Issues in Contemporary Agriculture: Food

Drought Resistant GM Crops Ready 'In Four Years'

Genetically modified crops that are drought resistant will be grown by farmers within four to five years, according to scientists developing the technology.

Dr David Dennis, the chief executive of Performance Plants Incorporated in Kingston, Ontario, said varieties of drought-tolerant oilseed rape and maize were already being tested in field trials in the US. He claimed the new varieties can increase yield by 40% when the plants are most water-stressed.

Climate scientists predict that global warming will make arable land in many developing countries less productive or unusable. Advocates of GM crops often defend the technology by arguing that drought and salt-tolerant varieties can play an important role in adapting to global warming.

Last month, the then UK science minister Dr Ian Pearson told the Guardian he thought the British public would support GM if the industry demonstrated environmental benefits.

But GM's opponents counter that drought and salt tolerance always seems to be just out of reach. "We would take any claims that these crops are just around the corner with a large pinch of salt because we have heard it all before," said Claire Oxborrow of Friends of the Earth. So far, almost all GM varieties available commercially are either tolerant of herbicides or produce their own pesticide.

She said that companies are using the food crisis and the threat of climate change as a PR opportunity. "We are seeing a lot more promises, especially now connected with the food crisis," she said.

Dennis said his company is developing several crops with modifications to existing genes which result in a variety of different effects. The company plans to license its technology to major crop companies such as Syngenta and Pioneer.

Drought-tolerant oilseed rape plants, which have been in field trials in the American Mid-West, Colorado and California for four years, are at the most advanced stage. A drought tolerant variety of maize has been tested in field trials for two years. The company is also working on modifications for more efficient water use, larger seeds, heat tolerance and increased biomass. The latter modification is aimed at producing fast-growing material for the nascent biofuel industry.

Dennis predicted that it would take four to five years of field testing and clearing regulatory hurdles before the plants can be sold. "You've got to show that it will work in situ in the field over several years," he said.

The Guardian, quoted in AgNet, October 8, 2008