Estado da arte em estudos de biossegurança ambiental de organismos geneticamente modificados e a prática da Embrapa.

Os melhoristas de plantas cultivadas, em todo o mundo, são merecedores de grande reconhecimento, pois, graças ao seu esforço contínuo, a produção de alimentos não perdeu para o aumento maciço da população mundial. Por outro lado, atualmente o consumidor exige que os alimentos ofereçam mais garantias do que em outras épocas da história. Estas mudanças se refletem busca contínua de melhoria genética das plantas cultivadas. No cenário brasileiro, a segurança alimentar é uma questão estratégica para que toda a população disponha de alimento de boa qualidade, com garantias de conservação,isento de microrganismos patogênicos e de componentes ou contaminantes que venham a causar danos ao consumidor. No âmbito nacional como no internacional, o problema alimentar se verá agravado pela distribuição desigual do solo agrícola. A China, por exemplo, possui 25% da população mundial, porém só representa 7% do solo cultivável do planeta. Durante o último período em que a população mundial se duplicou, de 3 bilhões em 1960 para 6 bilhões em 2000, a produção de alimentos aumentou em paralelo (ALIMENTACIÓN, s.d.). Isso foi possível pelo uso de variedades melhoradas geneticamente, como já mencionado, pela otimização de técnicas de cultivo e outras inovações em irrigação e manejo de culturas, além de outras causas como geração de pesticidas mais eficazes, novos fertilizantes, entre outros. Estes sucessivos saltos da produção de grãos e das exportações, que acontecem no Brasil e no cenário mundial, vêm suscitando reações de otimismo em vários segmentos da sociedade, que entendem que tais saltos reforçam a competitividade de várias cadeias produtivas. Entretanto, parte dessa vantagem acaba perdida ao longo de estradas, portos,armazenamento e burocracia (BUAINAIN & SILVEIRA, 2003)

Estado da arte em estudos de biossegurança ambiental de organismos geneticamente modificados (OGM) e a prática da Embrapa.

O projeto em Rede de Biossegurança de OGM da Embrapa foi proposto e aprovado em setembro de 2002 visando principalmente estabelecer-se como gerador de conhecimento na área de biossegurança ambiental e alimentar e difusor dos avanços tecnológicos na área, além de garantir o uso seguro da tecnologia e dar cumprimento às exigências da regulamentação brasileira de biossegurança de OGM. Com este foco, as plantas geneticamente modificadas da Embrapa em vias de serem avaliadas em situação de campo, foram submetidas aos procedimentos legais em vigor na época. Entre estes processos incluía-se a apresentação de dados substanciados sobre impactos ambientais potenciais das plantas em estudo, para a aprovação de experimentação em campo. Estes dados e as metodologias aplicadas em resposta à solicitação dos órgãos responsáveis à época são assunto deste trabalho. Tal trabalho só foi viável pela disponibilidade de equipe multidisciplinar para atender a todos os requisitos e foi favorecido pela organização do projeto no formato de Rede. Os resultados esclareceram algumas dúvidas levantadas pela sociedade, favorecendo assim a aprovação para liberação de experimentos controlados em campo, tendo sido a Embrapa a primeira empresa a receber aprovação para tal experimento em dezembro de 2003 (após restrições legais acontecidas para experimentos com transgênicos entre 2000 e 2003).bitstream/CNPMA/7436/1/documentos_56.pd

Communication and public perception of GMO in Brazil: the importance of shaping a communication strategy.

