New study documents steady increase in US public support for Biotech ctops and supports introduction of virus resistant papaya varieties

A Synopsis of US Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified (Biotech) Crops1

Edward A. Evans and Fredy H. Ballen,  University of Florida

Study Conclusions
Biotechnology has now emerged as one of the most innovative technologies of modern times; this new technology is capable of improving a range of crops, including fruits, vegetables, and plantation crops, with greater precision while dealing with global challenges such as climate change. With more than 30 commercial GM crops grown on almost 160 million hectares in 29 countries and the expectation that there will be around 120 GM crops by 2015, it is clear that agro-biotechnology is growing.



Several scientific studies have concluded that GM crops are safe, and that there is much to be gained from embracing the technology, which is fast becoming conventional in North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. Although the United States continues to remain the largest producer and consumer of biotech food and food products, followed by countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and India, it is clear that biotechnology will be of tremendous benefit to both developed and developing countries. Consumers will benefit from the assurance of available, cheap, wholesome food, while producers will benefit by engaging in viable farming operations that would be impossible without biotechnology.



While it is true that consumer attitudes toward GM foods vary widely across the world, it is also fair to note that public opinion is moving slowly toward acceptance of biotech foods. With a global population nearing 9 billion people, biotech crops offer a tremendous potential to mitigate threats of hunger and some of the adverse impacts of climate changes. Recent studies have shown that consumers are willing to accept biotech foods when provided with additional information on the safety of such products. While international trade issues related to biotech food products will arise based on individual laws and regulations, efforts are underway toward reaching a unified position regarding biotech labeling policies around the planet.



Better information about biotechnology and biotech-derived food products is needed. This bodes well for research at various institutions, including the University of Florida, on advancing genetic bioengineering. In this regard, news of the soon-to-be-released new GM papaya ringspot virus cultivar currently being developed by the University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead is welcome to papaya growers in South Florida. With the new cultivar comes the hope that it will provide them with the arsenal to fight PRSV with a profitable alternative, leading to increased farm income and competitiveness.

Full report @FE934/FE934: A Synopsis of US Consumer Perception of Genetically Modified (Biotech) Crops:

Global Poverty Rates and Economic Growth -- Growth (not Greed) is Good

Roger Pielke's blog highlights an important insight: Growth is good:
Quote:
The figure above comes from a recent, excellent paper by Martin Ravallion, The Idea of Antipoverty Policy, which shows a dramatic acceleration in the reduction of global poverty since 1950,

Ravallion makes two observations based on the graph (of which he notes, "Neither observation has been made before to my knowledge"):

The middle of the 20th century saw a marked a turning point in progress against poverty globally. Figure 2 plots two series for the $1 a day poverty rate, from Bourguignon and Morrisson (2000) and Shaohua Chen and Ravallion (2010). There is a long list of data problems in these sources and their comparability. However, these are the best estimates we have, and the comparability problems are unlikely to alter two key observations from Figure 2: First, the incidence of extreme poverty in the world is lower now than ever before. While there have been calls to end extreme poverty at various times during the last century or so, they are surely now more credible than ever. Second, the time around 1950 saw a turning point, with significantly faster progress against extreme poverty.

More @ Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Global Poverty Rates and Economic Growth:

Future cereal crop yield stasis or more yield growth? That is the question -- but not in Europe where innovation is shunned

Figure 5: Trends in grain yield of the three
 major cereal crops for selected regions
 since the start of the green revolution in the 1960s.

From Distinguishing between yield advances and yield plateaus in historical crop production trends
Patricio Grassini, Kent M. Eskridge & Kenneth G. Cassman
Nature Communications 4, Article number: 2918 doi:10.1038/ncomms3918
Creative Commons license, Open access to full article

Food security and land required for food production largely depend on rate of yield gain of major cereal crops. Previous projections of food security are often more optimistic than what historical yield trends would support. Many econometric projections of future food production assume compound rates of yield gain, which are not consistent with historical yield trends. Here we provide a framework to characterize past yield trends and show that linear trajectories adequately describe past yield trends, which means the relative rate of gain decreases over time. Furthermore, there is evidence of yield plateaus or abrupt decreases in rate of yield gain, including rice in eastern Asia and wheat in north-west Europe, which account for 31% of total global rice, wheat and maize production. Estimating future food production capacity would benefit from an analysis of past crop yield trends based on a robust statistical analysis framework that evaluates historical yield trajectories and plateaus.

More @ Distinguishing between yield advances and yield plateaus in historical crop production trends : Nature Communications : Nature Publishing Group: