GENET-news

28.08.2008

Bt cotton scare grips farmers, 120 goats perish in Orissa (India)

The scare of Bt cotton has come real and in a cruel way. Around 120 goats died after consuming Bt cotton leaves cultivated in Patnagarh sub-division on Sunday. Bt cotton is banned though its seeds are illegally available in the State. Police have detained one Shankar Deep who had taken on lease the land for cultivation of Bt cotton and have registered an FIR. [...] Villagers say that the goats died after chewing Bt cotton leaves. The goats were found fainting in the area where they ate Bt cotton leaves. On postmortem, it was found that all the goats had Bt cotton leaves in their stomach.

28.08.2008

Indian Supreme Court SC to hear plea for moratorium on GM crop

An application seeking a complete moratorium on release of any genetically-modified (GM) crops in the environment till an independent testing facility is set up in India, will be listed for hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. A ”review of six years of Bt cotton experience” is sought on the opinion of Dr P M Bhargava, the noted microbiological expert. He says ”it is necessary that review must take place during a full moratorium on all GM crops, including Bt cotton” — a view that will be placed before a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

28.08.2008

Two new Indian institutes to promote research in agri-biotechnology

The National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) and Bioprocessing Unit (BPU), to be built at a cost of Rs 380 crore, will be a part of the first Agri-food Park cluster being developed in the Knowledge City at Mohali. ”The central institute will have a major role in implementing relevant biotechnology programmes in the state and generating the required human resource,” Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, which approved the project.

28.08.2008

Low Indian acreage not to dent cotton production due to Bt plantation

Cotton production may not witness a significant fall despite reduction in acreage by about five lakh hectares in 2008-09, thanks to better yield expected from increasing cultivation of genetically modified Bt-cotton. Area under cotton cultivation declined to 85.9 lakh hectares as on August 17 from 90.7 lakh hectares on the same period last year, according to government data. ”While area under cultivation has shrunk, it will not have much impact on the output, as more than 80 per cent of farmers have planted Bt-cotton this year,” President of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industries P D Patodia said.

28.08.2008

Biosafety data of transgenic brinjal made public in India

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has published information on biosafety studies of Bt brinjal, developed by MAHYCO, on its official website. The data in eight volumes, runs into more than 1,100 pages. Sources in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) confirmed that it was the complete data sent by the company which was analysed by the department and forwarded to the GEAC. Greenpeace, which has been demanding that the data be made public and is involved in a long Right to Information (RTI) battle, says the data looks comprehensive, but there is neither an official notification nor an assurance of its completeness from the authorities.

27.08.2008

Japan finds unauthorised GM rice in China products

Japan has found three incidents of processed rice product imports from China so far this year that contained a variety of genetically modified rice not authorised here, a health ministry official said on Friday. The strain of rice concerned, Bt-63, is a variety that has been modified to resist particular insect pests, but it has not been approved in many parts of the world, and China itself prohibits the export of GM rice. In July 2007, Japan stepped up its testing of rice products imported from China to cover all such imports and check for the unauthorised Bt-63.

27.08.2008

U.S. judge denies class-action for biotech rice suit against Bayer

A federal judge ruled Thursday that hundreds of farmers will not be able to consolidate their lawsuits against Bayer CropScience AG over the accidental release of experimental genetically engineered rice into the food supply. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry denied a motion to certify the farmers’ claims into one class-action suit, saying were too different from one another to be lumped into a single case. If the case had been certified, attorneys say thousands of farmers in rice-producing states like Missouri and Arkansas could have joined the action.

27.08.2008

Welsh (UK) farmers call for GM debate

WELSH farmers are calling for an informed debate over the use of genetically modified crops so they can compete fairly in the global marketplace. Dyfed CLA chairman Walter Simon says farmers should be allowed to have the choice to make use of scientific developments. Speaking on the eve of today’s opening of the three-day Pembrokeshire Show, Mr Simon said Britain should allow the potential of GM technology to be developed and made available to large and small producers.

