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August 8, 2008
· Monsanto to sell hormone business, focus on seeds
· USDA to provide $49M in fresh fruit and veggies
· DuPont teams with Aussie firm on fungal disease
· Blight resistant potato takes a global scientific effort
· Being green isn’t cool any more – UK analysis
Monsanto to sell hormone business, focus on seeds
(The New York Times) – After struggling to gain consumer acceptance, Monsanto on Wednesday announced that it would try to sell its business of producing an artificial growth hormone for dairy cows. The company will focus instead on its thriving business of selling seeds and developing ways to improve crops.
The decision comes as more retailers, saying they are responding to consumer demand, are selling dairy products from cows not treated with the artificial hormone.
Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix are among the retailers that now sell house-brand milk from untreated cows. Almost all of the fresh milk sold by Dean Foods, the nation’s largest milk bottler, also comes from cows that were not treated with the artificial hormone, a spokeswoman said.
Monsanto officials said the decision was not related to the
retail trend and that business for the artificial hormone, sold under the brand
name Posilac, remained brisk. Monsanto, which is
based in
Monsanto’s announcement comes after a year of pitched battles over labeling on dairy packages. A year ago, Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to persuade federal officials to crack down on labels that say the milk has been produced without the hormone, arguing that milk from treated cows was the same as that from untreated cows.
In the months since, a Monsanto-backed advocacy group and a
handful of dairy organizations have struggled to have similar laws or regulations
passed at the state level. In
USDA to provide $49M in fresh fruit and veggies
(USDA) –
The 2008 farm bill amended the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act by
adding section 19, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. This new section
replaces a previous program in a limited number of states, and expands fresh
fruits and vegetables to selected schools in the 50 states, the
"Fresh produce for children at school gives them an early start on healthy
eating habits that can stay with them after school, and throughout their
lives," said Schafer. "This program will help educate students about
the importance of good nutrition, including eating fresh fruit and vegetables.
We know that far too many young people are struggling with being overweight and
even obese. Now, more than ever, children need our help in building good eating
habits so they can have a long and healthy life."
All students in participating schools receive fresh fruits and vegetables at no
cost where a high proportion of children are eligible to receive free- or
reduced-price school meals. In addition to more choice, their routines may grow
to add fruits and vegetables into their daily meal choices outside of school.
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is targeted to
students in the neediest elementary schools in each state. Schools may apply for
funding to operate this program on an annual basis. The Farm Bill makes
available $40 million during the upcoming school years: 2008-2009, $65 million
for 2009-2010, $101 million for 2010-2011, and $150 million for 2011-2012.
Subsequent yearly funding is indexed for inflation. State funding levels are
allocated through a formula and will be available October 1, 2008.
Schools are encouraged to implement the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in
partnership with non-federal organizations. In addition to the money made
available by the Farm Bill, approximately $9 million was made available in the
2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161) for distribution to States
in support of school year 2008-2009 activity.
DuPont teams with Aussie firm on fungal disease
(Wire Services)
In this collaboration, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred and Hexima
will combine certain intellectual property and anti-fungal protein assets to
accelerate the development and commercialization of transgenic fungal disease
resistance technology in corn, soybeans and other crops.
Hexima will lead the initial stage research and crop
validation, and Pioneer will lead late stage development. Pioneer will lead
commercialization in corn and soybeans, and Hexima
will manage all other crops.
"We are always looking for new ways to tackle specific challenges that our
customers face," said Paul Schickler, Pioneer
president and DuPont vice president and general manager. "This agreement
with world-class experts in fungal disease resistance technology is a great
example of the innovative approaches we're using to help solve these
challenges."
"This agreement opens the way to market for one of Hexima's
core technologies," said Joshua Hofheimer, Hexima chief executive officer. "It is an important
next step in our commercialization strategy and value-creation for our
shareholders and, furthermore, it is a powerful validation of our technology
and our scientific team in the global agribusiness market."
As part of this agreement and via a placement agreement, Pioneer has subscribed
to approximately 5 percent of the ordinary shares of Hexima,
in exchange for the contribution of certain intellectual property. The
collaboration will utilize Pioneer proprietary gene-shuffling technology and Hexima proprietary gene delivery technology, MGEV.
