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Presentation in
Asian Agriculture Congress held in Manila during April
24-27
Biotechnology in food security and environmental protection: The
initiatives of the International Society for Plant Pathology and
China's
priorities
Wenhua Tang
Dept. of Plant
Pathology, China
Agricultural University, Beijing 100094
China
E-mail:
tangwh@public.east.cn.net
Peter Scott
CAB
International, Wallingford,
OX10
8DE, U.K
E-mail:
p.scott@cabi.org
Biotechnology is a unique priority in the life sciences for the new
millennium. The largest challenge that human beings face in 21st Century is food
security. The first �Green Revolution� in agriculture resulted in many
high-yielding crops. Traditional knowledge and technology are still valuable to
reduce poverty and food shortage. But with the increasing population new
knowledge is needed and new technologies should be adopted. In this report, the
current status of biotechnology used in plant protection in
China is
briefly introduced. The facts worldwide showed that biotechnology dramatically
promoted development of agricultural sciences and technologies. The
International Society for Plant Pathology actively encourages the development of
biotechnology in agriculture for food security in this century. It can be
proposed that biotechnology could be the most attractive approach to meeting the
needs of the global population for food security. Some problems in the
development of GM plants are discussed.
Part
I Global food security: initiatives
of the International Society
for
Plant Pathology
The
International Society for Plant Pathology (ISPP) is the international body
representing the science of plant pathology. It was closely associated with the
1st Asian Conference on Plant Pathology, held in
Beijing
in August 2000.
ISPP
is the body responsible for the series of International Congresses of Plant
Pathology. At the 7th International
Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP98), Edinburgh, August 1998, a
Special Public Meeting was convened on Global Food Security: The Role for Plant
Pathology. The Organizer, W. Clive James, provided the following background
brief:
The enormity of the
problem
During the World Food Summit
in Rome in 1996, Heads
of States agreed to halve the number of hungry people by 2015. Today there are
800 million, almost all of them in developing countries of
Asia,
Africa and
Latin
America.
Hunger and poverty are
inextricably linked and the solution does not rely on one factor, but on an
interrelated complex of factors that includes population, technology, policy and
social changes.
What are the facts about
Global Food Security?
�
World population is 5.8
billion
�
80% live in developing
countries, where the population increases 1.9% per year
�
More than 800 million people
do not have adequate food
�
1.3 billion live on less
than $1 a day
�
50% of poor people live in
Asia, 25% in
Africa, 12% in
Latin
America
�
Most poor people live in
areas where the land is marginal and ecosystems are
fragile
�
Global food production is 5
billion tons per annum
Why do diseases and pests of
crop matter?
�
Crop diseases, pests and
weeds reduce production by at least one-third, despite the use of pesticides
worth $32 billion
�
Crop diseases alone reduce
production by more than 10%
�
For example, potato blight,
the disease that caused the Irish famine in 1845, is again becoming
prevalent
What are the options for
managing crop diseases to improve food security?
To address this question,
five distinguished scientists addressed different aspects of the
issue:
Clive James (Chairman,
International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications): Global Food Security. Norman Borlaug
(Nobel Peace Laureate, Mexico): Food security, plant pathology and
quarantine. Cyrus Ndiritu (Director, Kenyan Agricultural Research
Institute):
Human capital investment in
plant pathology: a view from the South. Robert Williams (Deputy
Director General, CAB International): Public-private sector partnerships in plant
pathology that will contribute to food security. Paul Teng (International Rice Research Institute,
Philippines):
Practising plant pathology
in changing agricultural systems. Abstracts of the
presentations have been archived at:
http://www.bspp.org.uk/icpp98/abstracts/toc_global.html
These presentations were
followed by a public discussion, during which ISPP was challenged to establish a
Task Force on Global Food Security.
ISPP Task Force on Global
Food Security
The Executive Committee of
ISPP took up this challenge and formed a Task Force on Global Food Security. It
would address initially the nature of the global food security problem, and the
principles and modalities whereby plant pathologists may realistically tackle
it.
The Task Force has initiated
several Activities, which are summarized here.