27.08.2008

Debate on GM crops not being guided by reason

Prince Charles raised some useful points for debate. Indeed, it was Woolas’ criticism that sounded more like the views of a Monsanto company salesman. Rather than counter the Prince’s position through argument, Woolas quickly dismissed Prince Charles’ attitude as ”entirely Luddite” and then in typical condescending attitude, invoked the potential benefits of GM crops to the Third World. The criticism was an easy sell to those who fail to scratch beneath the surface as was the case with another pro-GM politician Phil Willis who accused the Prince of scientific ignorance and argued that the failure to develop GM crops would ”condemn millions of people to starvation in areas like sub-Saharan Africa”. Yet Prince Charles did not question the science, rather he raised concerns over its application.

27.08.2008

ABIC 2008 in Ireland not promoting GM products, Teagasc insists

TEAGASC HAS rejected claims from the anti-GMO lobby that a world conference it is hosting in Cork this week has the purpose of promoting genetically modified crop and animal production. A spokesman for Teagasc said the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference being held in UCC this week had only a relatively small element dealing with GMO production. [...] ”This conference which is being attended by over 450 of the world’s top scientists is about deepening our understanding of DNA - it is not about promoting GMO production,” the spokesman said.

27.08.2008

Irish Government slammed for supporting GM food conference

The controversial industry talkfest, which runs from 24-27 August, is organised by a Canadian foundation with funding from the Canadian Government, industry lobby groups, corporate agri-biotech giants Monsanto, BASF, Bayer CropScience, and BP Bio fuels, and the Gowlings law firm (which aided Monsanto’s GMO patent infringement lawsuit against the Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who lost ownership of his seeds and crops after being contaminated by Monsanto’s GM seeds). Irish tax-payers are funding the conference through Teagasc (the Agriculture and Food Authority), Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Marine Institute (Foras na Mara), the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and Sustainable Energy Ireland. Michael O’Callaghan of GM-free Ireland said ”The Government is abusing our money to sabotage its own agreed policy to keep the whole island of Ireland off-limits to GM crops.”

26.08.2008

Glyphosate-resistant weeds fuel Bayer expansion in the U.S.

The explosive expansion of the agricultural sector due to production of bio-fuels is trickling down to Muskegon Township. Bayer CropScience broke ground Friday morning on a $15 million expansion of its facility at 1740 Whitehall to increase the production of its herbicide Ignite. The expansion, expected to be completed by early 2009, will bring an additional 10 jobs to the 44 already at the chemical plant.

26.08.2008

International capital dominates Brazilian agriculture

This dual movement of capital -- which was very much noticeable, from as far back as the theory of imperialism, in large industrial enterprises -- also came to dominate the agricultural sector in the last ten years. And what is most dangerous, now under the hegemony of financial capital, the velocity and volume of capital invested in agriculture were much faster and greater than had been the case in other productive sectors through the course of the twentieth century. That is because much capital in the form of money, i.e. financial capital, accumulated in rich countries in recent years. This capital was shifting to the purchase of shares in the most profitable corporations of the primary sector as well. Thus, in just a few years, as an effect of the investment of this financial capital in stock purchases, concentration and centralization became extraordinary.

26.08.2008

U.S. Grains Council plans to rewrite biotech sections of South Korean textbooks

The U.S. Grains Council, the leading organization for export market development for barley, corn and sorghum, has dedicated years of service to educating international biotechnology regulators, government officials and end-users on the safety of biotechnology supported by sound science. This week, however, the Council is taking a different and innovative approach to setting the record straight and addressing existing misconceptions by educating Korean high school teachers, university professors and authors of Korean textbooks. ”We found that in many cases school (high school and university) textbooks were very misleading in terms of presenting the proven, science-based facts regarding the use and safety of modern biotechnology,” said Byong Ryol Min, USGC director in Korea.

