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US FARMERS CONTINUE TO ADOPT BIOTECH, STUDY SAYS
 
WASHINGTON, DC - The adoption of agricultural biotechnology in the United States continues to grow, offering increasing economic and environmental benefits, according to results of a study funded by a major US biotechnology institute.

The study sought to determine the level of adoption of biotechnology in the United States, current US biotechnology research and development (R&D) activities, and the future direction of the industry, according to principal investigator C. Ford Runge.

Runge, who is director of the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Minnesota, received funding for the study from the Washington-based Council for Biotechnology Information.

Runge focused on eight crops: maize, soybeans, cotton, rapeseed/canola, wheat, potatoes, rice and sugar beets.

Biotech varieties of the first four - maize, soybeans, cotton and rapeseed/canola - have been commercialized in the US, while biotech varieties of wheat, potatoes, rice and sugar beets are still undergoing field trials.

He found that in 2002 half of the $40 billion in the value of harvested maize, soybeans, cotton and canola was from crops grown from seeds improved by biotechnology.

Of the four commercialized biotech crops, maize produced the largest increase in value per acre - $60 - over acres planted in traditional varieties. One acre is slightly half a hectare.

Herbicide-tolerant soybeans improved profits nearly $15 an acre, Runge said.

Eighty percent of soybeans grown in the US in 2003 was from biotech seeds, up from 9% in 1996. The number of acres planted in biotech cotton in 2003 was 73% compared to 17% in 1996 and the number of biotech-planted acres of maize increased from 4% in 1996 to 40% in 2003, Runge said.

Current agricultural biotechnology research in the US is focusing on improving agronomic, environmental and product quality traits, he added.

Runge found that biotechnology research and development spending is increasing at both the federal and state levels among governments, universities and the private sector. Funding from the National Science Foundation, most of it funneled through universities, increased 70% between 1996 and 2002, he said.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expected to spend more than $2.3 billion on agricultural biotech research in 2004, Runge said. Private companies are expected to spend $2.7 billion, he added.

During questioning, Runge said US farmers are choosing biotechnology because it benefits them and consumers. Farmers spend less money and time on pest control and reap higher yields. Consumers are offered foods with greater nutritional value, he said.

"As consumer confidence grows, it will feed the demand for new biotech varieties, increase the advantages of those willing to and able to supply them, and indirectly establish a base of support for continued public investments in plant biotech."

BAYER AG CUTTING CALIFORNIA PRESENCE

BERLIN - Germany's Bayer AG said Thursday it will close a biotechnology research center in Japan and slim down another in California, cutting more than 200 jobs in total.
 
Bayer plans to close its 75-employee urology research center in Kyoto, Japan, in the first of 2004 and shift the research to Wuppertal, Germany.
 
The German company also said it would transfer biotechnology pipeline projects from a center in Berkeley, California, to facilities in West Haven, Connecticut, and Wuppertal. About 190 jobs will be cut at the California facility.
 
Bayer said the remaining 1,500 employees at Berkeley would be unaffected. The center will continue to handle ongoing research, product development and manufacturing of Kogenate, a hemophilia treatment.

Last month, Leverkusen-based Bayer announced that it would spin off its chemicals division and part of its polymers business in a restructuring that will create a new chemical company and refocus Bayer's existing drug business on Europe.

The restructuring follows an unsuccessful search for a partner for the company's struggling pharmaceuticals business.

CAL GARDENING INDUSTRY STUDY RELEASED

SACRAMENTO - California tops the nation in both the production and sales of lawn, floral and garden products, according to a new and comprehensive economic report released by the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC).

The University of California at Davis study found that the industry pumps more than $13 billion into the annual California economy and is responsible for nearly 169,000 jobs across the state.

The success of the industry comes in spite of the state's economic downturn. In fact, the industry has been a mainstay of the California economy for more than a decade and continues to show robust growth. The total value of nursery and floral products increased 81% from 1989 to 2001, the report found.

The report - "Economic Contributions of the California Nursery Industry" - was developed by the UC Davis Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics. It represents the first exhaustive and most detailed review of the industry - which includes nursery and floral production, as well as lawn and garden retailing. Production accounted for $3.17 billion of the total value; retail sales, $10.1 billion.

California leads the nation in both categories.   

There were 10 counties with more than $100 million in nursery, flower and foliage. San Diego County ranked as the leading producer of nursery products, flowers and foliage with $855 million or nearly 27% of the state's roughly $2.32 billion production output.

The next four counties, Ventura, Orange, Monterey and Los Angeles combine for  slightly more than 25% of total California production. The remaining five counties, which account for 21%, are: Santa Clara, Riverside, San Mateo, Santa Barbara and Kern.

The report also explores various sectors within the industry, as well as product-specific information by county.

The of the economic report coincides with the announcement of the association's new name - the California Association of Nurseries & Garden Centers - which was recently changed from the California Association of Nurserymen.

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