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Replies to post #14785 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence
05/12/17 10:53 AM
China also agreed to convene its national biosafety committee by the end of May to evaluate eight pending biotechnology product applications, which have awaited approval from Chinese crop regulators.
The Trump administration’s effort to hasten China’s regulatory reviews for genetically modified seeds follows years of complaints by crop developers about the country’s lengthy and opaque approval process. The move could help seed companies like Monsanto Co. , Syngenta AG and Dow Chemical Co.
08/29/19 11:14 AM
WSJ: How dire is the threat from climate change?
Mr. Fyrwald: I personally believe it’s the biggest threat facing the world. If you look beyond 10 years, there’s a significant threat to the ability to feed the world with nutritious, affordable food. The agriculture/food value chain contributes roughly 25% of greenhouse-gas emissions. Farmers that use the best technologies significantly reduce their emissions.
Many farmers in the U.S. use [genetically modified] corn together with herbicides. That allows them to reduce or eliminate tillage. That keeps the carbon in the soil.
WSJ: Aren’t a lot of U.S. farmers climate-change skeptics? Can you get them on board?
Mr. Fyrwald: If you look at the [carbon-dioxide] levels in the atmosphere, ever since industrialization, they’ve been increasing. They’re now at the highest levels they’ve been in millions of years. Any scientist will agree with that. I believe more and more farmers and more people around the world are starting to see the data.
WSJ: “Food Inc.” came out 10 years ago. Has the industry’s image gotten better or worse?
Mr. Fyrwald: It’s gotten worse, unfortunately. We allowed organic to get this reputation without explaining that pesticides are used, the yields are much lower, you need more land and the [carbon-dioxide] emissions are higher.
WSJ: Could Syngenta invest to make organic production more efficient?
Mr. Fyrwald: We sell a lot of product, both seeds and crop-protection pesticides, into the organic market. We like the organic market because the prices are high, and it’s growing. But it is not the solution to environmental sustainability.
WSJ: Do you buy organic produce?
Mr. Fyrwald: When I go into a grocery store, if the organic produce looks better, I’ll buy it and pay the extra. The USDA will tell you it’s no more nutritious. I am absolutely convinced that organic takes us backward from an environmental-sustainability standpoint, so I prefer to buy nonorganic.
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