Planting the future: opportunities and challenges for using ... - EASAC
Planting the future: opportunities and challenges for using ... - EASAC
Planting the future: opportunities and challenges for using ... - EASAC
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Summary<br />
Agriculture faces major <strong>challenges</strong> to deliver food<br />
security at a time of increasing pressures from climate<br />
change, social <strong>and</strong> economic inequity <strong>and</strong> instability, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> continuing need to avoid fur<strong>the</strong>r loss in ecosystem<br />
biodiversity. The introduction of new EU legislation<br />
requiring farmers to reduce reliance on crop protection<br />
chemicals creates additional <strong>challenges</strong> <strong>for</strong> maintaining<br />
levels of crop productivity.<br />
Previous European Union (EU) agricultural policy had<br />
focused on constraining food production but <strong>the</strong>re<br />
is a new realisation that <strong>the</strong> EU should now increase<br />
its biomass production <strong>for</strong> food, livestock feed <strong>and</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r uses, including renewable materials to support<br />
<strong>the</strong> bioeconomy. The production of more food, more<br />
sustainably, requires <strong>the</strong> development of crops that<br />
can make better use of limited resources. Agricultural<br />
innovation can capitalise on <strong>the</strong> rapid pace of advance<br />
in functional genomics research <strong>and</strong> it is unwise to<br />
exclude any technology a priori <strong>for</strong> ideological reasons.<br />
Sustainable agricultural production <strong>and</strong> food security<br />
must harness <strong>the</strong> potential of biotechnology in all its<br />
facets.<br />
In previous work, <strong>the</strong> European Academies Science<br />
Advisory Council (<strong>EASAC</strong>) has described <strong>the</strong> <strong>opportunities</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>challenges</strong> in <strong>using</strong> plant genetic resources in<br />
improved breeding approaches, <strong>for</strong> example by <strong>using</strong><br />
marker-assisted selection of desired traits. In <strong>the</strong><br />
present report, <strong>EASAC</strong> explores some of <strong>the</strong> issues<br />
associated with <strong>the</strong> genetic modification of crops,<br />
where <strong>the</strong> EU has fallen behind in its adoption of <strong>the</strong><br />
technology, compared with many o<strong>the</strong>r regions of <strong>the</strong><br />
world. Concerns have been expressed that a timeconsuming<br />
<strong>and</strong> expensive regulatory framework in <strong>the</strong><br />
EU, compounded by politicisation of decision-making<br />
by Member States <strong>and</strong> coupled with o<strong>the</strong>r policy<br />
inconsistencies, has tended to act as an impediment to<br />
agricultural innovation. Controversies about <strong>the</strong> impact<br />
of genetically modified (GM) crops have too often been<br />
based on contested science or have confounded effects<br />
of <strong>the</strong> technology with <strong>the</strong> impact of agriculture per se<br />
or changes in agronomic practice. It is vital to address<br />
<strong>the</strong> policy disconnects because <strong>the</strong>re is a wide range<br />
of <strong>opportunities</strong> in prospect <strong>for</strong> improving agricultural<br />
productivity <strong>and</strong> efficiency, environmental quality <strong>and</strong><br />
human health, by <strong>using</strong> all available technologies where<br />
appropriate.<br />
Previous work by member academies of <strong>EASAC</strong> has<br />
documented where <strong>the</strong>re is excellent, relevant science<br />
to be nurtured <strong>and</strong> used, <strong>and</strong> where problems have<br />
arisen because of <strong>the</strong> failure to use science to in<strong>for</strong>m <strong>the</strong><br />
modernisation of regulatory approaches to benefit–risk<br />
assessment. The goal of <strong>the</strong> present report is to clarify<br />
<strong>the</strong> implications <strong>for</strong> policy-makers of alternative strategic<br />
choices in <strong>using</strong> <strong>the</strong> tools, collectively termed crop genetic<br />
improvement technologies, <strong>for</strong> delivering sustainable<br />
agriculture. Our analysis of <strong>the</strong> international evidence<br />
draws on two main work streams:<br />
• A case study comparison of certain countries (in <strong>the</strong><br />
Americas <strong>and</strong> Asia) who have taken a different path<br />
by <strong>the</strong>ir decision to adopt GM crops more actively.<br />
We review <strong>the</strong> documented impacts in terms of<br />
environmental <strong>and</strong> socio-economic indicators, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> implications <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> science base, <strong>and</strong> note that<br />
comparing different regulatory approaches used<br />
elsewhere might offer new insight <strong>for</strong> EU policymakers.<br />
• A collaboration with <strong>the</strong> Network of African Science<br />
Academies (NASAC) to ascertain <strong>the</strong> current situation<br />
regarding crop genetic improvement strategies in<br />
African countries <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> implications of EU practices<br />
<strong>and</strong> perspectives on decisions in Africa. The situation<br />
across Africa is diverse but <strong>the</strong>re are now major<br />
initiatives to use GM crops to address local needs.<br />
There is evidence that European influences have<br />
sometimes constrained <strong>the</strong> use of such technologies<br />
in Africa but <strong>the</strong>re are significant <strong>opportunities</strong> <strong>for</strong><br />
international partnership, in<strong>for</strong>med by local priorities<br />
<strong>and</strong> acting to streng<strong>the</strong>n local systems.<br />
The <strong>EASAC</strong> Working Group also provided detailed<br />
evaluation of a broad range of current issues within<br />
<strong>the</strong> EU, relating to regulatory re<strong>for</strong>m, consequences<br />
<strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> science base <strong>and</strong> new technology development<br />
(particularly, <strong>the</strong> New Breeding Techniques), public<br />
engagement, intellectual property <strong>and</strong> open innovation,<br />
increasing environmental <strong>challenges</strong>, <strong>the</strong> potential food<br />
crop pipeline <strong>and</strong> new applications <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> bioeconomy.<br />
This broad review of issues revealed several serious<br />
inconsistencies in current EU policy. For example, an<br />
important objective to reduce pesticide use in agriculture<br />
is being implemented without sufficient attention paid<br />
to facilitating <strong>the</strong> development of alternative methods<br />
<strong>for</strong> protecting crops from pests <strong>and</strong> diseases. Bringing<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r analysis of <strong>the</strong> cross-cutting issues <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> international evidence, <strong>the</strong> <strong>EASAC</strong> Working<br />
Group reached four main conclusions, with extensive<br />
implications <strong>for</strong> ascertaining greater coherence in policymaking.<br />
These are described below.<br />
1. L<strong>and</strong> use <strong>and</strong> innovation: <strong>the</strong> EU needs to increase<br />
its production <strong>and</strong> productivity of plant-derived biomass<br />
<strong>for</strong> food, feed <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r applications, <strong>the</strong>reby decreasing<br />
dependency on imports <strong>and</strong> reducing <strong>the</strong> regional <strong>and</strong><br />
global environmental impact. Commitment to agricultural<br />
innovation can be expected also to create jobs, benefit<br />
<strong>EASAC</strong> <strong>Planting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>future</strong> | June 2013 | 1