Activity
A:
Changing Public Policy and
Opinions on Global Food Security
Rationale
�
There is currently much
ignorance about and apathy towards the importance that plant diseases play in
causing food insecurity through outbreaks and chronic yield gaps of
30-70%.
�
Most plant pathologists
agree that modern R & D technologies are required to manage crop diseases to
ensure increases in production and productivity, especially in the farming
systems of the developing world that produce surpluses to feed urban
populations. It is also generally
agreed that new technologies are urgently needed to increase productivity of the
marginal lands where most resource-poor farmers reside.
�
Public opinion on the role
of modern R & D technology to develop crops with improved resistance or
tolerance to diseases, and techniques for disease management, mostly ranges from
opposition to apathy, often based on misinformation or no
information.
�
There is an urgent need to
rally public support behind the use of technology in agricultural research to
ameliorate the problems of poverty-associated hunger in the developing
world. There is an equally urgent
need to inform the public about the magnitude of the food
problem.
�
An important instrument in
shaping public support for technological approaches is enlightened policy based
on sound science.
�
ISPP, as the international
mouthpiece for the world�s plant pathologists, and as a member of other
international scientific organizations, is in a unique position to help shape
policy and public opinion on the critical role that modern technology plays in
ensuring food security, since many desired plant traits in the crop cultivars to
be developed are related to improved disease tolerance.
Activities
The Task Force has developed
a Policy Statement on "Plant pathology, food security, and sustainable
development". This is reproduced as Annex 1. ISPP will use it as a benchmark for
policy, and invites other institutions to adopt it also.
At the 1st Asian Conference
on Plant Pathology (ACPP), the Executive Committee of ISPP issued a statement of
support for the appropriate use of biotechnology in these terms: "We, the Executive Committee of the International
Society for Plant Pathology, meeting in Beijing, China, August 25-29 2000,
believe and support the application of modern biotechnology as a tool to enhance
agricultural productivity; to feed and improve the lives of the fast-growing
world population and to address environmental degradation, hunger, and poverty.
We also strongly advocate using sound science as the basis for regulatory and
political decisions pertaining to biotechnology. We promote the careful,
unbiased and science-based evaluation of technologies and products of modern
biotechnology."
Delegates to the 1st ACPP
were invited to affirm their support for this position under the heading "Asian
Plant Pathologists in Support of Biotechnology". The full paper is reproduced as
Annex 2. Of the 387 delegates at the Conference, 110 (28%) signed the document
to signify their support. They came from
China (93),
India (2),
Indonesia (3),
Iran (2),
Japan (2),
Korea (2),
Kyrgyzstan (1),
Pakistan (2), and
Vietnam
(3).
At the 1st ACPP, ISPP also
organized a Media Workshop on "The role of biotechnology for solving plant
disease problems in sustainable agriculture". ISPP President Peter Scott chaired
a panel of distinguished scientists: Edward French, Tom Mew, Tian Po and Paul
Teng. Each addressed an aspect of the subject and answered questions from
representatives of sixteen Chinese and overseas media units. There was lively
discussion representing a variety of viewpoints. The journalists prepared a
number of media articles that were published in
China,
India and
Malaysia. It is believed
that this Workshop represented a small step towards a better understanding, on
the basis of science, of the potential benefits of biotechnology in improving
food security, and of the concerns that surround its
application.
Activity
B:
Quantification of the
economic impact of some major diseases
Rationale
There is a worrying lack of
awareness among the general public of the effects of major plant diseases in
reducing crop yields, and, as a result, threatening global food security.
Serious plant diseases not only cause acute food shortages but also can cause
far-reaching and long-term changes in cropping systems and societies. There is
an urgent need to make policy-makers and the wider public more aware of the
importance of major plant diseases to global food insecurity and the
contribution of plant pathology research in resolving some of these problems,
especially in the past 50 years. The continuing need for support for plant
pathology research to make an ongoing contribution to global food security
should be reinforced by such actions. Quantification of the economic impact of
plant diseases through key examples will help to establish the importance of the
issue.
Activities
A project is in progress to
compile an historical account of the immediate and longer-term consequences of
major plant disease epidemics on society, with a list of examples where
successful interventions have been supported by sound plant pathological
research and development. A small database of key reference material will be
compiled.
Activity
C:
Farmer training in simple
disease management
Rationale
In
most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, farming activities are largely carried out by
peasant farmers whose activities are mainly for subsistence. The majority of
farmers in this region depend on traditional farming practices to produce food
crops, typically from a small piece of land to meet the requirements of one
family. These farmers are generally ignorant of plant diseases and are hardly
aware of yield losses caused by plant pathogens. This is important because in
most countries within the region food security is a critical
issue.
Diseases
are a major constraint to production of cassava. Farmer practices have been
identified as a major contributory factor promoting the spread and persistence
of these diseases. The problem is compounded when extension staff also lacks
knowledge of diseases, which often is the case in most parts of
Africa.
Every effort exercised to control diseases of cassava will go a long way to
improve food security on the African continent.
Great
benefit can therefore be expected from training farmers, extension staff and
NGOs to acquire a basic knowledge of diseases that affect cassava production,
and to help them to develop simple skills in diagnostic methods that can help in
disease identification, in the selection of healthy planting materials, and to
develop practices that reduce the effects of diseases on
yield.
Activities
A
pilot project is in progress to develop simple pictorial guides and facts sheets
on diseases, in English and local languages. Selected farmers, extension staff
and representatives of NGOs will be trained from one major cassava-producing
district in the Ashanti
region of Ghana.
A team of research and extension staff will monitor farmers' fields to reinforce
improved farmer practices. Incidence and severity of cassava diseases in
selected farmers' fields will be documented and compared with that of the entire
district. Those trained will be encouraged to act as trainers of other farmers
in their communities, in an ongoing programme.
Activity
D:
Development of the ISPP
Website
Rationale
The ISPP's Website provides
a core of information about the Society and about some aspects of plant
pathology. It has considerable potential for development as an improved means of
communication, through which change can be effected in line with the priorities
identified. Development of the Website will not only provide members and other
visitors with information about the Society, but will also provide information
about plant pathology, why it is important, and what needs to be done about
it.
Activities
A project is
in progress to enhance the ISPP Website (www.isppweb.org) to provide information
about the Society, including its objectives, activities and structures. This
includes a focus on the activities of the Task Force on Global Food Security, as
reported here. This is complemented by information about plant pathology,
including the Society's Newsletter and the World Directory of Plant
Pathologists. Alongside development of the Website, a ListServ has been
established to provide for open e-mail communications between those with offices
and functional roles in ISPP.
Part II Current status of biotechnology used in
plant protection in China
It is estimated
that 22% of the world population lives in
China, which
occupies 7% of the world's cultivated land. Food security is therefore a
tremendously important issue for Chinese people. With the population increasing
and the area of cultivated land decreasing, and with the occurrence of natural
disasters including pests and diseases, the problem is becoming even more
serious. Science and technology have been promoted in
China,
particularly in the past decade. However, the challenge of food security is
becoming more severe. The requirements for food with better quality and
nutritional value are becoming more pressing with rising standards of living.
The approach adopted in China to
resolve the problem is dependent on science and high technologies. Although
progress in biotechnology has been made,
China still
lags far behind advanced international standards in this area. The Chinese
government in 1996 released a national research program including biotechnology,
named the "863 Program". The achievements obtained from this program showed that
biotechnology would be a very important tool in plant protection in the new
millennium. The "S-863 Program" has now been approved and will be started soon.
It assumes that biotechnology will be developed much faster in the
future.
Progress of traditional science and technology promotes
development of agriculture
l
Two-line-hybrid rice and new
cultivars were developed. Two-line-hybrid rice has been planted on 3.7 million
ha. The average increase in yield resulting from use of the new hybrid system
reached 750 kg/ha.
l
Chemical control of plant
pests and diseases is under continuous development.
l
Fertilizers:
China is the largest
market for fertilizers in the world.
l
Irrigation: The area of
cultivated land under irrigation is increasing. Improved methods of irrigation
result in saving water.
