GENET-news

 Below you find the postings of the last seven days.

 

2012-05-16 | permalink

Adopting out retired GE ’enviropigs’ a non-starter due to risks, Canadian scientist says

The fate of 16 genetically modified pigs remains undecided, but adopting them out to ”loving homes” as requested by an animal-rights group is a non-starter, the University of Guelph said Tuesday. Prof. Rich Moccia, an associate vice-president at the school, said relinquishing control of the ”enviropigs” posed unacceptable risks. [...] In a letter to Moccia Tuesday, the group called on the school to ensure the pigs would be spared. [...] ”For the same reason you wouldn’t kill 16 healthy dogs at the end of a research project, please don’t kill these poor pigs, who deserve a chance to live out their final years basking in sunshine, taking mud baths, and simply being pigs.”

2012-05-16 | permalink

GM Jatropha hopes to break into biodiesel market

A Singapore partnership has developed what it hopes to be an eco-solution to the world’s demand for biofuel. The world’s first genetically modified Jatropha plant can produce biodiesel faster and better. Plans are in the pipeline to start field trials and commercialise it in three years. [...] Its developers Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and JOil have filed a patent for this genetically modified Jatropha.

2012-05-16 | permalink

Coexistence becoming more complicated in the USA

the Obama administration and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack determined the need for addressing coexistence and a 23-member committee was established in 2011. [...] the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture has been given the job of addressing the size and scope of risks to coexistence, potential compensation mechanisms for crops contaminated, tools and standards to verify eligibility for compensation and figuring losses and finally who would have to pay. [...] There isn’t much talk about the first committee’s success or failure, but it doesn’t seem much came from that committee.

2012-05-16 | permalink

The dangers of GM - Europe must learn the lessons from America

American farmers are increasingly expressing regret over the planting of GM crops, which are now causing major problems, and Europe must take note before it is too late – warns campaign group. The British House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s new report on sustainable food recommends government action to tackle the United Kingdom’s unhealthy and environmentally damaging food system. In addition to important recommendations to improve healthy eating and sustainability, the report highlights the need to diversify the research agenda in food and agriculture. The committee also questions the role of genetically modified crops in the future food system.

2012-05-16 | permalink

Glyphosate resistant super weeds no easy fix for US agriculture-experts

A fast-spreading plague of ”super weeds” taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday. ”This is a complex problem,” said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national ”summit” of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides. Weed resistance has spread to more than 12 million U.S. acres and primarily afflicts key agricultural areas in the U.S. Southeast and the corn and soybean growing areas of the Midwest.

2012-05-16 | permalink

Dow’s new ad wants you to know: 2,4-D corn is necessary to reed the world

Monsanto’s Roundup Ready weed-killing products may continue to lose their potency in the face of a growing epidemic of Roundup-resistant weeds but, according to a new video, industrial-scale farmers need not fear: Dow AgroSciences has come to the rescue. [...] At least, that’s what Dow is selling in its promotional video, which seems to be based on the premise that the herbicide-resistance problem created by genetically modified industrial agriculture can be solved only by the introduction of an intensified breed of genetically modified products.

2012-05-15 | permalink

Kenyan scientists now raise fears on safety of GMOs

FEARS on the country’s capacity to deal with safety issues concerning genetically modified foods were raised yesterday by scientists. The fears, broadly related to institutions that are supposed to deal with the envisioned use of GMO foods in Kenya. Dr Lubano Kizito of the Kenya Medical Research Institute said the human health is crucial and thus safety issues that need to be talked about. “The many departments or ministries that exist in government is part of the problem in coordinating health issues to do with GMO foods,” Kizito said.

2012-05-15 | permalink

Global and national resistance to genetically modified organisms: The precautionary path

With regard to genetically engineered foods and organisms, proponents claim that there is substantial equivalence between the genetically engineered crops and the natural counterparts. Substantial equivalence as the term implies suggests that there is no serious differences between the two groups. However, this claim is not supported by fact. If the substantial equivalence concept were to be substantiated in fact, there would be no need for patenting of the engineered crops or organisms. Secondly, if the products were equivalent to natural species, then makers of GE foods and crops would be bold enough to clearly label their products knowing that there would be no objections by consumers. Proponents of GE crops and products clearly know that their products have significant and yet to be fully understood environmental, social and cultural implications.

