http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60222-2001Feb27.html


By Marc Kaufman 	(1,172 words)

Washington Post Staff Writer 

February 27, 2001; Page A01 


Agricultural scientists have developed the first genetically engineered
variety of wheat designed for sale to farmers, stirring intense
controversy around the globe years before it is expected to come onto the
market.


The wheat, produced by the biotechnology giant Monsanto, has been spliced
with a gene that protects it from Monsanto's powerful and popular
herbicide Roundup, allowing farmers to kill weeds efficiently without
harming their crop. Monsanto says it will be ready for farmers within two
to four years, and the company estimates it will increase crop yields by
$6 to $11 an acre.


The company hopes the wheat will also lead to other engineered
improvements to one of the world's oldest and most important crops, but
the international reaction illustrates just how contentious and
unpredictable genetically engineered crops have become.


As news of Monsanto's wheat has spread, buyers from Japan to Europe and
Egypt have told U.S. exporters that their consumers will not accept
genetically modified wheat because of general fears about possible harm
to the environment and human health from engineered crops. Some have said
that the wheat's very presence on American farms could threaten future
purchases of all U.S. wheat. Half of all American wheat is exported,
accounting for $3.7 billion in sales and almost 20 percent of all
agricultural commodities shipped abroad in 1999.


"We may in the future have a biotech wheat that the world does want,"
said Darrell Hanavan, chairman of a joint wheat industry committee on
biotechnology. "But we need to proceed now under the assumption that some
markets won't want it anytime soon. And the challenge will be to make
sure that buyers and their customers get exactly what they want."


In an effort to respond to these concerns, Monsanto has agreed to an
unprecedented wheat industry request to put in place a system to strictly
segregate the modified wheat before it is ever sold to farmers or even
approved by regulators. The company has also agreed generally to promote
wheat biotechnology to buyers and consumers abroad.


"Some farmers do have concerns about the market for our wheat, but many
really want it," said Monsanto spokesman Mark Buckingham. "Farmers need
to make improvements and reduce costs, and farmers know our technology
can provide that . . . We want to be frank and open because in the
current atmosphere, it's very easy for misconceptions to arise."


About 55 percent of U.S. soybeans and 25 percent of corn harvested last
year were genetically engineered. Development of genetically modified
wheat has lagged behind other crops because it is a more complex plant,
made from the union of three wild grasses that have been improved by
farmers over the millennia. Rights to wheat varieties are often publicly
owned, which can make them less desirable to profit-making companies.


Since last year's Starlink corn debacle -- in which an engineered corn
only approved for animal consumption inadvertently made it into the human
food supply -- already negative attitudes in major foreign markets about
genetically modifed foods have intensified.


The result is that unlike the American corn and soybean industries, which
quickly embraced biotech products in the mid-1990s, many in the wheat
industry are approaching biotechnology now more as a challenge to
surmount than an immediate opportunity to exploit. That wheat has an
unusual emotional resonance for many people stemming from its use in
bread, the ancient "staff of life," just adds to the challenge.


"Monsanto's wheat can definitely be a real benefit to the producers and
our country," said Phil Isaak, a board member of U.S. Wheat Associates,
the national organization that promotes American wheat exports for
growers. "But unless we get worldwide public approval of it, we have to
take the position of resisting release for commercialization."


Critics of biotechnology call the worldwide debate over genetically
modified wheat a positive development, and are pleased it is happening
well before the crop is actually introduced. While major U.S. scientific
organizations have generally found that current genetically engineered
crops pose no danger to the environment or human health, opponents argue
that taking genes from one kind of plant or animal and inserting it into
another could have unforeseen long-term consequences.


"It is a very healthy thing for people to be asking now if we really need
this wheat, if it's wise to release it and whether it will benefit people
who need help," said Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned
Scientists. "This has never happened before with a major product of
biotechnology."


Monsanto's wheat is being tested in greenhouses in the upper Midwest and
bred into local varieties. Company officials say they are in no rush to
introduce Roundup Ready wheat, and will bring it onto the market
gradually when they do. The company has asked for Environmental
Protection Agency approval to add wheat to the approved list of crops for
its Roundup herbicide, but has not yet approached two other federal
agencies. 


Industry and company officials said they hoped to devise a segregation
system for engineered wheat -- which would parallel those already in
place for some special conventional varieties -- by year's end.


Montana wheat farmer Frank Elling said he would be happy to use Roundup
Ready wheat if he was certain customers would accept it. But his Pacific
Rim buyers have made their reservations known, and Asian governments have
taken dramatic steps in recent years to reject shipments of genetically
modified crops.


Japanese officials, for instance, turned back a boatload of corn last
year suspected to contain the Starlink variety, and Thai officials did
the same with a shipment of wheat 18 months ago. In that case, officials
concluded that the American wheat had been mixed with small amounts of
engineered corn while being transported from the West Coast.


Similar messages of concern have been coming in to the 17 international
offices of U.S. Wheat Associates, the American export marketing group. A
letter from Tsutoma Shigeta of the Japan Flour Millers Association said,
for instance, that "Japanese consumers are highly suspicious and
skeptical about safety of [genetically modified] farm products which may
be hazardous to human health and environment. Under the circumstances, I
strongly doubt that any bakery and noodle products made of [modified]
wheat or even conventional wheat that may contain [modified] wheat will
be accepted in the Japanese market."


Jef Smidts of the Dutch wheat supplier Andre & Cie wrote even more
bluntly, "[Genetically modified] wheat for sure will be a market
destructor." Because of such concerns, legislators in Montana and North
Dakota have introduced bills to place a moratorium on the use of
genetically engineered wheat.


Val Giddings, vice president for food and agriculture for the
Biotechnology Industry Organization, said he has heard similar concerns,
but that he believes the "perception of resistance is substantially
greater than the reality is likely to be.


"Monsanto has recognized and is acting on the understanding that some
folks want to have more input into this product," he said. "They are
trying to do this in an open and transparent way, and that is not without
risk."


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