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

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Biotech-Mod2 <[log in to unmask]>
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Mon, 3 Dec 2012 18:49:33 +0100
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This is Wayne Parrott again, responding to Message 78 by Aruna Rodrigues. 



There is lots of food for thought in this message ! The need for refugia and resistance management is critical, and so is expression level, as asserted. There are, however, some other issues that need further elaboration:



1) Potential negative effects. A lot of things can potentially happen. But, possible and probable are very different things. More properly, during an environmental risk analysis (ERA) we identify the hazards (the things that potentially happen) and then try to estimate whether they are probable or not (risk). So, it is important not to talk about hazards as if they were risks.



2) I would not dismiss hybrids as automatically being inappropriate for small farmers. I teach agroecology in Costa Rica every couple of years. I used to go to small farmer fields and show my students open-pollinated (OP) maize, was it is not common in the US. Then one year, I got there to 

find they were all planting hybrid maize-- the entire region switched from OP to hybrid in just 2 years. Years later, I keep asking how they like it, and the bottom line is that they still love it and would never think of going back to their old varieties.



I also have witnessed over the years how small farmers (formerly peasants) in the Almolonga/Zunil valley of Guatemala have eagerly embraced all types of hybrid vegetables. Yes, they must buy seed each year, but the extra yield and quality more than makes up for it. Over the years, there has been a noticeable improvement in the quality of the houses and their ability to purchase motor vehicles. They have upgraded from hand irrigation to irrigation pumps, and greenhouses have started to appear.



Something very similar is happening in neighboring Honduras with hybrid GM maize. The market share is growing most rapidly among the small farmers. The yield advantage and ease of management and final quality of product more than makes up for the extra cost of the seed. So, if you want to help peasants, just give them a choice and a chance!!



3) Integrated pest management (IPM): GM and IPM are not an either/or situation. They are complementary technologies. Just because someone is planting GM does not mean they can ignore sound agricultural practices. On the other side, no matter how much IPM one uses, IPM is easier with GM.



Finally,

4) Contamination: According to the Oxford dictionary, a contamination is something toxic or polluting that makes a substance impure. Think of Salmonella or organophosphate residues. Non-transgenes are never called contamination when they flow. Why are transgenes, then, called contamination? They more properly fit in the category of adventitious presence. Using emotionally charged terms such as 'contamination' does nothing to further the discussion, so let's resolve to stick to more accurate, neutral terminology.



Wayne Parrott

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences,

University of Georgia,

Athens, GA 30602

United States

wparrott (at) uga.edu



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