Background Breeding
Are expectations of new varieties too high?
A message entitled '7 supermarkets sign up for 100% robust potatoes in an organic range' was sent to the world last week by trade association Bionext. At the 'Climate boss' seminar of the BO Agriculture, improved varieties are seen as one of the solutions for the problems that climate change entails. "New, robust varieties that are more resistant to drought and salinization can offer arable farmers a solution," according to the BO. You would almost think that breeding is the answer to the challenges you face as a farmer. Are the possibilities overrated?
Plant breeding plays an important role in making agriculture more sustainable and in the challenges of climate change, for example. Friend and foe agree on that. It is not surprising that sector organizations like to emphasize once again what has been achieved or what challenges lie ahead. What you do hear about in the informal circuit is that breeding is now very much promoted as the answer to all questions. That would be so far if it were to remain without consequences for policy. That's where the shoe pinches. In the green deal and the biodiversity strategy, for example, all kinds of goals are formulated about reducing the use of plant protection products and fertilizers. To keep agricultural production afloat, the answer is sought in new varieties.
Time
With traditional breeding, it just takes 8 to 20 years for a whole cycle from crossing to the introduction of a new variety to be completed. With new breeding techniques such as CRISPR-Cas, that time can be shortened through more targeted selection. However, both techniques have the limitation that only genes that occur naturally in a plant family can be used. Genetic modification goes a step further, whereby foreign plant genes can also be added to the DNA. Well-known examples of this include Roundup ready soybean and maize that are resistant to the broad spectrum herbicide glyphosate, LibertyLink maize that is resistant to glufosinate, and BT cotton and maize that produce a species-specific insecticide.
In the current European rules, the new breeding techniques are equated with genetic modification and are therefore prohibited in the EU. That's what the discussion is about. There are more and more voices - also from the environmental movement - that the new breeding techniques must be allowed, among other things, to be able to achieve the sustainability ambitions and green goals. Also within the agricultural sector and breeding sector, many are in favor of expanding the current very strict GMO regulations in the EU, so that they are more in line with the technical possibilities and are easier to implement in practice. However, various agricultural players emphasize that it should be an addition to the current system and not a replacement.
An ambition such as halving the use of plant protection products by 2030 and achieving this with new varieties is not realistic, warn various experts. Not even if GMO regulations are completely relaxed and genetic modification with foreign properties is allowed, as in the US. Commercial GMO crops have been on the market outside the EU for about 30 years now. In that time, the applications have remained somewhat limited. Varieties with good mold resistance, for example, have not or hardly resulted from it. A lot is possible with breeding, but various experts warn, don't close doors before you have real practical solutions. Connecting GMO legislation to practice is good, but don't expect miracles from new breeding techniques.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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