FEATURE STORY
Pressure Groups Aren't Stopping Research
By Owen Roberts
While the words fly, scientists keep working for producers.
In a climate of anti-biotechnology protest
movements, power struggles and pressure tactics, scientists entrusted
with helping Ontario corn producers feed animals and people face a challenge:
Do they wait for the current maelstrom to subside, or forge ahead with
their mission? If they wait, they’re accused of 
bowing
to zealots, and lose valuable research time. If they don’t, they’re criticized
for being insensitive to public concerns, no matter how small and self-motivated
that “public” is.
Time is the key. It can easily take 10 years to bring on a new technology. If scientists lose momentum in their
laboratories and test plots they’ll fall far behind. Globally, that could be devastating, as the population explosion
marches on. On Tuesday, October 12 – just four days before World Food Day, and hardly 24 hours after Thanksgiving
– Earth’s six billionth human was born, one of 370,000 babies who join the population every day.
Against that backdrop, it would seem researchers can’t wait. And looking around, it appears they’re not. (Full Story)
Features in the November 1999 Ontario Corn Producer
Tom
Francis: The Latest Canadian to Move Up the Novartis Ladder
Bt
Corn Growers' Guide Now Available
Farmers
Meeting the Challenge
Year
2000 Agri-eBusiness Project
Tillage
Intensity, Corn Yields and Bottom Lines