Friday, March 6, 2009

Surge in Brazilian testing of GM crops, anticipating climate impacts

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development: Brazilian scientists say 2009 will be big year for the expansion of genetically modified (GM) crops in the country as they search for ways to overcome the negative agricultural impacts related to climate change.

As crops are increasingly pushed southward due to temperature increases and as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts temperatures to increase two to four degrees centigrade in the next 20 years, scientists are looking for new ways to enhance crop durability.

New experiments focused on productivity of new GM soy crops will be conducted this year at a climate-controlled station in the state of Parana. Soy, the country’s leading export product, has already given the scientists encouraging results as the crop performs well in a wide range of weather conditions.

By isolating genes from drought-resistant plants and joining them with traditional crops, scientists at Embrapa, Brazil’s agricultural research agency, say they are able to identify a given crop’s resilience in harsh climate conditions.

Eduardo Assad, a researcher for Embrapa, says he is concerned that Brazil’s agriculture sector is threatened under the current situation. “What we are doing in Brazil is adapting, anticipating what is to come,” Assad told the Associated Press. “We’ve been working on this for two years, and we are going to need five or 10 years to be prepared.”…

Soybean varieties

No comments: