The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to
approve a resolution supporting the use of biotechnology in
agriculture last week, a decision that many farmers feel is
critical for the future of their businesses.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a resolution supporting the use of biotechnology in agriculture last week, a decision that many farmers feel is critical for the future of their businesses.
The declaration recognizes the fact that biotechnology can be beneficial and reaffirms the legality of using the technology locally, according to the resolution.
Although few San Benito County farmers or ranchers actively use biotechnology to grow pest-resistant crops or to produce higher harvest yields, many just wanted the option available for the future, said Supervisor Anthony Botelho.
Biotechnology is the use of biology or biological systems to alter an organism to produce a desired result, such as altering a tomato plant to resist certain kinds of pests. In California, biotechnology is currently limited to the production of corn, alfalfa and cotton, none of which are grown in San Benito County.
However, the future of biotechnology in agriculture is vast, according to supporters of the resolution.
“As the population continues to grow we need higher yields and biotech has been effective in combating pests without the use of pesticide,” Botelho said Monday. “The message this resolution sends is that the board is pro-agriculture, pro-business and pro-technology.”
The resolution was supported by both local Farm Bureau President Paul Hain and county Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich.
Hain, who also grows organic walnuts and poultry, probably won’t ever use biotechnology on his trees or chickens, but said the resolution supporting the use of the new technology was vital for many local ranchers and farmers.
“It was supported overwhelmingly by the majority of our members,” Hain said. “Many people feel that biotechnology is the future of agriculture.”
For Hain, the resolution is simply a way of sidestepping the political battles that biotechnology has sparked in other counties, such as Sonoma, where voters rejected a proposed 10-year moratorium on biotech crops last November.
Critics of biotechnology in agriculture worry that changing the genetic make-up of an organism could make food unhealthy for consumers and that the biotech industry is not properly regulated.
“We wanted to avoid the bloodbath that has occurred in other counties,” Hain said. “We wanted to get out in front of it and spare the county an all out initiative, basically. We’re setting the stage for a sensible way to discuss the issues surrounding this.”
Bill Coates, a farm adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension, said that while some people are critical of new technologies, it is likely to become the wave of the future.
“Biotechnology is coming and the county is just getting prepared,” Coates said. “Eventually it will be more commonly used – we are reaching the limits of what we can do with traditional breeding and traditional chemistry.”
Brett Rowland covers agriculture and public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
