Planet Diversity World Congress on the Future of Food and Agriculture

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01.01.1970

Greenpeace Philippines optimistic ?Bt? eggplant to be permanently banned

International environmental group Greenpeace is confident that the Supreme Court will permanently ban the field testing of genetically modified organism, particularly the BT talong (eggplant). ?The Writ of Kalikasan is not an ordinary procedure at dahil sa decision sa SC we can now openly discuss this issue,? said Lawyer Zelda Soriano, political adviser of the Greenpeace-Southeast Asia, at a media briefing in Quezon City on Friday. Soriano said the respondents, officials and scientists of the UP Los Banos and other proponents of BT talong field testing, will be summoned by the SC to present ?all possible defenses? to argue that it is ?safe and not negative to the environment.?

01.01.1970

Canadian breeder files application for GE apple that won?t turn brown

An Okanagan orchardist is trying to get the OK for a genetically modified apple that won?t turn brown, but his colleagues in the fruit business aren?t happy about it. Neal Carter of Okanagan Specialty Fruits is waiting for approval of the new apple from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, but he thinks it?s a winner already. [...] But the BC Fruit Growers? Association is concerned about the negative impact on marketing, according to past-president Joe Sardinha. ?Why would we go and embrace something that carries the negative connotations of genetic modification?? he said.

01.01.1970

India scientists and farmers lack understanding of Bt cotton

The Indians claim they were promised certain yields. However, no yield can truly be promised by any company regardless of whether the seed is genetically modified or not. Growing conditions and management have a direct effect on yield, yet the Indian farmers seem to have forgotten that. In an example of how misguided their views are about growing GM cotton, the head of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Keshav Raj Kranthi claims GM cotton is more susceptible to bacteria. He claims GM varieties consume more water and nutrients, leading to soil depletion, which means more fertilizer is needed. Kranthi has it all backwards.

01.01.1970

Destroy GMO-tainted papaya crops, Thai researcher says

Academics yesterday called on the Agriculture Department to destroy farms growing Hawaiian papaya in Kanchanaburi province after a recent study found that these crops might be contaminated with genetically modified organisms. The move came after a study conducted by Piyasak Chaumpluk from Chulalongkorn University?s Department of Botany revealed on Wednesday that 29 samples of Hawaiian papaya tested in Kanchanaburi province were tainted. ?Tests show that papaya grown in 50-rai in Kanchanaburi province have GMO,? Piyasak said. ?The department should destroy these farms in order to prevent the contamination from spreading.?

01.01.1970

Alaska (USA) Congressional delegation unites in opposition to ?frankenfish?

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday filed an amendment requiring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to ensure genetically-modified fish pose no risks. While the FDA is already examining the biological risks associated with what?s come to be dubbed ?Frankenfish,? no separate analysis is planned looking at the impact of genetically modified fish escaping into the ocean. Murkowski?s amendment would require that. ?We need to look before we leap here -- and make that long hard look,? Murkowski said in a press release.

01.01.1970

Western Australian farmers agree on 1.1km buffer zone to prevent GE canola contamination

The Safe Food Foundation has welcomed a court agreement designed to better protect a Western Australian Great Southern organic farm from contamination by genetically modified crops. Kojonup farmer Steve Marsh is suing his neighbour and seeking a ban of GM canola crops within 2.5 kilometres of his property. Mr Marsh says his property was contaminated by GM canola in 2010. He and his neighbour have agreed to temporarily keep a 1.1 kilometre GM-free buffer zone around Mr Marsh?s property. The foundation?s Scott Kinnear says the agreement sets a strong precedent.

01.01.1970

Adopting out retired GE ?enviropigs? a non-starter due to risks, Canadian scientist says

The fate of 16 genetically modified pigs remains undecided, but adopting them out to ?loving homes? as requested by an animal-rights group is a non-starter, the University of Guelph said Tuesday. Prof. Rich Moccia, an associate vice-president at the school, said relinquishing control of the ?enviropigs? posed unacceptable risks. [...] In a letter to Moccia Tuesday, the group called on the school to ensure the pigs would be spared. [...] ?For the same reason you wouldn?t kill 16 healthy dogs at the end of a research project, please don?t kill these poor pigs, who deserve a chance to live out their final years basking in sunshine, taking mud baths, and simply being pigs.?

01.01.1970

GM Jatropha hopes to break into biodiesel market

A Singapore partnership has developed what it hopes to be an eco-solution to the world?s demand for biofuel. The world?s first genetically modified Jatropha plant can produce biodiesel faster and better. Plans are in the pipeline to start field trials and commercialise it in three years. [...] Its developers Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and JOil have filed a patent for this genetically modified Jatropha.

01.01.1970

Coexistence becoming more complicated in the USA

the Obama administration and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack determined the need for addressing coexistence and a 23-member committee was established in 2011. [...] the Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture has been given the job of addressing the size and scope of risks to coexistence, potential compensation mechanisms for crops contaminated, tools and standards to verify eligibility for compensation and figuring losses and finally who would have to pay. [...] There isn?t much talk about the first committee?s success or failure, but it doesn?t seem much came from that committee.

01.01.1970

The dangers of GM - Europe must learn the lessons from America

American farmers are increasingly expressing regret over the planting of GM crops, which are now causing major problems, and Europe must take note before it is too late ? warns campaign group. The British House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee?s new report on sustainable food recommends government action to tackle the United Kingdom?s unhealthy and environmentally damaging food system. In addition to important recommendations to improve healthy eating and sustainability, the report highlights the need to diversify the research agenda in food and agriculture. The committee also questions the role of genetically modified crops in the future food system.

