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2009-08-05 |

Glimmer of hope: ETH researchers develop GE rice with increased iron content

Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed rice plants that contain six times more iron in polished rice kernels. To accomplish this, the researchers transferred two plant genes into an existing rice variety. In the future, the high-iron rice could help to combat iron deficiency, especially in developing countries in Africa and Asia. According to the World Health Organization, approximately two billion people suffer from iron deficiency. They tire easily, experience problems in metabolizing harmful substances in their bodies and eventually suffer from anemia. Women and children are particularly affected in developing countries, where rice is the major staple food.

2009-08-05 |

Submergence-tolerant non-GE rice released as variety in the Philippines

The first submergence-tolerant rice variety in the Philippines was released during the 27th Council Secretariat Meeting on July 7. [...] ”Submarino 1 is a non-genetically engineered rice plant that can survive, grow and develop even after 10 days of complete submergence in water at vegetative stage,” said Dr. Nenita V. Desamero, DA-PhilRice plant breeder and team leader of the on-farm testing of submergence rice in the Philippines.

2009-08-05 |

SmartStax GE corn seeds sow doubts

Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow one of the most complicated genetically engineered plants ever designed, a futuristic type of corn containing eight foreign genes. With so much crammed into one seed, the modified corn will be able to confer multiple benefits, such as resistance to corn borers and rootworms, two caterpillar-like pests that infest the valuable grain crop, as well as withstanding applications of glyphosate, a weed killer better known by its commercial name, Roundup. But a controversy has arisen over the new seeds, which were approved for use last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Health Canada hasn’t assessed their safety.

2009-08-05 |

’No evidence’ that Welsh farmers has circulated GE seeds

An investigation has found no evidence a farmer who grew genetically modified cops circulated them to two farms. Jonathan Harrington who farms near Hay-on-Wye, Powys, said in January he had grown two varieties of the maize and passed the seeds onto other farmers.But Powys council said there was no evidence GM crops had been circulated to farms or fed to stock in the county.Mr Harrington, of Tregoyd, has been contacted for a response, but has been unavailable for comment.

2009-08-04 |

U.S. non-GMO soybean acreage increased by 1 million in 2009

US farmers planted one million more acres of non-GMO soybeans in 2009 than 2008, increasing to 6.97 million acres compared to 5.96 million acres the previous year. Overall, non-GMO soybeans accounted for 9% of a record high 77.5 million acres of soybeans planted this year. In 2008, non-GMO soybeans accounted for 8% of 75.5 million acres of soybeans. The percentage of farmers growing genetically modified soybeans decreased slightly from 92% in 2008 to 91% in 2009, the first drop in plantings of GM soybeans since 2000.

2009-08-04 |

Brazil’s Amaggi buys Norwegian non-GMO grain firm

Brazil’s Amaggi Exportacao e Importacao, the world’s largest soybean growing operation, said on Monday it bought a 51 percent equity stake in Norwegian non-GMO oilseed company Denofa to expand operations abroad. Denofa has a 430,000-tonne-per-year soy crusher in Fredrikstad, Norway, and a rapeseed oil processor in Poland. The value of the deal was not disclosed. [...] ”This acquisition is in accordance with Amaggi’s strategical plan of increasing its non-GMO program,” the company said in a statement.

2009-08-04 |

Illegal GE corn planting detected in Peru

Peru´s government is reviewing a study that shows genetically-modified corn has been detected in five key agricultural valleys. Peru´s decade-old biosafety law still lacks the supplemental legislation required to empower the government, particularly health and agricultural authorities, to regulate genetically-modified products is still pending. Currently, genetically-modified products in Peru, a signatory of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety cannot be planted, harvested or sold, because of the legislative void, even though there is no established penalty for doing so.

