Media Backgrounder on TJ Higgins - Biotechnology Australia - 1 February, 2001.
Australia risks losing its international competitive advantage as an efficient agricultural producer if it does not commercially adopt many of the scientific advances gained through gene technology, according to a leading plant researcher.
Dr T J Higgins, the Canberra-based Program Leader with CSIRO's Plant Industry Division, said much debate had occurred over the possible risks of GM technology however, little consideration had been given to the risks of not making use of the benefits derived from such research.
Dr Higgins was one of several high profile scientists who presented information during a series of rural community forums hosted around Australia last year by the Commonwealth Government agency, Biotechnology Australia. The forums aimed to provide information on gene technology, its benefits and risks.
Dr Higgins said while Australia was considered a world leader in genetic research, it lagged behind other developed nations in its commercial application of GM technology.
"When people talk about risks they often don't mention that risk and I think that's a real one – that we could miss out on the benefits of the technology.
"If Australian farmers do not have access to some of this technology, they're going to become less competitive, and it is a highly competitive business producing plants for food.
"I think they are already starting to recognise that they will lag behind their competitors particularly in North America and Argentina, which have adopted the technology very strongly because of the benefits that they can see."
Dr Higgins said Australian producers were among the most efficient in the world, despite having little artificial support through trade subsidies. Yet, he believes these efficiencies could be eroded if the option of incorporating more GM crops into Australian farming is not available.
While some might argue Australia's current reluctance to introduce more GMOs into the food chain is preserving its ‘clean green image', Dr Higgins believes there is no advantage to having a blanket ban on GM.
Instead, he says considered use of the latest breeding technology – both GM and conventional – is the best way of seizing the benefits.
"Australian farmers are looking at this (technology) very carefully and maintaining an open mind on it … as they are looking to use any new technology to assist in more efficient production," he said.
However, Dr Higgins believes the future adoption of GM crops especially crops for human consumption – will be determined by consumer acceptance of the technology.
"I think the farmers mostly tend to trust the science and trust the regulators, but of course they've also go to sell their product."
One of the key issues Dr Higgins wants the wider community to understand is that GM technology is an ‘evolution' in genetic science and not a ‘revolution' as it is often painted. He said humans had manipulated genetic material for many thousands of years and transgenic applications were the latest developments in the continuum.