Biotechnology was used in the following areas related to
plant protection
l
Rapid clonical propagation and virus-free
apical meristem culture
l
Transgenic plants (crop genetic
engineering)
l
Modification of biocontrol agents of plant
pests and diseases
l
Molecular markers.
Transgenic plants
l
Forty-seven species of plants including
cotton, rice, wheat, tobacco, potato, tomato, sweet pepper, soybean, papaya,
petunia, poplar etc. have been modified by genetic engineering.
l
Target characters: resistance to insects,
resistance to virus diseases, bacterial diseases, fungus diseases, resistance to
herbicides, cold tolerance, salt tolerance and delayed maturity etc.
Importance of transgenic cotton
l
The control of cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) became an urgent
task to secure cotton production. R&D of transgenic cotton resistant to
bollworm were listed as a priority project in the 863 Program.
l
Damage done by the insect in
China
Annual yield reduction (1992):
30% of total output
Value US$ 1.2 billion
Increase of bollworm resistance to pesticides
100 times
Technology of transgenic cotton
l
The crystal protein gene from Bt (modified
cryIA) and double genes (cryIA/CpTI) have been transferred into cotton
by using a highly efficient express plasmid (pGBI4A2B).
l
The modified genes were transferred both
by a routine method (Agrobacterium
mediation) and by a unique method (ovary injection) into cotton.
l
Selection of GM pants has been
successfully performed.
Progress in transgenic
cotton
l
More than 20 new transgenic
cotton varieties or lines have been bred
l
GM cotton plants with the following
characters have been constructed: strong resistance to bollworm, high yield and
good fiber quality, broad adaptability.
l
A whole set of techniques was
patented.
l
Benefits by using transgenic cotton:
Transgenic cotton has been planted in 387,000 ha in China. The benefit obtained
from planting transgenic cotton due to reduce costs of labour and insecticides
is US$ 93 million.
Genetic modification of rice
and results
l
Target insects: Paddy stem borer (Tryporyza incertulas), Striped rice
borer (Chilo suppressalis), and Rice
case worm (Cnaphalocrocis
medinalis).
l
A Bt gene was transferred into a restorer
line of hybrid rice (Ming-Hui 63 to Shan-You 63)
l
GM plants were approved for release into
the environment under investigation.
l
The yield obtained from plot experiments
was 0.7-0.8 t/ha
l
GM plants are resistant to pests (more
than 95% mortality).
Transgenic rice resistant to
herbicide (glufodinate)
l
The bar gene was transferred into parental
lines of rice.
GM plants of other species
of crops and plants
l
GM potato was modified by antibacterial
peptide genes, Cercropin B/shiva A.
l
GM corn was modified by Bt gene cryIA for control of corn borer.
l
GM wheat was modified by cp gene of BYDV for increasing
resistance to this virus disease.
l
GM tomato and sweet pepper were modified
by a gene from CMV for control of this virus disease.
l
GM poplar was modified by Bt genes cryIA (c) and cryIA and scorpion neuro-toxin gene (Aalt) for pest control.
Biosafety regulation in
China
Biosafety regulation is intended to promote R&D
in biotechnology while preventing possible hazards to human health and the
environment. The potential risk assessment of a GMO depends on the recipient
organism and on its genetic manipulation. All genetic work including laboratory
experiments, plot tests, industrial production, release and utilization of
finished engineered products should get the approval from the relevant safety
committees at different levels.
l
The Safety Administration Regulation on
Genetic Engineering issued by SSTC was established in 1993
l
The Administration Implementation on
Agricultural Biological Genetic Engineering was issued by MOA in
1996.
