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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 99/07/17Thanks to Dennis Dey and Richard Wolfson for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_394000/394301.stm US Farmers Fear Crop Fallout Consumers outside the US have turned against GM food. The export market is disappearing fast - US corn sales to Europe shrank from 70 million bushels in 1997 to just 3 million last year. ------------------ First-Ever Study Shows Biotechnology Delivering Benefits to Agriculture July 14, 1999 WASHINGTON, July 13 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Biotechnology is delivering on promises to make farming more efficient. Those are the findings of the first-ever analysis aimed at assessing whether crops genetically modified to resist pests actually yield benefits. The 98-page study, to be released today, was conducted by the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy in Washington, D.C. It examined the impact of planting corn, cotton and potatoes modified to ward off destructive pests. [Copyright 1999, PR Newswire] ------------------ Report Cites Pesticide Reductions and Yield Increases Associated with Biotech
Crops
ST. LOUIS, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Monsanto background statement in regards to USDA report: A June 25, 1999 report from the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that use of certain crops improved through biotechnology is associated with "significantly higher yields," "significantly reduced herbicide treatments," and "fewer insecticide treatments for target pests." ERS examined data to look at the extent of adoption of genetically engineered cotton, corn, and soybeans. The analysis also included a comparison of yields and pesticide use for adopters and nonadopters of the technology. Copyright 1999, PR Newswire Economic Research Service report: www.econ.ag.gov/whatsnew/issues/biotech/ ------------------ Independent 8th July 1999
UNITED STATES government research has torpedoed a central claim for genetically modified (GM) crops by showing that they do not automatically produce better yields or significantly lower use of pesticides. The new study, published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDoA), analysed commercial crop results from 1997 and 1998 in regions where traditional and GM varieties of cotton, maize and soya were being grown. Yet despite covering million of acres, the study generally does not find yields improved, while pesticide use was barely changed. "I would have a lot of trouble attributing any sort of yield bump to biotechnology," said Bill McBride, an economist at the USDoA who contributed to the study. "There is a lot o variation. depending on all sorts of factors including the weather." ------------------ http://www.biotech-info.net/RR_yield_drag_98.pdf Evidence of the Magnitude and Consequences of the Roundup Ready Soybean Yield Drag from University-Based Varietal Trials in 1998 by Dr. Charles Benbrook This report reviews the results of over 8,200 university-based soybean varietal trials in 1998 (1) and reaches the following conclusions regarding the magnitude of the RR soybean yield drag * The yield drag between top RR varieties compared to top conventional varieties averages 4.6 bushels per acre, or 6.7 percent. * When comparing average yields across the top 5 varieties tested in 8 states, the yield drag averages 4.1 bushels, or 6.1 percent. * Across all varieties tested, the yield drag averages 3.1 bushels, or 5.3 percent. On whether RR soybean systems reduce pesticide use and increase grower profits, our analysis shows that * RR soybean systems are largely dependent on herbicides and hence are not likely to reduce herbicide use or reliance. Claims otherwise are based on incomplete information or analytically flawed comparisons that do not tell the whole story. * Farmers growing RR soybeans used 2 to 5 times more herbicide measured in pounds applied per acre, compared to the other popular weed management systems used on most soybean fields not planted to RR varieties in 1998. RR herbicide use exceeds the level on many farms using multitactic Integrated Weed Management systems by a factor of 10 or more. (1) Dr. E. S. Oplinger, Dr. M. J. Martinka, and Dr. K. A. Schmitz. "Performance of Transgenic Soybeans in the Northern U.S." www.biotech-info.net/soybean_performance.pdf. The summary table from this paper is accessible at
------------------ July 5, 1999 Monday Picking Cotton for Genes Closes Zipper on Pesticides
Genetically modified (GM) crops are supposed to increase yields, make better products, make money for farmers, and be predictable. They are also supposed to wreck the environment. That's what scientists, manufacturers, farmers and environmentalists tell us. "Wrong", say cotton farmers, one of only two groups in Australia experienced in growing GM crops. Mike Logan has 400 hectares in cotton on the family farm outside Narrabri, in New South Wales, and three years' experience with Ingard cotton. This was developed by Monsanto and the CSIRO but is owned by Monsanto. It carries a gene from a common soil bacterium which makes the cotton plant produce a protein toxic to heliothis, the main pest for an industry worth $A1.5 billion a year. Logan says the yield from Ingard is similar to that from normal cotton. The fibre is the same. And, financially, "it's revenue neutral at best". Logan sees the bonus as environmental, boasting of huge reductions in the use of toxic chemicals. He uses only about a third as many chemicals on Ingard as on conventional cotton. And the greatest reductions are in the use of endosulfan and synthetic pyrethroids Copyright 1999 Business Intelligence Australia Pty Ltd ABIX: Australasian Business Intelligence ------------------ Gov't to Study Biotech Crops July 14, 1999 WASHINGTON - The Associated Press via NewsEdge Corporation : Mindful of the growing controversy over genetically engineered crops, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced plans Tuesday to study their long-term impact on the environment... [Copyright 1999, Associated Press] ------------------ Information Systems for Biotechnology