2012-05-15 | permalink

Philippine institutions defend field trial of ’BT talong’

”The current field trials are being responsibly and safely undertaken together with scientific organizations and partner state universities in compliance with the biosafety requirements and guidelines approved by national regulatory bodies such as the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines and the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture,” said Dr. Rex Victor Cruz, UP Los Banos Chancellor. Cruz was reacting on the Writ of Kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus issued by the Supreme Court, temporarily stopping the field trials of genetically-modified organism, particularly of BT talong in the country.

2012-05-15 | permalink

UK scientists pushing for public debate on GM wheat trial

Last month scientists at Rothamsted offered to meet and talk to the protesters at a neutral venue to debate their GM wheat trial. But leaders from Rothamsted say they have not had any official response back from Take the Flour Back. ”We have offered them dialogue. We have offered them a public debate,” said Maurice Moloney, director and chief executive of Rothamsted Research. ”We came up with the idea of hosting a debate with a neutral chair. A nationally-known journalist could act as a chair, but we haven’t heard a word back.”

2012-05-15 | permalink

MPs of Environmental Audit Committee urge UK Government caution on GM crops

AN INFLUENTIAL committee of MPs has called on the Government to refrain from licensing genetically modified crops until their benefits have been proved. The Environmental Audit Committee challenged the Government’s promotion of the ’sustainable intensification’ model of food production – ’the need to produce more form less’ - in a report on Sustainable Food, published over the weekend. This included questioning its support for GM technology. The committee said it received some evidence arguing that GM crops could be ’part of the solution for a sustainable food system’. But it also heard other evidence that food shortage problems could be ’better addressed through other means’, for example by tackling the 30 per cent food grown globally that is lost or wasted.

2012-05-15 | permalink

Burkina Faso gives up Bt cotton this year

Burkina Faso was the spearhead of transgenic cotton in West Africa. Very disappointed with the yield and quality of this GM cotton, the cotton companies in Burkina Faso this year are turning back to conventional cotton. Transgenic cotton has not kept its promises in Burkina Faso. [...] The reasons for failure are inherent in the GM cotton itself. [...] the worst surprise is the decline in fiber quality.

2012-05-14 | permalink

Reaping gold through Bt cotton and newsprint

Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds was raging across India, a newspaper [The Times of India] story painted a heartening picture of the technology’s success. “There are no suicides here and people are prospering on agriculture. The switchover from the conventional cotton to Bollgard or Bt Cotton here has led to a social and economic transformation in the villages [of Bhambraja and Antargaon] in the past three-four years.” So heartening was this account that nine months ago, the same story was run again in the same newspaper, word for word. Never mind that the villagers themselves had a different story to tell. “There have been 14 suicides in our village,” a crowd of agitated farmers in Bhambraja told shocked members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in March this year. “Most of them after Bt came here.” The Hindu was able to verify nine that had occurred between 2003 and 2009.

2012-05-14 | permalink

Indian Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group advocates use of GE crops to fight hunger in the coming years

Advocating the use of more genetically modified crops, the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group has said biotech crops would help in enhancing yield substantially. ABLE-AG is an association of biotech companies in India which aims to accelerate the pace of biotechnology in India. ABLE-AG executive director N Seetarama, pointing at the global hunger index, which ranks India 67 among a list of 81 countries and also fact with introduction of Food Security Bill, said biotech crops was the answer to the burgeoning demand of foodgrains in the coming years.

2012-05-14 | permalink

Philippine Supreme Court stops field trials of genetically modified eggplant

Cultivation of genetically modified eggplants--perceived to be dangerous for human consumption--will be put on hold after the Supreme Court issued a writ of kalikasan in favor of petitioners led by environment group Greenpeace. Details of the writ issued last Friday however were kept private by Greenpeace while the High Court has yet to post the resolution on its website. “As per advice of our lawyer, we cannot share the copy with the media. Basically, the writ is for respondents to justify the field trials. I cannot go into the details for now,” Daniel Ocampo, sustainable agriculture campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a text message to Sun.Star.

2012-05-14 | permalink

Pakistan’s National Bio-safety Centre effectively dysfunctional since August 2011

The fate of new varieties of cotton, corn, wheat and sugarcane crops developed by both public and private sectors hangs in the balance; as the National Bio-safety Centre – an apex body with a mandate to test and approve new crop varieties – has been almost dysfunctional since August 2011. [...] “Since then, private and public research organisations – including multinationals which have invested billions of rupees in developing high-yielding GM crop varieties as per provisions of the National Biosafety Rules 2005 – await the restarting of the regulatory process,” a government official said.

