April 2014
20
Focus on the technology
of thenext generation
T
he keynote address at this year’s
GrainSACongresswasdeliveredby
Mr RobDunlop, who is currently the
Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA)/
Asia corn technology lead with Monsanto,
based in St Louis, Missouri in the USA. He
originally hails from Port Shepstone and is
a graduate of the University of KwaZulu-
Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
Dunlop spoke about new developments
and the relevance of next generation
technology. He believes that technology is
the cornerstone of food security and is all
about looking to the futureand investigating
all possibilities through research, breeding
and using new technologies to increase
production.
Dunlop says the company has realised the
need to focus on consumers by engaging
in conversations with them and providing
themwithmore accurate information about
the advances which have been made. The
anti-GMO sentiment is an issue which
floods socialmediawithnegativemessages
rather than an appreciation of the value of
increased production to feed the hungry
masses. Dunlop assured Congress that
Monsanto is not striving to develop any
“frankin-foods”, but rather to find innovative
ways to feed a growing population off
less land in harsher conditions. Major
trends which are driving the need for next
generation technologies are the rapidly
growing population (200 000 people are
added to the world population per day),
climate change, the need for a biofuel
industry, the need for affordable food, the
increasing pressure on water availability
andglobal food security.
We face exciting, but challenging times
ahead and new technology can help.
Dunlop says that the vision of Monsanto is
to give producers a choice of tools to use
to assist them in sustainable agricultural
practices. He summed up the challenges
which lie ahead are: We need to produce
more, conservemore and improve the lives
of 5 million producers who today struggle
to grow enough crops to feed their own
families. Dunlop stressed that Monsanto
sees itself as one player in awhole system,
so it is part of a team of experts pioneering
through science at the cutting edge of
technology.
The maize trends in South Africa have
seen increases in yields and more recently
a decrease in the surface area planted.
Unquestionably, this technology which
has brought genetic gains along with
changes and improvements through new
mechanisation options has helped bump
yields.DunlopsaysMonsanto is lookingat a
systems approachwhichwill bringanentire
package to the farm tohelpoptimise yields.
This will include good breeding, bringing
biotechnology to agriculture, an important
focusonbiologicalsaswell as incorporating
chemistry and agronomics in thepackage.
In thepipelineofdifferent solutions, theyare
looking toaddress thechallengesof insects,
disease, weeds and increased yields. There
should be more than one approach to help
in addressing these problems. He also said
that Monsanto is the only company with
third and fourth generation products in the
pipeline today although these products are
not commercially available as yet.
As far as breeding technologies go, the
field of new genetics is most dynamic
as today’s scientist has an incredible
understanding of the genome. Breeding is
being revolutionised at an incredible rate
compared to times past. Even though plant
breeding has been done for thousands
of years, even by the earliest producers,
there have been dramatic developments
in the past decade. In 2001 it took ten
years to sequence one genome at a rate
of thousands of genes per year, whereas
today it takes only one day to sequence a
genome at a rate of millions of genes per
year. Looking to 2020 it will probably be
possible to sequence up to 100 genomes
per day at a rateof tens ofmillions of genes
per year! All thismeans that plant breeders
can target specific traits andmove forward
ingeneticgains faster thanever before.Add
to this the development of a global library
of germplasm where breeders are sharing
genetics and thepossibilities are endless.
There are currently three breeding stations
in South Africa: At Lichtenburg, Petit (near
Benoni) and at Malelane, where Monsanto
has a winter nursery where the warmer
climate enables a second cycle of breeding
in theyear. The localSouthAfricanpipelines
are dryland yellow maize, dryland white
maize and irrigated yellowmaize.
Dunlop says breeding is a numbers game
in which thousands of plants are planted
in the hopes of finding one or two genes
they want. The newest “seed chipper”
technology enables scientists to look inside
a seed, analyse a small sample and if it
has the right genetics that same seed can
be planted because it is still viable. This
means that trials can be plantedwith fewer
seeds making the process more efficient.
Biotechnology has been researched for
the past 30 years and biotech transgenic
traits have been available commercially for
the past 17 years. South Africa entered the
biotech arena one year after the release in
the US and producers here have embraced
the technology. There are currently 30
countries plantingover 200millionhectares
of biotech seed.
The latest technology available is in the
form of YG11RR2 which is a dual motive
action above ground insect protection
with herbicide tolerance in the seed. There
are still challenges of insect resistance
and refuge management which are being
addressed. Insects do build resistance to
insecticides; there is therefore a continual
drive todevelop thirdand fourthgenerations
of seed. It is hoped the next generationwill
bringadditional genes to theseedwhichwill
help with durability and control a broader
spectrum of insects. The scientists are
looking at both above-ground insects as
well as below-ground insects which could
be a problem in the future. The seed being
tested in the US will be brought to South
Africa as soon as possible. Dunlop says
the next step is tomake refuge simpler for
producers and they areworkingonbringing
a concept called RIB, Refuge-in-a-Bag, to
the fields. In other words, the refuge seed
will already be blended in the bag and this
shouldbe available soon.
Another key to futureproduction is thenext
generation herbicides. Herbicide tolerance
isan issueandwehaveallheardofRoundup/
glyphosate resistancearound theworld.We
need a different suite of chemistry to help
control post emergenceweeds inasafeway
to that yields are not negatively impacted,
but plants are tolerant.
Climate change and the stress it causes
are particularly relevant to South African
producers. Dunlop says they are seeing
shifts in planting zones as a direct result
of climate change. Water scarcity will
increase around the globe, crop yields will
decline and heat stress will cause yields to
decline. To this endMonsanto has recently
launched a first generation maize hybrid
calledDroughtGard. This hybrid is all about
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Congress
Special
JENNYMATHEWS,
SAGraan/Grain
contributor
