Save our Seeds

The South African biosafety body has rejected a research application to genetically engineer sorghum. Former Monsanto activist Florence Wambugu had obtained 18,5 mio $ from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for this research aiming at fortifying it with essential amino-acids. The rejection to even test her constructs in glass houses has sparked a vivid debate in South Africa. In Kenya, where Mrs. Wambugu is based, the government expressed concerns over contamination of the countries sorghum biodiversity.</p><p><a href="http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/eng/news/features/?show=90582">Engineering News: Regulatory red light fuels GM-research debate</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A243447">SA Deputy Science Minister Derek Hanekom: Cautiously sowing the seeds of change</a></p><p><a href="http://www.scidev.net/content/news/eng/south-africa-halts-super-sorghum-study.cfm">SciDevNet: South Africa halts `super sorghum' study</a>

Creeping bentgrass genetically engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup has escaped from a US golf course into the wild, where it was found up to a distance of 3,8 kilometers. The escape will be hard to revert as the grass is perennial and has a wide range of wild relatives. The US Department for Agriculture, which had not approved the commercialisation of the grass, is worried.</p><p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125643.100-escaped-golfcourse-grass-frees-gene-genie-in-the-us.html">New Scientist: Escaped golf-course grass frees gene genie in the US</a></p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/science/16grass.html?_r=1">New York Times, 16 Aug: Grass Created in Lab Is Found in the Wild</a></p><p><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060807/full/060807-17.html">Nature, 11 Aug: Escaped GM grass could spread bad news</a>

"We have received several reports of terminal and square damage in Bollgard cotton this year. It certainly does not appear to be any one variety, but rather a general trend. Whether or not this is a factor of environmental conditions or increasing bollworm tolerance is not known at this time" entomologists of the University of Arkansa write about what could be a first sign of bollworm resistance against genetically modified Bt cotton in the USA.</p><p><a href="http://www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=7719.php">Delta Farm Press: Bollworms Feeding On Bt Cotton In Arkansas</a>

The first destruction of a commercial field of GM maize by activists of "Coordination Paysanne" was countered by a protest of pro-GM farmers.</p><p><a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4084473.html">AP: Genetically Modified Crops Vandalized</a></p><p><a href="http://www.agbios.com/main.php?action=ShowNewsItem&id=7720">Reuters: French Farmers Protest Against GMO Maize Destruction</a></p><p><a href="http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060802-060354-6824r">UPI: Eat To Live - GM cornfields under attack</a>

After a French court ruled that Greenpeace France must remove a map of GMO maize fields from its web-site, activists marked one of the fields directly with a giant crop circle around an X. The French court order is peculiar as EU directives, which have not yet been implemented in French law actually call for public registers of GM fields. In Germany detailed information on every location is provided by the state.</p><p><a href="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2006/2006-07-27-02.asp">Fighting Secrecy Over Transgenic Crops, Greenpeace Carves a Circle</a></p><p><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/crop-circle-270706">Greenpeace international map and press release</a></p><p><a href="http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-07-26T161716Z_01_L26395117_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-FOOD-GMO-FRANCE-DC.XML&archived=False">Reuters: French court orders Greenpeace to withdraw GMO map</a>

A study of US and Chinese scientists at Cornell University finds that Bt-Cotton in China no longer provides advantages to Chinese farmers. "Secondary pests", which cannot be fought with BT, now require as much pesticide use as before the introduction of the GM crops. World Food prize winner, former IFPRI director and long time proponent of the Bt cotton use in China, Professor Per Pinstrup-Andersen revealed the bad news at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual meeting.</p><p><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1199339.ece">Independent Online: Farmers use as much pesticide with GM crops, US study finds</a></p><p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9614">New Scientist: China`s GM cotton battles a new bug</a></p><p><a href="http://www.grain.org/research/btcotton.cfm?links">Full study and additional Bt-cotton research at GRAIN web site</a></p><p><a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/07/content_658193.htm">China Daily: Farmers weighing up benefits of GM cotton</a>

The UK government has started a consultation on co-existence regulations between GM and non-GM farming. The proposal provides for no public register of GM planting and distances of mere 35 meters even between gm and non-gm oilseed rape. The proposal is under public fire and the consultation will last until October.</p><p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/21/ngm21.xml">Daily Telegraph: Plans to allow GM farming in secret 'are irresponsible'</a></p><p><a href="http://www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?id=301&iType=">GM Freeze: DEFRA GM Growing Proposals Condemned As Charter for Contamination</a></p><p><a href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/gmnongm%2Dcoexist/"></a>DEFRA co-existence consultation web-site

At a Civil Society forum to prepare the G8 summit in St. Petersburg Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to be "among likeminded people" with regard to the issue of GMOs. He said: "One of the problems we have encountered during our negotiations on joining the World Trade Organisation is that we are being forced to renounce what I see as our right to inform our own public about products manufactured using genetic engineering. Some countries have made it one of their main demands that we stop informing our public about genetically modified products. You can guess which countries I am referring to. But we will insist on using the standards that the NGOs are proposing." The NGOs had proposed a moratorium on releases of GMOs and demanded full transparency.</p><p><a href="http://en.g8russia.ru/page_work/20.html">Transcript of Vladimir Putins elaborations at the G8 Civil Society summit</a></p><p><a href="http://en.civilg8.ru/1997.php">GMO-Recommendations of the G8 Civil Society Forum in St. Petersburg 3-4 July 2006</a>

Officials of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture have controlled 115 000 hectares of cotton plantations in 6 states and 16 municipalities in Brazil and found illegal GM-seeds in 14% of them, usually Monsanto varieties. A federal order to destroy the illegal GM cotton planting is being fought by Monsanto and its allies. 225 mio US $ are claimed to be at stake. The company had introduced GM soybean end of the 90ies in the same illegal manner. Despite the fact that GM cotton is illegal in Brazil Monsanto even signed an agreement with the cotton producers association on GM cotton royalties.</p><p><a href="http://www.monsantowatch.org/moduleinterface.php?module=News&id=cntnt01&cntnt01action=detail&cntnt01articleid=73&cntnt01returnid=7 ">Monsantowatch: Destruction of the illegal transgenic cotton fields divides the sector</a>

Two World Bank projects, with funding from theGEF (Global Environmental Facility), propose tointroduce genetically modifiedmaize, potatoes, cassava, rice and cotton intofive Latin American and four African countriesthat are centers of origin or diversity for thesecrops. Civil society groups in the regions condemmed the approach.</p><p><p><a href="http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=568">ETC Group: Groups in Africa, Latin America condemn World Bank biosafety projects</a>