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International News on Biotechnology and Conservation | ||
| Number 44 | |||
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FAO-BiotechNews
The First and Second Updates of FAO-BiotechNews are available on the FAO website and include the following items. Further information: FAO-BiotechNews-L-Owner@mailserv.fao.org
1. Review of Status of Aquaculture Genetics The Technical Proceedings of the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium in Bangkok in February 2000 and organised by FAO and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA). The introduction states that "these Technical Proceedings represent the most comprehensive and authoritative review assembled to date of the status of aquaculture development in the world". Among the many interesting articles is one related to biotechnology in aquaculture entitled "Review of the status of aquaculture genetics" by Rex Dunham et al. It is available at: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/AB412E/ab412e03.htm or a copy of the proceedings can be requested from the NACA Secretariat in Bangkok (publications@enaca.org) or from Dr Rohana Subasinghe (rohana.subasinghe@fao.org).
2. Report on ‘New Biotechnology Food and Crops: Science, Safety and Society from the Bangkok Conference in July 2001. The conference was co-sponsored by the OECD and the Government of the United Kingdom, in co-operation with FAO, WHO, UNEP, CBD and the Government of Thailand. See http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00025000/M00025559.pdf or contact icgb@oecd.org for more information.
3. Intellectual Property Rights – a paper commissioned by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) concerning Intellectual property rights (IPR) and biotechnology. The paper by Anatole Krattiger is entitled "Public-Private Partnerships for Efficient Proprietary Biotech Management and Transfer, and Increased Private Sector Investments". See http://binas.unido.org/binas/reviews/Krattiger.pdf or send an e-mail to subscribe@bioDevelopments.org to subscribe to the journal.
4. World Health Organization (WHO) and "Access to Research" initiative. The WHO and leading medical journal publishers announce that more than 1,000 different journals in biomedical and related social sciences will be made freely available on the internet to public institutions in developing countries. Some of the journals are related to biotechnology in food and agriculture. This Health InterNetwork "Access to Research" Initiative is expected to last at least three years. Institutions in countries with GNP per capita below $1000 are eligible for free access to the literature. The institutions need computers connected to the internet with a high-speed link (56k baud rate or higher). See http://www.healthinternetwork.org/src/eligibility.php or contact hinari@who.int for more information.
5. Treaty on access to plant genetic resources approved. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was approved by the FAO Conference on 3 November 2001. FAO experts say that it is a unique comprehensive international agreement that takes into consideration the particular needs of farmers and plant breeders, and aims to guarantee the future availability of the diversity of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture on which they depend, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits. See the text of the treaty at ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/waicent/pub/cgrfa8/iu/ITPGRe.pdf (59 K); an FAO press release at http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/OIS/PRESS_NE/PRESSENG/2001/pren0181.htm or a news story on the signed treaty at http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0112sp3.htm
6. Review of EC-supported research into safety of GMOs. The European Community (EC) has recently published a review of EC-supported research into the safety of GMOs, spanning the period from 1985 to 2000. The research areas included genetically modified plants and fish, biocontrol, food safety, bioremediation, plant microbes, vaccines produced using GM technology and tools/techniques to track GMOs. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/quality-of-life/gmo/index.html. Copies of the publication can be requested from nathalie.feyaerts@ceceu.int
7. OECD Biotechnology Update. The November edition of OECD Biotechnology Update is available (it is sent roughly every 6 months). The aim of the Update is to provide information on the diverse activities at the OECD related to biotechnology. The new edition includes, among others, items on regulatory, trade and legal aspects of biotechnology and gives weblinks and e-mail addresses for accessing additional information and publications. See the Update at http://www.oecd.org/pdf/M00008000/M00008255.pdf or contact icgb@oecd.org
8. Talk on biotechnology by Director of FAO/IAEA Division. James Dargie, Director of the FAO/IAEA Joint Division for Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and Chairman of FAO's Working Group on Biotechnology, presented a paper entitled "Biotechnology, GMOs, ethics and food production" at the European Media Seminar on Global Food Security, Stockholm, 14-16 October 2001. See the full article at http://www.fao.org/News/2001/stockholm/biotech.pdf; an abbreviated version at http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0201sp1.htm or request a copy from M.E.Guerra-Garduno@iaea.org.
9. Keynote address on GMOs by FAO Assistant-Director General. Louise Fresco, Assistant-Director General, FAO Agriculture Department gave the keynote address to a conference on "Crop and Forest Biotechnology for the Future", Falkenberg, Sweden, 16-18 September 2001. The talk was entitled "Genetically modified organisms in food and agriculture: Where are we? Where are we going?". See full document at http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/GMOs.pdf; an abbreviated version at http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0111sp.htm or contact rita.walsh@fao.org to request a copy.
First Electronic Conference of FAO on "Livestock in Conservation Agriculture"
FAO held an electronic conference on Livestock on Conservation Agriculture (CA) which started in February 2002. Readers of EAAP News may wish to access the papers and discussions which took place over many weeks involving participants throughout the world. Participants were invited to make general comments about the integration of livestock in CA and to suggest addition subjects that could be presented and discussed. The websites concerned are given at the end of this brief summary report.
Introductory comments upon Conservation Agriculture
The term Conservation Agriculture is a concept aimed at improving agricultural and livestock production on a sustainable and environmentally friendly basis. This is achieved by means of an efficiency exploitation of natural resources in order to conserve and improve soil fertility, soil humidity and biological resources. CA practices result in environmental conservation and in halting soil degradation processes.
Conflicts With Livestock and Opportunities
During the transition from conventional to conservation agriculture, specially in the management of mixed farms, there are several issues which need to be resolved in order to achieve a smooth shift and an efficient integration with minimum impact on the environment. The presentation and discussion of these subjects are the main objectives of this electronic conference.
Treatment of animal excreta and other organic wastes with anaerobic biodigesters for biogas generation, useful in electricity generation or as fuel for cooking and heating, is a very attractive alternative for integrated systems. In addition to the energy recovery, the effluents are very valuable as fertilisers and for soil amendment.
Role of animals in the farm
An important change, which can happen when converting to CA, is the modification of the need for animal traction when the time-consuming practices of ploughing, disking and cultivation are eliminated. Domestic animals can remain useful for transport of people and materials, or their function can be geared towards productive purposes (milk, meat, and fibre). In Brazil and in other countries where CA is practised, animals are converters of primary agricultural products into value added products with the resulting higher benefits for the farmers and rural entrepreneurs. This in not always the case in the U.S.A. and in Europe where farms tend to be more specialised either for crops or for livestock.
Farmers who have adopted CA have had the following results:
There is a growing number of experiences of the benefits of CA both in the mechanised and non-mechanised agriculture, in tens of millions of hectares belonging to small and large farmers in temperate and tropical climates, which suggest that it is still possible to achieve an effective conservation agriculture. It can be said that CA is the most important change in modern agriculture since the green revolution, which although it has been argued to significantly increase yields of major crops, it has also had important negative consequences to the environment directly and indirectly.
Conclusions
Livestock can make valuable contributions to the economy of the farmer and to the environment with the CA context, but the association increases the complexity of the system and several aspects need to be worked out if maximum resource use efficiency and environmental conservation are expected.
The Organizers of the Electronic Conference
Dr. Manuel D. Sánchez, Animal Production and Health Division and Dr. José Benites, Land and Water Development Division, FAO, Rome, Italy. They may be contacted at the Email address: Animal-CA-L-Owner@mailserv.fao.org
INTERNET SITES ON CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
The following are sources of information on CA and low-tillage agriculture for the participants of the conference. It will become clear when visiting the sites that livestock aspects are yet lacking.
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