Risk perception in Agriculture Biotechnology

2. Introduction
Risk Perception In Agriculture Biotechnology

3. To understand the concept of Risk Perception
To know the elements of Risk
To review the research studies related to Risk
Perception.
Objectives

4. What is Biotechnology?
It is a group of technologies that share two characteristics --
working with living cells and their molecules and having a wide
range of practice uses that can improve our lives.
Biotechnology can be broadly defined as "using organisms or
their products for commercial purposes."
(Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992).

5. What is a Transgenic Organism?
GMO?
Any organism with altered genome.
Predominantly by introduction of a new gene

6. • Risk is the “chance or possibility of loss of bad
consequence.” It arises from a hazard and some
uncertainty about its effects.
A hazard is a source of danger, whereas risk is the
likelihood of a hazard developing into an actual
adverse effect.”
Kaplan and Garrick (1981)

7. Contd..
• Define risk as a combination of something
that is undesirable and uncertain. More
specifically, “the possibility of an adverse
outcome, and uncertainty over the
occurrence,
Covello and Merkhofer (1994)

8. Contd..
• Risk is defined as the magnitude and
likelihood of adverse effect.
Levin and Strauss
• This requires estimation of the hazard and
the exposure. For agricultural products
and products intended for field release,

9. • Risk perception is the subjective judgment that
people make about the characteristics and severity of a
risk. The phrase is most commonly used in reference to
natural hazards and threats to the environment or health.

10. Risk And Perception
• At the most fundamental level, all risk is perceived.
Knowledge, values, and ideology determine how risk is
perceived.
When knowledge is lacking and the public has limited
appreciation of technology, risk perception is skewed by
emotive attributes of risk.

11. Emotive attributes Basis of Risk perception
Involuntary A risk one is forced to take
Uncontrollable The inability to personality influence an event
Immoral Something that is viewed as evil
Unfamiliar A new and unnatural risk
Dreadful A risk relates to fearful consequence
Uncertain Scientist are unable to exactly define the hazard and its
associated risk
Catastrophic Large scale disastrous events
Memorable Risk associated with a embedded, remarkable event
dramatic risk outcomes
Unfair Exposure to risk with no clear benefit
Untrustworthy No confidence in the source of risk analysis
From reporting on Risk; A Journalist’s Handbook on Environmental Risk Assessment
Table1: Attributes of Emotive risk

12. Farmer risk perceptions
• Farmers’ risk perceptions and how those perceptions
influence behaviour is an integral component of
developing sustainable land and resource use,
Krogmann et al 2001

13. • Finucane’s (2000) review of risk perceptions of GMOs
revealed high degrees of uncertainty among farmers
about whether the risks of GMOs outweigh the benefits,
and added that these concerns are likely to be based on
unknown and dread risk dimensions which inform
perceived risks of other technologies.

14. Farmers and the risk of innovation
• Guerin & Guerin’s (1994) review of adoption found that
farmers were less likely to take up innovation when they
did not understand the nature of the risk and its
associated circumstances;

15. The first Agriculture biotech product
• The pharmaceutical industry, a swine vaccine marketed
by Syntro Corp.
Rapid advances have since been made in the use
of recombinant organisms for a variety of purposes
including agricultural, pollution control and waste
treatment.

16. Concerns about Biotechnology
 Assessing any risks associated with food safety and the
behavior of a biotechnology-based product in the
environment.
 The latter involve the political and social context in
which the technology is used, including how these uses
may benefit or harm the interests of different groups in
society.

17. Biotechnology for the 21st century
 Experts in United States anticipate the world’s population
in 2050 to be approximately 8.7 billion persons. The
world’s population is growing, but its surface area is not.

18. Risk assessment
Risk management
Risk communication
Elements Of Risk

19. RISK ASSESSMENT
• Public perception of the risks and benefits of
biotechnology can play an important role in the
industries' attempts to test and market products.

20. Four Stage Process For Risk Assessment
 Step one: hazard identification -- “endpoints”
 Step two: dose-response relationship
 Step three: exposure assessment -- pathways
 Step four: characterizing the exposed population

22. Risk Assessment Challenges
• The use of traditional quantitative risk assessment
affords special challenges when applied to agricultural
biotechnology. As a young science, all facets of
agricultural biotechnology are not fully interpretable in a
strictly quantitative context

23. Fig. The Risk Management Cycle.

24. Risk Management Challenges
• Identifying and engaging stakeholders is a key challenge
to effectively managing risk.

25. RISK COMMUNICATION IS BECOMING
INCREASINGLY MORE IMPORTANT.

26. Risk communication
• Risk communication, the science of understanding
scientific and technological risk and how it is
communicated within a socio-political structure, is a
relatively new scientific endeavor.