The initial target for the collaboration is broad-spectrum disease resistance
in corn. Fungal pathogens can cause extensive damage to corn fields globally,
including yield loss, impaired ability to harvest and reduced grain quality.
Stalk rots are the most common fungal diseases in corn fields worldwide, with
multiple pathogens creating estimated yield losses of more than $1 billion in
North and
"This collaboration is an important addition to our strategy to bring the
best available technology to our customers in the area of fungal disease
resistance," Schickler said. "It will be an
important complement to native trait fungal disease resistance research
programs at Pioneer."
Pioneer and Hexima together with farmer customers
will share the value created by the disease resistance traits developed in this
collaboration. Hexima will have the opportunity to
co-invest with Pioneer in the late stage development of collaboration traits.
This would double Hexima's share of the value and
enhance the return to Hexima's shareholders. Hexima will be entitled to success-based milestone
payments.
"Hexima is pleased to be working with an
organization of Pioneer's standing and global reach," Hofheimer
said. "Our scientists have established a mutual respect and confidence
through their work together on earlier research collaborations and, unlike
standard technology licenses, Hexima will co-develop
the fungal technology and share in the value created for farmers."
Hexima Limited is an ASX-listed agribusiness company
(ASX Code: HXL) developing innovative gene technologies to help farmers meet
growing demands for food and fibre by improving
yields from arable land. Hexima's core technologies
aim to increase the yield of commercial crops, by enhancing their resistance to
insects and fungal pests.
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is the world's leading source of customized
solutions for farmers, livestock producers and grain and oilseed processors. With
headquarters in
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802,
DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a
better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70
countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for
markets including agriculture and food; building and construction;
communications; and transportation.
Blight resistant potato takes a global effort
(Science Daily) – Dutch, British and American scientists have developed a method to more quickly identify and isolate genes that can be used to make potatoes resistant to Phytophthora infestans, the dreaded potato blight.
With this method, multiple resistance genes from different species of potatoes can be isolated and possibly used simultaneously. This offers the prospect of achieving sustainable resistance against the pathogen because it is less capable of breaking the resistance of the potato when multiple genes are involved.
According to researchers at
Interaction
The newly developed method is based on the interaction of genes of the pathogen and genes of the potato. The response of the potato involves resistance genes in the plant, and the response of P. infestans involves so-called avirulence genes. The avirulence gene produces proteins (effectors) that are recognised by the resistance gene proteins of the potato; an interaction then takes place.
By using effectors (proteins that are secreted by Phytophthora into the plant after infection takes place), researchers can relatively quickly identify and isolate the genes that are crucial to the interaction. Because the pathogen (Phytophthora) cannot switch off these proteins, but produces them constantly, genes that can recognise these proteins can potentially serve as resistance genes.
In the study, a set of 54 effectors (of an estimated 500 effectors in total) were tested on a large set of wild potato species. In many cases, this led to reactions from the wild potato species (the hypersensitivity response: the location where the effector protein was applied begins die off) and in one case to the actual identification of the effector protein – known as IPiO.
This effector turned out to be directly correlated with the resistance of three wild species, S. stoloniferum, S. papita and S. bulbocastanum. This means that a positive response against the effector always occurred in plants that had the resistance gene. In additional studies, the researchers were able to show that the effector in this case was the avirulence gene of the resistance gene. Because the researchers realised that the resistance genes from the three species had to be very similar, they were quickly able to isolate the resistance genes in S. papita and S. stoloniferum by using their knowledge of the previously isolated resistance gene from S. bulbocastanum.
Permanent threat
Since Phytophthora first ravaged the potato – an event epitomised by the notorious Irish Potato Famine in the 19th century – this pathogen has been a permanent threat, and has repeatedly led to disastrous crop damage and high production costs. Until now, a very labour-intensive process of searching for sustainable resistance has yielded few or no results, and the use of fungicides has been essentially the only way to control the disease in modern agriculture.
The methods described in the article make it possible – relatively quickly – to acquire an impression of the prevalence and nature of resistance genes that would be very difficult or even impossible for the pathogen to break. By combining several of these potentially hard-to-break resistance genes, sustainable resistance will come within reach.
