Commercial Biotech Modified Wheat

Biotech Modified Wheat

There can be no doubt that whether opposition to modified wheat like it or not, there will be commercialization sometime in the near future, as the alternative could never be acceptable.

Growing demand for wheat products and other foodstuffs will continue for some time, as emerging markets and growing middle classes increase their food consumption.

A lot of U.S. farmers have been positive about renewed efforts by biotech crop leader Monsanto Co to genetically modified wheat, but convincing world markets to embrace genetic alteration of the key food crop remains a big challenge to overcome.

Monsanto added fuel to a debate over biotech wheat on Tuesday when it announced it was buying WestBred LLC, a wheat germplasm specialist as a platform to develop higher-yielding biotech wheat that would be more tolerant of drought and require less nitrogen.

Along with Monsanto, rival seed technology companies such as Syngenta AG, BASF and Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, are pouring resources into wheat development. Some companies are focusing on transgenic alterations using DNA from other species and some are manipulating genes already found in wheat.

Currently there is no biotech wheat grown on a commercial-scale anywhere in the world due to opposition from consumers and food industry players.

Most notably, Japan, one of the world's largest importers of wheat and a leading critic of past efforts to introduce genetically altered wheat, remains a steadfast opponent. Many European countries also continue to resist genetically modified crops.

Japan, which imports around 5.5 million tons of wheat each year, including about 3 million tons from the United States, is starting to acknowledge that there might be a valid argument for biotech wheat. But much work remains to be done before full acceptance, Tracy said.

U.S. Wheat is still laboring to get Japan and other countries to establish regulatory systems and tolerance levels that would allow for continued imports if biotech wheat is commercialized, he said.

Some U.S. farm groups also remain cautious of biotech wheat. They say conventional breeding can bring many of the same benefits without negative market consequences.

These critics also say biotech wheat work is aimed more at improving profits at corporations such as Monsanto than at helping farmers.

Quite a few consumer and environmental groups have concerns over introducing genes from other species into wheat could make it harmful for humans, and say it would be difficult to keep biotech wheat segregated from conventional wheat seed and products.

Monsanto, a global leader in biotech corn and soybeans, backed away from commercializing a herbicide-tolerant wheat five years ago as foreign buyers threatened boycotts.

Opponents say a biotech wheat introduction could still deal a significant blow to U.S. markets, recalling how U.S. corn lost European buyers when genetically modified corn was brought to the market.

But biotech wheat supporters say the global wheat crop needs a technological boost. They note that over the last few years, farmers have reduced wheat acreage in favor of more-profitable, easier-to-grow crops such as corn and soybeans.

They also point to fears mount about global food shortages and a rapid rise in world population. Just last year, shortages drove wheat prices to record highs, and prices remain historically high this year despite ample supplies.

Those factors have prompted corporations and researchers in the United States and Australia to increase development efforts in wheat.

Some farmer groups support commercialization of biotech varieties, saying they will have several years to address buyer fears before any biotech wheat is commercialized.

Either way, biotech modified wheat should go commercial in about 5 years if not sooner, as global conditions will force it upon us.

Biotech Modified Wheat