Articles

ZIMBABWE will not allow the production of Genetically Modified Organisms even if they could help ensure food sufficiency, agriculture mechanisation minister, Dr Joseph Made has insisted. Made said the government would, instead, concentrate on making available fertilizer, seeds, irrigation and other essential farm inputs to boost food production rather than use cheaper but unsustainable means which have a detrimental impact on the environment. “Scientific research shows that GMOs contain toxic substances, are less nutritious than non-GMOs and have negative effects on humans and the environment,” he said here Thursday.

The Oommen Chandy Government will not permit any trials on genetically modified crops in the state. What is more, it has also been stated that even research on GM will not be permitted within the boundaries of the state. A communication from the Agriculture Department to the city-based NGO Thanal has said that the State Government’s stand regarding this has already been conveyed to the Union Government. While the previous LDF Government had categorically stated that Kerala would be a GM-free state, this could be the first written document from the present government saying the GM ban would continue to be in place.

The Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic is concerned about genetically modified seeds being brought into the country by the multinacional Monsanto and the Eurosuministros company. These products, they say, affect the island’s genetic pool and create a monopoly that puts local farmers out of business. “As these organisms are modified they are not natural products. Biologically speaking, any modified product has an unknown effect on the organisms of humans, and of the animals that we eat, which are fed on this genetically modified material”, said Academy president Milciades Mejía.

The regional government of the Azores archipelago on the mid-Atlantic ridge has declared it is a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free zone. As such, the region “prohibits the growing, sowing, planting nor breeding of any GMOs throughout its territory”. The regulation still permits exceptions for scientific research and technological development that are clearly in the public’s interest.

Conrad Lattes, an attorney for the open space department, told the Food and Agriculture Council, which took up the GMO issue in November, that residents could not force a referendum on their own. “If the county commissioners desired to put that question to the people in a referred measure, they could do that,” he said. “If they do not want to put that question to the voters, that issue could not be initiated by the citizens.” But some in the anti-GMO movement have resolved to make the planting of genetically engineered crops a platform issue for commissioner candidates next year. Two of the three county commissioner seats will be up in 2012.

Monsanto Co. spent $2 million in the third quarter to lobby the federal government on issues including regulations for genetically engineered crops and patent reforms, according to a recent disclosure report. [...] The company lobbied the Congress and the Department of Justice on issues surrounding agricultural consolidation and antitrust enforcement.

Testbiotech is today publishing a database designed to give an overview of the risks associated with genetically engineered plants allowed for marketing in the European Union, or being about to be authorised soon. The current version of the database, called PlantGeneRisk, gives an overview of thirteen genetically engineered crops, four soy plants and nine maize plants. Ten of these plants already have EU authorisation for use, import and usage in food and feed, one of them is also allowed for cultivation.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a nearly $50 million verdict for farmers who say they lost money because a company’s genetically altered rice seeds contaminated the food supply and drove down crop prices. Bayer, the German conglomerate whose Bayer CropScience subsidiary produced the seeds, had argued that Arkansas tort laws set a limit on punitive damages and that courts should set aside jury awards that “shock the conscience.” In the April 2010 verdict, a Lonoke County jury awarded $42 million in punitive damages and $5.9 million in actual damages.

SMALL organic farmers in Davao City hailed Mayor Sara Duterte’s stance in opposing the second round of Bt talong field testing in Davao City. Tranquilina Alibango of Kababaihang Nagtataglay ng Bihirang Lakas (KNBL), a network of women farmers in the city’s third congressional district, welcomed the city mayor’s move, saying it showed her commitment towards protecting the welfare of small organic farmers.

Local perceptions and myth are that Bt cotton increases yields, but the available data tells a different story. According to the data published by United States Department of Agriculture, the agriculture cotton data about Pakistan and Australia clearly shows that average yields have remained the same between 1990 and 2010, although Bt technology is being experimented in Australia since 1996 and in Pakistan informally since 2005. In Australia, yield per acre in 1991 (before Bt cotton) was 1,588 lbs and in 2010 (with BG-II & RRF) was 1,457 lbs. Similarly, in Pakistan, the yield was 685 pounds per acre in 1990-91 but it went down to 622 pounds per acre in 2009.