Stakeholder Comments on Needs and Opportunities Kater Hake USDA-ATAC (Ag. Technical Advisory Comm. -- Seeds) ISF (International Seed Federation -- Industrial Crops) ASTA (Am. Seed Trade Assoc. -- Int. Exec. Comm.) ICAC (Int. Cotton Adv. Comm. -- Biotech Expert Panel) and V.P. Technology Development -- Delta & Pine Land Co.

Seed Industry Needs 1. Eradication of war and violence in our lifetime 2. “Living wage” earned by all families 9. Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process 10. Pipeline of beneficial technologies and tools

Biotech Pipeline n Research into potential new products is huge n Frequency of commercial release is paltry gene sequences 10 4 gene functions 10 3 transgenes 1 commercial product per year adapted from Daphne Pruess at the Plant Biotechnology Gordon Conf., 2/18/2003.

US Biotech Cotton Approvals 1994 SU tolerance 1995 Buctril tolerance 1996Bollgard 1997 Roundup Ready 1998BXN-BG nonenonenone BG2none Liberty tolerance

Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process n US must lead by example n USDA-ARS is logical institution to provide expertise n US farmers will be prime beneficiaries –they are highly adept at evaluating, appropriately adopting and managing biotech crops –they will get rapid access to profit enhancing technology –their global competitiveness will be enhanced n US seed sector will be encouraged to grow their breeding with novel traits suited for US farms n US biotech industry will be encouraged to expand to minor crops and nitch applications for US farms n Many of the great technologies already developed by the USDA and Universities get pulled off the shelf and planted on US farms

Globally-harmonized, rational biosafety process Smarter minds than mine will design the road map n Design research with regulatory agency input to resolve issues, not create new ones (unless legitimate concern) n Start with easy crops, such as cotton –self pollinated –non-food crop, except oil which is protein free –non-weedy with geographically isolated wild relatives n Build data to move away from “one size fits all” –certain pharmaceutical crops have unknown risks –risks associated with established GM crops are known

n A rational biosafety approval process is a bridge between plant biology research and human benefit n Once constructed, diverse and powerful technologies can pass n Facilitates all sorts of traffic: technology, communication, financial resources and political support n Without bridges, communities drift apart

Environmental and social benefits from GM cotton have been huge

Benefits from future GM cotton traits could be just as substantial