Also promising is the ability to genetically modify wheat to remove the allergens from the gluten, enabling millions of people who suffer from celiac disease to be able to eat wheat products.