27. Major Types Of Risk
Communication Programs
 Informational/Educational (e.g., climate change, GMFs)
 Behavioural and Protective Action-Oriented (e.g., HIV,
West Nile Virus, anti-smoking)
 Disaster Warning and Emergency Information (e.g.,
evacuation)
 Joint Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution (e.g.,
NIMBY)

28. Effective risk communication does the following
Builds trust and
recognises the
importance of
democratic accountability.
Increases the
likelihood that the
risk management
framework will work.
Fosters a culture of
cooperation.
Promotes transparency
and public understanding
of science and policy.
Fosters inclusivity
Gives decision-makers
a better tool kit to use.
Reduces the
impact of alarmist
messages from
a range of sources.
The public becomes
better able to
appreciate how decisions are
made.

29. Risk communication must begin before important decisions have
been made.
People interpret and use new information in the context of their
existing beliefs.
Risk communication should involve the open, two-way exchange
of information.
An untested communication should be no more tolerated than an
untested product.
When the communication environment becomes emotionally
charged, the rules for effective risk communication change.
There is a need to understand, and to anticipate, stakeholder
positions.
Golden Rules For Effective Risk
Communication

30. Barriers to risk communication
include not just complexity but:
(1) Conflict and lack of coordination
amongst stakeholders. A serious
threat is a desire to define, in advance,
who is a valid stakeholder.
(2) Inadequate risk communication
planning, preparation, skills
and practices.

31. Risk Communication Challenges
Ineffective communication of knowledge by
trusted sources is a critical current gap in
biotechnology risk analysis.
The gap widens in the absence of trusted
sources for communication of risk, since both
the message and messenger combine to shape
public perceptions of risk.

33. Risk Analysis
• The utility of risk analysis derives from developing a
rational framework whereby the knowledge-based
description of risk (a science driven process) is
integrated with social, cultural, economic, and political
considerations to manage and communicate risk in
policy decisions and implementation.

34. Low Risk High Risk
Voluntary
Common
Not fatal
Known
Known to science
Controllable
Old
Involuntary
Rare
Fatal
Unknown
Not known to science
Not controllable
New
FACTORS OF RISK

35. Reasons Why Actual Risk Cannot Be
Distinguished From Perceived Risk
Actual risk estimates are usually imprecise.
Many important features of hazards cannot be
quantified.
Risk is a theoretical concept used for decision-
making.
Expert estimates of probability are not necessarily
better than those of the public. Experts do not have
a magic window on reality!
There is considerable disagreement among experts
about model, time frame, level of significance…

36. Genetically modified (GM) crops and food
are being grown and consumed by the
public, even though:
There is little scientific study about their
health risks
Safety test technology is inadequate to
assess potential harm
They can carry unpredictable toxins
They may increase the risk of allergenic
reactions

37. Yes
Is Transgenic Technology
an essential option ??

38. Present Status
Cotton Hybrids – approved for commercial release
281 Hybrids
Area under Bt cotton cultivation
(2007-08) – 6.2 m Ha
Indian first transgenic crop – Bt COTTON
Approved by DBT on March 2002

39. Biotech crops under development in India (updated till 2005)
Cotton
Soyabean
Rice
Sorghum
Chickpea
Groundnut
Maize
Pigeon pea
Potato
Brinjal
Tomato
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Mustard
Okra
Major emphasis:
Insect Resistance
Disease Resistance
Herbicide Resistance
Abiotic stress Resistance (Drought & Salinity)

40. Global Benefits 1996-2004
• Decrease pesticide application
• Increase in net income of farmers
Global-1996 to 2004- $27 billion
China-2004-$1 billion
India-2002 to 2004- 124 million
• Global value and biotech crop market
Cumulative: $ 47 billion
2007- $ 7 billion
.

41. Need for Genetically Modified Organisms / Transgenics
Might provide exciting solutions for
1. Food security
2. Nutritional security
Dietary protein, fat and energy consumption etc. are low, especially in
developing countries
30 % of the world's population is affected by vitamin A, Iron, Zinc and
Iodine deficiency
3. Environmental safety
Pesticide toxicity - Food, Soil, Water
For the burgeoning human population
4. Industrial and pharma needs

42. Transgenics has application………
Improving productivity
To realize the potential
yields under stress
Break yield barriers
? ?
Drought, Salinity, Temperature,
Nutrient stress
Pests, Diseases, Weeds
Abiotic Biotic

43. Wood lignin
Shelf life
Bio-fortification / nutrients
Improving quality
Oil Quality
Protein content / quality

44. Hawaiian solo cultivar
'Sunset' was transformed
with the coat protein gene of
a PRSV (papaya ringspot
poty virus) isolate from
Hawaii
Disease resistance
Transgenic Wild Type

45. European corn borer (left)
and cotton bollworm (right)
are two pests controlled by
Bt corn and cotton,
respectively.
Source: USDA.
Cry 1A overexpressing cotton
in comparison with Wild type
Insect resistance

