Plenty of advancements in agricultural biotechnology worldwide in 2008
Dec 29, 2008 10:56 AM
Despite heavy spring rains and flooding that delayed the growing season in the United States, USDA is estimating increased production of corn and soybeans this year. This is due in part to the contribution of agricultural biotechnology which has helped improve farm yields since it was introduced in the U.S. in 1995.
This year’s corn crop is on target to be the second largest ever, behind only last year's record haul. The U.S. soybean crop is expected to be the fourth largest ever.
Reacting to concerns regarding crop shortages that sparked unrest in some countries and high prices for food in markets around the globe, many nations this year began to acknowledge the benefits that biotechnology offers agriculture.
In July, the United Kingdom’s former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, stated, “There is only one technology likely to deliver the yield increases needed and that is agricultural biotechnology."
In October, Italy's Welfare and Health Minister, Maurizio Sacconi, called on the country to lift a ban on growing genetically modified crops. Read More
Technology, combined with ingenuity and work ethic of the American Farmer and Rancher, will be the key to doubling food production by the middle of this century. Technology in agriculture has been utilized for thousands of years. That is how a grass called corn looks like it does today. Why have we been able to utilize improvements in ag technology for centuries, but now it is evil? Agriculture shouldn’t be the one industry that isn’t allowed to enter the 21st century.
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