Robert Wolfington III
Throughout the last decade, the face of crops has changed with the
help of labs and scientists. Biotechnology, the research that brought
?RoundUp Ready? and other hybrid seeds into fields, has grown in importance
for farmers around the world in producing higher yields and stronger crops.
MARSHALL, MN - Throughout the last decade, the face of crops has
changed with the help of labs and scientists. Biotechnology, the research
that brought ?RoundUp Ready? and other hybrid seeds into fields, has grown
in importance for farmers around the world in producing higher yields and
stronger crops.



During the annual Farm Outlook Seminar at Southwest Minnesota State
University on Wednesday, Tim Ulmasov, molecular biologist for Monsanto,
talked about the history of biotechnology and what it means to farmers
today. Monsanto, the company behind RoundUp, has developed a number of seed
products that are designed to be resistant to different climate, infestation
and other problems traditional crops would face. Ulmasov said the first
biotechnology seed product was introduced in 1996.

Since the mid-90s, he said more than 1 billion acres of
biotechnology-produced seed have been planted. Ulmasov said since its
introduction, no documented cases of illness have been linked to engineered
hybrid seeds.



Different regions in the world have different seeds. Ulmasov said
those seeds have traits that could be beneficial to plants in other parts of
the world. ?The benefits from one breed, from one part of the world, could
have benefits to other places,? Ulmasov said.

In order to do the research, Ulmasov said microbiologists use MRI
machines and similar techniques to get a clearer picture of the different
traits from different plants.

Ulmasov said a number of traits from seeds have been transferred into
specific genetically-modified seeds to produce higher yield crops.

Ulmasov said researchers are now looking at ways to produce crops that
require less draw on the natural water in a region. With the increase in
biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, the balance of food versus fuel is
changing.

Ulmasov said by 2009 or 2010, energy is expected to pass food in use
of corn product.



Ulmasov said researchers are looking at ways of better extracting
ethanol benefits from corn.

During his presentation, Ulmasov addressed questions of pest control
through the genetic engineering of seeds.

One audience member asked about Asian rust and what kinds of benefit
hybrid crops could have. Ulmasov said, currently, Asian rust hasn?t proven
to be a big problem for Minnesota farmers because of climate conditions. He
said there is research being done to help control the problem. ?We are
working on it,? he said.


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