Wheat Biotechnology

Bill Malcolm, Malcolm, Bill

Declining yields of the major human food crops, looming growth in global population and rise of populism, and ill-founded bans on agricultural and horticultural crops and foodstuffs which are genetically modified have potentially serious implications. It makes the chance less than otherwise would be the case that agribusiness value chains in the future will meet the growing demand around the world for more and different foods from more and wealthier people. In the agribusiness value chain, transgenic wheat, meeting a consumer "trigger need" also must meet the "experience" and "credence," risk-related criteria of well-informed consumers. Public policy that rejects science-based evidence about the reductions in costs of production and price of genetically modified agricultural products and the science about the safety of genetically modified foods, including transgenic wheat, has imposed significant costs on producers and consumers. If the science-based evidence is accepted, transgenic wheat has potential to improve significantly the well-being of grain growers and consumers all over the world.