Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
expensive as compared to a new non-GM
cultivar. Because of the complexity and
because of dif erent legal frameworks in
dif erent parts of the world, experienced
collaborators are essential to prepare these
dossiers.
Today, most of the GM plants that are
commercialized code for input traits such as
insect tolerance, herbicide tolerance, virus
resistance and hybrid seed systems for
heterosis. However, some output traits have
also been developed, such as the production
of oils, production of vitamin A precurser
-carotene and better digestibility and better
extractability of starch (see Chapters 7, 10
and 12). Crops in which the GMO technology
has been adopted successfully are maize,
soybean, cotton, canola, potato, rice and
papaya. But also for many other crops, one
may expect to see products ready for
commercialization in the coming years (see
Chapter 12). h is is a clear trend in North
and South America, in India and China, and
recently also in Africa. Successful intro-
duction in Europe, however, will not depend
on technological progress and investments
but on the acceptance of these GM crops in
society by dif erent stakeholders; in the i rst
place, by consumers (see Chapters 13-15).
As it is known that the opinion of the
consumer is inl uenced largely by the media,
non-governmental organizations, retail, etc.,
it will be very interesting to see whether the
controversy about GM crops will continue its
stalemate of the past 10 years or whether
acceptance of this technology will pave the
way for European-targeted applications.
Altman, A. and Hasegawa, P. (2011)
Plant Bio-
technology and Agriculture
, 1st edn. Academic
Press, Amsterdam, Boston, Heidelberg,
London, New York, Oxford, Paris, San Diego,
San Fancisco, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
Chrispeels, M.J. and Sadava, D.E. (2003)
Plants,
Genes and Crop Biotechnology
, 2nd edn. Jones
and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Mas-
sachusetts.
Slater, A., Scott, N. and Fowler, M. (2003)
Plant
Biotechnology:
The Genetic Manipulation of
Plants
. Oxford University Press, New York.
Yunbi, X. (2010)
Molecular Plant Breeding.
CAB
International, Wallingford, UK.
