Save our Seeds

Genetically modified rice has been spreading illegally for years in China, officials have admitted, triggering a debate on a sensitive aspect of the food security plan in the world’s most populous nation. [...] In January, the agriculture ministry said ”no genetically modified cereals are being grown in China” outside the test sites. But in April, an environment ministry official told the weekly Nanfang Zhoumo that a joint investigation by four government departments had found that ”illegal GM seeds are present in several provinces because of weak management”.

Seit dem 19. Mai haben Greenpeace-Aktivisten im nordschwedischen Haparanda gegen die Auspflanzung der Genkartoffel Amflora protestiert. Doch am Donnerstagmorgen lies der Konzern BASF die Risikoknolle ausbringen. Geschützt von einem Polizeiaufgebot wurde die Amflora auf den Acker gebracht.

The Obama administration will seek to allow the unlimited sale of a corn variety genetically engineered by Monsanto Co. to resist drought [...] While the agency’s draft environmental assessment of the modified corn found the crop unlikely to pose a plant pest risk [...] the agency also noted that many corn varieties on the market match Monsanto’s strain in their water use. ”The reduced yield [trait] does not exceed the natural variation observed in regionally-adapted varieties of conventional corn,” the report says, adding that ”Equally comparable varieties produced through conventional breeding techniques are readily available in irrigated corn production regions.”

former Oregon State University researcher Rich Affeldt [...] found that non-genetically modified canola purchased for the trial tested positive for the glyphosate-tolerant trait found in genetically modified canola. [...] Affeldt said he found just 0.01 percent of the glyphosate-tolerant trait in the non-GMO canola seed he tested. [...] ”Before canola is approved for commercial production in Central Oregon, I recommend that this potential for GM contamination be more thoroughly investigated,” Affeldt wrote.

A Circuit Court jury in Stuttgart awarded $136.8 million Friday to Riceland Foods Inc. in a lawsuit against Bayer CropScience LP over genetically modified rice. Riceland, a farmers cooperative based in Stuttgart, is the world’s biggest miller and marketer of rice. It sued Bayer over losses it suffered when Bayer’s experimental varietyof genetically modified rice made its way into the U.S. rice supply.

Der Agrarausschuss des Bundesrats hat in seiner letzten Sitzung am Montag einen Antrag der Bundesländer Niedersachsen, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein angenommen, der eine Aufhebung der Nulltoleranz für Saatgut vorsieht. Die Bundesregierung wird darin aufgefordert, eine „für alle Wirtschaftsbeteiligten praktikable technische Lösung für die Nulltoleranz bei Saatgut baldmöglichst zu definieren“. Bisher gilt eine strenge Regelung der Null-Toleranz von gentechnisch veränderten Organismen im herkömmlichen Saatgut. Eine Erlaubnis zur Verunreinigung von Saatgut würde gentechnikfrei wirtschaftende Landwirte erhebliche Probleme bereiten, ihre Felder frei von Gentechnik zu halten. Am 18. März wird der Bundesrat über den Antrag entscheiden.

The judiciary of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina has banned the spraying of agrochemicals in the vicinity of urban areas. The case sets a precedent for judges elsewhere in the country and establishes a legal basis for questioning the GM soy/agrochemical spray agricultural model.

The decision comes after two years of legal dispute, during which first and second instance judges questioned and limited the use of agrochemicals. The Santa Fe court strictly bans spraying in Urquiza neighborhood near the town of San Jorge. It is the first case in Argentina where a Court has made a firm decision to prohibit the spraying to protect health.

The survey result was released on Tuesday by Greenpeace China, which had polled 1,300 people who ranged in age from 18 to 55 and lived in six cities in the country. [...] The survey found that about 60 percent of Chinese consumers were against all kinds of genetically modified food, including rice, oil and soymilk. The most severe objections came in response to the use of genetically modified rice in baby food. The rejection rate for such products was 77 percent in large cities and 83 percent in smaller cities.

Careless handling of seeds may be the key reason for the unintended spread of genetically modified crops, a study has found. The discovery challenges the widespread belief that the main source of GM contamination is the transfer of pollen by bees from GM crops to non-GM counterparts in neighbouring fields. Human error during seed production and handling is the more likely culprit, say the researchers.

Germany's top court approved Wednesday some of the world' most rigorous restrictions on genetically modified crops, ruling they were in accordance with the country's constitution. [...] 'Given that the state of knowledge about the long-term consequences of deploying genetic modification is not fully researched, the legislative arm has an especial duty of care,' the court judgement said. Farmers must publicly disclose what seed they used. The court also approved a no-fault-liability rule which obliges a farmer to compensate his neighbours for any loss in market value of their crops if the natural and GM variants become mixed.