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Speakout: New biotech corn a boon to farmers (Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- Kevin Penny, Rocky Mountain News: When people first began talking about agricultural biotechnology, we heard
about its potential to reduce the use of pesticides. The promise is about
to arrive in a big way with the anticipated approval of corn that resists
the devastating corn rootworm.
Control of this pest represents the single largest use of conventional
insecticides in U.S. agriculture. It appears that farmers could
essentially eliminate use of that insecticide by planting the new biotech
corn, which produces a protein that controls the pest.
I was one of several corn growers who got to try the new corn in 2002 as
part of an experimental use permit. How did it work? Consider this: I
harvested 25 pivot fields of corn. Twenty-four of the fields received at
least one and sometimes three applications of chemical insecticides; the
biotech field received none and produced yields that were equal to or
better than the other fields.
Rootworms are a devastating pest, which must be controlled if growers are
to have any crop. They really aren't worms, but are the larval form of a
beetle. They attack the corn roots, depriving the plant of nutrients and
causing stalks to fall over. Rootworms cost U.S. corn growers about $1
billion each year.
Currently, in regions like Colorado where rootworms are a problem, most
continuous corn acres are treated with a soil-applied granular
insecticide.
Sometimes that insecticide loses its punch before all the larvae pupate to
their adult form, so farmers might have to apply a liquid insecticide to
control the larvae that are continuing to feed on the roots. Then, in the
late summer, depending on how many mature beetles we see, we might have to
use a third application to suppress the adult beetles, lessening the next
spring's infestation. The latter two applications are generally made
aerially.
I fully expect the new biotech corn to eliminate nearly all of those
applications. The major exception would be those acres in which we would
not plant the biotech corn to comply with the refuge management system.
The biotech corn contains a gene from a soil bacterium known as Bacillus
thuringiensis or Bt.
Farmers, including organic farmers, have used Bt powders or sprays for
years to control insects that attack leaves or stems. Now scientists have
learned how to put the gene into plants where it produces a protein in the
roots. It provides season-long protection, no matter when rootworms show
up. And, because it is so effective, we probably won't have to control for
beetles in the fall.
The Bt protein in the new corn is effective only against rootworms. The
Environmental Protection Agency requires extensive testing to prove that
the protein does not harm birds, mammals, fish and beneficial insects.
Insect protection through biotechnology is going to be a tremendous
benefit.
It's good news for farmers, who must invest heavily in chemicals in order
to protect their crops. It's good news for our employees, because it will
greatly reduce their exposure to chemicals.
It should also come as good news to the nonfarming public, because it
gives farmers a new tool to farm more sustainably.
Having seen how the new corn performed on one of my pivot fields in 2002,
I'm hoping it receives final registration approval so I can plant it as
broadly as I can in 2003.
Kevin Penny is a third-generation farmer from Burlington.
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_1685512,00.html | |
