Yesterday I received a copy of a Nufarm media release* announcing that the company had paid Monsanto $10 million for their Roundup Ready® canola germ plasm and a licence to the Roundup Ready® canola trait.
The media release explained that "Roundup Ready® is a genetic trait that allows farmers to use Roundup herbicide over the top of their crops, offering broad spectrum and efficient weed control and simplifying production of those crops". Further, "the Roundup Ready® canola trait was approved by the Australian Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) in December 2003, but has not yet been commercialised in Australia following the imposition of State Government moratoriums in the major canola growing States". And also that, "pending relevant State government authorisation, Nufarm’s Australian canola seed business platform is ideally placed to develop and bring to market Roundup Ready® canola varieties".
So Nufarm is gearing up to supply Australian farmers with GM canola seed.
The media release finishes with comment that, "canola is also being sought to meet increasing demand from the emerging bio-fuels industry."
In July the federal government announced a grant of $7.15 million to Riverina Biofuels Pty Ltd under its 'Biofuels Capital Grants Program'.
Yesterday I received a copy of a media release from MPI Engineering** announcing that they will design and construct a new $16 million biodiesel factory for Riverina Biofuels Pty Ltd in the country town of Deniliquin in NSW. The media release explains that, "the facility will convert natural oils such as tallow and vegetable oil into biodiesel".
I assume the tallow would be imported? Last year of the 2,535,000 tonnes of oilseed produced in Australia, 1,531,000 was from canola. This product is commonly referred to as vegetable oil.
So will GM canola power the new deniliquin biofuels plant?
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* Nufarm acquires Australian licence for Roundup Ready® canola, Company Announcement, 6th September
** MPI Group Wins New Biofuels Plant Project, MPI Engineering Solutions Media Release, 6th September
Donalds comments on corn hybrid stress tolerence are posted here at the latest GMO Pundit Post
http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2006/09/commercial-corn-hybrids-are-not.html
"Commercial hybrid corn is not ecologically wimpy"
There's is a lot to think about in trials that show better biodiesel crop performance under climate induced plant stress.
Drought stress is a significant challenge in Austalian cropping and is not going away in our lifetime. It also not the only important stress tolerance trait.
A whole line of argument on an earlier blog thread supposed GM methods do not intrinsically improve crop yield but over looked recent GM crop research developments where GM traits being increasingly targeted in R&D to deliberately include various stress tolerance genes - for example numerous studies on genes that relate to water stress including those in water efficient cottons being trialled now in Australia.
Several such crops are demonstrating their value and future potential in field trails these last few seasons, and are moving towards market in the USA and Australia.
As a lot of germplasm quality and hybrid vigour and achievement of good crop yied relates to better crop performance under stress, the thus newer (third generation) GM traits now being researched directly pertain to better crop yield.
The recent 2005 data (previous comment) on hybrid canola's performing well under stress in Australian 2005 trials only underline the practical importance of stress tolerance traits in better yield.
The importance of various stress tolerances in commercialised corn hybrids is well established (see eg a Duvick DN. Biotechnology in the 1930s: the development of hybrid maize. Nat Rev Genet. 2001 Jan;2(1):69-74. and subsequent very recent Annual Review Agronomy Duvick publication that Donald Duvick has graciously sent me a copy of))
If we are going to use canola as fuel wed better use the best varieties, and the best yoels come from GM hybrids
Results of recent 2005 test trials of Australian hybrid canola varieties are now available ( eg in the Australian Canola Association grower newsletter).
2005 InVigor® hybrid canola
Research and Innovation Trial Results
Small scale research and innovation trials with InVigor® hybrid canola continued in 2005 in South Australia and Victoria under strictly regulated conditions, meeting all regulatory compliance requirements.
Bayer CropScience’s modest and restricted breeding program generated positive results in terms of yield, maturity, disease tolerance and oil content.
2005 provided ideal conditions to demonstrate the features and benefits of hybrid canola and herbicide tolerance traits. The hybrids performed better under stress conditions, confirming local and overseas experience.
2005 Australian results include this:
In demonstration strip trials (Herbicide system trials), the combination of weed control and hybrid performance resulted in all InVigor lines outperforming the conventional,
Spectrum and Triazine Tolerant (TT) Beacon variety comparisons. The hybrid vigour is evident early with InVigor lines having greater seedling vigour and potential to out compete weeds early. The harvested yield differences were as much as 32 to 42% yield versus the conventional and 18 to 28% versus the TT variety. Oil yields for InVigor lines ranged from 42 to 45% (versus 41 and 40% for the comparison varieties).
It's also worth noting Canadian variety trial comparisons reported by the Canola Council of Canada consistently rated hybrids as the top varities in recent years.
In 2005 - a total of 49 varieties were tested - the top 9 were hybrids!
Al Gore claims that he is not political and allude to corporate influence in the scientific sector http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DrH_SsGMs
but then says he hasnt completely ruled out running for president again in the future. http://www.algore04.com/
Hi Roger,
All Swedish celebrities visited the opening of Al Gores film. The whole Royal family attended the gala as well.It was a long time ago that I recalled a celebrity visit as this...
However, the common man here will hardly leave their car at home , anyway not in the countryside where distances are very long, as Roger knows , sometimes nearest hospital is 200 km away. You should need them Aussie flying doctors up in the north.
Greenpeace's position on biofuels. Well, we really don't think they are a good alternative...
BTW energy is a big ticket item in the upcoming Swedih election on September 19.
Al Gore has waded into the Swedish election campaign supporting the incumbent Social Democratic government of Goran Persson for its promise to rid the Swedish motorists of their oil dependency by 2020. An Persson responded by promising to put 'An Inconvenient Truth" on the Swedish Governments school curriculum.
Talk about cross promotion.
Al Gore praises Swedish premier for environmental leadership
The Associated Press
September 7, 2006
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Thursday hailed Sweden's efforts to break its dependency on oil, in comments that could be a boost to Prime Minister Goran Persson two weeks ahead of elections.
"There is no country that has had the kind of visionary and practical leadership that Prime Minister Persson has provided on this issue," Gore said after meeting with the Swedish premier to discuss climate change.
Gore was in Stockholm Wednesday and Thursday to promote his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" about the threat of global warming.
Persson's government announced an ambitious plan last year aiming to break the Scandinavian country's dependency on fossil fuels by 2020, largely by investing money for research on alternative energy sources.
Gore thanked Persson for making Sweden "a nation providing moral leadership to the entire world on the most serious challenge that civilization has ever faced."
Gore said his comments should not be seen as a campaign endorsement.
"I don't want to make statements that are in the midst of a political environment," he said. "I want my words to be heard as objective and clear as I intend them.
Persson in turn hailed Gore's efforts to raise awareness of global warming, and said the Swedish government will fund a program to distribute his movie to all Swedish secondary schools.
The movie will be shown to students "to create a discussion among ordinary youngsters — what to do, how to do it, and who to do it," Persson said. "Because it is about our common future."
Al Gore is spruiking for 'Clean Coal' technology AKA geosequestration of CO2 in his movie " An Inconvenient Truth" which is to be released in OZ soon.
The Australian sneak preview of this movie was in Canberra last night at Parliament House for an audience of receptive politicians.
Wonder what David and Margaret will give it on their ABC show 'At the Movies'. David 4 stars for the topic Margaret 2 stars for the acting?