On one hand... |
On the other hand... |
| Mergers and aquisitions create big biotech companies controlling more levels of the industry. |
The biotech - generated variety has to offer an economic advantage to the farmer or it won't be bought and planted. |
| Some specialized transgenics (eg. plants producing plastics) will always need growing, handling and processing separate from food crops. |
Transgenic food crops probably will not be permitted to be resistered unless they can be grown, handled, processed and sold without special procedures. |
| There is some resistance to transgenic products among consumers and governments. |
Most consumer surveys indicate majority of consumers unconcerned about biotech. As transgenic technology gains wider acceptance, those countries that do NOT invest in the technology will be at a disadvantage. |
Transgenics offer a wider range of choices to farmers:
- more varieties specifically tailored to solve a specific problem (eg. resistance to a specific disease, pest, herbicide, or stress)
- faster response of breeders to new pests, new market demands
|
More choices could mean more chances to make the wrong decision about what to plant. |
Many novel crops are likely to be proprietary, and may not be grown
by independent farmers.
- "nutraceuticals" - drugs or vaccines produced in plants
- specialized products eg. plants that produce plastics
- bioremediation crops
|
There may be opportunities for individual farms or goups of farms to
grow specialty crops under precisely-defined conditions on a competitive contract basis. |
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