August 2004

Pesticide Potpourri

• On July 22, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced that more than 9,000 of its members submitted official comments to the USDA urging approval of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Docket No. 03-022-3, which would expand market access for Mexican Hass avocados to the entire United States for all 12 months of the year. "Thousands of CAGW members from all across the country joined in this effort because they feel they deserve access to this product," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "The facts no longer justify keeping import restrictions in place. Lifting the limits will significantly lower the price of avocados for consumers, and eliminate costly regulations for taxpayers." Currently, Mexican Hass avocados are only allowed to be imported into 31 states from October 15 through April 15. In the past, such restrictions have been based on the argument that there was an unacceptable risk of a pest infestation of domestic avocados. However, APHIS recently concluded that the Mexican Hass avocado industry has adequate safeguards to prevent a risk of pest infestation, and recommended to the USDA that the restrictions be removed. The USDA held an open comment period on the issue through late July and expects to make a ruling in the next several months. "Lifting these import restrictions will provide a major benefit to U.S. consumers, both in choice of product and cost. Consumption of avocados in the United States could increase by 70 percent and the price of avocados to U.S. consumers could fall by as much as 37 percent," Schatz concluded. "The overall gain to the U.S. economy would be more than $30 million. Finally, taxpayers will no longer bear the cost of administering the complex regulations governing avocado imports." (CAGW Press Release of 7/22/04).

• The State of Maine’s Board of Pesticides Control was the target of ire from the restaurant, grocery and pest-management industries regarding a proposed requirement that business owners notify their employees and clientele when they use pesticides. Dick Grotton of the Maine Restaurant Association, was cited as arguing that a notification of spraying is an advertisement of pest problems and a guaranteed loss of business, adding, "We're saying 'We have bugs.' Now who's going to choose that restaurant for dinner?" The story says that the rule debated Wednesday would mandate the use of integrated pest management - a system designed to reduce pesticide use by requiring a pest prevention plan and allowing pesticide application only as a last resort. The rule would apply to all public buildings, including nursery schools, restaurants, stores, nursing homes, offices and apartments. In 2002, the board approved a similar requirement for public schools. Several generations from a family-owned pest management company testified that the industry already uses integrated pest management approaches like rodent traps and sophisticated versions of the popular bug light to reduce unnecessary pesticide use. (Bangor Daily News, 7/22/04).

• Scientists have recently discovered Brazil's first case of citrus greening, a deadly bacterial disease that has wiped out millions of acres of orange groves in Thailand and parts of South Africa. The owner of the groves on which it was found, Mr. Gavioli, was quoted as saying from the family's nine- hectare plantation in Taquaritinga, in the heart of Sao Paulo state's world-leading orange belt, that, "We are going to have to rip up most of our trees. It's a disaster. There are a lot of farmers panicking right now." The story says that one week after the news broke, scientists are still assessing the threat that greening poses to the orange industry and international orange-juice prices have yet to react. Brazilian industry officials, however, are bracing themselves for a long, costly - and possibly futile - battle against the disease. (National Post, 7/26/04).

• Photorespiration, a process that diminishes net photosynthesis by 25 percent on average in plants, has been viewed as the consequence of plants having evolved when the atmosphere contained much higher levels of carbon dioxide than it does today. But recently, it has been demonstrated that exposure of Arabidopsis and wheat shoots to conditions that inhibited photorespiration also strongly inhibited nitrate assimilation. Thus, nitrate assimilation in both dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous species depends on photorespiration. This previously undescribed role for photorespiration (i) explains several responses of plants to rising carbon dioxide concentrations, including the inability of many plants to sustain rapid growth under elevated levels of carbon dioxide; and (ii) raises concerns about genetic manipulations to diminish photorespiration in crops. (PNAS 7/22/04).

• A report by reviewers from Michigan State University's Institute for Food and Agricultural Standards was cited as finding that a $25 million, five-year research deal between plant biologists at UC Berkeley and the biotechnology company Novartis was a costly experiment that should not be repeated because the damage done to the University of California's premier research campus, from campus infighting to a tarnished reputation, simply wasn't worth the money. Lawrence Busch, who led the 10-member review team, was quoted as saying, "When one looks at the negative publicity that occurred, the enormous amount of time that was spent after the fact trying to justify the agreement, as well as the serious problems it poses for the perceived objectivity of the scientists, this is probably not a good idea to do." The story explains that the contract, which expired in November, gave a select group of Berkeley biologists $25 million for research along with access to trade secrets, principally in genetics. In return, Novartis got first rights on potentially lucrative discoveries. In the end, the collaboration didn't turn out as anyone expected. The company didn't try to strong-arm the scientists to pursue only commercially valuable research, as some had predicted. Participants - 23 faculty members in the department of plant and microbial biology, plus their research staffs and students - did not make any dramatic discoveries. In fact, the company did not license a single invention produced during the five-year period. (The Sacramento Bee, 8/1/04).

• Based on the experience of some growers in upstate New York, who have used dryer fabric sheets on trees for about a year to keep deer away from young tender fruit trees, the Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Agriculture and Food is planning a two-year trial to determine if this is a possible solution for frustrated farmers in Niagara. Ken Slingerland, tender fruit and grape specialist for the Ministry, was cited as saying deer have become a particular problem for growers with young peach and sweet cherry trees. [The Review (Niagara Falls), 8/3/04].

• When a group of political activists gather to disseminate information about the alleged dangers of genetically modified organisms, recruit new members to their cause and share a meal of organic foods they--quite naturally--get naked. And they play Twister. It's Friday night at Buddy, an alternative art gallery in Wicker Park, and THONG (Topless Humans Organized for Natural Genetics) is celebrating their community while spreading their message and shedding their clothes. "THONG is not about lobbying or letter-writing," says co-founder Just Joking Jerry, a middle-age trial lawyer who, tonight, wears only a flame-imprinted thong with matching mask. "There needed to be a group that was more action-oriented in its opposition to genetically modified organisms. THONG goes into the street and does something." That something usually entails wearing next to nothing. The group of about 20 members, mostly young, vegetarian and liberal, performs what they call "actions." In 2003 when executives from Kraft (a focus for the political activists because of the corporation's size and use of genetically modified foods) participated in a fun run on the lakefront they were unexpectedly joined by members of THONG. Running alongside the bigwigs were scruffy, nearly naked protesters and one activist in a huge, blue cardboard box with the label reading "Kraft Macaroni & Genes." (Chicago Tribune, 8/8/04).

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