| Speech by Dr. David A. Evans, Head of Research & Technology,
Syngenta International AG, at the Founding Ceremony of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, held on 12th October 2001 in the Natural
History Museum, Basel, Switzerland
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we enter a new millennium, changes in technology are as profound
as they are breathtaking. The turn of the millennium provides a cogent
opportunity to take stock of the remarkable progress made in the last
half century by the crop protection industries. It also obliges us to
look forward to the new challenges which will be presented to us in the
coming years.
It is important to note that those of us engaged in crop management
and agribusiness are making an important contribution to the food provision
industries. We are called upon to play a key role in feeding the world
safely and sustainably by three mechanisms. These are yield protection
(control of weeds, pests and diseases), yield increase (agronomic effects
like drought and salt tolerance, efficient use of light), and yield quality
improvement (enhanced composition of oils, proteins, vitamins and beneficial
dietary components.)
As we look forward, we face a formidable challenge in feeding a world
with increased requirements for food quality and variety, in addition
to inherent population growth. The world's population passed the 6 billion
mark in October 1999. It is expected to exceed 8 billion by the year 2025.
As Ismail Serageldin of the World Bank pointed out in a report in October
1997, "There are just two ways to increase food production: put more land
under cultivation or increase yields. Clearly, the only realistic alternative
humanity has, is to boost yields on available land."
Whereas the amount of land given to arable agriculture has increased
by less than 3% in the period from 1985 to 1995, the population has grown
by 16% in the same period. Furthermore, the food production index has
increased by over 22% in that time. This analysis indicates that the intensification
of agriculture on a little changed area has met the challenge of feeding
the burgeoning and increasingly demanding population. The question now
is whether technology can maintain its record of success. I am confident
that it can.
Over the past half-century, significant increases in crop yields have
occurred worldwide. From the production of corn in the USA, through to
rice in Indonesia or wheat in India, a relentless gain in crop yields
has been evident. It has been estimated that the yield increases achieved
since the 1950's have saved from the plow an area equivalent to the USA,
the EU and Brazil combined.
Let us now turn to sustainable development in agriculture. There are
almost as many definitions of sustainability as there are interested parties.
For agricultural food provision, sustainability demands that the requirements
of several sub-components are satisfied. For example:
- Agronomy - effective systems to meet the needs of
farmers and growers in a quest to supply sufficient and affordable high
quality food and fibers.
- Environment - it is essential that we conserve Nature's
balance
- Society - the ability of people and communities
to derive benefits
- Economics - all contributors to agriculture must
receive adequate reward for their efforts.
Forecasting is rarely straightforward, but forecasting in agriculture
at a time of unprecedented change is a particularly precarious exercise.
Nevertheless, there are several certainties that will endure: Chemical
pesticides will remain a keystone of modern agriculture for several decades
to come. Firstly, there is no real alternative to herbicide use on the
technical horizon, and herbicides constitute approximately half of the
crop protection market. The development of resistance to treatments, particularly
by insects and fungi, will mean that molecules with a new mode of action
will be highly prized. Finally, scientists engaged in crop protection
research are ingenious and will provide attractive sustainable methodologies
into the future.
With regard to ingenuity, I would like to invite you
to imagine a new crop protection chemical that possessed
remarkable properties. First of all, it would be used
at a rate of 500mg/hectare - this is equivalent to a
one tenth of a sugar lump used to treat a football field.
This chemical, for example a herbicide, would show excellent
control of a broad spectrum of weeds, it would be rain
fast, it would provide the grower with flexibility in
application and would show outstanding safety on the
crop. Its environmental properties would be very favorable
and its toxicology profile would be benign. It would
be cheap to make on a small-scale plant or even in the
laboratory. It would be produced in a range of formulations
to suit all growing conditions. I am pleased to announce
that we have achieved all of these goals in our research
to date - but regrettably not all in the same molecule!
This is indeed a challenging objective - but there is help available
from advances in current technology. Primary amongst these is functional
genomics where we are able to study the biology of an organism at the
level of specific individual genes. Traditionally, results have been obtained
from experiments involving one chemical, one organism and one effect.
