Planet Diversity World Congress on the Future of Food and Agriculture

Actualité

17.02.2010

Bt brinjal and the politics of knowledge

Eight years ago Bob Watson, the senior scientific advisor of the World Bank, found himself standing between two bitter opponents. [...] Watson responded to this tussle by joining hands with the United Nations Development Progam, World Health Organization and other UN agencies to set up a uniquely democratic multi-stakeholder process to study what agricultural technologies will enable every person on earth to be well fed.

17.02.2010

Third Indian war of independence averted trough Bt brinjal moratorium

Dr P M Bhargava, one of the most unrelenting opponents of the commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal in India, believes that last week?s decision of the Centre makes the third war of Independence by India unnecessary. ?The first war was in 1857 which we lost; the second one we won and got independence. We would have had to fight the third war of independence if Bt brinjal cultivation was given the go-ahead. We needn?t fight it now,? he said in an interview here.

17.02.2010

?GM isn?t only route to food security? says Indian Environment Minister

A rethink on GM in agriculture: The moratorium has nothing to do with the future of GM technology in agriculture, which is a decision that has been taken at the highest level. GM is an important element, but not the only route to food security. So we are not abandoning GM in agriculture.

16.02.2010

Group lobbies for Farmer Protection Act in New Mexico (USA)

A group of New Mexico farmers and heritage seed advocates are lobbying hard to get a bill through the Legislature that would protect them from liability if their fields are cross-pollinated by patented, genetically engineered seeds. It is the third time farmers have tried to get a similar bill passed, but this time it has the backing of Gov. Bill Richardson, who put it on his call for the session.

16.02.2010

Tanzania eyes court case to stop patenting of sorghum gene

Tanzania is planning to move to court to stop the US and Brazilian governments, jointly with two multinational firms, from patenting a sorghum gene isolated from Tanzanian farms. [...] Tanzania explains that patenting this crop is fatal to its food security, and violates international treaties. It would also increase local food prices as multinational corporations seek to exploit their patent to boost profits by selling sorghum seeds at a high prices at a time when millions of Tanzanians currently living under conditions of abject poverty are struggling to put food on their table.

16.02.2010

Non-GE breeding successes in Africa

Climbing beans suited to rainy high-altitude areas are being distributed in Rwanda after a decade of research. The fifteen varieties, developed by the Rwandan Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR) in collaboration with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), could benefit smallholder farmers in similar areas across Central and East Africa.

16.02.2010

GMO-free is fastest growing health claim in U.S. store brand products

U.S. retailers continue to make progress in offering store brand products with health claims relevant to shoppers looking for healthier food choices. Store brands flexed their marketing muscle in the health claims arena putting impressive growth numbers on the leader board in emerging, albeit smaller, trend areas such as genetically modified organism (GMO) free, gluten free and absence of a specific fat.

16.02.2010

Research shows organic corn and soybean yields can exceed conventional

Some observers have concluded that a major shift to organic production methods would result in decreased yields leading to catastrophic food shortages. [...] Beyond noting historical yield lags, however, such reviews are flawed in several key respects. The authors seem to assume that, absent some form of corrective action, there will be a major shift to organic production over a short period and organic yields cannot be improved. Since about 98% of agriculture is considered ?conventional,? a sudden jump to organic production is highly unlikely and, as researchers and producers can document, yields can and are improving.

16.02.2010

Are some scientists just taking the cis out of genetic engineering?

While appearing to take concerns seriously, the promotion of cisgenics and intragenics by New Zealand science companies risks further public alienation. The debate on the safety and appropriateness of using genetically engineered/modified (GE) plants and animals for food or animal feed is frequently manipulated through semantics. Language and not substance has been used to overstate hazards and also to obscure the search for them.

15.02.2010

Department of Agriculture ?whistle-blower? not happy with Australian GM trials

A plant breeding technician is accusing his former employer (the Department of Agriculture and Food WA) of getting too close to big multi-national chemical companies. He thinks this conflict of interest has resulted in ?shonky? genetically-modified canola trials being conducted in WA last year. For more than 10 years Patrick Fels worked on the department?s canola breeding programs, but in November last year he was sacked.

