Global food inflation has some people overseas taking another look at
genetically engineered crops
Biotech giants like Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto have struggled for years to
get into markets in Africa and Asia with varying degrees of success.

But there's evidence that resistance to the technology may be easing, at
least in part because of the skyrocketing price of commodities like corn,
soybeans, rice and wheat.

South Korea, for example, recently issued its first approval for import of
biotech corn for food.

"It's a change in course, basically," said Clive James, founder and chairman
of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications, a group that tracks the use of biotech crops.

"The decision was a very strong no before. It's now yes."

Andy Pollack of the New York Times reported in April that manufacturers in
Japan have started buying biotech corn for use in soft drinks, snacks and
other products.

Bangladesh wants to make crops resistant to flooding and tolerant of
salinity in soil. Last year's cyclone was a "wake-up call for all of us,"
according to an adviser to Bangladesh's agriculture ministry who was quoted
recently by Reuters.

In Tanzania, there is a new public-private partnership to develop transgenic
drought-resistant corn.

South Africa has solicited help from the U.S. Agriculture Department to
improve its analysis of new gene-altered crops, a step that country
presumably wouldn't be taking if it planned to back away from biotechnology.

"It's becoming very clear to countries that increasing their domestic
production is going to be a priority," said Michael Schechtman,
biotechnology adviser to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.

At a time when countries are looking to increase food production, "the
enormous corn yields that we can get don't go unnoticed," he said.

Calestous Juma, an expert in international development at Harvard
University, says sub-Saharan African countries will likely look to Brazil,
Argentina and China, countries where biotechnology already has taken off,
for help in developing transgenic crops that Africa needs.

"The crisis will redraw the map of diplomatic cooperation on agriculture,"
Juma said.

Critics of biotech crops dispute the industry's claims that the technology
can increase food production dramatically. They require large amounts of
fertilizer and pesticides that poor farmers can't afford, according to the
Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group. Defenders of the
industry point to the rising popularity of the crops with small farmers in
China and India as proof that the technology does have a future in
developing countries.

The Bush administration pushed biotechnology as an answer to the food crisis
at the recent United Nations summit in Rome. Ultimately, the summit wound up
skirting the issue in its final declaration.

But U.S. farm groups aren't giving up. Increased acceptance of the crops
could expand markets for U.S. food exports.

Representatives of the American Soybean Association raised the biotech issue
last week with a group of Democratic senators, including Majority Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada.

The farmers' group wants federal funding to promote global acceptance of
genetically modified crops. Most of the soybeans grown in the United States
are genetically engineered to be immune to the popular Roundup weedkiller.

Using the herbicide to control weeds allows farmers to expand their soybean
acreage.

"One of the key solutions to curtail rising food prices, in the U.S. and
around the world, is to accelerate production of crops enhanced through
biotechnology," said John Hoffman, a farmer from Waterloo, Ia., who is the
soybean group's president.

One thing that seems clear is that food prices aren't coming down anytime
soon. China and India are growing economically. The world's population is
rising, and the planet is warming, which could mean more droughts.

More countries, like Bangladesh, may decide biotechnology is something they
can't live without.

www.checkbiotech.org