Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cannot be resolved on a purely technical level: under what circumstances,
if any, will it be acceptable to use food to make PMPs and PMIs? Under
what circumstances will it be possible to move into open field produc-
tion?
These questions and issues about risks, benefits, and regulatory
authority and decision making are to be dealt with in a complex EU
setting of conflicting strategic agendas. Molecular farming is likely to
be linked to other contentious policy arenas of renewables, greening of
industry, and even more broadly, of sustainable development and glob-
alization of commerce.
The sustainability issue often involves consideration of substituting
traditional (e.g., chemical) production processes by processes that are
more environmentally sound. Consequently, this is more relevant to non-
proteinous PMIs, produced on a larger scale as plant metabolites that
might be produced more efficiently. In this case, the potential environ-
mental advantages might conflict with the specific environmental and
health risks associated with open field production of industrial GM crops.
In that sense molecular farming would find itself located at the cross-
roads of two debates: the risk debate on agricultural biotechnology and
the sustainability debate on renewables and greening of industry.
The issue of agricultural problems and reform is not only of a hypo-
thetical nature: in the United States, some rural states, where cropland
is abundant and jobs are scarce, anticipate that pharm crops will gener-
ate economic benefits. In the EU, which is struggling with heavily sub-
sidized agricultural production, industrial crops are considered an inter-
esting option to diversify European agriculture. In that context pharm
crops have been explicitly welcomed by some commentators. 72 Individ-
ual farmers who - in some EU member-states - are receiving compensa-
tion for not cultivating parts of their land are nevertheless coming under
pressure and might be tempted to explore other agricultural products,
72 APA, Agrartechnologie: Pharma-Landwirtschaft ware Weg aus der Krise (2005),
available at http://www.bmgf.gv.at/cms/site/news einzel.htm?channel
=
CH0262&doc
=
CMS1112689973243.
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