Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Alternatively, transgenic strategies allow individual stress response genes to be
discretely added to high-yielding varieties, without compromising the transformed
variety's yield potential as well as being stacked together with other transgenic
traits—such as herbicide tolerance or insect resistance—that are already widely
desired by farmers. Transgenic drought-tolerant maize varieties are in advanced
field trials and being reviewed by regulators in the United States, Europe, Australia,
and several other countries, including Monsanto's and BASF's jointly—developed
MON 87460 event, with the cold shock protein B (
CspB
) from
Bacillus subtilis
.
The same transgene is being adapted to African maize varieties by the Water Ef-
ficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) initiative, coordinated by the African Agricul-
tural Technology Foundation (AATF), and consisting of a publicprivate partnership
between Monsanto and several public sector agricultural research institutions in
Africa, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard
G. Buffett Foundation.
1.3 Research and Development and the Commercialization
of New Crop Varieties
Regardless whether a breeding or a transgenic approach is taken to improve crop
genetics, doing so involves a research and development process followed by the
commercialization of the successfully developed crop variety or other related tech-
nology. Today, these processes constitute the primary pathway by which fundamen-
tal knowledge of plant biology is translated into human benefit.
It is important to clarify that
any
release of a new crop variety—whether done by
a company or a public-sector organization—can be understood as the commercial-
ization of that variety for that is the point at which it leaves the controlled environ-
ment of the laboratory, greenhouse, or test plot and enters the much less controlled
environment of human commerce. Moreover, varietal release occurs in the context
of markets in virtually all cases. There is little dispute this is the case when a com-
pany makes the release. Indeed, however, it is exceedingly rare that seeds are freely
handed out directly by governments or non-profit organizations to farmers. Even in
those cases when they are, the released seeds are intended as inputs for (essentially
commercial) agricultural production, or may be sold on the secondary market. In
the more common case of a 'public' release of a new variety by a publicsector
breeding program, the new variety is still very much entering commerce. Typically
it is taken up by local seed companies or nurseries, either to be crossed into local
varieties or simply to be multiplied and sold to farmers. Even when small scale or
small profit margins dissuade companies from taking on this role, farmers them-
selves will grow and sell their surplus seed to other farmers for use in subsequent
seasons. Finally, the very act of any farmer taking up or adopting a new crop variety
is an economic decision, taken with due consideration of its economic implications
for that farmer's production and household.
