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Dr. C. Ford Runge


Position: Director of the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy (CIFAP); Professor of Applied Economics and Law at the University of Minnesota

Education: Ph.D., Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin; M.A., Economics as a Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University; B.A., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Notable: Former Staff of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture; Science and Diplomacy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Biotech crops will play a more and more important role in the global crop economy.
Biotech crops will play a more and more important role in the global crop economy.
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DR. C. FORD RUNGE AGAINST TRADE RESTRICTIONS ON BIOTECH CROPS
Economic Aspects of Agricultural Biotechnology Offer Significant Potential Benefits for Developing Countries with Subsistence Farming

In 2003-04, approximately US$44 billion in value was being produced worldwide from biotech crops, according to research conducted by Dr. C. Ford Runge, director of the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy (CIFAP) at the University of Minnesota.

“At the macro level, the impact of the technology is only beginning to be felt. So every year, I would anticipate that that value figure will grow,” says Dr. Runge regarding farm economics of agricultural biotechnology.  “Biotech crops will play a more and more important role in the global crop economy.”

“My only real interest is that plant biotechnology not become an excuse for restricting trade that’s a potential benefit not only to our farmers in the United States, but especially to poor farmers in developing countries,” Dr. Runge continues with reference to subsistence farming.

Dr. Runge’s research demonstrates there is increasing adoption of biotech crops, with the potential for a major expansion of planted acreage and significant economic benefits for subsistence farming. Research on new genetically modified (GM) crops is also robust, with efforts ongoing in 57 plant species across 63 countries, including programs in Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa.

“It is an extremely powerful and important emerging technology. And it’s going to play its role and part depending on the degree to which it can be made available, appropriate and friendly — especially to poor farmers in developing countries,” says Dr. Runge.

“The question that has been raised in some quarters is whether or not transgenic crops are only for big, rich farmers.” According to Dr. Runge, the answer is no.  “The reason for this goes back to the fact that the advantages of the technology are inherent in the seed.”

Dr. Runge’s research appears in a consulting report — The Global Diffusion of Plant Biotechnology: International Adoption and Research in 2004 — for the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI).

Editor’s Note: The opinions and information offered are those of Dr. C. Ford Runge and not the University of Minnesota.

© 2006 Monsanto Company.  All rights reserved. The copyright holder consents to the use of this material and the images in the published context only and solely for the purpose of promoting the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.

Video Transcript



Most of my research focuses on the interaction between international trade, agriculture and environment.  … So, I don’t come at this from the point of view of an agricultural scientist who’s spent his career — you know — working on getting these crops to market.  And in that respect, I think I have a little less invested emotionally in whether they succeed or fail.  …

… My only real interest is … that plant biotechnology not become an excuse for restricting trade that’s a potential benefit to — not only to — our farmers in the United States, but especially to poor farmers in developing countries.  …

… The issue of global hunger really relates — not necessarily to the aggregate production, but — to the local conditions affecting production, especially in the poorest developing countries and how they can best be changed.  And in that respect, I think plant biotechnology definitely has a role to play.  …

… The question that has been raised in some quarters is whether or not transgenic crops are only for big, rich farmers.  Well, I think the answer to that is no.  … And the reason for this goes back to the fact that the advantages of the technology are inherent in the seed.  …

… We have activity — scientific activity in relation to plant biotech in … approaching 50 countries… And there are at least 40 crops in which this activity is ongoing.  …

… It is an extremely powerful and important emerging technology.  And it’s going to play its role and part depending on the degree to which it can be made available, appropriate and friendly — especially to poor farmers in developing countries.  …

… At the macro level, the impact of the technology is only beginning to be felt.  In crop year 2003 - 2004 … about $44 billion in crop value was being produced worldwide in biotech.  … So every year, I would anticipate that that value figure will grow.  And … biotech crops will play a more and more important role in the global crop economy.  …

…there’s been a rapid adoption of the technologies.  I really have to conclude that whether you perform complicated academic analyses of these or not, that the best test of whether or not these technologies are beneficial to farmers was the fact that they have been adopted so quickly.

Note: The opinions and information offered in this video are those of Dr. C. Ford Runge, not the University of Minnesota.

© 2006 Monsanto Company.  All rights reserved. The copyright holder consents to the use of this material and the images in the published context only and solely for the purpose of promoting the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.