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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Testimony Presented before the <br /> <br /> Committee on Environmental Management <br /> of the <br /> Hawai'i County Council <br /> <br /> January 8, 2008 <br /> <br /> by <br /> <br /> Richard M. Manshardt, Professor <br /> Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences <br /> College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources <br /> University of Hawai'i at Manoa <br /> <br /> <br /> Relating to Comm. 882 (Res. 462-08): A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING S.B. 958 <br /> S.D.1 H.D.1 TO IMPOSE A TEN-YEAR MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPING, <br /> TESTING, PROPAGATING, CULTIVATING, GROWING, AND RAISING OF <br /> GENETICALLY MODIFIED TARO IN THE STATE OF HAWAII <br /> <br /> Chair Jacobson, Vice Chair Ford, and Members of the Committee: <br /> <br /> My name is Richard Manshardt. I am a professor and plant geneticist in CTAHR <br /> at UH Manoa. I have 25 years of research and teaching experience in crop <br /> sciences at UH, including my work in conventional crop breeding and the <br /> development of virus-resistant GMO papaya varieties for Hawaii growers. I am <br /> providing testimony on my own behalf, not officially presenting the position of <br /> CTAHR or UH on this bill. <br /> <br /> I respectfully oppose Resolution 462-08 and SB 958, SD1, HD1. <br /> <br /> The action proposed by the bill has no logical connection to the stated objective. <br /> The bill presents no arguments to explain why "a ten-year moratorium on <br /> developing, testing, propagating, cultivating, raising, and growing of genetically <br /> modified taro in the State of Hawaii" is an appropriate way "to recognize the <br /> importance of kalo in the heritage of the State." <br /> <br /> Nevertheless, the broad moratorium proposed in SB 958, SD1, HD1 applies to all <br /> taro varieties, not just Hawaiian taro. Consequently, the moratorium would halt <br /> ongoing work of CTAHR researchers to assess whether the introduction of <br /> disease resistance genes from rice, wheat, and grape into a Chinese taro variety, <br /> 'Bun Long', will improve its resistance to fungal pathogens that cause important <br /> diseases such as taro leaf blight. SB 958, in its current form, is over-reaching, <br /> and it needs to be pointed out, for example, that a UH moratorium already exists <br /> on producing or field testing any GMO Hawaiian taro clones, that only Bun Long <br />