26.08.2008

Monsanto to promote GM soybeans in Japan

Monsanto Co., the world’s leading producer of genetically modified seeds, hopes that value-added soybeans - now in its research pipeline - will help underscore the benefits of GM foods among Japanese consumers and soften their resistance to such food. ”Knowing how important soybeans are in the Japanese diet, I see real opportunity in GM soybeans for Japanese consumers,” said Kim Magin Sutter, Monsanto’s Director of Global Oilseed Industry Affairs. […..] Meanwhile, Sutter dismissed the argument that a few global agricultural majors are trying to control the world’s seed market by dominating patents on GM technology.

26.08.2008

Is Monsanto everywhere? Seed giant flexes muscle

In late March, Monsanto Co. sent a ”Dear Valued Customer” letter to most U.S. corn and soybean farmers. The reason, wrote Jim Zimmer, Monsanto’s vice president of U.S. branded business, was ”to discuss ... some current marketplace dynamics that will directly affect you in terms of increased prices for Monsanto’s line of Roundup herbicides for 2008.” Demand of glyphosate, Roundup’s generic counterpart, ”is at an all time high,” explained Zimmer. As such, ”We have seen the demand for Roundup brand herbicide increase more than our current ability to supply.” That’s a problem, he continued, because ”We have a reliable supplier commitment to farmers who choose to purchase Roundup Ready technology and who choose to purchase Roundup brand herbicide that we will have supply available.”

26.08.2008

Eli Lilly and Company to acquire Monsanto’s POSILAC brand dairy product and related business

Monsanto Company announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell its POSILAC® bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly’s animal health division, Elanco, headquartered in Greenfield, Indiana, is the seventh largest animal health company on a global sales basis. [...] ”We’re pleased Elanco is acquiring this business and will continue to provide dairy farmers with this important production tool,” said Carl Casale, Monsanto’s Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Operations.

25.08.2008

Kootenay Food Strategy Society launches local GE-free campaign in Canada

Organized by a sub-group of the Kootenay Food Strategy Society, the G.E. Free Kootenays campaign used the event to encourage area residents to become involved and supportive of the creation of a region that remains free of genetically-engineered plants and trees. [...] ”Our next step is to present our strategy to the public and encourage community-specific groups to get involved in bringing this issue to their municipal and regional councils and boards,” says spokesperson Kim Charlesworth.

25.08.2008

Kikkoman secures non-GM US soy for Japan use

Kikkoman Corp said on Wednesday it had secured U.S. non-genetically modified soybeans for soy sauce production in Japan for 2009, and would have little choice but to continue to rely on U.S. soybeans. Many of Japan’s soy product makers use non-gm soybeans in keeping with domestic consumer preferences but face daunting procurement difficulties. Genetically modified soybeans now account for over 90 percent of planting in the United States, the world’s biggest soybean exporter, as farmers seek to cut herbicide use and production costs. A doubling in import costs of non-GM soybeans from a year earlier has encouraged a major Japanese tofu maker, Shinozakiya Inc, to increase the usage of locally grown non-gm soybeans, albeit gradually.

25.08.2008

Gene Ethics published a map of commercial GM canola sites in Victoria (Australia)

Premier Brumby refuses to set up an official GM site register. ”Gene Ethics presents its online map of commercial GM canola sites being grown this winter as a service to the Victorian public,” says Gene Ethics Director Bob Phelps. ”Our map helps fill the information vacuum created when Premier Brumby lifted Victoria’s 5 year GM canola ban and refused to set up an official register, worsening the threat of GM contamination.

