NCGA
President Shares Biotech Experiences with Australian Ag Industry
(2-15-05)
Resistance to agricultural
biotechnology often stems from a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge
on the subject, according to National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)
President Leon Corzine. At the invitation of the Australian government,
Corzine hopes to shed some light on the facts surrounding biotech
crops this week during the Agribusiness Crop Updates conference
in Perth, Australia.
Corzine was invited to
share his experiences as a U.S. farmer who uses biotech crops. His
visit comes as the state of Western Australia readies for a vote
on whether to lift a five-year moratorium on the commercial production
of biotech crops.
“They have a ban
on the planting of biotech crops and they’re trying to work
to change that,” Corzine said, adding that he’ll offer
his “perspective as a producer and leader of the National
Corn Growers Association on what’s important on the farm and
why we use the products.”
According to Corzine,
U.S. corn growers have a vested interest in the acceptance of biotech
crops in Western Australia and other areas around the globe.
“It is important
to us that everyone understands the facts on biotechnology because
we have worldwide customers, and all of our consumers need to understand
the benefits of biotechnology, the regulatory process and the scrutiny
that these products come under,” he said. “We want to
continue to provide a safe, high-quality product and we’re
always with new technologies to do even better.”
Biotech products are
having a significant impact on environments and agricultural economies
around the world. Biotech crops were planted on 200 million acres
worldwide in 2004, according to a recent report by the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
This marks a nearly 50-fold increase from the 4.3 million acres
planted in 1996, the first year biotech crops were commercially
available. Worldwide biotech plantings jumped 20 percent last year
alone.
Australia ranked
tenth in the world in biotech crop acreage in 2004, according to
ISAAA, with Bt cotton constituting the majority of that acreage.
Wheat, barley and oats are the primary crops grown in Western Australia.