Planet Diversity World Congress on the Future of Food and Agriculture

Noticias

01.01.1970

Syngenta Foundation and USDA experts urge Ghanaians to use and apply modern biotechnology

He said though Parliament was yet to pass the bill, Ghanaian farmer-based organisations had been clamouring for the GM technology to enable them improve their production in order not to be outdone by their Togolese, Nigerians and Burkinabe counterparts who would flood the local markets with such products. Prof. Alhassan said some GM products had arrived in the country adding that it was not true that such products were unsafe for human health and questioned: if they were unsafe, would people not develop some side-effects?

01.01.1970

Outrage at South African organisations over claim that anti-GM campaign

Civil society organisations have reacted with outrage to claims that the international campaign against genetically modified crops is partly responsible for food shortages and food insecurity in Africa. "Food insecurity in developing regions such as Africa is partially a result of the anti-GM campaign," David King, director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University in Britain, said during the 15th World Congress of Food Science and Technology held between Aug 22-26 in Cape Town, South Africa.

01.01.1970

U.S. coalition demands FDA deny approval of controversial genetically engineered fish

A coalition of 31 consumer, animal welfare and environmental groups, along with commercial and recreational fisheries associations and food retailers submitted a joint statement criticizing an announcement this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it will potentially approve the long-shelved AquAdvantage transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered animal intended for human consumption.

01.01.1970

Monsanto Australia steps up its education campaign for acceptance of GM wheat

Global biotechnology company Monsanto has begun an education and advocacy campaign to change the opposition many Australia consumers have to genetically modified food. [...] Monsanto's head in Australia, Peter O'Keefe [...] said something had to be done to turn around the poor global performance of wheat against other crops, which he said was caused partly by public opposition to GM crops and "crippling" government policies in Australia.

01.01.1970

Gates Foundation invests in Monsanto

Farmers and civil society organizations around the world are outraged by the recent discovery of further connections between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and agribusiness titan Monsanto. Last week, a financial website published the Gates Foundation?s investment portfolio, including 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated worth of $23.1 million purchased in the second quarter of 2010. This marks a substantial increase from its previous holdings, valued at just over $360,000.

01.01.1970

Washington (USA) farmers start anti GE-wheat campaign

Feeling their 1,012 petition signatures to stop genetically modified wheat have been ignored, three Waterville wheat growers may start a new petition drive this winter seeking labeling of any foods containing such products sold in the U.S. "At a minimum, we'd like to see labeling, but we really want Monsanto to stop developing GMO wheat," said Tom Stahl, one of the three growers.

01.01.1970

Coming soon, the wheat revolution: DNA scientists pave the way for cheaper bread

British scientists have cracked the genetic code for wheat ? paving the way for a new breed of crops resistant to disease. The experts will today share the map of the wheat genome online for free, allowing growers around the world to develop super strains of the crop. The development could also lead to massively increased production ? and in turn lower bread prices.

01.01.1970

Monsanto aquires 19.9% of Australian wheat breeding company InterGrain

InterGrain Pty Ltd and Monsanto Company today announced a technology collaboration agreement that is expected to lead to significant new advances in wheat technology for Australian growers. In connection with the collaboration, Monsanto has acquired a 19.9 percent minority interest in InterGrain, a leading cereal breeder in Australia. The WA State Government remains the majority shareholder, with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) remaining a shareholder as well.

01.01.1970

Can Monsanto's omega-3 soybeans create heart-healthy and patented food?

Monsanto, the U.S.-based agrifood business, hopes to have Omega-3 soybeans in the Canadian marketplace within the next two years. [...] A controversy over Monsanto?s original patent applications involving the genetically enhanced soybeans erupted this year when an Australian expert in agricultural intellectual property suggested Monsanto?s patent might be seen as ?an attempt by the company to exert control over the food chain.? Monsanto had applied for patents on the ?derived benefits? of feeding animals its proprietary product.

01.01.1970

USDA Chief Scientist announces next wave of GE crops

In the current decade we are coming to grips with the reality that science must focus on solving the ?grand societal challenges? ? however you define them, that we face as a global society. Simultaneously we recognize that the contexts of contemporary biology are completely changing the way we do science. As the recent NAS report on ?A New Biology for the 21st Century? points out, science will be increasingly interdisciplinary and team-driven rather than individual-investigator driven. Moreover, the work we do in biology will be increasingly cross-sector: Federal, state, university, corporate, non-profit, wherever the appropriate synergies exist.

