Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of species under modification in Europe shows over 70 crops in field trials.
11
A quick
glance at these tables shows that the most frequently added trait is herbicide toler-
ance. This relates to the expense and time farmers dedicate to management of
weeds in field crops. Next in importance are damages due to insects and disease.
A few unusual traits under development are noted for banana. Many human diseases
are endemic to tropical areas simply because vaccines cannot be distributed under
refrigerated conditions. By incorporating a vaccine into food that every child eats,
it is theoretically possible to inoculate large populations against a common disease
at very low cost.
10,11
It is clear that we are seeing more transgenic crops in production and on our table.
Rather than commenting on the desirability of these new traits, this chapter will attempt
to describe only what is happening and place it in historical context. An idea of the
interest in transgenic crops can be gained by the number of applications for field
trials of transgenic crops. The trends from 1991 through 2006 are shown in
Figure 12.7. There was an obvious surge in field work during the 1997 to 1999
period. There are still significant numbers of field trials of transgenic crops in
Europe, even in countries thought to be antitransgenic.
Similar trends can be seen in the United States, as shown in Figure 12.8. These
figures show a rapid increase in field trials starting in 1993, with a peak in 1998 to
2002.
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Most likely the declines in field trials reflect a more careful selection of
crops to test in the field.
The large investment in developing transgenic plants is a response to the over-
whelming adoption of certain varieties of transgenic crop plants. Within one year
after the introduction of Roundup
§
-tolerant soybeans (1996) in the United States,
17 percent of the total area planted to soybeans was transgenic. This jumped to
Figure
12.7.
Permits for transgenic crop trials in EEC.
§
Roundup is a registered trademark of Monsanto Corp.
