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2007-01-26 |

'1st GM eggplant soon to be commercially grown in RP

Thanks to India, the Philippine vegetable industry will soon include genetically modified (GM) eggplant as one of the prized food crops. Said to be the first GM eggplant in South and Southeast Asia, the new pest-resistant eggplant was developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) based in Jaina, India. It was introduced in the Philippines three years ago and it is now in the final stage of trial in greenhouse at the University of the Philippine Los Baños-Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB).

2007-01-25 |

Twenty In Ten: Strengthening America's energy security

Tonight, President Bush Will Ask Congress And America's Scientists, Farmers, Industry Leaders, And Entrepreneurs To Join Him In Pursuing The Goal Of Reducing U.S. Gasoline Usage By 20 Percent In The Next Ten Years – Twenty In Ten. For too long, our Nation has been dependent on oil. America's dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists – who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy.
America Will Reach The President's Twenty In Ten Goal By:
- Increasing The Supply Of Renewable And Alternative Fuels By Setting A Mandatory Fuels Standard To Require 35 Billion Gallons Of Renewable And Alternative Fuels In 2017 – Nearly Five Times The 2012 Target Now In Law. In 2017, this will displace 15 percent of projected annual gasoline use.
- Reforming And Modernizing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards For Cars And Extending The Current Light Truck Rule. In 2017, this will reduce projected annual gasoline use by up to 8.5 billion gallons, a further 5 percent reduction that, in combination with increasing the supply of renewable and alternative fuels, will bring the total reduction in projected annual gasoline use to 20 percent.

2007-01-25 |

Safeway ditches artificial hormone in milk

Got Milk? Safeway does but it doesn’t have a controversial artificial growth hormone anymore. The grocer chain said milk suppliers for the grocer’s Northwest processing plants have stopped using recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH. The announcement comes shortly after Starbucks confirmed that milk products in its company-owned coffee shops in Oregon and Washington are free of rBGH. [...] In the past two years, however, major dairy names in the Northwest have stopped using the hormone. The Tillamook County Creamery Association started the trend when association’s members upheld a ban on injecting cows with the hormone in a hotly contested vote in March 2005.

2007-01-25 |

Springtime for ethanol

The Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry’s major lobbyist, works out of cramped offices that it shares with a lawyer near Capitol Hill. Pictures of ethanol plants from its 61 board members hang everywhere. “We’re about to run out of wall space,” said Bob Dinneen, the association’s president. [...] After three decades of surviving mostly on tax subsidies, the industry is poised tonight to get its biggest endorsement from on high that it has a long-term future as a home-grown alternative to gasoline.

2007-01-25 |

Seeds of life - looking for alternatives to the dominant agrobusiness model

Why have an alarming number of Indian farmers taken their lives over the last years? Why are people in the rural Jang Seong county near Kwangju, South Korea, getting involved in organic farming? Why are church-sponsored organizations in Brazil working to recover native seeds? The answer to these questions has a lot to do with the impact of economic globalization on agriculture, where two models are currently locked in a life-and-death contest. In the case of India, the story starts with the introduction, some 15 years ago, of genetically modified cotton seeds. With the government subsidizing cotton production, high profits persuaded farmers to move into monoculture, eventually taking out loans to rent more land to cultivate. Along the way, they also gave up sowing food crops.

2007-01-24 |

GM fears a pile of crop, says APEC

THE once scary concept of genetic modification could turn out to be a saviour for farmers struggling with the drought. Delegates from Asia Pacific nations, meeting in Canberra, are turning their mind to improving the public perception and understanding of agricultural biotechnology, known more commonly as genetic modification. While the idea of GM foods or crops can strike fear into some, the nations of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum see benefits from the technology. Ellen Terpstra, chair of APEC's high-level talks on agricultural biotechnology, said the idea was of great interest to many farmers worldwide.

2007-01-24 |

Govt. asks Mahyco to compensate cotton farmers

The fully owned subsidiary of US biotech major Monsanto, Mahyco has been asked by the government to compensate cotton farmers for failure of Bt cotton in the current season, industry sources said here on January 07. The Bt cotton crop has failed in the major producing district of state, Dharampuri and farmers in the region has complained to the district collector and subsequently the agriculture officials.

