NCFAP: painte transgeniche comportano benefici

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona@libero.it>]

Cari tutti, 
un' altro studio da mettere sul piatto della vostra personale  bilancia.
Segnalo risultati di uno studio secondo cui vi sono tangibili benefici 
economici e ambientali (riduzione di insetticidi) nell'uso di piante 
transgeniche.
Il rapporto e' prodotto dal
 National Center on Food and Agricultural Policy.

http://www.ncfap.org/

Saluti,
Alessandro Gimona

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New Study Shows That Biotechnology Offers Significant Benefits To 
Diverse Crops

Preliminary findings of 30-crop study, shows significant savings in
production costs

www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/4197-5326.html

NEW YORK (Oct 4) Preliminary research results confirm the major benefits
biotechnology has already brought to growers of crops such as soybeans,
corn and cotton, reducing pesticide use and lowering grower production
costs, according to Leonard Gianessi, a leading expert in pest 
management.

"For the first time, the study ["The Potential for Biotechnology to 
Improve
Crop Pest Management in the United States"] begins to quantify the
potential value and benefits of biotechnology for growers of a wide 
range
of other important U.S. crops, including papaya, citrus and raspberries
among others," says Gianessi, Senior Research Associate at the National
Center on Food and Agricultural Policy.

Gianessi spoke today at an American Medical Association media briefing 
on
food biotechnology. Gianessi says that the economic and environmental
benefits of agricultural biotechnology have been widely publicized for
several years, focusing on commodity crops such as soybeans, cotton and
field corn. Gianessiís study, co-authored by Cressida S. Silvers, leads
this conversation in a new direction with an analysis of many novel 
crops,
regions and applications.

Overall, the study encompasses 30 different crops and 44 separate case
studies. The final report will be released in December; Gianessi 
showcases
eight of the case studies at the AMA media briefing.

"We've established that biotechnology can deliver substantial benefits 
to
growers of corn, soybeans and cotton," Gianessi explains."This new study
confirms that these benefits can also be realized by growers for a wide
range of crops across diverse growing regions. In many cases, 
biotechnology
may even save an entire industry in a state or region, such as the 
papaya
industry in Hawaii or the citrus industry in Texas."

Case histories illustrate variety of crop benefits

Gianessi's preliminary findings indicate a wide array of current and
potential benefits:

* Herbicide tolerant soybeans: 30 States
Genetically engineered herbicide tolerant soybeans have decreased 
growersí
annual costs by $15 per acre, which represents $735 million across 49
million acres.
* Herbicide tolerant tomatoes: California
Growers could realize savings of $30 million per year in handweeding,
cultivation and pesticide costs and a 4.3 million pound per year 
reduction
in pesticide use.
* Insect resistant cotton: United States
U.S. growers have earned an additional $99 million in annual net revenue 
by
producing an incremental 260 million pounds per year of insect-resistant
cotton, eliminating 2.7 million pounds of pesticide use annually.
* Insect resistant sweet corn: Florida
Florida growers could see increased production of 22 million pounds per
year, with an increased value to growers of $3.9 million per year. This
would result in a 79% percent reduction in insecticide use.
* Virus resistant papaya: Hawaii
Biotechnology is credited with saving the Hawaiian papaya industry, 
which
produces 53 million pounds with a value of $17 million annually.
* Virus resistant citrus: Texas
This technology is likely to help prevent the loss of the Texas citrus
industry, which annually produces a total of 622 million pounds with a
value of $48 million.
* Virus resistant raspberry: Oregon/ Washington
Using biotechnology, growers could save 10 million pounds of raspberries
per year from viral damage, add $11 million of production value, and 
reduce
fumigant use by 50 percent (371,000 pounds per year).
* Virus resistant tomatoes: Florida
Biotechnology could reduce insecticide use by 88,000 pounds per year, 
with
a savings to growers of $10.7 million/year.

"This study confirms biotechnologyís important role in food production. 
It
can contribute to growing high quality food in ways that are
environmentally attractive to growers and consumers alike. It also can 
help
enhance the sustainability of farmers in many regions who are threatened
with difficult economic and environmental pressures,"  Gianessi 
concludes.

Finally, from the same meeting: ."In 1997, the World Bank Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research estimated that 
biotechnology
could help improve world food production by up to 25 percent."-- Dr CS
Prakash
Alessandro Gimona
agimona@libero.it