By Tom Karst
The Packer.com
(July 24, 3:37 p.m.) A nonbrowning apple variety and a disease-resistant banana may be the next commodities to test consumer acceptance of biotechnology in fresh produce.
The U.S. has more than 144 million acres of biotech crops under cultivation, but virtually none of that acreage is represented by crops grown for the fresh produce market. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported this year that 80% of the nation’s field corn crop and 92% of soybeans were biotech varieties.
The slow development in biotechnology for fresh produce has been rooted in caution about consumer attitudes. The genetically engineered Flavr Savr tomato was unveiled in 1992 but ran aground amid activist resistance, prolonged regulatory reviews and lukewarm market acceptance. . .
“There are very few biotech derived fruits and vegetables on the market and there is not too many being actively developed that are close to being on the market,” said Michael Wach, managing director for science and regulatory affairs for the Food and Agriculture Department of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Washington, D.C.
“I don’t see anybody in the Washington (state) apple industry trying to market a genetically modified apple at this point in time for fear of getting clobbered by the activists,” said economist Desmond O’Rourke, president of Belrose Inc., Pullman, Wash . . .
All bioengineered plant varieties marketed in the U.S. must be approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. . .
Wach said bananas may be on the short list of commodities that will benefit from biotechnology.
“Bananas, like papayas, are susceptible to a large number of devastating diseases for which there is no known treatment and no known resistance within the species,” he said.
Wach predicted biotech bananas being developed now in tropical countries will be shipped to the U.S. within 10 years.
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This, definitely, will be very exciting. Countries with tropical climates stand to benefit immensely from this project. Africa, which grows bananas in large numbers, stands to benefit from genetically modified bananas.
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