Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Can’t Keep the Lid on Chinese GM Rice

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Dear Jennifer,

Did you see this recent article from Nature entitled ‘Escaped Chinese GM Rice Reaches Europe’ ?

The Chinese do their trialing on a grand scale. According to an industry source one million acres of insect resisitant GM rice was planted last year in China. Anywhere else this would have been described as a general commercial release of the GM rice.

If you tested Chinese rice noodles in an Asian grocery store in Australia you would find that products derived from insect resistant GM rice is a reality here too.

But more importantly, and as is pointed out in the article, the risks to the consumer of GM Chinese rice noodles are minimal. Any allergenic reaction to the rice would have been drastically reduced in the processing of the food as the food allergy expert states.

The real question is: Can GM rice coexist with non-GM rice and is there the political will to keep them separate in China?

Exports of Chinese rice noodles is not a big issue for the Chinese government.

There has been a consensus growing among scientists that when China decides to openly (or covertly) give GM rice the all clear it will have an immediate impact on the ‘GM free’ status of rice products sold everywhere on this planet.

It will undoubtedly trigger a new round of food scares and anti-GM campaigns.

But they will all be futile. Ultimately we will have to face the reality of living with a technology, which in the case of https://levitralab.com insect resistant GM rice, has clear public and environmental benefits.

Regards,

Roger Kalla.

Weather it Will Rain on The 18th Birthday Party

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My daughter turns 18 on 19th February 2007 and we are planning a party. February is often wet in Brisbane. We want to invite lots of people and hold the party outside in the backyard. Will it rain on us?

According to a book I’ve been reading by Ken Ring entitled ‘Predict Weather for Australia: Almanac and Isobaric Maps 2007’ published by Random House we are perhaps better to wait until late March to hold the party.

On page 121 he writes that between the 19th and 26th March, Brisbane can expect the longest dry and sunny spell of the month.

In contrast Ring writes on page 87 that the first 10 days of February will bring a passing front and moderate rainfall, then between the 15th and 20th there will be persistently overcast days and heavier amounts of rain and the last week of February will see another front bringing more rain.

The book has detailed predictions for all of 2007 with a focus on Australia’s capital cities.

Ring bases his predictions on lunar cycles in particular drawing on five of the lunar cycles known most to astronomers on the basis each creates an orbiting pattern that influences weather. He writes that these cycles feed into each other and fit like cogs in a gearbox with such celestial precision that after each lunar cycle of around 130 years, the moon returns to the same place in the sky with respect to the background of stars.

The five cycles are: 1. the cycle of the phase (new moon to new moon), 2. the cycle of declination (north to south and north again), 3. the apsidal cycle (moon speed change), 4. the perigee(closest to furthest away each month), and 5. the cycle of moonrise and moon set timing (air-tide in and out).

Ring explains that combinations of these lunar cycles produce weather peculiarities and when peaks in two or three cycles occur on or near the same day, extreme weather can result.

Perhaps not surprisingly Ring is a global warming skeptic.

To what extent should I consider Ring’s predictions in the planning of my daughter’s 18th birthday party?

GM Canola to Power New Biofuels Plant?

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Yesterday I received a copy of a Nufarm media release* announcing that the company had paid Monsanto $10 million for their Roundup Ready® canola germ plasm and a licence to the Roundup Ready® canola trait.

The media release explained that “Roundup Ready® is a genetic trait that allows farmers to use Roundup herbicide over the top of their crops, offering broad spectrum and efficient weed control and simplifying production of those crops”. Further, “the Roundup Ready® canola trait was approved by the Australian Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) in December 2003, but has not yet been commercialised in Australia following the imposition of State Government moratoriums in the major canola growing States”. And also that, “pending relevant State government authorisation, Nufarm’s Australian canola seed business platform is ideally placed to develop and bring to market Roundup Ready® canola varieties”.

So Nufarm is gearing up to supply Australian farmers with GM canola seed.

The media release finishes with comment that, “canola is also being sought to meet increasing demand from the emerging bio-fuels industry.”

In July the federal government announced a grant of $7.15 million to Riverina Biofuels Pty Ltd under its ‘Biofuels Capital Grants Program’.

Yesterday I received a copy of a media release from MPI Engineering** announcing that they will design and construct a new $16 million biodiesel factory for Riverina Biofuels Pty Ltd in the country town of Deniliquin in NSW. The media release explains that, “the facility will convert natural oils such as tallow and vegetable oil into biodiesel”.