2009-08-04 |

Herbicide diversity needed to keep Roundup effective

Using a diverse herbicide application strategy may increase production costs, but a five-year Purdue University study shows the practice will drastically reduce weeds and seeds that are resistant to a popular herbicide. Excess usage of glyphosate-resistant crops has led to weeds, such as marestail, that also are resistant to glyphosate, the herbicide used in Roundup. Bill Johnson, a Purdue associate professor of weed science, said changing management practices can almost eliminate resistant marestail and its viable seeds in the soil.

2009-08-04 |

Monsanto to launch South America soy seed, but not in Argentina

Monsanto has unveiled a transgenic soybean seed it says will sharply boost yields in South America, but Argentina will miss out if the company can’t find a way to get farmers to pay for the technology. Argentina is where Monsanto first introduced genetically modified soybeans to the continent over a decade ago, but it will not get the new beans if current legislation allowing farmers to use seeds held over from the prior crop isn’t modified. Monsanto got burned on their first attempt to collect for its seed technology in Argentina and has vowed to not make the same mistake twice.

2009-08-04 |

Study released in Argentina puts glyphosate under fire

Argentina has seen an explosion in genetically modified (GM) soy bean production with soy exports topping $16.5 billion in 2008. The fertile South American nation is now the world’s third largest producer of soy, trailing behind the United States and Brazil. However, this lucrative industrial form of farming has come under fire with environmental groups, local residents, and traditional farmers reporting that GM soy threatens biodiversity, the nation’s ability to feed itself, and health in rural communities. Criticism of the soy farming model intensified recently when research released by Argentina’s top medical school showed that a leading chemical used in soy farming may be harmful to human health. The study has alarmed policymakers in the South American nation.

2009-08-03 |

BASF halts GM potato research in UK

Prospects for growing blight-resistant potatoes created by genetic modification have received a setback in the UK after BASF’s decision to suspend research into such varieties. The firm is blaming continuing delays in getting EU approval for GM potatoes, saying approval of its GM starch variety remains ”lost in the politics” of the EU. ”In the past decade, we have invested over €1bn into GM research,” said BASF’s Tom Wetjen at the Potato Council’s East Midlands Potato Day.

2009-08-03 |

Majority of German MPs don’t support Green Party calling for a permanent MON810 ban

A majority of the members of Germany’s parliament are against the current ban of Monsanto’s genetically engineered maize Mon 810, that could not be planted this year by German farmers after Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner argued there might be effects on non-target organisms such as ladybugs. On Monday, a majority of the members of the Deutscher Bundestag rejected a motion of the German Greens to vote against EU re-authorisation of Monsanto’s Bt maize as well as against a permanent ban of Mon810 cultivation in Germany.

2009-08-03 |

High level of GMO content detected in maize sample for Swedish dairy

The maize batch was checked in its own control program for GMOs, and a test showed it contained too high a level of GM material to qualify as a GMO-free product. Interested customers are informed and all further use of maize as GM-free is stopped. 

Lantmännen’s own supervision system discovered a batch of maize with an excessive content of GMO to qualify as a GMO-free product. Up to 0.9% GMOs are permitted in a GMO-free raw material and in our control, we have measured 3.9% contamination.

2009-08-03 |

Study says EU policymakers can not uphold zero tolerance policy towards non EU-approved GM-crops

Results of a brand-new study suggest that the EU will soon have to accept food and feed imports that carry tiny amounts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) not yet approved by the EU authorities. Otherwise prices might rise soon, according to the analysis of the EU’s think tank, the Institute of Prospective Research (ISPRA) in Seville, Spain. The asynchronous approval of GM crops, which is caused by national differences in regulation and political approval of GMOs, is at the heart of the problem, say the researchers.