25.08.2008

Top Australian chefs demand the right to know if they are eating GM food

Leading Australian chefs Tobie Puttock and Dur-é Dara have joined nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton and Greenpeace in launching a national petition asking for comprehensive labelling and testing of GM food products. The petition – ”Our Right to Know” – calls on Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, to introduce labelling and rigorous safety testing for all food derived from genetically modified (GM) crops. Oils and other highly processed foods are currently not labelled for GM ingredients, nor is produce from animals fed GM feed. Canola is used extensively in processed foods, as cooking oil, and in animal feed. Australia’s first GM food crop, GM canola, will be harvested in NSW and Victoria later this year.

25.08.2008

GM crops: the next major talking point of Western Australian election campaign

Genetically Modified (GM) crops continue to polarise opinion, with the WA Opposition indicating they will allow trials of GM canola and permit the planting of GM cotton if they triumph in September’s election. The Labor Government has, however, remained steadfast in their belief that the state should remain GM-free, with Premier Alan Carpenter indicating a moratorium on GM crops will remain if he is re-elected. ”I will not, in the next term of government, allow GM crops to be grown on a commercial basis in Western Australia,” he told reporters earlier this week.

25.08.2008

Western Australia extends GE canola moratorium for four years

THE WESTERN Australian Government has extended its moratorium on GM food crops for another four years. It joins South Australia as major canola producing States not growing the commercial GM canola varieties, with Victoria and NSW both growing GM this year. The decision was predictably applauded and derided in equal measure.

22.08.2008

The four barriers to the genetically modified ”food revolution” and why no one is talking about them

So let’s make a deal: In return for targeting vital regional and local crops, and for making the seeds accessible to poor farmers, GM companies will get hefty subsidies for research and development of these crops. [...] If the main obstacle to GM miracles is lack of financial and political support, as the industry argues, then such a deal could be the catalyst for serious innovation. But if, as many critics believe, the real obstacle here is that GM technology simply isn’t all that its proponents claim, that the real challenges of food insecurity - degraded soils, political instability, lack of water, and soaring energy costs - are beyond the reach of a single technology, that, too, would quickly become clear.

22.08.2008

What is the relevance of GE crops in fighting hunger and poverty?

Almost exactly four years ago, I was in Cologne, Germany to cover the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (Abic). Scientist after scientist (many of them working in the commercial sector) told me how companies had messed up by appearing to force GM products on an unsuspecting world, and how narrow the lines of research had been. A second wave of crops, they pledged, would bring things that people actually wanted and needed, from drought-resistant rice for Africa to vitamin-enhanced fruit for Europeans, and would largely use technologies that did not involve transferring genes from one organism to another. On a commercial scale, these developments have not arrived. Earlier the same year, at the Indian Science Congress in Chandigarh, I listened to Indian scientists from the president down explain how national research institutions were going to develop strains with traits such as enhanced nutrition and salt resistance, and give them away to farming communities. That, also, has not happened.

22.08.2008

Last gasp of the anti-GM movement?

We can only conclude that putting a high-profile anti-GM spokesman up for a major interview is an act of desperation on behalf of the environmentalist and organic movements. Prince Charles was guaranteed to get plenty of coverage on this issue, so it was possible that he would have swayed public opinion against crop biotechnology. [...] To return to the anti-GM movement: this rant by a senior activist may not be quite their last gasp, but it is surely a sign that the tide has well and truly turned. Crop biotechnology is here to stay and it is now down to scientists, regulators and politicians to make sure that it is used wisely for the benefit of all.

22.08.2008

Prince of Wales in tune with public and independent scientific opinion on GM

The Prince of Wales’s views not only reflect the views of 85% of the British public who opposed the commercial growing of GM crops in the UK, but also of an increasing body of independent scientists who question GM company PR claims that GM crops are the answer to world hunger. Robin Maynard, Soil Association Campaigns Director said: ”As so often, The Prince of Wales’s views are in tune with public opinion. In questioning the value of GM crops for poor, small-scale farmers in developing countries, his comments also chime with the recent international agricultural assessment by 400 scientists from around the world, which questioned whether GM crops offered any solutions to global poverty, hunger or climate change.