Genetic modification of
biocontrol agents of plant pests and diseases
As one approach
to the management of plant pests and diseases, biological control may have value
in being compatible with sustainable agriculture. The advantages of biocontrol
are freedom from risk, avoidance of resistance to chemicals in pests and
pathogens, and benefit to the biological balance. A trend in China is the
development of biocontrol as a pest management technology. In order to enhance
sound development, new knowledge and technology are required.
l
More than 20 genes responsible for Bt
toxin proteins have been cloned. More than ten strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens have been
modified by Bt genes.
l
The first engineered Bt insecticide of B. thuringiensis, WG-001, has been
approved to be commercialized. It was modified by genetic engineering to enhance
expression of the Bt gene.
l
Genes coding 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol,
chitinase and b-1,3-glucanase have been cloned. Two strains of P. fluorescens and one strain of Bacillus subtilis have been constructed
by genetic engineering for increasing effectiveness in the control of plant
diseases.
l
A baculovirus of insects was modified by
deleting some fragments, which do not influence the virulence of the virus, and
inserting a foreign gene for speeding up the activity.
Summary: In China, 75
applications of transgenic plants and microorganisms have been approved for
testing in plots. Among them, 55 applications are related to plant protection.
58 applications of transgenic plants and microorganisms have been approved for
release in the environment under investigation. Among them, 46 applications are
related to plant protection. 26 applications of transgenic plants and
microorganisms have been approved for commercial use including cotton resistant
to insects (13 applications), tomato resistant to virus disease (4
applications), sweet pepper (4 applications), BAOLINMIAN-NC32B (3 applications
from Monsanto Com.), tomato resistant to low temperature (1 application), and
transgenic petunia (Petunia).
Molecular markers
Molecular
markers are an important and widely used tool for analysis of biodiversity,
germplasm diagnostics, crop genomic mappping, asssisted crop breeding and
isolation of functional genes.
DNA markers:
RFLP, RAPD, SSR, AFLP,etc.
l
Wheat powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis) resistance gene pm21
has been mapped on the 6Vs chromosome.
l
Resistance gene-Xa-23 from wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) to rice bacterial
blight has been identified and tagged.
Future priorities
1. Fundamental research:
Science and new technology are important bases in
the development of sustainable agriculture. Biotechnology takes the first
position. Discovery and use of new genes responsible for important functions are
among the priorities.
2. Biological safety assessment:
In order to avoid risks caused by GM plants and
microorganisms, reasonable safety assessment is emphasized. Assessment must be
based on science, which is the key to open approaches in the development of
biotechnology.
3. Collaboration and integrated research:
It is important to develop collaboration between
countries and between scientists of different disciplines. Scientists of
different disciplines working together will speed up the development of
biotechnology in plant protection.
4. The effective combination of genetic engineering and traditional
science and technology is necessary for effective Integrated Pest
Management.
Annex
1
ISPP
Policy Statement
PLANT
PATHOLOGY, FOOD SECURITY, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Food
security for all is a precondition for the peaceful development of rural and
urban societies. Food security,
obtained using technologies which are compatible with the environment, provides
a basis for sustainable development.
The two parts of the food security equation are access to food, and an
adequate supply of food; the former is a direct result of social, economic,
marketing and pricing factors while the latter depends on the farmers' abilities
to produce crops of high yields under economically viable
conditions.
Technology
is a key driver for maintaining high yields, for raising productivity and for
increasing the overall production of food, thereby leading to excess at the
individual farm level for sale, sharing or export. Regardless of what population
growth estimates are used for projections of future population, all agree that
there will be more people on this earth to be fed from a declining land area
suited for cultivation of crops. There will also be increasing competition to
use scarce resources such as water for non-farming
operations.
At
the same time that the need exists to increase crop yields through increased
productivity, there also exists the need to reduce current losses in yield
caused by plant diseases. Plant
diseases prevent many crop varieties from expressing their yield potential even
though optimal conditions for plant growth may be provided through adequate
water, sunshine and nutrients. The
best estimates are that diseases cause an average of 15-30% loss in the
potential yield of the major food crops. Even with a well managed and
extensively studied crop such as rice, yield gaps of 50-70%, between attainable
and actual farmers' yields, are routinely recorded in the irrigated
lands.
To
overcome these losses caused by diseases, researchers developed crop varieties
with improved ability to resist pathogens (host plant resistance or HPR), and
farmers have used management practices or chemicals to reduce the pathogen's
effects on the crop. HPR has been a
relatively successful tool and has led to the deployment over large areas of
crop varieties with single or multiple genes for resisting disease injury. However, the dynamic nature of
ecosystems has also led to successful co-evolution of pathogens, resulting in
strains which emerge and successfully overcome the HPR bred into crop
varieties. This phenomenon has
existed since the first days of the domestication and selection of plant
varieties by humankind.
