Abstracts
Horticultural biotechnology faces significant economic
and market barriers
Despite benefits, commercialization of transgenic horticultural
crops lags
Consumer knowledge and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology
vary
Regulatory challenges reduce opportunities for horticultural
biotechnology
Public-private partnerships needed in horticultural
research and development
Access to intellectual property is a major obstacle
to developing transgenic
Horticultural biotechnology
faces significant economic and market barriers
Julian M. Alston
Technological change has driven economic progress in agriculture
and will continue to play a crucial role in the 21st century. The
latest wave of technological change in agriculture is based in molecular
biology. Will horticulture participate? Genetically engineered crop
varieties have been adopted on a wide scale in some agronomic crops,
but horticultural crops face larger hurdles. High costs for research,
development and regulatory approval combined with the small acreages
planted and the diversity of varieties, will limit the potential
for profitable applications of biotechnology to many fruits and
vegetables, tree fruits and nuts, and nursery crops. In addition,
there are market barriers. Like most important changes in agriculture,
modern biotechnology has met with spirited political opposition
from some quarters. Threats of political action may discourage food
manufacturers and retailers from adopting biotech products that
are wanted by some consumers and may be profitable for growers.
Sidebar: Transgenic produce slow
to enter evolving global marketplace
Roberta L. Cook
Sidebar: Diversity of horticultural
biotech crops contributes to market hurdles
Kent J. Bradford and Julian
M. Alston
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Despite benefits, commercialization
of transgenic horticultural crops lags
David Clark, Harry Klee and
Abhaya Dandekar
The acreage of agronomic crops (soybean, cotton, corn and canola)
developed using recombinant DNA technology has expanded dramatically
since their introduction in 1996, while the commercialization of
biotech horticultural crops (vegetables, fruits, nuts and ornamentals)
has languished. This is not due to a lack of both current and potential
traits that could be utilized in horticultural crops, as ongoing
research is identifying a diverse array of applications. However,
commercialization is stalled by market reluctance to accept biotech
products, particularly in the absence of clear benefits to consumers.
High regulatory costs and restricted access to intellectual property
create additional hurdles for specialty crops. These challenges
are causing the horticultural industry to forego a number of current
benefits. New products with clear advantages for producers, marketers
and consumers may be required before the potential of biotechnology
can be realized.
Sidebar: Virus-resistant transgenic
papaya helps save Hawaiian industry
Dennis Gonsalves
Sidebar: Biotechnology expands
pest-management options for horticulture
Leonard Gianessi
Sidebar: Transgenic trap crops
and rootstocks show potential
John Driver, Javier Castillón
and Abhaya Dandekar
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Consumer knowledge
and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology vary
Jennifer S. James
Results from consumer surveys reveal some basic conclusions about
consumer attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology. First, consumers
do not agree about whether biotech foods are good or bad. Second,
a small group of people strongly opposes them. Third, the majority
of consumers are uninformed about the technology and how food is
produced. Relatively small but vocal anti-biotechnology activist
groups are successful at influencing public opinion because of consumers’
lack of knowledge, creating a role for universities and government
agencies to provide clear, objective and accessible information.
Sidebar: Words matter
Robert Herrmann, Rex Warland
and Arthur Sterngold
Sidebar: Consumers purchase Bt
sweet corn
Jennifer S. James
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Regulatory challenges
reduce opportunities for horticultural biotechnology
Keith Redenbaugh
and Alan McHughen
Development of transgenic horticultural crops has slowed significantly
in recent years for several reasons, including the European Union’s
moratorium on biotech approvals, lack of tolerance levels for adventitious
(accidental) presence in food and seed, significantly increased
regulatory costs and decreased acceptance by food wholesalers and
retailers. While progress in the United States has slowed and approvals
in the European Union stopped, some countries such as China continue
to develop biotech products for their internal and external markets
that will affect the U.S. and California industry. Within a few
years, China will emerge as the leader in biotech horticultural
crops.
Sidebar: IR-4 Project targets
specialty crops
Robert E. Holm and Daniel Kunkel
Sidebar: China aggressively pursuing
horticulture and plant biotechnology
Jikun Huang and Scott Rozelle
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Public-private partnerships
needed in horticultural research and development
Gordon Rausser and Holly Ameden
University-industry partnerships are proliferating in the United
States, as public funding for high-level research continues to decline
yet knowledge plays an increasingly important role in industrial
processes. The horticulture industry benefits from such arrangements
by influencing research directions and gaining access to innovations
and complementary research in agri-cultural biotechnology. Given
the nature of this industry, the obstacles to developing effective
partnerships are substantial. Private horticulture institutions
should form consortia of both small- and medium-sized firms, and
they should understand the need for faculty and academic freedom.
More enterprising members of a consortium can capitalize on the
research contacts and pursue firm-specific, applied-research partner-ships.
Potential drawbacks are the exclusion of smaller firms and inequitable
benefits-sharing within the consortia.
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Access to intellectual
property is a major obstacle to developing transgenic horticultural
crops
Gregory D. Graff, Brian D. Wright,
Alan B. Bennett and David Zilberman
Inefficiencies in accessing intellectual property (IP) appear to
be hindering otherwise valuable research and development (R&D)
in horticultural crop varieties. While leading private-
sector agricultural biotechnology firms with strong IP positions
and commercial freedom to operate (FTO) see insufficient incentives
in the small, fractured markets of horticultural products, researchers
with public-sector support for horticultural projects but weak IP
positions may find that the best way of gaining FTO and moving forward
is to band together and provide mutual access to one another’s
technologies. The Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture
(PIPRA), headquartered at UC Davis, is a new coalition of U.S. universities
and foundations committed to this strategy.
Sidebar: Nonprofit institutions
form intellectual-property
resource for agriculture
Deborah Delmer.
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