2007-01-24 |

South Africa GMO crops soar by 180 pct in 06/07 - union

South Africa's genetically modified crop area (GMOs) soared by 180 percent in the 2006/07 season to 1.4 million hectares, farm union Agri SA said on Tuesday. One million hectares of the total was maize, the country's biggest staple crop, Agri SA president Lourie Bosman told a news briefing. The remainder was made up of soybean and cotton. South Africa is virtually alone in its pro-GMO stance in Africa, putting it at odds with its food-importing neighbours, as well as big markets in Europe strongly opposed to so-called "Frankenstein foods".

2007-01-24 |

Chile's biofuel committee anounces recommendations

Chile’s Public-Private Bioenergy Committee released Monday its report analyzing the development of biocombustible fuel in Chile. The committee made 21 recommendations that open a path of action towards sourcing sustainable fuel in Chile. [...] Biofuel in Chile – generally given the go-ahead by the environmentalists – has been at the center of an environmental controversy since a bill was introduced in Congress to promote cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in order to develop the “green” industry.

2007-01-23 |

Local Philippine supermarkets still selling rice disapproved for consumption

upermarkets in Metro Manila, the Philippines’ most populous region, are still selling Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain Rice even if it was confirmed last November to be contaminated with a genetically-engineered (GE) strain disapproved for human consumption. Greenpeace expressed “shock and disgust” over the failure of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to recall the GE-tainted rice from supermarkets to protect consumers, despite the government agency’s pronouncements last December that it is “vigilantly inspecting” U.S. rice meant for export to the Philippines to block the entry of the disapproved genetically-modified rice.

2007-01-23 |

Protocols urged for GM crops to avoid contamination

The grains industry is being encouraged to push for international protocols for genetically modified crops. Canadian graingrowers want global regulations to protect both GM and conventional crop producers. Dennis Stephens from the International Grain Trade Coalition, says GM contamination of traditional crops is an issue, and there needs to be a recognised tolerance level.

2007-01-23 |

China steps up monitoring of food quality, safety

China's food safety officials will tighten supervision over farm produce safety, especially with fresh vegetables and aquatic products, said Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai here Monday. [...] He also instructed agricultural officials to initiate environmental safety evaluations and monitoring of produce production bases, introduce quality safety supervisors in townships to improve business production, and implement a labeling system for genetically modified food and milk.

2007-01-21 |

Corn pest expansion consequence of transgenic crops?

A corn pest that can devastate yields may be increasing in prevalence across Illinois and other states because Bt crops are reducing predators that once kept the pest at bay. [...] Western bean cutworms, a major pest in Nebraska and Colorado, was first detected in Illinois in 2004 and has spread to 49 counties, according to Marlin Rice, an Extension entomologist at Iowa State. [...] “Our theory is that increased (use) of Bt cotton and YieldGard corn has suppressed (populations) of corn earworms, which are predators of western bean cutworms. This allows (more) bean cutworms to survive,” Rice said.

2007-01-20 |

Global biotech area surges past 100 million hectares on 13 percent growth

Farmers continued rapid adoption of biotech crops around the globe in 2006 driving multiple adoption milestones for the technology-enhanced crops that produce greater yields of food, feed, fiber and fuel, according to an annual report released today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). At the beginning of the second decade of biotech crop adoption, biotech crop area jumped 12 million hectares or 13 percent to reach 102 million hectares, breaking the 100 million- hectare mark for the first time and achieving the second highest growth in the past 5 years. Growth for the period 1996 to 2006 is equivalent to an unprecedented 60-fold increase, the highest adoption rate of any crop technology. Additionally, the number of farmers planting biotech crops surged past 10 million for the first time, to 10.3 million, from 8.5 million farmers in 2005.