22.08.2008

Prince Charles wrong on GM, says UK environment minister

A senior minister has accused Prince Charles of ”ignoring” the needs of starving people in the developing world by attacking genetically modified crops. Phil Woolas, the environment minister, said it was ”easy for those with plentiful food” to ignore Third World hunger. He told The Sunday Telegraph that the Government would press ahead with GM crop trials and look at moving to a more ”liberal” regime in Britain, unless scientific evidence showed that the crops had done harm.

22.08.2008

The Prince of Wales: ’If that is the future, count me out’

Throughout our conversation he has been calm, measured and disinclined to rubbish the supermarket chains which, I suspect, he regards as doers of the devil’s work, turning Cotswold villages into miserable clone towns. But my suggestion that Big Food, industrial-scale operators, are the way ahead sends him whizzing off piste. Jabbing his finger at me, he lets rip: ”What, all run by gigantic corporations? Is that really the answer? I think not. That would be the absolute destruction of everything and... the classic way of ensuring that there is no food in the future.” Bouncing in his chair, the Prince sets out his nightmare vision, a world in which millions of small farmers ”are driven off their land [by global conglomerates] into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness”. If that’s how it’s going to be, he says, ”count me out”. We are missing the point. We should be discussing ”food security not food production”.

21.08.2008

Europeans may ditch Kenyan roses for blue GE variety

Already Japanese group Suntory, which owns Florigene, has been given the go-ahead to market genetically modified carnations in the European Union (EU) and sell them as cut flowers. The flowers, which started to circulate in the EU in February, are being sold with labels that clearly indicate the product is genetically modified. Considering that blue is Europe’s favourite colour, the flowers seem to be gaining popularity quite fast. Although the local industry is not entirely terrified of the new development, saying that blue roses are a welcome addition to the bouquet, there is no doubt its dominance in the EU market might be under attack.

21.08.2008

Top South African breakfast brands contain unlabelled GE maize

Label battle grows as lab tests show top breakfast brands contain a hefty proportion of genetically modified maize
Millions of South Africans eat genetically modified cereals for breakfast. [...] Products that have tested positive for GM maize include ProNutro original flavour (52.7 %), ProNutro Toddlers Instant apple and banana flavour (97.5%), Iwisa Maize Meal (27.2%), Tiger Brands Ace samp (53.7%) and Purity cream of maize baby soft porridge (24.9%). Cereal products found to be completely GM free were Pick n Pay No Name Brand cornflakes and Kellogg’s cornflakes.

21.08.2008

Tanzanian Minister of State reminds of national GE crop ban

A call has been made for agricultural experts in the country to be vigilant against people importing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as seeds since the government has not lifted its ban. Dr Batilda Burian, the Minister of State in Vice President’s Office, made this appeal when officiating at the Nane Nane celebrations in the northern zone at the weekend. She said the Government’s ban on GMO seeds was still there, noting that some neighboring countries use some of them. She said agricultural experts were responsible to make sure such seeds do not make their way into the country. ”We have not yet lifted the ban on GMO seeds, so we need assistance of immigration officials at the borders to make sure that those seeds do not reach our farmers.” the minister insisted.

21.08.2008

More nutritious non-GE maize boosts growth of
 children in rural Ethiopia

Maize is becoming a major staple food in Ethiopia as the price of tef - the traditional indigenous cereal - is rising beyond the means of resource-poor consumers, and its yields generally fall short of household needs. Rural communities rely more and more on maize for both calories and protein, especially where people lack access to other protein sources. CIMMYT and the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) have introduced and adapted a maize type (quality protein maize, or QPM) with increased levels of two amino acids - lysine and tryptophan - that make more of maize’s protein useful to humans and farm animals. The QPM variety BHQP 542, released in 2002, is gaining popularity among farmers and households in environments where it is well-adapted.