2012-05-14 | permalink

Local group hopes Jackson County (Oregon/USA) will ban GE plants

A group of local farmers and food activists hope to convince the Jackson County Board of Commissioners to ban the planting of genetically engineered plants within Jackson County. But commissioners said the feasibility of such an ordinance has yet to be determined. Brian Comnes, representative for GMO-Free Jackson County, presented a proposal to the commissioners Wednesday, requesting the board pass an ordinance without a citizen initiative. Commissioners said the issue is already on their radar and they are looking into it.

2012-05-14 | permalink

GE corn & sick honey bees - what’s the link?

In the early 1990s, we were really good at growing corn using bio-intensive integrated pest management. In practice, that meant crop rotations, supporting natural predators, using biocontrol agents like ladybugs and as a last resort, using chemical controls only after pests had been scouted for and found. During this time of peak bio-IPM adoption, today’s common practice of blanketing corn acreage with “insurance” applications of various pesticides without having established the need to do so would have been unthinkable. [...] Then, in the mid-to-late 1990s, GE corn and neonicotinoid (imidacloprid) seed treatments both entered the market — the two go hand-in-hand, partly by design and partly by accident.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Decision due on Irish GM potato trial

THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency is expected to decide by the end of this month whether to allow a field study on genetically modified potatoes. The State agriculture and food development authority Teagasc sought permission from the agency to carry out the study on genetically modified potatoes resistant to late blight. Minister of State for Agriculture Shane McEntee said the trial was part of an EU research project carried out by 22 partners in 15 states. He told Sinn Féin environment spokesman Brian Stanley the main purpose of the trial was to assess the impact of the blight-resistant potato’s cultivation on the Irish ecosystem, compared to that of conventional potatoes.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Indian Supreme Court orders report on whether to ban GE crop trials or not

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought form an expert committee a report on desirability of the field trials for genetically modified crops within three months. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia asked the committee to submit the report on whether field trials for GMO can be completely banned and if they are to be allowed what should be the protocol. The bench directed the committee to submit an interim report on the issue within three months if the final one is not possible. The court passed the orders on a PIL filed in 2004 by NGO, Gene Campaign and anti-GMO activist Aruna Rodrigues, who had sought a complete moratorium on field trial for GMO.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Rush for Bt cotton seeds leads to chaos in Haveri district (India)

Tension prevailed at some places in Haveri district on Tuesday, due to protests and stampede during distribution of Bt cotton seeds. The increase in demand for the ‘Kanaka’ variety of seeds and shortage of supply led to the rush. In Haveri city, police resorted to mild lathicharge as around 12,000 farmers fell over each other to collect the seeds. [...] Nearly 28,000 packets of ‘kanaka seeds are required in the district, while only 18,051 were supplied, leading to the rush.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Cultivation of BT cotton hurting food crops in Pakistan

“BT cotton is gaining popularity in Punjab and its growing cultivation is having a negative impact on other crops particularly wheat and sugarcane because of long germination period of BT cotton. [...]”, an official source told Business Recorder at National Agriculture Research Council. [...] The official said that to avoid such a crisis the government needs to devise a policy to ensure adequate output of wheat, cotton and sugarcane in the country. [...] the government had introduced BT cotton in 2002 in the country aimed to achieve 21 million cotton bales by 2015 and increasing yield per hectare to 1,060kgs but unfortunately they failed to prepare any plan to avoid its possible negative consequences on other crops.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Bt cotton proves ‘deadly’ for Indian farmers

In a scenario dominated by Bt cotton, only those farmers in Adilabad seem to be safe and happy who have practically given up cotton cultivation. Many farmers, especially those with smaller holdings, are finding the economics of Bt cotton to be really deadly. Some 23 suicides by cotton farmers have been reported in the district since November last year. In a majority of these instances, the farmers were caught in debt traps. [...] “In order to clear the bank crop loan of Rs. 70,000, my father had recently taken a private loan for the same amount at 10 per cent per month rate of interest. Though there is still some time to go before the banks start issuing crop loans, the pressure of debts was unbearable for him,” said elder son Devendra as he provided an insight into the economics fostered by Bt cotton.

2012-05-11 | permalink

Bt Cotton, a bitter harvest for Indian farmers

It is clear that the mounting evidence that is coming into the public domain, including the internal advisory from the agriculture ministry linking farm distress and suicides with Bt cotton, is causing panic among GM promoters and their lobbies in the country as their false hype and failed promises lie exposed. Just two [...] common-sense questions are asked to bust the myth: how can Bt technology increase yields when the pest incidence itself, across crops and not just cotton, has been low over the past decade? Two, how does one explain cotton yield increases in India that have happened at an impressive rate when the same is not present in any other country that has adopted Bt cotton?