2007-01-20 |

EU mission to inspect Brazil's transgenic soy in March-report

European food inspectors are expected to visit Brazilian genetically-modified soybean farms and related sites for the first time in March, the local Estado newswire reported Monday. The move comes at a time when Brazilian soy farmers are quickly moving away from traditional soy seeds and planting GMO soy. Some 50% of the new 2006-07 crop is expected to be GMO soy, according to a survey of farmers and cooperatives by the grain brokerage firm Cerealpar. Last year, just 25% was GMO. Brazil's government permits Monsanto's Roundup Ready soy seeds to be planted nationwide.

2007-01-20 |

Mexican farmers seek OK for genetically modified corn

Mexican agricultural producers asked the government to allow them to plant genetically modified corn in response to the so-called "tortilla crisis," which has seen prices surge for one of the country's staple foods. The head of the National Agricultural Association, or CNA, Jaime Yesaki, told Efe that planting genetically modified corn could be the "fundamental solution" for maintaining adequate production of this cereal grain that millions of Mexican households use to make the tortillas on which their diets are based.

2007-01-20 |

Scientists identify genes for perfect coffee beans

Scientists from Brazil and France have moved a step closer to creating the perfect cup of coffee after identifying key genes that can affect flavour in the beans. The team, from CIRAD in France and Brazil"s Agricultural Institute of Paraná, says it has pin-pointed the genes responsible for sucrose accumulation in coffee beans. Sucrose is thought to play a vital role in the taste of coffee by releasing flavour and aroma during roasting.

2007-01-20 |

Biotech dairy debate spills across U.S. markets

Five years ago, Missouri dairy farmer Leroy Shatto was struggling to stay in business. Today, his herd has more than doubled amid a surge in demand for his product. The difference: a marketing campaign touting Shatto milk as free of artificial hormones. Osborn, Missouri-based Shatto milk comes plain or flavored, but all comes from cows free of the genetically engineered hormone supplements that many conventional dairies give cows to boost their milk production. "That is what the consumers want now," said Shatto, who runs a small family farm of 220 cows. "People are demanding this stuff not to be in their milk. If I had 100 more cows tomorrow, I still couldn't keep caught up with demand."

2007-01-20 |

Scientists downplay GMO threat to biodiversity

Fears that switching to genetically modified (GMO) crops could harm the habitat of wild birds, insects and other plants may be overblown, scientists who have developed a forecasting model say. The model developed by Reading University's Centre for Agri-Environmental Research also suggested government policy to promote a recovery in farmland bird populations may fail to deliver its goal. There have been concerns that GMO crops which are herbicide tolerant would hurt biodiversity as fewer weeds could threaten spiders and insects as well as the birds which feed on them.

2007-01-20 |

Global biotech crop acres grow as debate persists

Two groups issued contrasting reports on Thursday on the state of biotech crops, with one touting acreage growth while the other cited continued resistance by governments and consumers. The biotech industry-supported Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) said that with U.S. farmers leading the way, the global area planted with genetically modified crops grew 13 percent to 252 million acres in 2006. The number of farmers planting biotech crops grew 2 percent to 10.3 million, because of substantial economic, social, environmental, and agronomic benefits, ISAAA said.

2007-01-20 |

Greenpeace says British Columbians want labels on genetically modified food

The British Columbia government is trying to figure out which ministry should be handling the issue of whether to label genetically modified foods at a time when a Greenpeace poll suggests consumers in the province are worried about it. The poll conducted by Strategic Communications surveyed 601 eligible B.C. voters and found almost 80 per cent of them said they want the government to force companies to reveal if the food they are eating has been genetically engineered. When asked about the poll's findings, the Environment Ministry transferred the question to the Agriculture Ministry, and a spokesman there said he'd have to talk to federal Health Department officials in Ottawa later.

2007-01-20 |

New salt-tolerant non-GE wheat set to bring life to ’dead’ farmland

Scientists have developed a salttolerant wheat which could allow farmers to crop a third of the 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land lost to salinity across the Wheatbelt. A common weed called sea barley grass, which grows in soils almost as salty as sea water, has been crossbred with a traditional wheat variety to produce a salt and waterlogging tolerant cereal. Project leader Tim Colmer, of the Co-operative Research Centre for the Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity, said the new wheat strain could be sown on moderately salt-affected soils which contained up to one quarter the salt levels of sea water. At these levels, it is no longer viable for farmers to grow traditional grain varieties because of severe losses in crop yields.

