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*Posted 13 February 2009*

*GLOBAL*
1-BIOTECH CROPS POISED FOR SECOND WAVE OF GROWTH

*PHILIPPINES*
2-BIOTECHNOLOGY SAID KEY TO RAISING FARM YIELD
3-GOLDEN RICE ON TARGET FOR RELEASE IN 2011
4-PLATFORM TO TRANSLATE BIOTECH BREAKTHROUGHS

*AFRICA*
5-INCREASING AFRICA'S GRAIN HARVEST

*EUROPE*
6-13 MILLION FARMERS CAN'T BE WRONG - IT'S TIME EUROPE ALLOWED UK FARMERS
ACCESS TO GM TECHNOLOGY


*1-BIOTECH CROPS POISED FOR SECOND WAVE OF GROWTH*
*Political Will Strengthens Globally*
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
(ISAAA) Press Release
11-February-2009 ISAAA

NAIROBI, KENYA (Feb. 11, 2009) -- Biotech crops, on the heels of a robust
2008 and bolstered by increased political will to meet food demands, are
poised for a second wave of strong adoption that will drive sustained global
growth through the end of the second decade of commercialization 2006 to
2015, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).

In 2008, three new countries and 1.3 million new farmers were able to
experience the benefits associated with biotech crops. Additionally, total
planted area grew 10.7 million hectares, according to the ISAAA brief Global
Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops 2008. ISAAA has been tracking
global biotech crop adoption trends since 1996.

In its annual study, ISAAA found that 13.3 million farmers in a record 25
countries planted 125 million hectares of biotech crops last year, the sixth
largest growth spurt in 13 years of reporting. The 2 billionth cumulative
acre of biotech crops also was planted in 2008, just three years after the
first billionth acre, a milestone which required a decade to reach.

Most notably, in 2008 biotech farming began in the African nations of Egypt
and Burkina Faso. Africa is considered the "final frontier" for biotech
crops as it has perhaps the greatest need and most to gain. In 2008, Egypt
planted 700 hectares of Bt maize and Burkina Faso planted 8,500 hectares of
Bt cotton. They join South Africa, which since 1998 has benefited from
biotech cotton, maize and soybean.

"Future growth prospects are encouraging," said Clive James, chairman and
founder of ISAAA and author of the report. "The positive experiences in
these new regional footholds in south, north and west Africa will help lead
the way for neighboring countries to learn by example. Additionally,
political leaders globally are increasingly viewing biotech enhanced crops
as a key part of the solution to critical social issues of food security and
sustainability."

For example, G-8 leaders in 2008 for the first time recognized the
significance of biotech crops and called to "accelerate research and
development and increase access to new agricultural technologies to boost
agriculture production; we will promote science-based risk analysis,
including on the contribution of seed varieties developed through
biotechnology."

The European Union also has acknowledged that biotech crops "can play an
important role in mitigating the effects of the food crises."

In China, Premier Wen Jiabao has said "to solve the food problem, we have to
rely on big science and technology measures, rely on biotechnology, rely on
GM." As a result, China has committed an additional US $3.5 billion over 12
years for continued research and development. Biotech rice alone, already
developed and field tested in China, has the potential to increase food
availability and net income by about US$100 per hectare for approximately
440 million people in the country.

In the Philippines, at least 200,000 small farmers gained from biotech maize
in 2008. A socio-economic impact study reported that for small farmers, the
additional farm income from Bt maize was 7,482 pesos (about US$135) per
hectare during the dry season and 7,080 pesos (about US$125) per hectare
during the wet season of the 2003-2004 crop year. Using data from the
2004-2005 crop years, it was also determined that Bt maize could provide an
overall income advantage that ranged from 5 to 14% during the wet season and
20 to 48% during the dry season. Overall, four independent studies, which
examined net farm income as well as other indicators, confirmed the positive
impact of Bt maize on small and resource-poor farmers and maize producers
generally in the Philippines.

