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A new day dawning With biotech rice just around Editor During the 2000 season, Jimmy Hoppe, a southern Louisiana rice producer, didn=t plant Roundup Ready soybeans partly because he was afraid he wouldn=t have a home for his crop when he harvested it. Although he would like to have an effective red rice management tool, the Iowa, La., grower also has concerns about buyer acceptance of a genetically engineered rice crop. A That is something we will have to look at and make sure we are prepared to get it into the market and it=s accepted,@ Hoppe says. AAnd certainly, before I raise any, I=m going to make sure I have a home for it.@Aventis CropScience is developing through genetic engineering rice that tolerates Liberty herbicide. The company already has Environmental Protection Agency registration for Liberty used to produce Liberty Link rice seed. Aventis hopes to have EPA registration for Liberty for use on rice for human consumption by 2002. Marc Curtis, who farms rice, soybeans, corn and wheat near Leland, Miss., also worries about foreign acceptance of the corp. A I hope that biotech rice is not released commercially in the U.S. until we get approval in all of the other overseas markets,@ says Curtis, who chairs the American Soybean Association. AIf we start sending unapproved biotech varieties of rice into our foreign markets the same way as corn, we could lose the European markets.@He shares Hoppe =s concerns about the domestic market.A Rice is a little bit different market than soybeans,@ Curtis says. AIt=s not as open a market; they=re not as many buyers out there. If the buyers are not going to buy it, the farmers are going to have a hard time finding a home for it. They better check before they plant it to smake sure they have a home for the rice.@Manufacturers = stanceAnd the growers = fears aren=t unfounded. A small but growing number of manufacturers say they won=t accept genetically engineered crops. The manufacturers remain in the minority as consumers generally continue to support biotechnology.Experts who monitor public opinion credit educational campaigns with helping to educate U.S. consumers about biotechnology =s benefits, and several groups plan to enhance the educational efforts in the future.But Uncle Ben =s is one food manufacturer that probably won=t accept biotech rice once it comes into production, says Gary Boddicker, Uncle Ben=s commercial manager in Greenville, Miss.A The problem we have at the moment is we don=t have a means of segregating that rice through our mills efficiently,@ Boddicker says. AWe have customers who have indicated they don=t want GMOs, and we want to respond to our customers.@Consumer support remains strong Despite the few manufacturers = positions, U.S. consumer still remain overwhelmingly supportive of biotechnology, says Thomas Hoban, a North Carolina State University sociology professor, who monitors consumer perceptions of biotechnology. A survey conducted in October shows U.S. consumers remains strong despite recent recalls of taco shells and taco chips containing unapproved biotech corn.A That was quite encouraging,@ Hoban says. AI think with all of the initiatives in the United StatesCthe Council for Biotechnology and universities doing more outreach and various reports from the governmentCit=s all very positive. I haven=t seen it becoming a huge issue.@The same can =t be said of the European Community. Consumers overseas are still overwhelming opposed biotech-produced foods.Although the agricultural industry may be particularly sensitive about negative press coverage of biotech, Hoban says most U.S. consumers give it little attention. He cites a recent laboratory study by Iowa State University showing that Bt corn pollen is lethal to some monarch butterfly caterpillars. The story received only brief coverage by television networks and only short articles appeared inside newspapers. What is more worrisome to Hoban and to many growers is manufacturers taking an anti-GMO stand. A The companies themselves are making decisions that don=t necessarily reflect actual consumer concerns,@ Hoban says. AIn fact, most food companies privately express strong support for biotechnology.@Gary Sebree, a rice and soybean producers from Stuttgart, Ark.,who grows Roundup Ready soybeans for seed, shares Hoban =s concerns.Sebree believes the situation could have been different had biotech crops that benefitted the consumer, such as golden rice, been marketed first. Golden rice, developed through genetic engineering, contains a gene that produces vitamin A. In third-word countries, it can help prevent blindness and even death. A If golden rice had come before Roundup Ready soybeans, I believe perception would have gone in our favor,@ Sebree says. AHopefully, it is not too late to benefit from the healthy reality of biotech. I do believe this technology will prevail, although it may have many growing pains.@Concerns reach biotech companies Growers = concerns as well as manufacturers policies have weighed heavily on biotech rice developer Aventis CropScience.A One of the main concerns that growers have is is somebody going to buy it?@ says Andy Hurst, Aventis product manager for rice. AIt=s the biggest obstacle we have, no doubt. And it makes the whole project pretty risky. The whole P&L (profit and loss) on this project doesn=t look pretty at this point. We=ll work real hard to get those export clearances in place.A The thing we can=t do financially is guarantee the grower has a market for it.@Spreading the word Hoban says growers should take every opportunity to work with groups, such as the American Farm Bureau and Grocery Manufacturers of America, that support the use of biotechnology. A I think there=s strength in numbers and they should continue to work that way,@ Hoban says.Individually, growers can talk to their neighbors and friends and tell them about the benefits they gain from the new technology. A I know from our standpoint, one of our goals is to try to help generate the information to help growers do that,@ Hurst says.Hoban currently is chairing a task force that will determine how universities can provide balanced, credible information about biotechnology =s benefits to consumers.E-mail Vicky Boyd at vlboyd@worldnet.att.net or call (800) 888-9784, ext. 224. Hotlinks: http://www.nalusda.gov/bic http://www.bio.org http://www.fb.org/issues/backgrfd/bioengineered.html |