http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/news.rpt.html A New Inheritance Pattern for Bt Resistance ... research by Randall Higgins and collaborators (1) shows that resistance of ECB [European corn borer] to Bt toxin is not recessive as previously thought, but appears to display the inheritance pattern of an incompletely dominant autosomal gene. Consequently, the high-dose/refuge strategy may be insufficient to limit the development of resistance to Bt by the corn borer... These studies suggest that existing refugia strategies designed to limit the development of insect resistance to Bt may not be effective. If insects from the field are shown to develop similar dominant gene resistance, alternative strategies for the use of Bt-crops would need to be developed. Source Huang F, Buschman LL, Higgns RA, and McGaughey WH. 1999. Inheritance of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxin (Dipel ES) in the European corn borer. Science 284: 965-967. John T. Lohr
------------------ Monsanto Lost Again Angela Cordiero - Biodiversity Consultant Rio Grande do Sul Brazil 13/7/99 It was anounced yesterday that the Presidente of The Federal Court from 1st Region (Brasilia) of Brasil, Mr. Plauto Afonso da Silva Ribeiro said NO to Monsanto's petition to anull the previous decision of Mr. Justice Antonio Souza Prudente, who had refused permission for planting of Roundup Ready Soybean in Brazil before Environment Impact Assessments had been carried out. Monsanto presented its petition on 7 July. On Friday, 9 July the President of TRF said NO, arguing that the relevance of this matter requires more time to judge it carefully. However, the Courts and Judges in Brasil do not work in July. It means that any further legal decisions will not be made before August. As indicated by the Minister of Agriculture on his recent visit to the UK, it will be impossible for Monsanto to sell Roundup Ready Seeds before the next planting season. The Government Lawyers Service have not yet presented a petition to challenge the Judge's decision . They will do so in August. ------------------ Copyright 1999 Asia Pulse Pte Limited
U.S. Tells S. Korea it is Opposed to Labeling of GMO Products
The United States has notified South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that it is opposed to the country's move for separate labeling of genetically modified organism (GMO) in agricultural goods. The ministry said Monday that the U.S. government, in a letter to the ministry delivered via the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, claimed the labeling of GMO food does not ensure a higher standard of food safety. It takes lots of time and cost to label GMO products and the added costs are passed on to consumers, it said. South Korea informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March that it revised a law on quality management of agricultural products and would implement a measure to label GMO foods from this month. It is also implementing a law revision with a view to obliging traders dealing in GMO processing foods to observe the labeling requirement. ------------------ Russia Allows Monsanto GM Soybeans Imports 04:00 a.m. Jul 15, 1999 Eastern MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) - Russia's health ministry has issued its first licence to import genetically modified food to U.S. food and chemicals producer Monsanto Co, a ministry official told Reuters on Thursday. "The licence on the free use for food purposes of genetically modified soybeans resistent to glyphosate was issued for three years until July 2002," said Lyudmila Simkalova, head of the rationing and certificates centre at the ministry. REUTERS ASB SA Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Dupont has new soybean ready for Europe LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - A second wave of genetically modified products is heading for Europe with chemical giant DuPont Co putting a revolutionary new soybean forward for EU approval, according to a U.S. producers' representative in Europe. But delays in product approval could slow down the process, they said. "I am taking this opportunity to announce that Dupont has developed this type of soybean and will be seeking EU approval for its importation," Joe Zak, Western European Director of the American Soybean Association told a press conference in London. Previously the ASA had taken the view that there was no need to label GM crops. "(U.S.) Retailers have followed the advice of the U.S. agencies and do not have to label foods containing genetically modified materials as long as they are substantially equivalent to the tradtional materials," he said. But this new bean was different because it was not substantially equivalent. It would have an oleic acid content of more than 80 percent compared to the 23 percent found in traditional varieties, making its oil more heat stable for cooking and spray oil applications. It was also 33 percent lower in saturated fat than the traditional oil. "As this soybean oil is nutritionally different than the traditional variety, labelling is indeed suggested," Zak said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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