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APS Endorsement of a Petition to Support Food and Agricultural
Research in Italy.
The American Phytopathological Society supports responsible application of
biotechnology for the improvement of plant health and productivity,
because it has given us new insights into plant/pathogen interactions and
new approaches to sustainable management of plant diseases. The American
Phytopathological Society endorses the petition signed by Italian
scientists to protest the unilateral threat by the Italian Minister of
Agriculture of withdrawal of funding for research involving biotechnology.
This unilateral imposition of ideology without proper public debate is
unacceptable. Its effect upon the potential benefits of biotechnology
research conducted by Italian
scientists will not only lessen the quality of Italian science but could
deny food security to people of the whole world. This action of the
Italian Minister is not reflective of sound judgment or reasoning and strikes at the very core of the application of
democratic
principles in a free society. Your efforts to obtain withdrawal of this
decree are supported by our Society.
Signed by
Steve Slack
APS President
Petition in Support of Agricultural Biotechnology in Italy:
To Whomsoever It May Concern
Both basic and applied plant research in Italy are being seriously compromised by the current Agriculture Minister, Alfonso Pecoraro
Scanio. After having waged a long campaign against the use of modern day genetics in agriculture, he is now attempting to close
down any research involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The Agriculture Ministry is using its power to repress publicly
funded research. Scientists from all the major institutions have been told explicitly that if they expect to receive funding from the
Ministry they will have to voluntarily eliminate any experiments involving
GMOs.
The pressure imposed on scientists is worsened by the fact that many programmes already approved since 1996 will no longer receive
funding. National projects at risk include Plant Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Floriculture. Worst of all,
projects being performed in the 10 national institutes of the Ministry
of Agriculture, such as resistance to pests and drought, and improvement
of nutritional value, will no longer be supported. Scientists are
therefore being asked to negate their professionality and intellectual identity and abandon
their research of the last 4 years which, ironically, had been funded by the same Ministry. To give up on these projects means a huge
loss of intellectual and financial investment and further compromises
any prospects of job and wealth creation through new commercial ventures.
Basic research into how plants work is the foundation for rational plant breeding and for a modern sustainable agriculture. Without
it, Italy will lose out to its European and international competitors, with the result that the rich products of Italian agriculture will be
lost to bland high yielding varieties produced by the multinationals. In a country such as Italy, famous for the uniqueness of its cuisine,
the government should be actively supporting local, national-level research aimed at conserving and improving this resource. It is
therefore incomprehensible that the present Minister of Agriculture is choosing to persecute science and innovation.
Nowhere else in Europe is basic research being penalized as a consequence of public concerns over biotechnology. In Germany, the
BML (Bundesministerium fuer Ernaehrung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten) recognizes that "production methods aimed at protecting the
environment and livestock wellbeing does not mean the exclusion of modern technologies such as genetic engineering. If anything, the
opposite is true: that it is essential to achieve a modern, sustainable
and environment-friendly agriculture". In France, publicly funded research is investing heavily in GMO-derived technologies such as plant
genomics to guarantee the nation a leading role in agriculture in the
near future. Hence, even though France and Germany have an official policy
of caution, like Italy, with regard to the commercialization of transgenic plants, they recognize that investment in basic plant
research is of extreme strategic importance. The Italian scientific community should not accept the
intimidation tactics of the Minister of Agriculture, which are based on
purely ideological prejudices. This message is aimed at scientists and members of the public with the hope of re-establishing conditions in
which the freedom of scientific thought is championed. Should this not be a
cardinal right of all modern societies?
Renato Dulbecco, Nobel Prize;
Roberto Defez, IIGB-CNR, Napoli;
Angelo Spena, Universitą di Verona;
Edoardo Boncinelli, San Raffaele, Milano;
Riccardo Cortese, Presidente FISV;
Pablo Amati, Universitą di Roma;
Silvio Garattini, Istituto Mario Negri, Milano;
Luigi Lania, Universitą di Napoli;
Paolo Costantino, Universitą di Roma;
Enrico Bellone, Direttore di “LeScienze';
Francesco Sala, Universitą di Milano;
Andrea Cavallero, Universitą di Torino;
Chris Bowler, Stazione Zoologica, Napoli;
Antonio De Flora, Direttore PF Biotecnologie del CNR, Genova;
Angelo Vescovi, ricercatore di cellule staminali, Milano;
Andrea Ballabio, TIGEM, Milano-Napoli;
Tullio Regge, fisico;
Carlo Alberto Redi, Universitą di Pavia
Francesco Salvatore, Facolta' di Medicina, Napoli.
If you would like to personally endorse this petition, please e-mail Anna
Meldolesi at appellomipaf@hotmail.com
with your support
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