Greener pastures for NZ. GM pastures coming…maybe?
Royal Society NZ has released an issues paper on the possible risks, benefits of commercially close GM pasture crops. The issues and questions raised are equally applicable to Australia.
The Royal Society of New Zealand has just released an issues paper on the potential benefits and possible risks of genetically modified forage crops in NZ.
There are many GM pasture crops getting close to commercialization in New Zealand. Some of these crops and certainly the traits being introduced are the same as those almost ready for commercialisation in Australia. And the same questions and issues raised in this paper are applicable to Australia.
Future cow food
As one of the paper’s authors says, the jury is still out when it comes to decision about the use of transgenic forage plants. The new traits in these forages have the potential to lead to better farm profitability and possibly reduced greenhouse gas emissions per cow. If they can live up to their promise, will the traits be acceptable to farmers and probably more importantly, the general public – the people who are buying and consuming the food?
Here is the list of traits from the Royal Society paper. All of these traits are attempting to be introduced into Australia’s pasture crops.
- Drought resistance and improved performance under moisture stress that will increasingly arise from climate change
- Improved balance of soluble carbohydrate and protein levels for increased available energy, higher productivity, and better nitrogen use efficiency
- Higher levels of condensed tannins for the elimination of bloat and optimal protein uptake leading to less nitrogenous waste and possibly less methane production
- Changed lipid content leading to higher available energy and reduced methane production
Other traits under development include:
- Reduced lignin for more digestibility and improved nitrogen efficiency
- Improved efficiency in the plant’s use of water and nutrients
- Encapsulated lipids to increase the level of omega 3 unsaturated fats in the grazing animal, with potential human health benefits
- Improved growth at lower temperatures for increased production outside of the peak growth period
Public acceptability
The issues paper highlights many of the issues raised by farmers and often non-farmers about the acceptability of otherwise of GM forage crops. One of the key points made is that many believe trait evaluation should be carried out on a case-by-case basis. And in general, in any workshop I have run on this topic, whether it be for high school students or members of a Probus club, they will assess GM crops case-by-case according to the traits the crop has. In the course of more in-depth discussion about each crop people may change their minds slightly about a crop’s acceptability. Some will find is more acceptable, others less. But they rarely judge the technology as a whole and be either totally for or against the technology.
Clean, green….?
One thing that did intrigue me, and I have commented on this previously, was the paper’s statement that social acceptance is driven by personal and national identity. The following is lifted directly from the paper:
“Much of New Zealanders’ personal and national identity, and sense of place is linked to concepts about nature. This is expressed as both the concept of New Zealand’s clean, green image and Maori concepts of whakapapa and mauri. Such values provide a standpoint from which to consider biotechnology and genetic modification and, for many, justify the rejection of field releases of genetically modified organisms.”
I know nothing about the Maori concepts on whakapapa, but I continually see reference to the “clean, green image” of Australia’s agriculture and how GM Crops will destroy this image or reputation. Australians and New Zealanders may truly be concerned about this – and I think a few are – but as far as I am aware, agronomic practices in Australia and New Zealand are no different to anywhere else in the developed world. We still use chemical fertilisers, pesticides, weedicides. We still clear land to grow stuff, though with a lot more guilt attached to it nowadays. How this is considered clean and green and how other developed countries are doing it less cleaner and greener is beyond me, unless my definition is way off, or my dictionary is out of date.
Anyway, the paper is a neat summary of the science, its potential and the social issues that need to considered when developing transgenic forage crops, and they will be similar, if not the same, things we need to consider here in Australia.
Listen to the authors
To get a better insight, the NZ Science Media centre has gathered a panel of experts who contributed to the paper. Their transcripts and audio are available at their web site