The genomic sciences allow us to observe the effect of a chemical on all
genes simultaneously - massively parallel biology.
Next, combinatorial chemistry provides libraries of diverse chemicals
to challenge our biology targets. These collections of chemicals are available
both in house and from specialist external organizations. The targets
and the chemistry come together as part of the screening process. In recent
years, there have been major advances in the throughput of screening systems,
involving highly automated testing procedures. Such screens can operate
in vivo and in this format, it is quite practical to screen hundreds of
thousands of new chemicals per annum.
The genomic sciences can also be applied to health assessment and toxicology.
It is now possible to introduce into the screening process a gene chip
that provides early alerts to potential toxic effects.
Crop protection chemicals are presented to users in a variety of formulations.
This is a particularly important aspect of our work
in that it is at the level of the formulation that we
interact with our user community. A number of technologies
have been introduced in recent years to provide improved
user safety and superior environmental profile. One
such technology is based upon micro encapsulation -
here an aqueous solution or suspension of chemical is
surrounded by a polymer wall. In this way, the chemical
is "shrink-wrapped" to provide tiny capsules of material.
The thickness of the polymer wall will dictate the rate
of release of the chemical, thus providing control over
the longevity of the effect. In addition, such formulations
are characterized by reduced toxicity and flammability.
Because the formulations can be water-based, the use
of organic solvents is minimized with consequent benefit
in odor and cost.
Much of the applied crop protection chemical does not reach its target
site or in some practical situations it is provided as an under- or overdose.
The application of global positioning systems and geographic information
systems has provided significant progress in application systems in recent
years. Using such technology in conjunction with sampling data, irregularities
across terrain such as percentage organic matter, nutrients and pH can
be mapped across a field to an accuracy of a few meters. This information
then feeds decisions on applications in terms of optimal timing and amount
of chemical. Furthermore, boom sprayers with adjustable outputs are being
developed to deliver an optimal but varied dose across the crop-field
matrix. Such data can be correlated to yield following harvest. This enables
the construction of a full picture of the economic benefit gained by use
of pesticides under a variety of conditions.
In the mid 1990's, farmers and growers enjoyed the arrival of a second
technology to help them protect their crops - biotechnology-based methods
providing for the first time an alternative and a complement to chemical
control.
Biotechnology is poised to play three major roles in agriculture. Firstly,
and as mentioned earlier, biotechnology will allow us to change the paradigm
by which chemicals are invented.
Secondly, gene-based crop protection (self-protection of plants by expressing
resistance to insects, fungi and herbicides) has already made an important
impact on crop protection. The so-called input traits have focused to
date upon tolerance of broad-spectrum herbicides and resistance to insects.
The uptake of these technologies by growers has been unprecedented due
to the superlative control provided. In addition to further developments
in these areas, biotechnology will provide beneficial agronomic effects
such as salt and cold tolerance and resistance to heat stress. The latter
have particular utility in agriculture in the developing world.
Thirdly, biotechnology underpins the enhancement of crops to provide
valuable constituents (e.g. high oil content, enhanced vitamins). These
are the output traits, which will take agriculture into new areas of commerce.
Crops will be grown to provide customized animal feeds tailored to specific
feed lots. Digestibility will be improved, as will the ease of processing
the crop raw material. There is significant research into functional foods,
which provide added value above the calorific content. Examples include
reduced allergenicity, enhanced vitamin content and introduction of antioxidants.
Perhaps the most exciting area for the future is that of plant-based consumer
health - therapeutic effects delivered via the plant matrix.
Finally, whereas genetic manipulation provides the route to many of
the objectives described above, the production of conventional plants
and seeds using genetic markers will speed up the delivery process. Here,
beneficial traits can be followed throughout the breeding process using
specific genetic markers, thus accelerating the production of premium
seeds - in some cases cutting the time to produce a desired improvement
by up to one half.
The delivery of some of the opportunities described earlier will take
place on different time scales. Input trait effects are here and now,
and many are set to follow. Many of the output trait projects are expected
to deliver in the second half of this decade, but solid progress is already
evident in research. There is no doubt that the technology will deliver
its promise - the time scale will depend on the customary scientific challenges
together with the acceptance of the technology by government regulatory
bodies and, most importantly, the public at large.