Being green isn’t cool any more – UK
(timesonline.co.uk) By Alice Thomson – Julie Burchill can't stand them. According to her new book, Not in my Name: A Compendium of Modern Hypocrisy, she thinks all environmentalists are po-faced, unsexy, public school alumni who drivel on about the end of the world because they don't want the working classes to have any fun, go on foreign holidays or buy cheap clothes.
Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, agrees. In an interview with Rachel Sylvester and me, he told us that the “nutbag ecologists” are the overindulged rich who have nothing better to do with their lives than talk about hot air and beans.
So the salad days are over; it's the end of the greens. Where only a year ago the smart new eco-warriors were revered, wormeries and unbleached cashmere jeans are now seen as a middle-class indulgence.
But the problem for the green lobby isn't that it has been overrun by “toffs”: it's the chilly economic climate that has frozen the shoots of environmentalism. Espousing the green life, with its misshapen vegetables and non-disposable nappies, is increasingly being seen as a luxury by everyone.
Only a year ago, according to MORI, 15 per cent of those polled put the environment in their top three concerns. That figure has dropped by a third to 10 per cent this month. Now that people are fighting for their own survival rather than their grandchildren's, they put crime, the economy and rising prices at the top of their list.
According to Andrew Cooper, director of the research company, Populus: “There is a direct correlation between how people perceive the economy and the importance they place on the environment. When times are tough people resent paying more to salve their conscience.” This means that fewer people are now buying organic chickens from smart supermarkets when they can pay £3.99 at Lidl. With all food prices rising, the organic market is being credit-crunched. Demand for it grew by 70 per cent from 2002 to 2007; now it has stalled, according to the consultancy Organic Monitor.
The vast new organic Whole Foods Store on Kensington High
Street in
When David Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party he said that green issues were at the top of his agenda. His slogan for the local elections last year was “Vote Blue, Go Green”. But in the past few months he has realised that voters have lost the appetite for their greens.
He has only given one environmental speech since Christmas.
Once he used to talk about putting a £3,000 windmill on top of his house. Now
the message is not about conserving the planet but preserving his bank balance.
He wears catalogue clothes, grows his own vegetables and holidays barefoot in
In fact, when the Tory leader's bicycle was stolen a week ago, the message of the story was not how green he was for riding his bike, but how broken our society has become when a politician finds his bike nicked from under his nose.
Boris Johnson was the first to realise that the tolerance for green taxes may have peaked. When he became Mayor of London, he dropped plans to charge a £25 congestion fee on gas-guzzling cars.
The Tories have quietly been reviewing many of their green policies. A range of measures designed to penalise motoring and other polluting activities has been put on hold in case they alienate families struggling to pay their bills. A proposal to tax the highest emitting cars up to £500 more than the greenest vehicles has been quietly shelved, as has the plan to raise taxes on short-haul flights. Instead George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, has promised to cut tax on fuel when oil prices rise.
Gordon Brown has also stopped discussing his solar panels and compost heap in Scotland and is trying to dissociate himself from local council rubbish taxes - even though they have been driven by central government plans to put up landfill charges.
Both parties are looking at ways of rewarding people for being green rather than penalising them for throwing out their yoghurt pots with their teabags. Mr Osborne, in a speech last month, admitted: “When people are feeling the pinch, we need to make it pay to go green. Instead of being fined for not recycling, households should be paid for recycling.”
When Barack Obama first decided to run for the presidency, he embraced the green cause. Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, about global warming had just become the biggest grossing documentary in history and Mr Gore had won the Nobel prize. But recently Mr Obama has been talking more about thrift than trees. Instead of showing off his recycling skills, he explains that his children don't receive Christmas or birthday presents.
It's not just the economic downturn that has harmed the
green order. People have become wary of environmental causes that can turn out
to do more harm than good. They don't want wind turbines marching across
But paradoxically, just as
Bottled water sales have fallen. Garden centres have reported a 10 per cent rise in the sales of vegetable seeds in the past 12 months. People are saving money by growing their own potatoes and carrots. They are turning off their central heating for a few more months of the year and ditching their second car rather than buying an electric runaround. And instead of carbon-offsetting their holidays, they are simply going on fewer of them.
It's the downturn that has made greenery look unappetising - but it may yet prove to do more than anything to save the planet.
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