State a leader in biotech crop trials, but benefit questioned
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
Hawai'i is the most active state in the country for agricultural biotechnology crop trials, but there is disagreement about whether that's a good thing.
Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser
Federal and state officials have approved permits for hundreds of field trials on four islands using genetically engineered plants, many of which have modifications that insert the genetic code from entirely different forms of life into crops such as corn and soybeans to improve yields, resistance to pests, or nutritional content.
Trials for various genetically altered crops, including corn, are under way on four islands.
These field plantings are seldom identified, both to protect the in-house secrets of biotech companies and to prevent vandalism.
Opponents of genetically modified crops fear their possible impact on human health, the environment and on farming, particularly where there is a chance that these altered plants could pollinate nonengineered crops, spreading the alterations where they are not wanted.
Hawai'i is a hotbed of crop research largely because of its climate, said Carol Okada, plant specialist with the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch. "They like to come to Hawai'i because we have no real seasons here, so they can do multicrops in a year," Okada said.
A database of field tests for genetically engineered crops in Hawai'i shows the government processed 557 applications from more than a dozen different companies and institutions from Jan. 1, 2000, through Jan. 30. Only a handful of the applications was denied.
No one knows exactly how many acres are being used for growing genetically modified trial plots. While each application lists an acreage, that generally represents the size of the field, not the actual size of the trial, Okada said. Seed companies often will tuck a tiny genetically modified plant trial alongside a large crop of field corn. If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't know it was there.
"Sometimes it's as little as five plants," she said.
A review of field test permits shows some of the genetically engineered crops that have been approved for growing in Hawai'i include corn, soybeans, rice, papaya, barley, wheat, cotton, sunflowers and tobacco. Experiments are being run by Applied Phytologics, Dow, DuPont, Iowa State University, Monsanto, Novartis, Pioneer, ProdiGene, Stanford University, Syngenta, University of Arizona, Vector Tobacco and Zeneca.
The biggest player is Monsanto, which had 332 permit applications for work with genetically engineered corn alone.
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Among the experiments are genetic changes to improve yields as well as drought and cold tolerance in plants, to create resistance to specific pests and herbicides, to reduce the nicotine in tobacco, and to alter the nutritional value of corn.
"Hawai'i has the greatest number of regulated plots of any state in the country. We have a lot of work going on here, but most are small — just a few rows," said Mike Beyersdorf, a board member of the Hawai'i Crop Improvement Association and a Monsanto seed scientist.
Okada said there are so many trials in the Islands that neither she nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture is able to inspect all of them.
Most of those trials are just that, but a few crops have gone beyond trials and are being grown here for sale to consumers. Among the genetically engineered crops being grown in the Islands and sold in stores is Sunrise papaya, which is resistant to the papaya ringspot virus. There is also variety of sweet corn that contains the partial genetic code from a bacterium that is toxic to insects. The genetically engineered corn resists insects so farmers can use less pesticide on the crop.
In seed company research fields on several islands, there are also crops that contain the genetic material of medicines. These are called biopharmaceuticals.
"There are certain islands that have these tests, but nobody can find out because it's confidential business information," said Nancy Redfeather, a member of the Hawai'i Island Genetic Engineering Action Network, who has a small organic farm in Kainaliu on the Big Island.
Beyersdorf said that government permits sometimes require secrecy and, in some cases, strict security measures that may include electric fences.
Okada would not say where any specific genetical engineering test plots are grown, but she did confirm they exist on Maui, O'ahu, Moloka'i and Kaua'i. And while there may be no test plots on the Big Island, there are genetically modified crops being grown there, notably the disease-resistant Sunrise papaya.
Big Island papaya grower Kelly Lange, the certification coordinator for the Hawai'i Organic Farmers Association, said organic farmers are concerned that pollen from genetically engineered crops will drift to organic crops, creating seed that may contain genetic modifications.
Organic coffee growers in Kona are organizing to block the planting of genetically engineered coffee in the area, for fear that transgenic material will drift onto their fields and alter their crops.
Whether or not those fears are justified, the federal government appears to be taking the risk of contamination seriously. In December, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Dow Agrosciences on Moloka'i and Pioneer Hi-Bred on Kaua'i for failing to adequately isolate genetically modified corn. Each paid a fine, although Dow admitted its error and Pioneer did not.
Some people fear the advent of the new agricultural technology, but Beyersdorf said the potential benefits outweigh any risks. For example, a crop that resists pests reduces the amount of pesticide used in the environment, and most people would agree that's a good thing, he said.
