By Ross Korves

As the World Economic Forum prepares to convene in Davos, Switzerland, to
discuss the global economic crisis, an advanced report1 outlines the grim
challenges ahead for the world, including warnings of weather-related
disasters disproportionately affecting subsistence farming and the threat of
drought to food security.

But the report also holds out the hope that the economic crisis will
motivate nations to increase cooperation and adopt policies that better
address the current threats.

It is my hope that the discussions at Davos and beyond will lead to greater
adoption of agricultural biotechnology to boost productivity and increase
the economic security and standard of living for farmers.

For struggling farmers ? especially in developing countries ? the benefits
of biotechnology crops are apparent. Buying or renting more land or taking
an off-farm job to increase family income is usually not an option. Their
only hope is to increase yields per acre, increase efficiency and lower
input costs.

Biotech seeds or plant cuttings are a scale-neutral technology allowing
farmers of all resource levels and economic backgrounds to share in the
benefit from their use.

Increased net incomes for farmers mean additional money to support education
and health spending and allow farmers to have more time for family
activities. In addition, biotech seeds create greater long term economic
stability by reducing production uncertainty from insect infestations and
disease.

In developed countries farmers were first attracted to herbicide-tolerant
crops to lower weed competition for water and sunlight and to reduce the
need for herbicides. Herbicide-tolerant crops also enable conservation
tillage programs that leave crop residue on the surface to reduce water and
wind erosion and lower fuel use by tractors.

Cotton producers using insect-resistant biotech varieties cut insecticide
applications by half, lowering human exposure to insecticides and reducing
the impact on beneficial insects.

In Brazil, the cost of insecticide for cotton can be up to 40 percent of
total production costs with as many as 14 applications per year; biotech
cotton can reduce costs by $40-120 per acre for farmers. Farmers in Brazil
and Argentina also use minimum tillage systems to increase double cropping
(producing two crops in one year) ? soybeans after winter wheat in Argentina
and winter corn after summer soybeans in central Brazil.

Four million limited-resource farmers in India, most of them living on $1-2
per day, and 7 million limited-resource farmers in China grow biotech
cotton. Studies in India show that cotton yields increased 30-60 percent
while the number of pesticide sprayings declined by 50 percent from an
average of 3-7 times per year. Net income increased by $30-100 per acre, a
50-100 percent increase. In China, which has higher yields than India,
biotech cotton increased yields by 10 percent, reduced insecticide use by 60
percent and increased incomes by $90 per acre.

In South Africa, insect-resistant hybrid corn yields about 30 percent more
than regular hybrids. Adoption of biotech maize, soybeans and cotton has
contributed to an estimated increase of U.S. $156 million in farm income.

In the Philippines, 125,000 resource-limited farmers grow an average of five
acres of biotech corn, with several studies showing increased net income of
$50-75 per acre with minor reductions in pesticide costs.

In addition, the next generation of biotech crops is being developed to
increase the yield of commodity crops and help plants use water more
efficiently, alleviating two of the growing threats ? high food prices and
water scarcity ? to global stability.

Agriculture has long been tied to the economic propensity of nations. Today
more than ever there is a dire need for a long term commitment to
agricultural research, particularly to research in agricultural
biotechnology.

Over 12 million farmers in 23 countries ? more than 90% of whom are
resource-limited farmers in the developing world ? are already planting
biotech crops. But for the world to succeed in addressing the threats facing
it, governments, on their own and working through multilateral institutions
and foundations, need to invest significant new funds in agricultural
biotechnology and adopt polices that increase farmers' access to biotech
crops.

Ross Korves is an Economic Policy Analyst with Truth About Trade &
Technology and the former Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau.
www.checkbiotech.org