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Moderated conference on GMOs in the pipeline, hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum in 2012

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Date:
Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:12:14 +0100
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This is Jonathan Shoham again.

In answer to Dominic Glover's request for more information on GM traits being developed by the private sector for subsistence crops (Message 71) it is not 'black and white'. [Dominic asked whether there were "examples from the commercial sector involving the development of subsistence crops with transgenic traits that make them suitable for poor soils, low-input conditions, with a low risk profile, that can be made available at low cost and that are likely to be commercialised in the next 5 years"...Moderator].

Major R&D based companies are bound to focus on the larger and more commercial crops as that is where they will get the best returns and they have financial obligations to their shareholders. Having said that there is also a trend for them increasingly to address the sort of targets Dominic Glover describes, driven by the following forces:

- The new technological possibilities being opened up by biotechnology advances. For example it is getting faster and cheaper to map plant genomes.

- Diversification of the crops which the private sector is addressing: initially most private sector GM R&D was devoted to corn, followed by soybeans and cotton. Now the focus is moving increasingly to rice and wheat, where the public sector has dominated up until now.

- The increasing prominence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) considerations in the private sector, as reflected in moves towards social impact investing, inclusive business, shared values etc. The rise of public-private partnerships (PPP's) is a manifestation of this, although a lot more needs to be done in this area.

- The increasing potential offered by developing countries. Dominic refers to 'Bottom of the Pyramid' opportunities. This in one aspect. There is also the overall growth potential. A study by McKinsey on African agriculture (reference below) forecasts the market for inputs (seeds, fertilizers, etc) would increase four-fold between 2008 and 2030 in order to propel the increased crop production required.

Getting down to specifics, organisations which are addressing opportunities in subsistence and orphan crops are Arcadia, the private company, which has several PPP's addressing the sort of issues Dominic Glover refers to (drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency; salt tolerance, heat tolerance), and The Danforth Institute which focuses on 'orphan' crops such as cassava, cowpeas etc and is involved with several PPP's.

Jonathan Shoham 
Agricultural Economist
Haslemere, Surrey, 
United Kingdom  
e-mail: jonathanl.shoham (at) gmail.com

Reference: 
'Lions on the move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies', McKinsey Global Institute 2010. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi/research/productivity_competitiveness_and_growth/lions_on_the_move 

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