Until
recently, plant breeders have been limited to using genetic material with the
desired traits from the same species for improving crop varieties. There have
also been diseases for which no natural resistance exists. Diseases such as
those caused by viruses have caused millions of tons of crop losses. The process of breeding is a
time-consuming one and requires often more art than science to guess whether the
required genes are being transferred into desired varieties. With the advent of recombinant DNA
techniques, a generalized toolset called genetic engineering now enables
breeders to precisely transfer desired genes into plant material to create
improvements. These genes may be
from outside the species, and may even be across kingdoms, and lead to
transgenic plants. Genetically
engineered, transgenic papayas containing virus coat protein genes for tolerance
to virus diseases are a successful example of this
technology.
Modern
biotechnology has also enabled molecular characterization of the genomes of crop
species, from which the breeding tool of marker-aided selection has led to a
shortening of the time required to transfer known genes into the desired
varieties. A successful use of this
tool is the transfer of multiple Xa genes into rice varieties for resistance to
bacterial blight disease.
ISPP
advocates the use of modern biotechnology to improve crop varieties so that they
may be used by farmers to reduce losses, and therefore contribute to the process
of ensuring food security. ISPP
further believes in the safety of these crops which continue to be subject to
strict government regulation before approval. As knowledge expands on the molecular
and ecological aspects of transgenic plants, ISPP supports the use of this new
knowledge in determining and assessing the safety of such
plants.
Norman
Borlaug, Nobel Peace Laureate, has urged the use of biotechnology to help in the
battle against starvation. As plant
pathologists, we recognize the role that plant diseases continue to play in food
insecurity, and we believe that biotechnology can be a major contributor towards
reducing losses and increasing food security.
Annex
2
ASIAN PLANT PATHOLOGISTS IN
SUPPORT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
We,
the undersigned scientists attending the first Asian Conference on Plant
Pathology, in Beijing, China, August 25-29, believe and support the application
of modern biotechnology as a tool to enhance agricultural productivity; to feed
and improve the lives of the fast-growing populations of the Asian region and to
address environmental degradation, hunger, and poverty. We also strongly
advocate using sound science as the basis for regulatory and political decisions
pertaining to biotechnology. We promote the careful, unbiased and science-based
evaluation of technologies and products of modern
biotechnology.
Modern
biotechnology has tremendous potential and offers remarkable innovations to
support our region's efforts to attain food security and global
competitiveness. In particular,
losses in quantity and quality of food caused by plant pathogens are known to be
significant in many Asian countries.
Developing countries in general are expected to benefit more than
developed countries from biotechnology in the areas of food and agriculture,
health and medicine, environmental protection and trade and
industry.
Products
of modern biotechnology promise to reduce farmers' high input costs, increase
their yields while helping conserve the ecosystem and enable crops to grow under
normally unfavorable conditions.
Biotechnology products can even provide greater benefits to consumers,
who are the ultimate beneficiaries of technological innovations. For instance, modern biotechnology can
be used as a tool to attain greater nutritional security through enhanced
products qualities such as higher vitamin content, better protein quality and
prolonged shelf life. Modern
biotechnology can also produce healthier oils and develop vaccines to fight
dreadful diseases like cholera and malaria.
We
recognize that no technology is without risk. However, we have great confidence in the
safety of biotechnology products which undergo regulatory reviews before they
are approved by governments for general use.
We
therefore advocate and promote the safe and responsible applications of modern
biotechnology in science and technology, agriculture and food, health and
medicine, environment and trade and industry. Considering the tremendous potential of
this technology, we urge policymakers to base their decisions on sound
scientific evidence.
Asian
Plant Pathologists in Support of Biotechnology
Printed
Name:
____________________________________
Rank/Position:
___________________
Agency/Organization:
_____________________________
Degree:
________________________
Signature:
______________________________________
Date:
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