"Biotech crops make two important contributions to global food security,"
James said. "First, they increase yields, which increase food availability
and supply. Second, they reduce production costs, which will also ultimately
help reduce food prices. With 9.2 billion people to be fed by 2050,
biotechnology plays a crucial role in helping satisfy the growing demand."

Further, biotechnology is beginning to identify solutions to the growing
challenges with drought being seen in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Drought is the single largest constraint to increased productivity. For
example, Argentina currently faces a drought so severe that farmers have
made a loss on their wheat crop. Drought-tolerant crops, maize in
particular, are an emerging reality with seeds expected to be commercialized
in the United States by 2012 or sooner and by 2017 for Africa.

By the end of the second decade of commercialization in 2015, ISAAA predicts
that four billion accumulated acres will have been planted. Further, 200
million hectares of biotech crops annually will be planted in a total of 40
countries.

Other indicators suggesting a new wave of adoption emerging include:
o Bolivia, the ninth biotech country in Latin America and the eighth largest
global producer of soybeans, planted 600,000 hectares of herbicide-tolerant
soy in 2008, allowing its growers to gain the benefits its neighbors in
Brazil and Paraguay have experienced for years.

o There was a sharp growth in trait hectares or "virtual hectares" with 10
countries reporting 22 million additional hectares of biotech crops with
more than one biotech trait. Stacked traits will be a strong driver of
future growth.
o A new biotech crop, herbicide-tolerant sugar beet was planted in the
United States and Canada for the first time in 2008. Nearly 258,000 hectares
or 59 percent of the U.S. crop was planted to the herbicide-tolerant
variety, the highest launch adoption level ever signaling a strong desire
among growers for the technology.
o Brazil and Australia planted new biotech crops previously approved in
other countries. Brazil, the world's third largest maize producer, planted
up to 1.3 million hectares of Bt maize in 2008, while Australia grew
herbicide-tolerant canola for the first time.
o While France did not plant biotech crops in 2008, the seven other EU
countries increased their planting 21 percent to again total more than
100,000 hectares, a milestone reached for the first time in 2007. The seven
EU countries in order of biotech hectarage of Bt maize were Spain, Czech
Republic, Romania, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
o The number of growers benefiting from the technology may soon jump
sharply. Initial reports from China indicate the use of Bt cotton to control
the bollworm is also suppressing the pest in other crops like maize, wheat
and vegetables, allowing a potential 10 million additional growers to
benefit from the technology.

For more information or the executive summary, log on to www.isaaa.org.

The report is entirely funded by two European philanthropic organizations: a
philanthropic unit within Ibercaja, one of the largest Spanish banks
headquartered in the maize growing region of Spain; and the Bussolera-Branca
Foundation from Italy, which supports the open-sharing of knowledge on
biotech crops to aid decision-making by global society.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
(ISAAA) is a not-for-profit organization with an international network of
centers designed to contribute to the alleviation of hunger and poverty by
sharing knowledge and crop biotechnology applications. Clive James, chairman
and founder of ISAAA, has lived and/or worked for the past 25 years in the
developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, devoting his efforts
to agricultural research and development issues with a focus on crop
biotechnology and global food security.


------------
*Biotechnology's Role in Sustainability*

In addition to aiding in issues of food security, biotech crops have an
important role to play in lessening the environmental impact and improving
the sustainability of food production. Insect-resistant rice, for example,
has the potential to benefit about 1 billion people.

• Biotech crops contribute to increased food availability and affordability,
increasing production by 141 million metric tons in the 12 years, 1996 to
2007.

