GM Wheat: Potential Advantages

In the end of the last decade genetically modified crops have became highly debated. One of the biggest debates in current magazines and scientific journals is about GM wheat. Genetically modified wheat is a highly debated topic with today’s farmers and society because of two controversies: 1) benefits to cost, and 2) the difficulty of keeping GM and natural wheat separated from natural wheat crops. The inability to separate genetically modified wheat from standardized wheat has presented many problems for exporters. According to an article from Rense.com, of the “70 percent of people who are aware of genetically modified foods, roughly one quarter are uneasy about eating genetically modified foods” (1). Presently the debate on GM wheat seems to emphasize the problem with GM wheat, the debate on biotech wheat must take a turn: we should be looking at how genetically modified wheat could be a potential benefit to our farmers and our economy. There are many advantages to biotech wheat that are being overlooked.

Before I go into the details of why producing biotech wheat would be beneficial for farmers and our economy, I will first explain what biotech; commonly know as genetically modified, wheat is. GM wheat is a newer offspring of standardized wheat: it is upgraded wheat, designed to grow in adverse conditions and withstand strong herbicides, like Round-up (a strong weed killing chemical spray) (2).
Genetically modified wheat, or biotech wheat, currently has a bad reputation with the farming markets because many market places don’t want crops that have been integrated with GM wheat. This resistance can be overcome in time with more research. Some potential advantages to producing GM wheat could be improving farm production, expanding growing conditions and locations, and improving nutrition in the wheat itself (2). For these reasons it is important to communicate the positive word on biotech wheat’s possibility to benefit the US and other countries to which the US exports to.

When looking at how other crops are currently benefiting the US, some may wonder why wheat hasn’t yet been fully introduced to the GM market. Though wheat is being studied and will eventually reach the market, it is a far more complex plant than rice, soybeans, canola, or cotton (4), which are currently on the GM market. Once biotech wheat is accepted and placed on the market, one of the major benefits that will come from producing genetically modified wheat is the benefit to the farmers. Farmers will directly benefit from GM wheat crops because they are built to be more durable then standard wheat crops. This new durability will directly benefit farmers by making their growing season longer, giving the farmers the opportunity to produce crops with higher yields, and allowing farmers to use fewer varieties of herbicides on their crops. The use of only one concentrated herbicide will save farmers money because they will have only one type of herbicide to clean off their crop when harvested (2). The ability of the biotech wheat crop to withstand more concentrated herbicides that kill the first time they are sprayed will not only save farmers money, but also time. This reduction of herbicides used on crops directly benefits our community too.

Besides wheat crops being more durable with the introduction of GM wheat, there is also the potential for producers to gain larger yields from their crops. The potential to gain more in crop yields is relevant because when using GM wheat in a crop, there is an advantage of having the ability to grow a crop in unfavorable conditions, such as colder, drier and less fertile crop fields, which are becoming more common in this day and age. This flexible ability to grow wheat crops will help farmer’s profit margins grow, which then will benefit them in two ways. The first way is larger yields, more for them to sell. Another benefit farmer’s gain would be not having to spend as much on spraying crops during the growing season. This is possible because biotech wheat is designed to keep growing even when sprayed with higher concentrations of herbicides. The ability to spray with stronger herbicides will then benefit farmers with saving time, and saving money using only one type of herbicide in a growing season.

One of the most important reasons that GM wheat is being pursued for production is the potential for producing healthier wheat (3). In an article from “Growers for Biotechnology,” Australia’s Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has been working on a new variety of wheat that will have an increased amount of amylase, a resistance starch that is digested by the body slower. They have currently found a 25-70 percent increase in their current research. The reason for boosting amylase percentages in wheat is that a slower sugar release will reduce risks of developing type 2 diabetes, a quickly growing problem around the world. (3). One topic of discussion among the researchers is that of public acceptance. A quote from Monsanto’s Co agricultural consultant John Richardson, “There are some exciting things coming in wheat, but we must understand the impact this is going to have, it is going to take a lot of work. Its important to get started now.” (4) When the public is given more knowledge of benefits of GM wheat they will see that GM wheat will be beneficial to produce and this will make getting funding for research more obtainable.

After looking over some of the potential benefits of producing biotech wheat, we can come to the realization that biotech wheat will be beneficial to the US in time. We have talked about how consumers will be directly benefited by the increase in production of GM wheat due to larger crop sizes. How there could be a reduction in costs of production of GM compared to standard wheat crops. We have also discussed the potential for gained nutrition from the upgraded seeds. All of these benefits are possible with the acceptance of GM wheat production. But we must listen to what John Richardson said, “it is important that we get started now”(4).

References:

1. Bill Lambrecht
Rense.com. “Will Public Accept Monsantos GM Wheat in Bread?” Dec. 22, 2003. Accessed Dec. 6, 2006. http://www.rense.com/general46/wha.htm.

2. Graeme O’Neill
Truth About Trade and Technology. “Australia lagging as GM industry grows.” Aug. 24, 2004. Accessed Dec. 6, 2006. http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article,asp?id=2387.

3. Dominique Patton
Growers for Biotechnology. “Limagrain GRDC to bring GM Healthy Wheat to Market.” Nov. 2, 2006. Accessed Dec. 6, 2006. http://www.growersforwheatbiotechnology.org/html/news.cfm?=317.

4. Carey Gillman
Wheat Quality Council. “Wheat Briefs.” Spring 2000. Accessed Dec. 7, 2006. http://www.wheatqualitycouncil.org/News/Newsletter.Spring.00.htm.

5. Lorraine Heller
Food Navigator.com. “Syngenta moves closer to launching GM wheat.” Mar 15, 2006. Accessed Dec. 6, 2006. http://wwwfoodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=66430.

6. Jenne Bernick, Wayne Wenzel.
AgWeb.com. “Wheat Journal.” May 15, 2006. Accessed Dec. 7, 2006. http://www.agweb.com/news_printer.asp?articleID=125751.

December 2006