2009-08-03 |

Austria pushes EU for GMO opt-out clause

The cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the European Union could soon no longer be decided by scientific facts, but by political preferences. Fourteen member states – among them France, Poland and Portugal – say each of the 27 nations of the EU should be allowed to decide independently of scientific risk assessments whether or not to allow GMO cultivation on their territory. At the end of June, Austria tabled a proposal at the Environment Council in Luxembourg to establish this kind of politically motivated opt-out clause

2009-08-03 |

European consultation project on GMOs started

The spectrum of opinions on genetically modified organisms is to come under new scrutiny in a European consultation project to assess EU legislation governing the controversial crops. [...] To evaluate the hotly debated legislative framework, the Director General for Environment of the European Commission has launched an evaluative study, looking into reactions to GM crops in Europe. The stated aim of the project is to ”assess how far the implementation of the legislative framework has achieved its objectives.” These goals include protection of human and animal health, defense of consumer and environmental interests, and the functioning of the internal market.

2009-07-31 |

GM sugar beets found in soil mix sold to U.S. gardeners

In May, genetically modified sugar beet plants were found in a soil mix sold to gardeners at a landscape supply business in Corvallis, Oregon. The contamination incident raises doubts about the ability of the sugar beet seed industry to keep GM sugar beets from contaminating non-GMO sugar beets and related plants. [...] Morton says the incident could help the lawsuit against the USDA over GM beets.

2009-07-31 |

Boulder County’s (USA) Food and Agriculture Policy Council says no to GE sugar beets

Boulder County’s Food and Agriculture Policy Council [...] after seven hours of public testimony and deliberation [...] recommends against allowing genetically modified sugar beets to be grown on open space land. [...] The Food and Agriculture Policy Committee, which is just more than a year old, also made plans to discuss the possibility of creating a more overarching policy for GMOs in the county so that this controversy doesn’t repeat itself every year.

2009-07-31 |

Boulder County (USA) Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee recommends allowing GMO beets

The Boulder County Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee recommended late Thursday that six local farmers be allowed to grow genetically modified sugar beets on open space land. In December, the farmers, all of whom are at least the second generation to farm in the county, asked that they be allowed to grow Roundup Ready sugar beets, which are genetically modified to resist the herbicide Roundup.

2009-07-31 |

EU and Canada settle WTO case on gene-modified products

The European Union and Canada settled a World Trade Organization complaint over the way the EU approves imports of genetically modified products. The agreement signed today in Geneva ”provides for the establishment of a regular dialogue on issues of mutual interest on agriculture biotechnology,” the European Commission said in a statement from Brussels. Canada, the U.S. and Argentina complained about the EU’s biotech policy in May 2003. The WTO ruled in September 2006 that a six-year ban the EU imposed on biotech foods until 2004 was illegal. When the EU lifted the ban, it tightened labeling rules and created a food agency to screen applications. Since then, it’s used an approval process that the U.S. complains is too slow, issuing about a dozen authorizations of gene-modified products for human food and animal feed and has yet to allow cultivation.

2009-07-31 |

Do seed companies control GM crop research?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to verify that genetically modified crops perform as advertised. That is because agritech companies have given themselves veto power over the work of independent researchers.
To purchase genetically modified seeds, a customer must sign an agreement that limits what can be done with them. (If you have installed software recently, you will recognize the concept of the end-user agreement.) Agreements are considered necessary to protect a company’s intellectual property, and they justifiably preclude the replication of the genetic enhancements that make the seeds unique. But agritech companies such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta go further. For a decade their user agreements have explicitly forbidden the use of the seeds for any independent research. Under the threat of litigation, scientists cannot test a seed to explore the different conditions under which it thrives or fails.

2009-07-31 |

Most complex GE corn approved in Canada and the USA without specific risk assessment

The most complex genetically engineered corn (maize) yet has been approved for use next year in Canada and the United States without its potential health and environmental risks being investigated, anti-biotech activists charged Wednesday. Neither U.S. nor Canadian health officials have assessed the human health safety of Monsanto’s and Dow AgroSciences’ new ’SmartStax’ genetically engineered (GE) corn with eight novel genes inserted into corn DNA, said the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), an NGO based in Ottawa, Canada. ”Health Canada did not conduct or require any testing for this new eight-trait GE (also called genetically modified, GM or GMO) corn and did not even officially authorise it for release into the food system,” said Lucy Sharratt, CBAN’s coordinator.

