Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
8
The Economic and
Marketing Challenges
of Horticultural
Biotechnology
Steven Sexton and David Zilberman
CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................ 175
High.Fixed.Costs.of.R&D...................................................................................... 176
Consumer.Acceptance............................................................................................ 178
Regulation............................................................................................................... 180
Bans.on.GMOs.................................................................................................. 181
Identity.Preservation,.Segregation,.and.Labeling.............................................. 182
Directed.R&D.and.Role.for.Public.Sector:.Public-Private.Partnerships............... 183
Predictions.and.Policy.Recommendations............................................................. 186
References.............................................................................................................. 187
INTRODUCTION
In.the.13.years.that.followed.the.commercial.introduction.of.genetically.engineered.
ield. crops. in. 1996,. agricultural. biotechnology. became. the. most. quickly. adopted.
crop.technology.in.history..More.than.14.million.farmers.in.25.different.countries.
planted. a. combined. 134. million. hectares. of. genetically. modiied. (GM). crops. in.
2009.
1
.Virtually,.none.of.this.land,.however,.was.planted.to.horticultural.crops,.even.
though. agricultural. biotechnology. was. born. with. the. Flavr. Savr. tomato. in. 1994..
While.the.introduction.of.agricultural.biotechnology.in.major.ield.crops.has.been.a.
success.and.marked.by.a.tremendous.acceptance.by.farmers.and.a.strong.empirical.
record. of. productivity.growth,.the. development.of. horticultural.biotechnology. has.
been.slow..The.Flavr.Savr.tomato,.intended.to.resist.damage.in.shipping,.is.no.longer.
produced,.nor.is.a.strawberry.engineered.to.resist.frost.damage.or.an.insect-resistant.
potato..Only.the.GM.papaya.has.achieved.any.degree.of.commercial.success,.with.
70%.of.the.U.S.-bound.Hawaiian.crop.planted.with.GM.seeds..No.GM.horticultural.
crop.has.been.deregulated.since.1999,.and.the.number.of.ield.trials.has.declined.in.
recent.years.
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175
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