01.01.1970

Could GE cold-resistant eucalyptus trees be the kudzu of the 2010s?

Although one form of eucalyptus is already on a U.S. Forest Service list of invasive plants, ArborGen in May won federal permits for seven test sites, including one 75 miles from Charlotte in Marlboro County, S.C. A U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis concluded the test hybrids aren't likely to create a pest plant. We say, remember kudzu. For decades the federal Soil Conservation Service promoted it. And then it was too late.

01.01.1970

Scion (New Zealand) applies for 25-year field trial of GE pine trees

An environmental watchdog is calling for public submissions on a plan to field test genetically-engineered pine trees ?in containment? at Rotorua. [...] State science company Scion wants to test genes influencing plant growth, reproductive development, herbicide tolerance, biomass utilisation, wood density and stability, in 4000 trees on a four hectare site. The field test will last for 25 years, though each tree will be grown only for a maximum of eight years.

01.01.1970

Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and Government of Kazakhstan plan GE wheat and barley project

The Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Kazakhstan; a partnership that will produce improved varieties of wheat and barley more tolerant to drought, salinity and nutrient deficiencies and toxicities for both countries. [...] ?We will also use genetic modification techniques to improve wheat and barley using a cis-genic approach which involves the use of wheat and barley genes to improve stress tolerance in wheat and barley plants.?

01.01.1970

?We truly are in need of a second ?Green Revolution? in wheat?

Since the late 1980s, the rate of grain yield improvement has slowed, and now appears to have reached a plateau. There are several reasons for this, including the perpetual evolutionary arms race against new pathogens, the resurgence of old pathogens, or perhaps merely the exhaustion of available genetic resources for yield improvement. ?We truly are in need of a second ?Green Revolution? in wheat,? says Graybosch, a wheat geneticist.

01.01.1970

DNA from transgenic plants found in milk and animal tissue

A recent Testbiotech survey shows that DNA fragments from transgenic plants are increasingly found in animal tissue such as milk, inner organs and muscles. Most recently, in April 2010, scientists from Italy reported DNA sequences stemming from genetically engineered soy in milk from goats. These DNA fragments are presumably, entering the blood stream from the gut and then from there reaching the udder and the milk. Traces of specific DNA were also identified in kids fed with the goat?s milk.

01.01.1970

GM salmon may go on sale in US in 18 months after public consultation

US authorities today began the process to approve the first GM animal for human consumption. The Food and Drug Administration announced a 60-day period of consultation and public meetings over whether to permit a GM strain of salmon to be eaten by humans, even though it has been called a "frankenfish" by critics. The approval process could take less than a year, and if it gets the green light the fish could be on the market in 18 months.

01.01.1970

Don?t be guided by emotions but science on Bt brinjal, IFPRI Director says

There is an urgent need to assess the potential of genetically modified crops as these are nutrient-enriched, drought- and disease-resistant varieties, an expert said here Tuesday at an international conference. Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, director of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, said: ?On the Bt Brinjal issue, everybody should be guided by science, not by sentiments or emotions.?

01.01.1970

Price of success for South Africa GE corn farmers is ruin

Maize farmers are facing difficult production decisions for the coming season. Due to overproduction and a low maize price, the country could lose up to 30% of its maize farmers. Solidarity has become increasingly aware of a looming crisis among South African maize farmers. Indications are that this crisis will reach a peak by the middle of 2011.

01.01.1970

French activists uproot GM vines at research centre

For the second time in less than a year, genetically modified vines being tested by the French National Institute of Agricultural Research in its Colmar centre in eastern France have been uprooted and destroyed. Now that France no longer grows or tests GM corn, which used to be a regular summer target of the Faucheurs Volontaires (voluntary reapers) movement, attention has turned to the vines. This month Faucheurs destroyed transgenic vines being tested for protection against court-noué, the fanleaf virus transmitted by earthworms. In September 2009 a single activist had cut down 70 vines at the same site.

01.01.1970

Italian free trade activist ?commands an army of farmers ... prepared to plant MON810?

Giorgio Fidenato declared war on the Italian government and environmental groups in April with a news conference and a YouTube video, which showed him poking six genetically modified corn seeds into Italian soil. [...] If the Italian government does not relent on the genetically modified seeds, he warned, he commands an army of farmers across Italy who are prepared to plant MON810 to force its hand.

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