• Biotech crops help conserve biodiversity by saving land. Forty-three
million additional hectares of land would have been required to create the
production gain of 141 million tonnes generated by biotech crops. With 70
percent of the world's poorest dependent on agriculture and with income as
low as US $1 a day, biotech crops can also contribute to economic
sustainability and alleviation of poverty. In developing nations and
transforming economies, agriculture is responsible for a substantial part of
the GDP. Increases in agriculture productivity from biotech crops are
evident, for example:

o Research in India, China, South Africa and the Philippines shows biotech
crops have already increased incomes $115 to $250 per hectare. Globally over
12 million resource poor farmers benefited from biotech crops in 2008.

o Approval of insect-resistant rice has the potential to benefit more than
250 million rice households in Asia, or approximately 1 billion people.

o Further, the global net economic benefit to biotech crop farmers in 2007
alone was $10 billion ($6 billion in developing countries and $4 billion in
industrialized nations.) For the period 1996 to 2007 the economic benefit
was $44 billion, equally divided between developing and industrial countries


• Biotech crops have already substantially reduced agriculture's
environmental footprint by reducing pesticides, saving on fossil fuel use
and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and soil loss through less plowing.
In particular, from 1996 to 2007 biotech crops saved 359,000 metric tons of
pesticides (active ingredient).

o The development of drought-tolerant crops also has enormous potential to
increase yield where water is limiting. Approximately 70 percent of the
world's fresh water is used for agricultural purposes. Importantly drought
tolerant maize is expected to be available in the US in 2012, or earlier,
and in Sub Sahara Africa by 2017.

• The environmental benefits associated with biotech crops have also helped
reduce greenhouse gases. In 2007 alone, carbon dioxide savings were 14.2
billion kg, equivalent to removing 6.3 million cars from the road.

------------------------------------------------------------
*PHILIPPINES
2-BIOTECHNOLOGY SAID KEY TO RAISING FARM YIELD
*13-February-2009 BusinessWorld

A nongovernment group and some leaders of the academe have urged the
government to acquire more biotechnology crops to increase production while
developing the country's domestic crops.

"We should adopt [biotechnology from abroad] so we can easily…incorporate
that in our crops," Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator and Southeast Asian
director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech
Applications (ISAAA), said in a briefing yesterday.

Hybrid crops have been reported to reduce crop production costs and increase
yields. For instance, the RRC2/YG variety of yellow corn has a yield of 6.4
metric tons per hectare compared with the 5.5 MT/ha of conventional
varieties.

ISAAA said farmers that used Bt corn earned an additional P7,482 per
hectare, compared with farmers planting convention corn.

"We have to further sharpen our focus on the transgenic traits already
commercialized in other parts of the world and incorporate them into our
best cultivars," said Emil Q. Javier, president of the National Academy of
Science and Technology.

Crops under field testing in the country include delayed-ripening and ring
spot virus-resistant papaya, the beta-carotene rich "golden rice", and
virus-resistant sweet potato.

The agriculture department has sought an increase of in ita R&D to P 2
billion this year from P267 million lat year.

------------------------------------------------------------
*3-GOLDEN RICE ON TARGET FOR RELEASE IN 2011*
13-February-2009 Reuters via Agbios
http://www.agbios.com/static/news/NEWSID_10435.php

GENETICALLY modified (GMO) Golden Rice may be available to farmers as early
as 2011, possibly helping to save millions of children threatened with
blindness or premature death due to Vitamin A deficiency.

Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), said that it expected to release the GMO rice, enriched
with Vitamin A, by 2011. It was conducting its first field trials in the
Philippines this year.

It would be 10 years since the invention in 2001 of Golden Rice, which
scientists have said may prove that the controversial biotechnology can help
feed the poor and needy if applied with care and caution.

There is as yet no GMO rice grown commercially. Widely produced transgenic
products, such as GMO soy, corn or cotton, are mostly pest- or
herbicide-resistant. They are beneficial to farmers, but not necessarily to
consumers.

Golden Rice, which includes three new genes, including two from daffodil, is
yellowish and contains beta-carotene, a substance that human bodies convert
to Vitamin A.

Its research has been seen as a model for cooperation between public and
private sectors in pursuit of human welfare. Its inventors are claiming no
property rights for the rice. Neither are the companies that own the
technology involved.