I assume the tallow would be imported? Last year of the 2,535,000 tonnes of oilseed produced in Australia, 1,531,000 was from canola. This product is commonly referred to as vegetable oil.

So will GM canola power the new deniliquin biofuels plant?

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* Nufarm acquires Australian licence for Roundup Ready® canola, Company Announcement, 6th September
** MPI Group Wins New Biofuels Plant Project, MPI Engineering Solutions Media Release, 6th September

Crikey! Burn Habitat To Save Endangered Snake

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Many people thought Steve Irwin knew more about snakes than anyone else in Australia. But according to ABC TV Science program Catalyst Professor Rick Shine knows more about them than anyone else and like Steve he’s been passionate about snakes since he was a small boy.

Right now Shine is on a campaign to save the endangered Broad-headed Snake in south eastern New South Wales. It is thought there are only about 700 remaining in the wild with their habitat reduced by vegetation encroachment.

That’s right too many trees!

According to a paper published last year in research journal Copeia*, over the last two centuries European fire suppression practices have produced increases in vegetation density and canopy cover in many landscapes.

The researchers Jonathan Webb, Richard Shine and Robert Pringle hypothesized that this was negatively affecting populations of nocturnal reptiles that use sun-exposed shelters for diurnal thermoregulation including the Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides).

They undertook a field study in Morton National Park near Sydney and their findings supported the hypothesis. What they described as “modest canopy removal” restored habitat quality with rocks at the sites were the canopy was removed being 10C hotter and attracting more reptiles.

The paper concludes with the recommendation that until effective fire management measures are in place, manual sapling removal could help protect small populations of endangered reptiles including the Broad-headed Snake.

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This blog post remembers Steve Irwin who as Libby Eyre commented at an earlier thread: Steve will be saddly missed in the Australian wildlife community, as well as by the general public both here and overseas. He did a lot of good work for education, ex-situ breeding programs, in-situ conservation, animal husbandry and highlighting the animals many Ausralians couldn’t give a rat’s about. For all his larrikinism and sometimes over the top antics, he was a great spokesman for Australian wildlife. My thoughts are with his family, his friends and his staff at Australia Zoo.

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* Canopy Removal Restores Habitat Quality for an Endangered Snake in a Fire Suppressed Landscape. Copeia 2005 (4) pp. 894-900

Thanks to Ian Beale for sending me the Copeia paper.

WA Liberals Back GM Canola While Labor Claims Price Premium for GM-Free

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How did I miss this: On 30th August there was an article in the West Australian titled ‘Libs flag new GM crop trials’ in which the Western Australian Opposition was reported to be calling for wide-scale commercial trials of genetically modified (GM) canola with a view to lifting the current moratorium banning GM crops in that state.

The WA Agriculture and Food Minister Kim Chance had already responded to the Libs new found enthusiasm for GM by detailing in a media release how Western Australia’s canola growers are now receiving premium prices for their crops because of the State’s GM-free status.

But David Tribe asks whether farmers are better off with the $1 a tonne premium if the GM canola is higher yielding.

Anyway, it is significant that a State Opposition is finally taking on the GM issue and that there is at last some sort of evidence of a price premium for non-GM canola.

Possibilities & Challenges for Biotechnology

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released a report focused on the opportunities and challenges for biotechnology in the next decade:

“WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2006— Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announced today that a report about the future of biotechnology is available to the public. Prepared by USDA’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21), “Opportunities and Challenges in Agricultural Biotechnology: The Decade Ahead” describes the advances in agricultural biotechnology’s first decade and discusses a range of topics related to agricultural biotechnology that may be addressed by the secretary over the next decade.

“We are pleased to get this report and thank those involved for their interest and efforts. This consensus report, from a diverse group of stakeholders who express different perspectives, will be important in helping us understand the evolving landscape for agricultural biotechnology,” said Conner.

The AC21 was established in 2003 to examine how biotechnology is likely to change agriculture and USDA’s work over the long term. The 20-member committee represents a wide spectrum of views and interests and is composed of farmers, technology providers, academics, representatives from the food manufacturing and shipping industries, and representatives from consumer and environmental organizations. The committee meets in public session three to four times per year. The web site for the AC21, which contains all the committee’s reports and information about its meetings, can be accessed through USDA’s biotechnology portal at http://www.usda.gov.

