BioWorld International Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Farmers in Europe could see a surge in productivity, gain huge financial benefits and use far less pesticides if the ban on GM crops was lifted, according to the first pan-European study of the economic impact of planting GM crops.

The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) in Washington released three cases studies Tuesday covering insect-resistant maize, herbicide-tolerant sugar beet and blight-resistant potato, at the BIO 2003 Convention here. The data show that for those three crops alone, GM varieties would increase yield by 7.8 billion kilograms and boost farm income by more than €1 billion, while pesticide use would be cut by 9.7 million kilograms.

Leonard Gianessi, program director, told BioWorld International, "People should know what they are foregoing; the Europeans do not know what they are giving up as a result of the ban on GM. Farmers could be planting Bt corn tomorrow; [GM] sugar beet is available."

Planting Bt corn in the areas of Europe where the corn borer is endemic would boost farm incomes by €249 million per annum, while growing herbicide resistant sugar beet would cut pesticide use by 2.2 million kilograms per annum, and increase income by €390 million.

But the largest potential benefits would come from planting potatoes with built-in resistance to late blight, a devastating fungal infection that is widespread in Europe. The infection generally is well controlled, but doing so involves spraying crops every seven days. According to NCFAP's report, potato growers in Europe spend €322 per hectare controlling late blight fungus.

Researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands have developed a blight-resistant potato by transferring a gene from a Mexican relative that does not suffer from blight. The GM potato is not yet commercially available, but Gianessi said, "This offers complete resistance to late blight and could result in a significant reduction in pesticide loss of 7.5 million kilograms per annum." Yields would rise by 858 million kilograms and income by €417 million.

In total, 329,000 hectares, an area larger than Luxembourg, could be taken out of production, while maintaining yields of the three crops.

NCFAP intends to study the impact of 12 other GM crops as part of this pan-European study which is funded by the U.S. Biotechnology Industry Organization, Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG. This industry funding is likely to mean that the work will not be taken seriously by anti-GM protesters in Europe but Gianessi claims the research was carried out independently, and with the support of many researchers in Europe.

"I hope people will not dismiss this as a industry-funded project because our sponsors have no say in the methodology or results," Gianessi said. The methodology is based on an earlier study for the U.S., which showed American farm incomes could rise by $2.5 billion per annum by switching to GM crops. Gianessi said, "To date there has been no criticism of any of our data or any of our methods."

Gianessi acknowledged that the scope of his research does not address many of the concerns of the anti-GM movement in Europe, such as the possibility of transgenes being transferred to other plant species, protecting the integrity of organic farming systems, and possible impacts on nontarget species.

The findings of the first three European case studies are under review by an independent European expert, and Gianessi said he will present the data at a meeting in Brussels next week.

The potential impact of GM crops also is analyzed individually for 12 countries, making it possible to see the share of the benefits each would derive from planting any of the 15 GM crops.