Zeigler was talking early this week after IRRI received a grant of US$20
million for three years — equivalent to 17 per cent of its budget — from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

High grain prices, climate change

The executive said the funding came at a vital time when soaring food prices
and climate change threatened the gains made through the Green Revolution
over the past several decades.

The concern that we have... is that these gains in productivity, food
security, cheap rice, cheap food are in jeopardy, Zeigler said. We have to
address this.

IRRI says the fund will help it reach 18 million households, especially in
South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with better rice varieties and raise
yields by about 50 per cent in the next 10 years.

IRRI calculated the world needed to increase the annual rice output by
nearly 70 percent to 880 million tonnes by 2025 from 520 million tonnes
currently to meet projected global demand.

We are focusing on more difficult rice growing areas that do not have
irrigation, Zeigler said. Drought tolerance and flood tolerance is the key
for very impoverished areas.

This year, IRRI plans to hand out to more farmers in Bangladesh and India a
flood resistant non-GMO rice, for which scientists made a breakthrough in
2006.

We have now moved that gene into commercial varieties, the varieties that
can be are grown by farmers, he said. We tested them in Bangladesh this
year. It went extremely well.

Together with China, IRRI is also working on dry land rice, known as aerobic
rice, that can grow on dry soil like wheat.

Water for agriculture is becoming more and more scarce as water is diverted
for urban use and industrial use, he said.

We are working very hard to develop rice that can be grown almost like a
wheat crop or corn plant. However, that again is a very difficult and
challenging scientific problem. Reuters

------------------------------------------------------------
*4-PLATFORM TO TRANSLATE BIOTECH BREAKTHROUGHS*
By Zac B. Sarian
12-February-2009 Manila Bulletin

A new platform funded with $ 6.2 million has been launched in India to
translate transgenic technology and harness its products to meet the needs
of agricultural growth, it was learned from Dr. William Dar, director
general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India.

The Platform for Translational Research on Transgenic Crops (PTTC) is a
collaborative project of ICRISAT and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
of the government of India. PTTC will serve as a facility of reference to
strengthen national, regional and international linkages in transgenic R&D,
exchange of materials and information, as well as support training,
consultation and technology commercialization.

Speaking at the launching of the project, Dr. Dar said that research
breakthroughs in agri-biotechnology hold the potential for increasing crop
productivity and the resistance of food crops to pests and diseases, thereby
helping solve the food crisis. He stressed that the future food demand
cannot be met merely from incremental gains from conventional plant
breeding. A quantum change in yield improvement is needed, such as that
which occurred during the Green Revolution.

Dr. Dar added that finding solutions to major crop productivity constraints,
developing new technologies that will increase yields in low-potential areas
and creating opportunities for diversification in agricultural value chains
are some of the major present day agricultural challenges.

He explained that agri-biotechnologies are a further step in an evolution
that extends from the dawn of agriculture. These technologies offer a new
set of tools to enhance crop productivity and profitability.

In 2008, another 40 million people were pushed into hunger due to high food
prices. A majority of the world's undernourished, over 900 million, live in
developing countries alone. The world hunger crisis may further deteriorate
as the financial crisis combined with the energy crisis, and emerging
climate change issues threaten livelihoods. Hence, combating the food crisis
will require much greater investments in agriculture, Dr. Dar said.

ICRISAT believes that biotechnology can contribute to global food, feed and
fiber security, improve health and nutrition; use less external inputs for a
more sustainable agriculture and environment; conserve biodiversity and help
improve economic and social status and alleviate poverty in poor countries,
Dr. Dar added.

Transgenics offer a powerful tool for nutritional enhancement that may save
lives or help farmers adapt to climate change through faster integration of
genes for drought and flood tolerance, in the process generating social,
economic and environmental benefits for resource-poor farmers.

MEDIA BREEFING ON BIOTECH. Meanwhile, Dr. Emil Q. Javier, president of the
National Academy of Science and Technology, will discuss today the national
policies and strategies in bringing the benefits of science and technology
in relation to the current food security and economic crisis. This will be
at a media briefing co-organized by NAST, SEARCA, and the International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). The
briefing is from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Richmonde Hotel in Pasig
City.

