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Stakeholder Comments on Needs and Opportunities. Kater Hake USDA-ATAC (Ag. Technical Advisory Comm. -- Seeds) ISF (International Seed Federation -- Industrial Crops) ASTA (Am. Seed Trade Assoc. -- Int. Exec. Comm.) ICAC (Int. Cotton Adv. Comm. -- Biotech Expert Panel) and
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Stakeholder Comments on Needs and Opportunities Kater Hake USDA-ATAC (Ag. Technical Advisory Comm. -- Seeds) ISF (International Seed Federation -- Industrial Crops) ASTA (Am. Seed Trade Assoc. -- Int. Exec. Comm.) ICAC (Int. Cotton Adv. Comm. -- Biotech Expert Panel) and V.P. Technology Development -- Delta & Pine Land Co.
Seed Industry Needs 1. Eradication of war and violence in our lifetime 2. “Living wage” earned by all families 9. Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process 10. Pipeline of beneficial technologies and tools
105 gene sequences 105 104 gene functions 104 103 transgenes 103 102 1commercial product per year 101 Biotech Pipeline • Research into potential new products is huge • Frequency of commercial release is paltry. adapted from Daphne Pruess at the Plant Biotechnology Gordon Conf., 2/18/2003.
Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process • US must lead by example • USDA-ARS is logical institution to provide expertise • US farmers will be prime beneficiaries • they are highly adept at evaluating, appropriately adopting and managing biotech crops • they will get rapid access to profit enhancing technology • their global competitiveness will be enhanced • US seed sector will be encouraged to grow their breeding with novel traits suited for US farms • US biotech industry will be encouraged to expand to minor crops and nitch applications for US farms • Many of the great technologies already developed by the USDA and Universities get pulled off the shelf and planted on US farms
Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process Smarter minds than mine will design the road map • Design research with regulatory agency input to resolve issues, not create new ones (unless legitimate concern) • Start with easy crops, such as cotton • self pollinated • non-food crop, except oil which is protein free • non-weedy with geographically isolated wild relatives • Build data to move away from “one size fits all” • certain pharmaceutical crops have unknown risks • risks associated with established GM crops are known
A rational biosafety approval process is a bridge between plant biology research and human benefit • Once constructed, diverse and powerful technologies can pass • Facilitates all sorts of traffic: technology, communication, financial resources and political support • Without bridges, communities drift apart
Environmental and social benefits from GM cotton have been huge
Benefits from future GM cotton traits could be just as substantial