Conclusions

Jim Peacock

Paper prepared for presentation at the “Food for the Future: Opportunities for a

Crowded Planet” conference conducted by the Crawford Fund for International

Agricultural Research, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, August 8, 2002

Copyright 2002 by Jim Peacock. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies

of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this

copyright notice appears on all such copies.

F O O D F O R T H E F U T U R E : O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R A C R O W D E D P L A N E T P A G E 8 7

DR JIM PEACOCK AC is Chief of CSIRO Plant Industry,which is recognised internationally in the field ofplant molecular biology. In the Australia DayHonours, 1994, he was made a Companion of theOrder of Australia for his contribution to the nation.In 2000 he was a co-recipient of the Inaugural PrimeMinister’s Science Prize and in May 2000 he waselected President of the Australian Academy ofScience. Jim Peacock has active research programsin the induction of flowering, a major developmentaldecision in plants; in the molecular genetics of seeddevelopment; in plant haemoglobin; and in themolecular biology of stress responses in plants. JimPeacock is prominent in the interfacing of plantscience with modern agribusiness.

Conclusions

JIM PEACOCK

This morning we received a challenge from ChrisGallus as to how the conclusions from thisconference could improve the effectiveness ofAustralian aid. Earlier today we all heard aboutMrs Namurunda, who is a very important lady, anda farmer. We got a clear message that MrsNamurunda is very much interested in foodsecurity for her family. She is interested inincreasing crop yield and guaranteeing foodproduction every year. She is also interested ingaining an income from her work on her farm.

Gordon Conway made a very strong argumentagainst simple redistribution of food surplusesfrom developed to developing countries to resolvefood shortages in the latter countries. The clearconclusion was that agriculture does provide theway forward, and that it does depend upon thesustainable use of natural resources. We can’t getaway from using natural resources but these can beused and replaced in a sustainable system. In thisway we can provide food for the world andprovide economic growth, even for the rural poor.A fair conclusion is that biotechnology – I’m notequating that to genetically modified crops – isimportant. It provides an important new set oftools for plant and animal improvement.

It generates faster and smarter conventionalimprovement programs and the knowledge gained

with the new power of biological research isclearly giving us a healthier environment; andhuman health will be improved too.

In the course of discussion, there was a smalldebate about agro-ecology. The important thing isthat biotechnology is now adding a powerful newtool to the science of agro-ecology and thesynergies of those sciences is generating newoptions for agro-ecology which will provide thebasis of sustainable agricultural systems. We muststrive for integrated total crop or total farmmanagement. In Australia, the most importantthing about the use of the Bt gene in cotton is notthe immediate reduction in insecticide use, but thatfor the first time we have a real platform forintegrated pest management.

Mrs Namurunda would clearly like to have accessto the new knowledge and the improvementsderived from that knowledge. Jim Ryan pointedout that new developments in agriculture, usingthese tools, are reducing the time lag from researchto practice. What wasn’t said today, however, isthat some of those improvements are taken to thefarmer in the friendliest possible way, as a seed.This has built-in intelligence, and is a great partnerfor Mrs Namurunda, providing an instant-adoptiontechnology.

Now, is it safe for humans? There are 53 millionha of transgenic crops around the world; theyprobably yield about 170 million tonnes ofproduce per year – a business of about $50 billionAustralian per year. There are at least a hundredbillion – perhaps a thousand billion – mealsconsumed each year that include transgenic cropproduce. As far as I know, there has never been asingle reported case of harm to any human on theplanet. I wonder just how far must we go with theprecautionary principle. The regulatory attentiongiven to transgenics is perhaps even greater thanthat given to any introduced conventional foods.Although there may be distrust of scientists and of

P A G E 8 8 F O O D F O R T H E F U T U R E : O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R A C R O W D E D P L A N E T

governments as Louise Sylvan said, for the mostpart we depend upon our regulatory bodies, and sowe must strive to see that their performance isabsolutely top class.

With regard to the environment, just as for food,developments must be evaluated on a case-by-casebasis and so broad generalisations are often notvery useful. Each case has its own particularquestions that must be answered.

Liz Dennis defined transgenic plants as thosehaving had genetic material inserted into theirgenome in a laboratory. Now the greatestlaboratory that we have on this planet is nature,including evolution: evolution has given us someof the most supreme solutions to problems that wecould hope for. You have seen for example the useof the Bt solution in crops and how much better wemight expect to manage the environment inagriculture if we wisely use that gene: surely wemust use the results of nature’s experiments.

I draw attention to the necessity for partnerships.Gordon Conway emphasised the importance ofchoice, and that what you decide is the reallyimportant thing. One message we should takehome – not only to the Australian AID agenciesbut also to all the AID agencies – is the importanceof the objective: ‘what is the most important thingwe are trying to achieve?’ Whether byconventional breeding or transgenic breeding,genetic improvement is very complex, as you’veseen. To develop new varieties and get them into

use in developing countries, for the benefit ofthose countries, requires a great deal ofcooperation by many, many institutions. One ofthe major downfalls of AID agencies at themoment is that there is too much ad hoc, single-agency operation.

My conclusion is that biotechnology research hasgreatly increased the rate at which we acquire newknowledge about how living things develop andfunction. It has already led to substantialimprovements in yield and more sustainable foodproduction. Biotech-driven improvements, whethertransgenic or conventional, that lead to greateryields and surety of food supply, should beadopted and made available to developingcountries as soon as possible if proven to be safeand positive to human health and the environment.‘Made available’ means working with the peopleof the developing countries and Harry Nesbitt gaveus a truly wonderful example of how this can workif done properly.

Finally, the introduction of transgenic technologiesneeds to be not only adequately regulated but alsoproperly managed. If we don’t bring themanagement aspect in as a package, we riskfailure. We simply cannot have failure of this newtechnology in any aspect – social, environmentalor economic – successful enhancement of foodsupply is our goal.

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The publication below discusses the global setting forinternational agricultural research. The website of theCooperative Group for International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR) (http://www.cgiar.org/) providesother information.

Alston, J.M., Pardey, P.G. and Taylor, M.J. (eds) 2001.Agricultural Science Policy: Changing globalagendas. John Hopkins University Press,Baltimore, 285 pp. ISBN 0 8018 6603 0