Many of the technologies presently being researched have broadscale
application. For example, ripening control, which was initially demonstrated
in tomatoes, has been shown to be applicable to bananas. This technology
provides bananas that are slow ripening, providing consumers with improved
product quality and convenience, in addition to added nutritional content
and value.
Genomics is the most exciting science that has recently been added to
our armory - this provides us with a step change capability applicable
to agricultural research. As mentioned earlier, genomics delivers insights
into biological functions at a scale and speed hitherto unimaginable.
The role of genomics in providing new targets for chemical invention and
genetic markers for traditional breeding has also been described. The
science plays an equally important role in the elaboration of genetically
modified crops and also in the new trait-based opportunities, for example
in consumer health. The genomic sciences are presently in their infancy,
but they are poised to provide the key that unlocks an exciting future
for agribusiness. In this future, arable agriculture continues to efficiently
fulfil its role in food provision, but is extended into a new economy
in which plants act in concert with fossil fuels to provide primary economic
products.
As an example of the potential power of the genomic sciences, it is
instructive to consider corn breeding. In essence, corn has been derived
from a Mexican native grass by continuous breeding over thousands of years.
Today's varieties differ from the native grasses in only five regions
of the genome, each on a different chromosome. Gaining the understanding
of such changes at a genetic level will provide major benefit to plant
breeders. Perhaps it is not too fanciful to imagine the evolution of corn
in decades or years rather than millennia! Genomics is beginning to make
this vision a reality.
The progress made in the science and technology on which agriculture
depends is plainly visible. But how will this progress bring benefit to
developing countries? I believe that major benefit will accrue in the
following ways:
- Control of pests and diseases - these are the biggest constraints
to agricultural production in developing countries. Modern agricultural
technologies have already offered excellent genetically-modified varieties
that are environmentally friendly (e.g. Bt-maize, Bt-cotton).
- Increases in yield per hectare
- Improved crop varieties which can be grown in hostile environments
- Novel varieties that are nutritionally enhanced
So, what is required to ensure that the private sector and the developing
countries work effectively together?
Clearly, there is a major element around training and education in the
use of modern crop protection technology. This training must support requirements
of national regulatory systems and the agriculture infrastructure of the
region. In the private companies, we must customize our seed offerings
and crop solutions to the specific local environment. Primarily, we must
ensure that our technologies are appropriate to requirements of subsistence
farmers and adapted to local needs.
The private sector has demonstrated by past and present performance
that it is broadly willing and able to provide beneficial technology to
developing countries. Sustainability in agriculture holds equal importance
for both parties. There are requirements that can help to optimize private
sector participation in developing countries. There must be fair and equitable
policies for multinational company involvement which allow participation
openly and constructively. Prime amongst these factors are respect for
international patent law and intellectual property protection. It is essential
that local regulatory policies, both for biotechnology products and for
chemical crop protection agents, are transparent and well constructed.
In turn, it is incumbent upon the private sector companies to ensure high
levels of stewardship for their products and technologies, and to provide
information and education programs which ensure good public awareness
of planned activities.
Straightforward and overt frameworks for cooperations with developing
countries will provide the basis for broadscale partnerships with the
developing world. The policies of Syngenta, in common with other members
of the agribusiness world are clearly stated. There are several examples
of technologies being offered to subsistence farmers at no cost or royalty
payment. These include PositechÒ technology - plant- based marker
genes which avoid the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes, and application
of ripening technology to papaya plants in several countries in South
East Asia. We are presently negotiating the provision of "Golden Rice"
technology to subsistence farmers. This technology provides rice that
contains beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, important in the fight
against blindness caused by vitamin deficiency.
I hope that I have been able to illustrate the seminal role that new
technology will play in future advances in agriculture and food provision.
In partnership with developing countries, I am confident that these benefits
will enrich the lives of the global population, and will specifically
address the problems of the developing world. Many of the technologies
I have described are in their infancy, but I am confident of their future
success. I look forward to returning to this topic to illustrate progress
in the near future.
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