Jay Fidell: Those who fuel the controversy on biotech crops call them GMOs ?
genetically modified organisms.

One thing we can expect in the Legislature this year is a hornet's nest of
anti-GMO bills. In past Legislatures these bills have failed, but they keep
coming back. Sadly, one-third of all of the anti-biotech bills in the
country are introduced in Hawai'i.

Agriculture in Hawai'i is a $500 million business. To block research and
thus the use and benefit of this technology will undoubtedly affect that
business. Is that what we want?

Big Island ban
The Big Island seems to be moving backward. A handful of anti-tech activists
somehow enlisted the native Hawaiian community and the County Council into a
permanent ban on research on biotech taro and coffee. Not only did they
adopt this ban 9-0, over the opposition of the business farmers, but they
then overrode Mayor Harry Kim's veto.

The council had lost touch with 21st century agriculture. This ban stifles
our progress and reverses our history of agricultural achievement. It denies
us technology that can protect and improve our crops, and it could darken
the industry's outlook for years. The new council should step up and
promptly reverse the ban.

In fact, biotech crops are more regulated than any other agricultural
commodity in the country, with federal oversight by the USDA, EPA and FDA.
Impulsive county actions like this ban create an overlay of regulation that
inhibits investment in the industry. Clearly, the time has come for the
state to step in and limit this kind of county rulemaking.

Enough Anti-tech
Ah, for the romance of subsistence farming in the 18th century. People lived
to 35 and died from dreadful diseases. Food was perilous and medicine was
primitive. For one reason or another, some people still want this kind of
romance. Only a few weeks ago, three people on the Big Island developed
deadly rat lungworm disease from organic vegetables. You can't have it both
ways.

Anti-tech precedents seem to be finding their way into state policy ? the
recent Ohana Pale decision by the Intermediate Court of Appeals imposing
layered limits on importation of research organisms, the continuing attacks
on Act 221, and, of course, the Big Island biotech ban.

One unenlightened Big Island council member said "We don't care about
feeding the world." But we do care. We care about our agricultural industry,
and the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars it pours into our economy.
Hawai'i researchers are working on a biotech-fortified sorghum staple to
feed hungry people in Africa. The correct ethic, the Hawai'i pono, is to
feed and help people, not ban them from doing so.

Backwater v. science
Some objectors say it's all about a value system in which our farmers should
not tamper with Mother Nature. Some say it's cultural and that kalo is
sacred. Some bear a general distrust of science, especially from other
places, or a lack of confidence that we can do it here.

None of that works. Hawaiians have been modifying their crops, including
kalo, for centuries, and we have brilliant scientists, deeply concerned
about the environment, doing world-class work here today. But there is a
small group of people who want to control the lifestyles of others and have
money to pay sign wavers. Environmental nonprofits in Hawai'i, a number of
which oppose biotech crops, get Mainland grants in the millions. They also
get Mainland legal and legislative support made to look local.

Government and academic studies show that biotech crops are at least as safe
as conventional foods, so food safety is not a concern ? there has been no
documented case where a biotech crop caused illness. In fact, biotech food
can be designed to make you healthier. Biotech tools are powerful and
useful, and here to stay. At this point, it's irresponsible not to use them
in agriculture.

Building an industry
Growing plants for seed is one of Hawai'i's fastest growing industries, with
sales exceeding $100 million. Biotech companies, including BASF, Pioneer,
Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow are investing in crop seed development and
selling seeds all over the world. There is global competition, however, and
if we get stalled in local controversy, we'll lose.

To develop sustainable agriculture, we need to train scientists, expand our
research and export our findings and improved crops. Using biotech tools, we
can develop heartier, healthier, better-tasting crops that are drought
tolerant, disease, worm and insect resistant, that need fewer pesticides,
herbicides and less fertilizer, and that allow less tilling, more yield and
better soil conservation. Is this great tech, or what?

Ten years ago, Hawai'i's papaya industry was nearly destroyed by the
ringspot virus. Researcher Dennis Gonsalves led an effort to develop a
biotech papaya resistant to that virus, and that saved the industry. It was
a remarkable achievement. Papaya is now an $18 million crop in Hawai'i and a
major export.

Tomorrow's table
Farming is not an easy business. People assume that quality and productivity
come easy for the farmer, but that's not the case. When people find that
biotech crops can be grown to have more vitamin E, or to prevent against
cancer, they will be more interested. But to appreciate the farmer's biotech
and business challenges, we need to put ourselves in the farmer's shoes.

There's an important book about biotech and farming by Pamela Ronald, a
geneticist, and Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer. They have separate
disciplines, but their views co-exist. It's called "Tomorrow's Table."
They'll be here in February and will be speaking to various groups. For
details, contact Alicia Maluafiti at the Hawaii Crop Improvement
Association.

Leadership needed
Most of Hawai'i's food is imported. Our reserve is only a week or two. We
should be developing our growing systems for food independence and
self-reliance. We should be using the best technology and the best systems
available. Our lives could depend on it, especially in time of disease,
disaster or terrorism.

Hawai'i could be a world leader in research for tropic agriculture. Don't we
want that? This would not be a bittersweet return to the days of the
plantation ? it will be a new era in which cutting-edge science transforms
our agriculture and makes its business bloom as never before.

Hawai'i needs to get serious about its future. It can't afford to squander
its biotech expertise. Rather than enacting prohibitions, our officials
should be encouraging the industry to hasten its efforts in the development
of this technology.
Jay Fidell is a business lawyer practicing in Honolulu. He has followed tech
and tech policy closely and is a founder of ThinkTech Hawaii.
www.checkbiotech.org