46. Weed-infested soybean plot (left) and Roundup Ready®
soybeans after Roundup treatment. Source: Monsanto
Herbicide tolerance
Transgenic Wild Type

47. Nutrition / Biofortification
White rice and golden rice
Golden rice was
created by transforming
rice with three beta-
carotene biosynthesis
genes:
• psy (phytoene synthase)
• lyc (lycopene cyclase),
both from daffodil
(Narcissus
pseudonarcissus), and
• crt1 from the soil
bacterium Erwinia
uredovora

48. Improvement of water use efficiency in rice by
expression of HARDY, an Arabidopsis drought and salt
tolerance gene
Aarati Karaba et. al ., 2007. PNAS
Overexpression of HARDY in Rice

49. Limitations
Technology
Timeline
Cost
IPR Issues

50. Public acceptance
Non - GM GM
Environmental
Ethical
Concerns
Health

51. Technological Constraints
Validated gene
Transformation
Optimum expression
Stability
Evaluation
Technology to meet regulatory requirements
Selectable markers ?

52. Effects on non target organisms
Affects population dynamics
Bt toxin can kill Silk worm
Monarch butterfly

53. GM problems on Microflora
Changes in physical, chemical and
biological soil characteristics
Decrease in soil quality

54. Health Concerns
Allergenicity
To diverse organisms including humans
Toxicity

55. - Commercial cultivation of GM crops has raised concerns
about potential adverse effects on the environment
-Substantial scientific data-over 10years mainly on
Herbicide Resistance and Insect Resistance
- Review stress no scientific evidence that GM crops has caused
environmental harm
Oliver Sanvido of Switzerland
Ecological impact of GM crops: Adv. Biochem. Engin/Biotechnology 2007.235.278
ENVIRONMENT

56. Biotechnology is expected to be the next key Economic Driver
Needs to ensure safe use of Biotechnology
Aim
Safety
Health Environment
By Risk Assessment and management by regulation
For
Development Deployment
Of
biotech products/ processes

57. Regulatory mechanisms for r-DNA products
Environmental Act (EPA) – 1986
Notification of Guidelines - 1989
Recombinant DNA safety guidelines – 1990
Regulations for GMOs / cells came into force from-1993
Revised guidelines for research on
transgenic plants – 1998
Guidelines for generating pre-clinical and clinical data for rDNA
based Vaccines, Dianostics and other Biologicals-1999
Ensuring safe use of Biotechnology

58. Transgenic Evaluation
Studies in contained
condition
Evaluation in
confined field trails

59. Research Studies

60. Improving Technology Perception
through Information and education:
A case of Biotechnology in Nigeria
A.E.Adekoya and O.I.Oladele
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural
development University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

61. Table1:pre-workshop awareness and perception towards biotechnology
Frequency (%)
Heard of biotechnology before 85 89.5
Source of awareness
Radio 20 21.05
Television 23 24.21
Newspaper 18 18.9
School 38 40.0
Text books 30 31.58
Perception towards biotechnology
Favorable 77 81.1
Neutral 15 15.8
Unfavorable 3 3.2
Areas of concern
Food safety 59 62.1
Ethical concerns 11 11.6
Cost concern 8 8.4
Heard of genetically modified crops
Yes 79 83.2
No 14 14.7
Will eat genetically modified food
Yes 64 67.4
No 8 8.4
Not sure 23 24.2
Source: Biotechnology workshop in Nigeria

62. Table2: post-workshop awareness and perception towards biotechnology
Post-workshop Frequency (%)
Workshop improved knowledge 79 83.2
Now have better understanding of subject 84 88.4
Areas workshop was deficient
Technical 11 11.6
Regulatory 3 3.2
Food safety 6 6.3
Have concerns about biotechnology allayed 72 75.8
Will eat genetically modified food
Yes 82 86.3
No 12 12.6
Not sure 1 1.1

63. Public Perception of Biotechnology
Julian Kinderlerer
Sheffield Institute of Biotechnology Law
and Ethics,Sheffield.U.K.

65. Public Perception Issues in
Agricultural and Environmental
Biotechnology
Charles Hagedorn and Susan Allender-Hagedorn
Virginia Cooperative Extension

66. Table1: Biotechnology categories & relative frequency scores from two
types of sources
Category frequency score(%)
opinion surveys popular press
Genetically Engineered foods
Value & nutrition 75.0 54.1
Food safety 66.7 65.8
Consumer acceptance 33.4 44.2
Social/legal
Use of biotechnology products 73.3 56.7
Ethical, religious, and moral concerns 60.0 44.2
Farming impact 26.7 37.4
Risk assessment
Public safety 78.5 71.2
Public input 64.3 63.1
Risk acceptance 57.1 48.4
Education
Impact of biotechnology education 72.7 76.5
Role of television and the press 63.6 63.1
Academic responsibility to the public 26.3 42.6