Agriculture calls tech expo 'success,' but others have doubts

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman called last week's international agricultural science and technology expo here "a success," but there were some indications the conference did not live up to expectations.

The Sacramento Bee reported a month ago that USDA officials had expected 1,000 officials, but only 520 attended. And there were only 60 exhibitors' booths at the expo-not a large number for an international conference-and 10 of those were occupied by USDA agencies.

One Washington agribusiness consultant said he advised clients not to spend money on an exhibit here because so many officials would be from poor countries. A few deals were made here, such as one between an Illinois company and Namibia to keep a reservoir from drying up. But several speakers, including Norman Borlaug, founder of the Green Revolution that helped modernize agriculture in India, said private ownership of biotech seeds and other innovations have made it harder to promote international agricultural development than in past decades when public universities did most of the research and governments sponsored their implementation.

Several exhibitors also groused to journalists that they had not gained the access to the meetings or to the officials that they had expected. USDA officials seemed to do everything in their power to keep journalists from mingling informally with the foreign visitors. They forbade reporters from using escalators to the conference hall without a uniformed escort, banned them from social events and warned them they could be thrown out if they violated the rules.

USDA officials said conference attendance met expectations. If speakers and journalists were included in the count, 1,000 people did attend, including 60 agriculture ministers, 26 environmental ministers and 18 science ministers, USDA officials said.

Veneman stressed that the conference was about more than biotechnology-although the California event began the same day President Bush told the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Washington that European countries should end their bans on biotech foods, and Veneman brought up the advantages of biotechnology several times at the expo here.

At her wrap-up news briefing last Wednesday, Veneman said she had concluded it is important to "make information accessible to farmers, expand the local knowledge base," and "strengthen partnerships." Veneman said she believed she had established a network of officials interested in science and technology.

Before the briefing, Veneman sent the visiting officials on field trips on which journalists were prohibited. But The Bee reported that University of California at Davis professors defied USDA policy and allowed journalists who showed up on campus to go on the tours.