Those who fuel the controversy on biotech crops call them GMOs — genetically modified organisms.

One thing we can expect in the Legislature this year is a hornet's nest of anti-GMO bills. In past Legislatures these bills have failed, but they keep coming back. Sadly, one-third of all of the anti-biotech bills in the country are introduced in Hawai'i.

Agriculture in Hawai'i is a $500 million business. To block research and thus the use and benefit of this technology will undoubtedly affect that business. Is that what we want?

BIG ISLAND BAN

The Big Island seems to be moving backward. A handful of anti-tech activists somehow enlisted the native Hawaiian community and the County Council into a permanent ban on research on biotech taro and coffee. Not only did they adopt this ban 9-0, over the opposition of the business farmers, but they then overrode Mayor Harry Kim's veto.

The council had lost touch with 21st century agriculture. This ban stifles our progress and reverses our history of agricultural achievement. It denies us technology that can protect and improve our crops, and it could darken the industry's outlook for years. The new council should step up and promptly reverse the ban.

In fact, biotech crops are more regulated than any other agricultural commodity in the country, with federal oversight by the USDA, EPA and FDA. Impulsive county actions like this ban create an overlay of regulation that inhibits investment in the industry. Clearly, the time has come for the state to step in and limit this kind of county rulemaking.

ENOUGH ANTI-TECH

Ah, for the romance of subsistence farming in the 18th century. People lived to 35 and died from dreadful diseases. Food was perilous and medicine was primitive. For one reason or another, some people still want this kind of romance. Only a few weeks ago, three people on the Big Island developed deadly rat lungworm disease from organic vegetables. You can't have it both ways.

Anti-tech precedents seem to be finding their way into state policy — the recent Ohana Pale decision by the Intermediate Court of Appeals imposing layered limits on importation of research organisms, the continuing attacks on Act 221, and, of course, the Big Island biotech ban.

One unenlightened Big Island council member said "We don't care about feeding the world." But we do care. We care about our agricultural industry, and the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars it pours into our economy. Hawai'i researchers are working on a biotech-fortified sorghum staple to feed hungry people in Africa. The correct ethic, the Hawai'i pono, is to feed and help people, not ban them from doing so.

BACKWATER V. SCIENCE

Some objectors say it's all about a value system in which our farmers should not tamper with Mother Nature. Some say it's cultural and that kalo is sacred. Some bear a general distrust of science, especially from other places, or a lack of confidence that we can do it here.

None of that works. Hawaiians have been modifying their crops, including kalo, for centuries, and we have brilliant scientists, deeply concerned about the environment, doing world-class work here today. But there is a small group of people who want to control the lifestyles of others and have money to pay sign wavers. Environmental nonprofits in Hawai'i, a number of which oppose biotech crops, get Mainland grants in the millions. They also get Mainland legal and legislative support made to look local.

Government and academic studies show that biotech crops are at least as safe as conventional foods, so food safety is not a concern — there has been no documented case where a biotech crop caused illness. In fact, biotech food can be designed to make you healthier. Biotech tools are powerful and useful, and here to stay. At this point, it's irresponsible not to use them in agriculture.

BUILDING AN INDUSTRY

Growing plants for seed is one of Hawai'i's fastest growing industries, with sales exceeding $100 million. Biotech companies, including BASF, Pioneer, Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow are investing in crop seed development and selling seeds all over the world. There is global competition, however, and if we get stalled in local controversy, we'll lose.

To develop sustainable agriculture, we need to train scientists, expand our research and export our findings and improved crops. Using biotech tools, we can develop heartier, healthier, better-tasting crops that are drought tolerant, disease, worm and insect resistant, that need fewer pesticides, herbicides and less fertilizer, and that allow less tilling, more yield and better soil conservation. Is this great tech, or what?

Ten years ago, Hawai'i's papaya industry was nearly destroyed by the ringspot virus. Researcher Dennis Gonsalves led an effort to develop a biotech papaya resistant to that virus, and that saved the industry. It was a remarkable achievement. Papaya is now an $18 million crop in Hawai'i and a major export.

TOMORROW'S TABLE

Farming is not an easy business. People assume that quality and productivity come easy for the farmer, but that's not the case. When people find that biotech crops can be grown to have more vitamin E, or to prevent against cancer, they will be more interested. But to appreciate the farmer's biotech and business challenges, we need to put ourselves in the farmer's shoes.

There's an important book about biotech and farming by Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer. They have separate disciplines, but their views co-exist. It's called "Tomorrow's Table." They'll be here in February and will be speaking to various groups. For details, contact Alicia Maluafiti at the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association.

LEADERSHIP NEEDED

Most of Hawai'i's food is imported. Our reserve is only a week or two. We should be developing our growing systems for food independence and self-reliance. We should be using the best technology and the best systems available. Our lives could depend on it, especially in time of disease, disaster or terrorism.

Hawai'i could be a world leader in research for tropic agriculture. Don't we want that? This would not be a bittersweet return to the days of the plantation — it will be a new era in which cutting-edge science transforms our agriculture and makes its business bloom as never before.

Hawai'i needs to get serious about its future. It can't afford to squander its biotech expertise. Rather than enacting prohibitions, our officials should be encouraging the industry to hasten its efforts in the development of this technology.