2012-05-10 | permalink

New research reveals challenges in U.S. GE crop regulatory process

APHIS regulates GE crops if the donor organism, recipient organism, or vector or vector agent meets the plant pest definition or the APHIS administrator believes the organism to be a plant pest. The agency’s regulatory decisions have met much criticism in the last decade, inspiring the U of M research team to determine if and where APHIS may have gone wrong. The team used past lawsuits as case studies to determine whether APHIS failed to recognize the environmental impacts of GE crops and made legal errors in failing to comply with the sometimes strict procedures of U.S. environmental law.

2012-05-10 | permalink

U.S. consumers trust GE food according to survey of food industry lobby group

While criticism of genetically modified foods has received widespread media attention in the past few years, consumers remain generally supportive of food biotechnology, according to an industry-funded survey released Thursday. The evaluation - conducted by the International Food Information Council - found that 38 percent of consumers have a somewhat or very favorable opinion towards plant biotechnology, up from 32 percent in 2010. A smaller 26 percent were neither favorable nor unfavorable, and 20 percent were either somewhat or very unfavorable. The majority of the consumers also found no need to change the way foods produced with biotechnology are labeled.

2012-05-10 | permalink

Anti-GM farmer prepared to be arrested at UK GE wheat protests

A Welsh farmer says he is willing to risk being arrested when he joins a group of activists at a protest near Luton aimed at destroying a trial crop of genetically-modified wheat. Gerald Miles, a critic of GM crops since trial plots were planted near his organic farm in Pembrokeshire in 2001, said stopping the trial at Rothamsted Research had to be a priority. “I would rather not risk being arrested, but myself and others are being forced to take that risk because we have no other means of preventing this crop from contaminating other crops and spreading across the country,” said Mr Miles.

2012-05-10 | permalink

4,000 people back campaign to protect UK GM wheat trial

AROUND 4,000 people, including high profile celebrities, MPs, farmers and scientists, have signed a petition urging protestors not to destroy a genetically modified wheat trial. The petition, run by Sense About Science, represents the next stage in the campaign to stop protestors operating under the banner, ‘Take Back the Flour’, carrying through their threat to destroy the trial at the Rothamsted Research institute, in Hertfordshire, on May 27. The highest profile signatory is actor and radio and TV presenter Stephen Fry, while other supporters include local MP and former Minister Peter Lilley, BBSRC chief executive Douglas Kell and writer Matt Ridley.

2012-05-10 | permalink

European Parliament votes against patents on plants and animals

the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the European Patent Office to stop granting patents on the conventional breeding of plants and animals. The resolution was jointly tabled by Members of Parliament from several parties and was adopted with a large majority. The vote follows the demands of some national parliaments, such as the German Bundestag, to put a stop to patents on plant and animal breeding. “This is a huge success for all farmers, breeders and consumers who are concerned about the monopolisation of our food resources,” says Ruth Tippe from the coalition No Patents On Seeds! “This vote cannot be ignored by the European Patent Office – it is time to stop the sell-out of resources needed for our daily lives.”

2012-05-10 | permalink

European Parliament postpones EFSA budget approval over conflicts of interest

In a plenary vote, the European Parliament today adopted a report by Monica Macovei MEP (PPE), deciding that the approval of the European food agency’s 2010 budget will be postponed. Also, a strong resolution was adopted denouncing the conflicts of interest that have plagued the agency. [...] Nina Holland of Corporate Europe Observatory comments: “This vote is a very important signal that conflicts of interests with industry are not acceptable. By postponing the approval of EFSA’s budget, the EP has used its powers to tell EFSA to be serious about the links between its experts and staff on the one hand, and industry on the other.

Go to: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... →

Overview

News

Go to: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... →

Go to: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... →

Home: GENET

GENET-news & GENET-forum

GENET-news is providing a daily news service on a range of topics regarding genetic engineering. We are screening the worldwide English news, press releases and other publications to provide you with a strategic selection of information. GENET-news enables you to stay informed about all aspects of the global controversy around GE technologies and GE organisms. You can subscribe by  email.

The GENET-forum list provides you with additional background information and more voluminous reports. It is only open for GENET members. Please contact the  coordinator for membership and subscription.