15.02.2010

Release of Smartstax seeds in the U.S. a ?challenge? says Monsanto

The launch of Monsanto?s new eight-trait, Smartstax transgenic corn seed line has been challenging [...] Brett Begemann, executive vice president for seeds and traits, said the introduction of the relatively high-priced corn hasn?t been easy. He said the new product is competing against Monsanto?s other triple-stack corn lines sold primarily through its DeKalb, Kruger, Fontanelle?s and Holden?s subsidiaries.

15.02.2010

?Farming must embrace GM technology to fight 21st-century food crisis?

Farming must fully embrace genetically modified (GM) crops to meet the dual challenges of population growth and global warming, according to Hillary Clinton?s chief scientist. Nina Fedoroff, who advises the US Secretary of State on science and technology, heads a group of senior researchers who call today for a ?radical rethink? of farm practice to meet 21st-century demand for food. Writing in the journal Science, they urge world leaders to do more to promote GM technologies so that scientists can create crops that produce higher yields and that can grow in the harsh conditions of a warmer world.

15.02.2010

President Obama agriculture picks sow confusion

The Obama administration?s competing agricultural policies could prompt a bad case of indigestion — or whiplash. Longtime food policy observers are having a difficult time squaring the Department of Agriculture?s entrenched preference for high-tech industrial agriculture that emphasizes biotechnology and genetically engineered crops with its newfound interest in helping those who favor low-tech ag: small farmers, advocates of organic and local food and champions of sustainability.

15.02.2010

GE soy imports squeeze market share of Chinese non-GE soy

Genetically modified soybean imports have been nibbling away at China?s soybean market for years. Now Northeast China?s Heilongjiang province is being particularly hard hit. Heilongjiang used to produce high-quality soybeans, with farmers selling more than 60 percent of their crop before the Spring Festival but less than 2 percent of soybeans have been sold so far this year.
nstead, the lower priced GM soybeans are taking control of the market.

15.02.2010

GM push in Chinas sparks debate about food safety and quality

With the realization that China is using 7 percent of the world?s arable land to feed only a quarter of its population, the Chinese government is pushing for genetic modification research to increase crop yields, said professor Huang Dafang. The goal is to ensure adequate food supplies, he said

12.02.2010

Ireland cannot afford to be seen as an innovation-free zone

When asked about research into nuclear energy and genetically modified crops, [Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner Designate for Research, Innovation and Science] indicated that such research was beneficial and should be developed. [...] And this is where it gets interesting. In the 2007 programme for government, there are commitments (presumably pushed by the Green Party) to reject nuclear power as a source of energy in Ireland, and oppose it in Europe, and to ?negotiate the establishment of an All-Ireland GM-free zone?.

12.02.2010

UK Farmers should embrace GE crops

One of the world?s leading agricultural scientists has said that organic farmers should embrace GM. Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at Imperial College London and a former government adviser, said in an article in the Times that GM could help the organic movement. But his views have been rejected by GM Freeze - an organisation which has the support of the Soil Association, Friends of the Earth and the Organic Research Centre.

12.02.2010

EC President Barroso rebuts reports of favoring GMOs

The EC President, Jose Manuel Barroso, says he is committed to combining the EU system of allowing GMOs with the freedom of each Member State to make its own decision. The European Commission issued Tuesday a statement rebutting media publications that its President, Jose Manuel Barroso, wants to speed up the process to allow 2 controversial GMOs in the EU.

12.02.2010

Polish GMO bill attacked from all sides

The debate over genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) has heated up once again and a bill on GM plants, now in the Sejm, is being attacked by both opponents and supporters of the technology. [...] ?Sticking strictly to the letter of the law, we will be able to bring about a situation where Poland will be a country free of GMOs,? said Depty Environment Minister Janusz Zaleski.

12.02.2010

Bulgaria parliament committee adopts changes to GMO act including 5-year ban on GE crop cultivation

The Bulgarian Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Water has adopted the proposed changes to the GMO Act including the 5-year ban on GM Crop cultivation. The decision was backed by the 11 MPs on the Committee and will be voted on next week in the second hearing of the Act in the Bulgarian Parliament. It was passed at its first reading in January.

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