|
USA – DROUGHT RESISTANT WHEN NEEDED
Gene switch makes crops drought-resistant when needed
30 September 2006. Source: Agence France Presse
ST. PAUL, Minnesota - David Dennis, president and chief executive of Performance
Plants, a leading Canadian plant biotechnology firm based in Kingston, Ontario, was cited as telling a symposium Friday that a unique type of transgenic crop could benefit food growers worldwide by turning on a gene that would resist drought – but only when the plant begins to dry out, adding, "You can make plants which are drought-resistant fairly easily," "The problem is that most of these drought-resistant plants don't give you a good yield when grown under good conditions, with plenty of water."
Dennis was further cited as saying farmers would shy away from using such biotechnology because they figure if they have plenty of good weather, they will lose yield, adding, "We have a technology, a gene, that gives you a plant that's drought resistant. The system that we've developed switches on only during drought.
During normal growth, if a plant's got water, the system is switched off, as if the gene wasn't there."
The technology improves the efficiency of water use under all conditions, Dennis said. Russ Sanders of Pioneer High-Bred International, based in Des Moines, Iowa, was cited as saying biotech crops could help ease the annual worldwide drought loss of eight billion dollars, said.
The two seed experts spoke at a symposium on the next generation of biotechnology, sponsored by the Canadian consulate and biotech interests, the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and the University of Minnesota. The meeting was held in St. Paul, the capital of the north-central state of Minnesota.
In the United States, Sanders said, 52 to 61 percent of farmers use biotech corn seeds, and 87 to 89 percent use biotech soybeans.
|
