GENET news: Feed

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

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.

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.

20.08.2008

Exposed: Europe’s GM-hype in times of food and fuel crisis

The pro-GM brigade has been losing no time in exploiting the current global food and fuel crisis and the high price of animal feed to promote GM as the solution in the mainstream media. An offensive was launched on the European Union (EU) to relax its policy on GM imports and cultivation. At present only one GM crop, a GM maize, is approved for cultivation in Europe. The European Commission department of agriculture has joined forces with the biotech industry and the animal feed industry in claiming that it is the EU’s GM policy that is harming Europe’s livestock industry. Leading the charge of the pro-GM brigade in Europe is Britain, in its role as chief ally of the largest GM exporter the United States.

25.07.2008

Uprising against the ethanol mandate in the USA

The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel.

25.07.2008

Austria bans Monsanto’s MON 863 Bt maize

Austria has banned the import of the highly dangerous genetically engineered maize MON 863. [...] Tests carried out on rats fed with MON 863 maize revealed they suffered liver and kidney damage. In 2005, we passed evidence of these tests to a team of experts headed by Professor Gilles Eric Séralini, a French governmental advisor on genetic engineering (GE), for independent evaluation. The study found ”it cannot be concluded that GE corn MON863 is a safe product”.

22.07.2008

Brazilian institution will bring non-GM producers together

The vice-president of the Caramuru Group, César Borges, announced during a meeting of the Industry Federation of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) the creation of an organization that will unite only companies who work with non-GM soy. ”The name still is being evaluated, but the institution will result from a decision of Grupo Caramuru, Maggi and IMCOPA”, the officer explained. [...] According to the Caramuru representative, the company guarantees its customers the origin of the raw material (Good Manufacturing Practice), risk analysis and critical control points, traceability, certification of food safety and no genetic modification. ”These practices and the production of non-GM add value to the products that we sell.”

18.07.2008

GM feed in free range egg production: UK retailers policies are no longer sustainable

For the last few years Britain has observed an uneasy truce between those who refuse to accept that there is any place for genetically modified crops, and those who would like to see greater use made of advancing biotechnical knowledge. However, the current situation of escalating feed costs and talk of world food shortages has finally driven UK politicians to acknowledge that the debate should now be re-opened.

18.07.2008

A time to sow? GM food could curb cost of staples

So widely are genetically modified crops now grown around the world, for use in animal feed and as processed food ingredients, that feed importers in Europe and Asia are finding it difficult to supply customers who want non-GM soya or maize. ”You have to pay 10-15 per cent more for non-GM corn – if you can get it at all,” says Ross Korves, a leading US agricultural economist. As world food prices surge and shortages loom, genetically modified crops look increasingly tempting as a way to raise agricultural yields without using more energy or chemicals. Even in Europe, where GM crops have faced the strongest public resistance, more politicians, experts and farmers’ leaders are speaking out in their favour. Sir David King, the UK government’s former chief scientist (pictured below), is one who says GM is the only technology available to solve the world food price crisis.

17.07.2008

Polish animal breeders and food producers urge to postpone GE feed ban

Polish animal breeders and food producers have appealed to the president to sign a law which would delay the introduction of rules banning the use of genetically modified animal feeds. Unless the president signs an amended law, which will postpone that moment until the end of 2012. The president of the National Poultry Council Romuald Paczkowski says a ban on feeds containing GMOs would cause poultry prices to increase by an average 10 percent. Each day without the amended law in place is causing losses because feed producers do not know whether to contract feeds which will be banned after September 12.

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