Increasing Droughts Drive Up Crop Prices, Spur Push For Genetically Engineered Seeds
Pastor Dale Morgan
Increasing Droughts Drive Up Crop Prices, Spur Push For Genetically
Engineered Seeds*
BY DOUG TSURUOKA
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 9/15/2007
From dust bowls in Australia to drought-hit regions in the U.S.,
Africa, Asia and the Mideast, growing areas are drying out, helping push
crop prices to record highs.
Wheat prices topped $9 a bushel for the first time Wednesday, after the
U.S. Department of Agriculture said strong global demand and tight
supplies will push U.S. stockpiles to a 33-year low.
U.S. crop-year-ending stocks of wheat are forecast to fall to 362
million metric tons in 2007-08 vs. 456 million a year earlier.
Some blame bad farming. Others cite climate changes that reduce rainfall
and raise temperatures.
Arid Agriculture
The good news is that big agribusiness players such as Monsanto, (MON)
DuPont (DD) and Novartis (NVS) are using genetic engineering to produce
drought-resistant crops — including corn and grain — that grow on far
less water than regular strains.
"If one result of global climate change could be increased drought, then
drought-resistant corn and other crops would certainly help mitigate
this stress," said Sara Duncan, a Monsanto spokeswoman.
Even if global warming proves more of a fizzle than a threat, scientists
warn that the expanding world population intensifies the use of wells
and other irrigation sources to grow food. This drains local water
tables, rivers and lakes — exacerbating the drought issue.
"It's an irrigation issue, not a climate issue," said Kendal Hirschi, a
molecular geneticist and associate director of research for the
Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University. "Most
drought is caused by bad irrigation practices and not climate change.
And it's a matter of making crops more productive as the amount of arid
regions increase."
The U.N. Environment Program estimates that 70% of the world's fresh
water used annually goes to agriculture. Nations like Brazil that never
faced water shortages are seeing them now, the U.N. says.
Monsanto is using genetic engineering to develop drought-resistant corn,
soybeans and cotton.
"Corn is the furthest along and will most likely be the first to
market," said Duncan, who expects it to be rolled out in a few years.
She says such designer crops will also help satisfy growing demand for
corn for use in making ethanol.
Shlomo Aronson, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, says drought-resistant crops are an important option in
dealing with climate change.
"It applies to any area of the world where you have problems with
diminishing water supplies," said Aronson, whose university is
spearheading work on drought-resistant crops.
Hebrew University researchers have developed a tomato strain that grows
in desert areas.
"The tomatoes are very tasty and are also insect- and
disease-resistant," Aronson said.
Major droughts will be more common in the middle latitudes and semiarid
low latitudes of the globe in coming decades, according to a 2007 report
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Affected areas include
the U.S., China, Australia, the Middle East and southern Africa.
Biotech Crops Gain Favor
One upshot is that rising demand for drought-resistant crops could lead
to wider public acceptance of biotech-based plants.
Some critics blast these so-called "Frankenfoods" as dangerous, since
their effects on the human body and the environment are still unknown.
But Aronson and others say climate change will make such scientific
techniques more acceptable by force of necessity.
In drought-hit Australia, a July poll found that public support for
genetically modified crops surged to 73% in 2007 from 46% in 2005. The
survey by Biotechnology Australia says support rose because of
gene-spliced crops' role in countering drought and pollution.
Aronson says China and India, with their billions to feed, are keen on
exploiting drought-resistant crops. China will boost spending on
agriculture-based biotechnology by almost 400% by 2010 to shore up its
food-growing ability.
Monsanto is finishing its fifth season of field testing
drought-resistant corn and other biotech crops.
Duncan says genetic engineering is so exact that crops can be developed
for specific growing conditions in arid areas of states like Kansas,
Nebraska and California.
Monsanto also is testing drought-resistant strains in undisclosed
locations in the Southern Hemisphere, in a range of environments.
Once these crops have been successfully commercialized in the U.S.,
Duncan says, Monsanto will offer them to other countries.
Ted Schettler warns that drought-resistant crops solve just a small part
of food-growing problems.
"With climate change we'll not only see drought, but other wild climate
swings like floods," said Schettler, science director at the nonprofit
Science and Environmental Health Network.
He says researchers and governments must also focus on efforts to
increase soil fertility and crop diversification — not just biotech.
"We ought to be looking at the entire system of agriculture," said
Schettler, "rather than a technological fix that's pointed at a small
part of a much larger problem."