01.01.1970

Glyphosate resistant super weeds no easy fix for US agriculture-experts

A fast-spreading plague of ?super weeds? taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday. ?This is a complex problem,? said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national ?summit? of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides. Weed resistance has spread to more than 12 million U.S. acres and primarily afflicts key agricultural areas in the U.S. Southeast and the corn and soybean growing areas of the Midwest.

01.01.1970

Dow?s new ad wants you to know: 2,4-D corn is necessary to reed the world

Monsanto?s Roundup Ready weed-killing products may continue to lose their potency in the face of a growing epidemic of Roundup-resistant weeds but, according to a new video, industrial-scale farmers need not fear: Dow AgroSciences has come to the rescue. [...] At least, that?s what Dow is selling in its promotional video, which seems to be based on the premise that the herbicide-resistance problem created by genetically modified industrial agriculture can be solved only by the introduction of an intensified breed of genetically modified products.

01.01.1970

Kenyan scientists now raise fears on safety of GMOs

FEARS on the country?s capacity to deal with safety issues concerning genetically modified foods were raised yesterday by scientists. The fears, broadly related to institutions that are supposed to deal with the envisioned use of GMO foods in Kenya. Dr Lubano Kizito of the Kenya Medical Research Institute said the human health is crucial and thus safety issues that need to be talked about. ?The many departments or ministries that exist in government is part of the problem in coordinating health issues to do with GMO foods,? Kizito said.

01.01.1970

Global and national resistance to genetically modified organisms: The precautionary path

With regard to genetically engineered foods and organisms, proponents claim that there is substantial equivalence between the genetically engineered crops and the natural counterparts. Substantial equivalence as the term implies suggests that there is no serious differences between the two groups. However, this claim is not supported by fact. If the substantial equivalence concept were to be substantiated in fact, there would be no need for patenting of the engineered crops or organisms. Secondly, if the products were equivalent to natural species, then makers of GE foods and crops would be bold enough to clearly label their products knowing that there would be no objections by consumers. Proponents of GE crops and products clearly know that their products have significant and yet to be fully understood environmental, social and cultural implications.

01.01.1970

Philippine institutions defend field trial of ?BT talong?

?The current field trials are being responsibly and safely undertaken together with scientific organizations and partner state universities in compliance with the biosafety requirements and guidelines approved by national regulatory bodies such as the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines and the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture,? said Dr. Rex Victor Cruz, UP Los Banos Chancellor. Cruz was reacting on the Writ of Kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus issued by the Supreme Court, temporarily stopping the field trials of genetically-modified organism, particularly of BT talong in the country.

01.01.1970

UK scientists pushing for public debate on GM wheat trial

Last month scientists at Rothamsted offered to meet and talk to the protesters at a neutral venue to debate their GM wheat trial. But leaders from Rothamsted say they have not had any official response back from Take the Flour Back. ?We have offered them dialogue. We have offered them a public debate,? said Maurice Moloney, director and chief executive of Rothamsted Research. ?We came up with the idea of hosting a debate with a neutral chair. A nationally-known journalist could act as a chair, but we haven?t heard a word back.?

01.01.1970

MPs of Environmental Audit Committee urge UK Government caution on GM crops

AN INFLUENTIAL committee of MPs has called on the Government to refrain from licensing genetically modified crops until their benefits have been proved. The Environmental Audit Committee challenged the Government?s promotion of the ?sustainable intensification? model of food production ? ?the need to produce more form less? - in a report on Sustainable Food, published over the weekend. This included questioning its support for GM technology. The committee said it received some evidence arguing that GM crops could be ?part of the solution for a sustainable food system?. But it also heard other evidence that food shortage problems could be ?better addressed through other means?, for example by tackling the 30 per cent food grown globally that is lost or wasted.

01.01.1970

Burkina Faso gives up Bt cotton this year

Burkina Faso was the spearhead of transgenic cotton in West Africa. Very disappointed with the yield and quality of this GM cotton, the cotton companies in Burkina Faso this year are turning back to conventional cotton. Transgenic cotton has not kept its promises in Burkina Faso. [...] The reasons for failure are inherent in the GM cotton itself. [...] the worst surprise is the decline in fiber quality.

01.01.1970

Reaping gold through Bt cotton and newsprint

Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds was raging across India, a newspaper [The Times of India] story painted a heartening picture of the technology?s success. ?There are no suicides here and people are prospering on agriculture. The switchover from the conventional cotton to Bollgard or Bt Cotton here has led to a social and economic transformation in the villages [of Bhambraja and Antargaon] in the past three-four years.? So heartening was this account that nine months ago, the same story was run again in the same newspaper, word for word. Never mind that the villagers themselves had a different story to tell. ?There have been 14 suicides in our village,? a crowd of agitated farmers in Bhambraja told shocked members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in March this year. ?Most of them after Bt came here.? The Hindu was able to verify nine that had occurred between 2003 and 2009.

01.01.1970

Indian Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group advocates use of GE crops to fight hunger in the coming years

Advocating the use of more genetically modified crops, the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises-Agriculture Group has said biotech crops would help in enhancing yield substantially. ABLE-AG is an association of biotech companies in India which aims to accelerate the pace of biotechnology in India. ABLE-AG executive director N Seetarama, pointing at the global hunger index, which ranks India 67 among a list of 81 countries and also fact with introduction of Food Security Bill, said biotech crops was the answer to the burgeoning demand of foodgrains in the coming years.

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