Possibilities

According to the report, some of the ag biotech possibilities over the next ten years could include:
1. Genetically engineered plant varieties that provide improved human nutrition (e.g.,soybeans enriched in omega-3 fatty acids);
2. Products designed for use in improved animal feeds (providing better nutritional balance by increasing the concentration of essential amino acids often deficient in some feed components, increased nutrient density, or more efficient utilization of nutrients such as phosphate that could provide environmental benefits);
3. Crops resistant to drought and other environmental stresses such as salinity;
4. Crops resistant to pests and diseases (e.g., fusarium- resistant wheat; chestnut-blight resistant chestnut; plum pox resistance in stone fruit; various insect resistant crops);
5. Additional crops containing a number of transgenic traits incorporated in the same plant (stacked traits);
6. Crops engineered to produce pharmaceuticals, such as vaccines and antibodies;
7. Crops engineered for particular industrial uses (e.g., crops having improved processing attributes such as increased starch content, producing useful enzymes that can be extracted for downstream industrial processes, or modified to have higher content of an energy-rich starting material such as oil for improved utilization as biofuel); and
8. Transgenic animals for food, or for production of pharmaceuticals or industrial products (e.g., transgenic salmon engineered for increased growth rate to maturity, transgenic goats producing human serum factors in their milk, and pigs producing the enzyme phytase in their saliva for improved nutrient utilization and manure with reduced phosphorus content).

Challenges

AC21 members have diverse views about the appropriate role of plant and animal products derived from modern biotechnology in the food and agricultural marketplace. Members recognize that new products will be entering a world that is very different from the one that existed a decade ago when the first agricultural products of modern biotechnology were
introduced:
1. Many of the “first-generation” transgenic organisms developed in the United States have now been adopted by farmers in other nations, including developing nations;
2. Some of the transgenic plant varieties intended for food use developed over the next few years will likely emerge from the developing world. For example, if transgenic rice varieties (probably insect-resistant
varieties) that have been developed in the developing world (e.g., in China or India) are commercialized, this could have a significant impact on the global genetic engineering debate because large populations of humans will be consuming a staple transgenic whole food;
3. Some of the “next generation” of transgenic varieties and products may need to be produced under identity preservation conditions or require strict segregation from food or feed product streams;
4. Media coverage and public debate have made consumers more aware of genetically engineered products than when the first crops were adopted.
5. Increased awareness along the food and feed chain will continue to influence the acceptance of new products derived from modern biotechnology;
6. Genomic information is being used to enable the development of improved crops and animals through both transgenic and non-transgenic approaches;
7. National regulatory systems for evaluating the safety of new transgenic products are being developed and implemented in many countries around the world, eliminating some uncertainties but, in some cases, complicating the path to market;
8. Many countries now require mandatory labeling for food products derived from modern biotechnology, and some require traceability of those products throughout the food and feed chain. Food manufacturers who do not want to label their products as containing transgenics are sourcing non-transgenic crops, further segmenting the marketplace;
9. U.S. regulations are evolving slowly and many governing statutes were written before modern agricultural biotechnology was developed. That system may not be optimal to meet the needs of producers and consumers.
10.The commercialization of a transgenic plant or animal product is affected by considerations beyond the safety of the product. Technical challenges may arise when turning a beneficial trait into a marketable food. New products must gain acceptance by consumers and trading partners;
11. Sometimes social and ethical concerns may influence decisions about commercialization. For example, the development of transgenic animals may generate, for some people, higher levels of concern than those for plant breeding;
12. Some international agreements specific to modern biotechnology, e.g., the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and standards related to modern biotechnology under Codex Alimentarius, now exist. Additional efforts under these bodies are continuing, but their future outcomes are uncertain;
13. There is an ongoing trade dispute over modern biotechnology-derived products between the EU and a number of complainants, including the United States, nearing a final report from the World Trade Organization;
14. Technology producers, food producers and processors increasingly recognize the global interdependence of markets and the importance of resolving genetic engineering- related issues;
15. With the increased use of genetically engineered organisms, other issues such as testing, liability, coexistence, and intellectual property rights, have emerged.“

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Thanks to Larissa Mullot, Agrifood Awareness Australia Limited for alerting me to the report.