The GMOs are widely cropped in an increasing number of countries. Brazil is the second largest grower of GM crops in the world, next to the US, planting 42.2 million hectares of biotech crops in 2014. Despite the relatively high adoption rates the GM crops are far from being widely accepted. In many countries, attempts to introduce and establish GM food crops led to disputes among different stakeholders. In Brazil GM crops have been a controversial issue differently from neighboring Argentina where GM crops were adopted in 1996 without opposition. The illegal introduction of GM soybeans in Brazil was an experience that has shown the importance of a solid and workable legal frameworkand the necessity of previous discussion with stakeholders - not just the ones directly linked to the development of the trait and or crop, like public research institutions, biotechnology companies, farmers, to say some, but also with consumers, consumer rights advocates, environmentalists, health professionals and media. Quantitative research conducted at the time of intense controversy in Brazil, with representative samples of the population instigated by Greenpeace, revealed broad publicrejection of GMOs. But quite a few efforts were made to understand the viewpoints of different sectors of society in relation to GM products. I had the privilege to participate in some of those few initiatives and I will share, during the presentation, the experiences acquired Aspects of public perception and communication were addressed in different formats during the development of such projects: manual for ?Problem Formulation?, stakeholders? panel, online questionnaires, semi structured interviews, among others. One experience in particular was carried out by four countries in Latin America in the context of the project LAC Biosafety (5), where environmental impacts and public perception/communication were partnered in the same project. Demand from the public consulted in the context of this project resulted in the preparation and supply of brochures, courses, training and even TV and radio programs. Among the training, those targeting media professionals sought to stimulate scientific culture - empowerment process of the general public so that they can obtain credible information on GMOs, facilitating the taking of personal decision (in its various formats). For the Brazil case-study under the LAC Biosafety umbrella, it was possible to identify and describe: common groups of attitudes toward GMOs; patterns of association between the common attitude groups and variables like socioeconomic characteristics, trust in institutions asinformation sources and familiarity with the Brazilian biosafety authority; how these variables play important rolesin defining patterns of attitudes toward GMOs; the implications of these relationships for the development of a communication strategy plan that would promote public awareness and stimulate a well-informed Brazilian public debate on biosafety. All experiences and achievements in those research projects had their impact and recently we got the opportunity to multiply the experience, adapt it and expand it to other countries - Kenya and Uganda. By sharing the experiences of Brazil and research fi ndings with those countries, it is expected that they can move forward in the decisions on GMOs in accordance with their own principles and desires, but not losing sight of the science that gives base to advance safely. Some lessons learned over our work: (*) cooperation between groups of technical and scientific research and the groups of communicators is key to effective communication of best available science; (*) the characterization of stakeholders (their desires, trust and interest) is essenti al for an effective communication plan; (*) interest groups are similar but the power structure is different for each country; (*) the understanding of the power structure is key to define the better way to assure a delivery of scientific facts for the decision-making process. Brazil has a great opportunity to lead the use of GMOs in agricultural production in their energy opti ons and other markets, such as climate issues or biomass. Legal certainty translated into accurate regulatory processes, efficient and based on the best science is the key to develop this potential

Memória do Projeto Cooperativo Rede de Sanidade Vegetal CUBA-BRASIL

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Outlook on the use of semi-solid culture media for the production of Bacillus thuringiensis.

Based on the fact that wider use of Bacillus thuringiensis for the biological control of insect pests has been restricted by economic reasons, studies were initiated to explore the feasibility of producing Bt. endotoxin preparations using semi-solid fermentation with cheap components as substracts. Some agroindustrial by-products including solid residue from paper industry, residual fermented malt from beer industry, and a special kind of meal obtained from residual cookies and biscuits of bakery industry, were investigated for their abilities to support Bt. growth and spore production. The technique was based upon the employment of semi-solid type of fermentation in erlenmeyers whose culture medium was composed by each residue separated, or by the combinatio n of two residues. The incubations was done at 30. C., with one hand-shaking each day, and spore counts and pH measurement were done until the seventh day. The semi-solid process used takes nearly 168 hours to produce 10 10 - 10 13 spores/g. The submerged fermentation results are nearly 10 9 - 19 10 spores/ml, in about 48-71 hours. Economic studies are conducted to determine the advantageous process, but the low cost of residues, the availability of them in Brazil, the technological aspects of production in small scale in some regions of the country, seem to be sufficient reasons to adopt the semi-solid fermentation process for Bacillus thuringiensisi production

Produção de inseticida biológico com Bacillus thuringiensis.

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GMO Guidelines project.

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