2007-01-20 |

Arkansas Plant Board adopts new regulations to purge GM rice trait

Immediately following a meeting of its seed committee, the Arkansas Plant Board unanimously voted to send new regulations aimed at purging trace amounts of a LibertyLink (LL) GM trait from the state’s rice supply to public comment. The new regulations, passed at the Plant Board’s Little Rock headquarters on Dec. 28. The latest regulations focus on rice seed in the state — including farmer-saved — and come just a week after the planting of Cheniere was banned for 2007. Thus far, Cheniere is the only variety known to contain the offending trait.

2007-01-20 |

More producers concerned about glyphosate resistance

Standard weed control in glyphosate-tolerant (GT) crops has become a headache for growers in the United States. Many are wondering why glyphosate, an herbicide that has always been extremely effective, is beginning to fail them. “This is becoming a trend more so in the United States than in the rest of the world” says Ian Heap, director of the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. “More GT crops are planted in the U.S. than anywhere else, and since it is possible to use nothing but glyphosate on these crops, many growers are doing just that.”

2007-01-20 |

India pips China for top slot in GM crops

In Asia, India has emerged as a leader in genetically modified (GM) crops by tripling its area under Bt cotton to 3.8 million hectare in 2006, surpassing China which remains at an area coverage of 3.5 million hectare, according to annual report prepared by the US-based International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). The report also said that India alongwith China, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa with a combined population of 2.6 billion (40% of the global population) grew 38.2 million hectare of GM crops in 2006, equivalent to 37% of the global total.

2007-01-18 |

Starbucks switches to milk without growth hormones

With no fanfare, Starbucks Coffee Co. this month began using milk products without a controversial artificial growth hormone in its home state. But the switch may drive up the cost of your caffeine habit. The company said Tuesday that it has stopped using dairy products with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, or rBGH, in company-owned stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Northern California and New England. The supplement, approved by the federal government more than a decade ago, is given to dairy cows during the middle phase of lactation to produce more milk.

2007-01-18 |

Achieving peaceful coexistence with biotechnology is a goal of UC program

Growing genetically engineered (GE) crops in the United States continues to stir debate, but some University of California scientists believe attention should now be focused on how farmers opposed to the technology and those in favor of it can step back from the controversy and successfully produce and market their crops in the way they personally see fit. “A debate is being fueled by the perception that there has to be a choice between either organic agriculture or genetic engineering,” said Alison Van Eenennaam, a University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology. “This ignores the possibility that different production systems can coexist alongside each other.”

2007-01-18 |

Mighty Monsanto and biotechs backdown from GMO debate

While Americans on the mainland remain blissfully ignorant of the issues surrounding genetically engineered foods, the people in Hawaii have it literally, shoved in their faces. Hawaii is Ground Zero for the biotechs, who can run four crop rotations per year, in the idal climate for growing. Hawaii has more experimental crops per acre, than any place on the planet. Many of Hawaii's citizens have been converted to gmo free activists, by the devastating aftermath, from the invasion of biotech, into their land and their lives.

2007-01-18 |

Hungary overreacting on GMO issue, claims expert

Talks over a Hungarian ban on an EU approved, genetically modified (GMO) Maize crop should be judged on scientific fact rather than “irrational fears”, claims a leading Biotech expert. Speaking ahead of EU talks to be held over the issue next month, Prof. Dr Marc Van Montagu of the Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (IPBO) believes that too often GMO debate “centres on emotional arguments, rather than looking at scientific positives.”

2007-01-18 |

EU states agree on clone food plan

There will be no special measures to cover food products from cloned animals in the EU, member states have agreed, following news the offspring of a cloned cow was growing up in the UK. Officials from the EU's 27 member states decided that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring should be considered in the same way as any other novel food. [...] “There will at some point have to be an evaluation by the European Food Safety Auhtority [on the issue of food from clones] but we are not expecting an imminent need for this,” Commission spokesperson Philip Tod told DairyReporter.com.

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