------------------------------------------------------------
*AFRICA
5-INCREASING AFRICA'S GRAIN HARVEST
*11-February-2009 VOA News
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2009-02-10-voa5.cfm

Maize is the most widely grown food crop in Africa. It is the main food
source for 300 million Africans. It is severely affected by drought, and
Africa is a drought-prone continent. The effects of drought are especially
devastating to small–scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, where crop yields
diminished by inclement weather are common.

The need to alleviate the devastation caused by frequent droughts led to the
formation of a public-private partnership known as Water Efficient Maize For
Africa, or WEMA. WEMA is an organization dedicated to reducing crop failure
and alleviating hunger and poverty by developing drought-tolerant,
high-yielding maize varieties that are adapted to African conditions.

At the head of WEMA stands the African Agricultural Technology Foundation,
an African-run organization. It is supported by Kenya, Mozambique, South
Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Other partners include Monsanto, a U.S.-based
crop biotechnology company and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement
Center, a Mexico-based non-profit institution dedicated to the development
of improved varieties of wheat and maize. The project is in large part
financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard Buffett
Foundation, who pledged a total of $47 million to fund the effort.

"This project, conducted mostly in Africa and for Africans, will result in
improved maize hybrids, yielding an additional 25 percent more grain under
moderate drought conditions, compared to the best African seed currently
available," said Vanessa Cook, Monsanto's WEMA project lead.

The new, less thirsty corn varieties will be developed using a combination
of traditional plant breeding as well as molecular techniques, also known as
biotechnology or genetic engineering. WEMA hopes to develop the new maize
varieties in the next 5 years.

Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development at the Gates Foundation,
said: "Our long-term goal with this project is to give farmers access to
crops that can protect them from frequent drought, so they can feed their
families, increase their incomes and build better, healthier lives."

"Governments and nations are more likely to become unstable when their
populations are hungry and underfed," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said. "We are committed to building a new partnership among donor
states, developing nations, UN agencies, NGOs, the private sector and others
to better coordinate policies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,"
she said.

------------------------------------------------------------
*EUROPE
6-13 MILLION FARMERS CAN'T BE WRONG - IT'S TIME EUROPE ALLOWED UK FARMERS
ACCESS TO GM TECHNOLOGY
*12-February-2009 Farming UK
http://www.farminguk.com/news/13-million-farmers-cant-be-wrong---its-time-Europe-allowed-UK-farmers-access-to-GM-technology11377.asp

13.3 million farmers planted over 125million hectares of GM crops in 25
countries during 2008, the 13th year of worldwide cultivation. Today's
figures, published by the International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), show that the global biotech crop area
has continued to rise, growing by 9.4% (or 11 million hectares) in the last
year.

In 2008, seven of the 27 countries in the European Union officially planted
Bt maize on a commercial basis. The total area for the seven countries
increased from 88,673 hectares in 2007 to 107,719 hectares in 2008; this is
equivalent to a 21% year-on-year increase equivalent to 19,046 hectares. The
seven EU countries listed in order of biotech hectarage of Bt maize were
Spain, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

Commenting on the news, abc Chairman Dr Julian Little said:

"As the ISAAA figures show, more than 13 million farmers in 25 countries are
using genetically modified crops to deliver more consistent and efficient
yields of higher quality crops. Sadly, no GM crops of benefit to British
farmers have been approved for cultivation in the past ten years, denying
those who want to grow GM crops in this country the right to do so."

He went on to say:

"Farmers need the freedom to choose modern and efficient high-yielding
farming methods based on tried and tested science in order both to produce
enough food and to safeguard our natural resources. Agricultural
biotechnology, particularly the use of GM, can be a valuable part of
achieving those objectives, helping us to grow crops in more productive,
efficient and sustainable ways."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*DISCLAIMER*: Articles that are posted in this news service do not
necessarily reflect the views of SEARCA.

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