21.08.2008

Ugandan scientists urge farmers to keep traditional crops

The scientists who were brainstorming with civil society leaders at the fifth Open Forum for Agriculture Biotechnology in Africa (Ofab) on the theme ”The role of Biotechnology in Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation of Genetic resources” at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala argued the traditional plant species which are also the country’s staple food are rich in food value compared to the modified species.
The traditional crops include among others, sorghum, millet, cassava, beans, rice, matooke, groundnuts and simsim. On the other hand, the scientists encourage the production of the modified species since the government gave them a green light to carry out research on the modified crops, though both the government and farmers agree on preserving seedlings of the traditional plant in the gene banks.

21.08.2008

Namibia crafting regulations on GMOs

Namibia is working on regulations of the Biosafety Act 2006, which will regulate the import, export and production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). [...] The Biosafety Act was passed and signed in December 2006. It aims to introduce a system and procedures for the regulation of GMOs to provide protection to the conservation, research, development, production, marketing, transport, application and other uses of genetically modified organisms and specific products derived from GMOs. It also aims to promote sustainable use of biological diversity by taking into consideration potential risks to human health and safety, as well as cultural, social and economic considerations.

21.08.2008

Kenya to adopt GMOs, says Kenyan Agriculture Minister

Kenya will enact a law to legalise genetically modified technology to increase food production. Agriculture Minister William Ruto said the highly divisive technology offers the best tool to fight low yields, diseases and increase productivity. ”I believe the way to get our nation out of poverty is to have the right technology in agriculture because our economy is agri-based,” he said.

21.08.2008

Vietnam Biotechnology Update 2008

Vietnam has completed a new draft Biodiversity Law which is expected to be ratified by the National Assembly in October 2008. Chapter 6 of this law pertains to the management of Genetically Modified (GM) Organisms. The Implementing regulations to allow field trials of biotech crops have still not been approved, but the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development remains hopeful that it will be signed before the end 2008 so that field trials may begin this year. Vietnam will likely not achieve its targets to release GM crops for commercial production by 2010. Vietnam also has concerns about the lack of skilled biotech personnel and plans to send more students overseas for advanced degrees in biotech related fields.

21.08.2008

Greenpeace Thailand appeals after court acquits Dept of Agriculture in GMO liability case

Greenpeace today lodged an appeal after the administrative Court’s acquittal of the Department of Agriculture in Thailand’s first GMO liability lawsuit. The environment group aloso renewed its call for the protection of the Thai papaya from the threat of GMOs.
BANGKOK, THAILAND - Greenpeace today announced that they will lodge an appeal after the Administrative Court’s acquittal of the Department of Agriculture in Thailand’s first GMO liability lawsuit. The environment group also renewed its call for the protection of the Thai papaya from the threat of GMOs.

20.08.2008

Call for adequate labelling of GM food in Australia

Genetically modified food labelling is inadequate and confusing for consumers, according to the Conservation Council of WA, which has called for better standards. The council’s sustainable agriculture spokeswoman, Maggie Lilith, said many European Union countries had successfully implemented strict labelling on GM ingredients and there was no reason why it could not be done in Australia . ”We’ve got no labelling at all so that gives no one any choice,” she said. ”We don’t know whether (ingredients are) derived from GM canola or GM soy so people can’t avoid it. It’s inadequate testing at this stage and there’s not enough studies that have been done and no long-term generational studies.”

20.08.2008

GM-free decision by NSW Farmers Association (Australia)

THE NSW Farmers’ Association has declared it will call on State and Federal governments to protect non-genetically modified (GM) canola growers from the financial risks of GM production on a commercial scale. The association’s delegates carried a motion at their annual conference in Sydney yesterday that will see the farming lobby pressure governments to provide financial safeguards for farmers who choose not to use GM canola seeds.
The conference’s second day was dominated by debate over the costs, marketability and safety of GM crops, and the motion - which effectively supports the interests of non-GM canola growers - was won by a very narrow margin.

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