2009-07-30 |

Africa not engaged in GE crop development, why?

According to [Mark W. Rosegrant, director of the IFPRI Environment and Production Technology division], the absence of modern scientific platforms for homegrown biotechnology is yet another major impediment in Africa. He believes the developed world should help African nations train scientists and help them acquire the technologies needed for crop biotechnology to enhance improved agricultural production.

2009-07-30 |

Tanzanian Government urged to raise awareness of GMOs

An expert has advised the Government to increase the level of awareness of genetically modified (GM) crops among small-scale farmers. Dr Caroline Herron said in a statement released yesterday by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) that it was important to increase the knowledge of farmers who are potential consumers and producers of GM crops. She said their understanding of advantages and disadvantages of the crops would enable them to participate fully in the GM debate.

2009-07-30 |

Ethiopia adopts biosafety law

Aiming to save the nation from the adverse effects of genetically modified organisms (GMO), a new Proclamation on Bio-Safety was approved by parliament last week. Drafted by the Federal Environmental Protection Authority (FEPA), this landmark legislation, which various environmental groups and local consumer associations have been calling for, contains various regulations aimed at protecting human and animal health, and biological diversity, by managing and even totally avoiding GMO threats.

2009-07-30 |

Agrochemicals Association of Kenya says GE crops won’t kill its business

An industry lobby has attempted to allay fears of loss of business for local pesticide and fertiliser makers when genetically modified crops are fully adopted in Kenya. Proponents of biotechnology claim these crops can greatly reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilisers needed. This, among other factors, is said to be fuelling pesticide makers’ stiff opposition to the genetically modified crops. Richard Shikuku, chief executive officer of the Agrochemicals Association of Kenya (AAK), says the technology is good for building up the country’s food reserves, and the adoption of GMOs will not kill the pesticides business.

2009-07-30 |

The G8, Obama, and food insecurity in Africa

The decline in agriculture in many African countries was due to the structural adjustment policies of the IMF and World Bank. The countries were asked or advised to dismantle marketing boards and guaranteed prices for farmers’ products; phase out or eliminate subsidies and support such as fertilizer, machines, agricultural infrastructure, and reduce tariffs of food products to very low levels. [...] The case of Ghana itself, which Obama chose for his first African visit, illustrates this. The policies of food self-sufficiency and government encouragement of the agriculture sector (through marketing, credit and subsidies for inputs) had assisted in an expansion of food production.

2009-07-30 |

Role of genetically modified crops in Africa

During the past decade, Africa’s population increased from 760 to 970 million, pushing farmers to encroach on fragile ecosystems. Climate change is increasingly manifest through erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged drought spells, and unprecedented floods, making rain-fed agriculture even more risky, thus aggravating food insecurity among resource-poor smallholder farmers. Compounding this scenario are post-harvest pests that devour their meager harvests. Indeed, the challenges are great, sometimes disillusioning, but certainly not insurmountable. Under these circumstances, GM technologies have a role in addressing challenges that were previously elusive to classical breeding on its own.

2009-07-29 |

Bayer CropScience expands global R&D activities in seeds and traits by setting up new research focus area in cereals

Bayer CropScience is expanding its global research and development activities in seeds and traits to include a focus on cereals. In support of this expansion, the company recently formalised a long-term alliance with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national research organization, which is one of the world’s leading institutions in the development of new wheat varieties.

2009-07-29 |

Salt tolerant GM wheat to hit the paddock in Australia

RESEARCHERS expect to have genetically modified salt tolerant cereal lines in the paddock for trials next year, in a big boost for the 70pc of Australian farmers affected by salinity. A project into salt tolerance, conducted jointly by the University of Adelaide and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) has had some promising results. ”I’m excited by what is happening – the preliminary results are looking good, we are confident we will be able to reduce the amount of salt that gets into the plant, which then limits the yield,” project leader Mark Tester said.

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