Agnet Dec. 22/03
Binns hears
support for GMO-free zone on P.E.I.
RMA approves
GM onion trial with controls
GE onion
trial to wait til August
OGTR issues
licence for GM canola
Growers
closer to cleaner, greener, more productive crops as government approves
Monsanto canola
FFA supports
GM crops
GM straw
could increase livestock production
Europe split
over safety of GM corn
Country
cautioned on GMOs
Effect of
endosulfan on male reproductive development
New
protocol offers early diagnosis of sugar beet disease--and more
how to subscribe
Binns
hears support for GMO-free zone on P.E.I.
December 22, 2003
The Guardian (Charlottetown)
A3
Steve Sharratt
MONTAGUE -- Premier Pat Binns was cited as saying Prince Edward Island would
have more opportunity in the world of food production by becoming a GMO-free
zone, adding, "I'm hearing from producers who say it's a great idea. A lot
of farmers support the notion of a GMO-free zone, more than those opposed -- so
far."
The story says there was strong support during Percy Schmeiser's visit to
endorse legislation that would make Prince Edward Island the first province in
Canada to be designated a GMO-free zone.
GMO potatoes have been dropped from major production here because of consumer
disdain and the province is developing a small GMO-free seed canola industry.
Binns was further quoted as saying, "I say we take a serious look based on
the information being presented (about genetic pollution) and for the potential
opportunity on our doorstep. We do have some concerns about producing GMO
products here because many marketplaces have mixed reactions to it. The European
Union will not buy GMO products and that's a marketing disadvantage."
Binns was further cited as saying there is also information about "super
weeds" developing from being cross-pollinated with GMO crops and causing
another problem for farmers and that GMO seed was touted as a way to reduce
pesticides and increase yields, but has yet to live up to that reputation.
RMA
approves GM onion trial with controls
December 22, 2003
Environmental Risk Management Authority – Press Release
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has approved, with controls, an
application from Crop and Food Research to field test genetically modified
onions in containment at a site located in the region around Lincoln,
Canterbury.
The purpose of this research is to field test onions modified for tolerance to
the herbicide glyphosate and to evaluate their environmental impact; herbicide
tolerance; agronomic performance; development as cultivars and equivalency to
non-genetically modified onions.
Field test applications of this type were not covered by the recently-lifted
moratorium and have been permitted both before and during the period of the
moratorium. In all over 70 GMO field tests have been approved in New
Zealand: the majority by the Independent Advisory Group and the last 13 by the
Environmental Risk Management Authority. They involve a number of plants and
trees as well as animals.
The approval is limited to onion lines modified with no more than two insertion
events of a defined genetic construct. The genetic construct may be any one of
three specified plasmids each containing a synthetic EPSPS gene, conferring
tolerance to glyphosate, which is based on the EPSPS gene from Agrobacterium
strain CP4. Other parts of the construct include a promoter derived from a plant
virus, a leader sequence derived from a plant heat shock protein, a sequence
encoding a chloroplast transit peptide and a downstream untranslated region. The
organism specification is limited to two insertion events to reduce the risk of
unanticipated effects.
The controls imposed by the Authority provide for
* The field trial to be at a specified site, in the region around
Lincoln, and for the control and securing of the facility in regard to the entry
and exit of biological material and of people.
* Limitation of the duration of the approval to ten years.
* The scope of the field trial programme including, for example limiting the
number of genetically modified onions grown and other plants or crops allowed on
the site.
* The disposal of onion plant material and particularly the destruction of any
GM onions not removed to another containment facility.
* Removal of all onions from the field before flowering (and thus pollen
release) can occur, in addition to regular inspection to detect early flowering
plants.
* Monitoring and inspections both during the field trial and after its
completion.
The three main potential risks and costs identified by the Authority's Special
Committee were those from pollen transfer, unanticipated effects due to the
incomplete characterisation of the genetically modified onions and the
opportunity costs of not funding other research.
The principal benefit from the genetically modified onion field trial is the
scientific and other knowledge to be obtained. Other significant benefits
include the provision of a platform for research into environmental effects, the
development of patentable lines of genetically modified onions, contributions to
local employment and the retention of scientific skills in New Zealand.
Long term commercial possibilities were not treated as significant because they
would be relevant only to an application for release, not to the current field
trial in containment.
Concerns raised by Maori were carefully considered. The Authority judged them to
be adequately ameliorated by the controls set regarding kaitiaki functions,
receipt of reports and engagement between Crop & Food Research and Maori for
ongoing consultation regarding the field trial.
Overall, the benefits of field testing the GM onions were considered to outweigh
the risks and costs. Other means of achieving the research objectives were
considered, but this did not provide any reason to decline the application.
The risk of pollen escaping from the field trial and contaminating other crops
received especially careful consideration. The risk was assessed as very low
because no flowering is allowed. Onion flowering is simply controlled because
the plants generally only flower in their second year and the controls limit GM
onions to one year only. If plants flower early (bolting) the flowers (on
readily visible 'pipe' stems) do not open for at least four weeks after
emergence. Weekly monitoring will detect these.
The time taken to make this decision has slightly exceeded the statutory
guideline. The extra time taken for the release of this decision was to allow
the Committee to give robust and full consideration to all of the risks, costs
and benefits of the application.
The application code is GMF03001. Further information, including the full text
of the Decision, the Agency's evaluation report, the application documents and
details of the controls can be found on the ERMA New
Zealand website at www.ermanz.govt.nz
GE
onion trial to wait til August
December 22, 2003
NZCity
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=38194
Crop and Food Research says it will be August before its field trial of
genetically modified onions gets fully under way.
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has approved the proposed field
trial under strict conditions.
Although the moratorium on GM did not cover field trials, it is the first
application ERMA received following the Royal Commission on GM.
Crop and Food spokeswoman Katherine Trought says the onion growing season starts
in August.
She says they are working through the detail of the conditions and consulting
with MAF to see if a smaller scale trial can begin before then.
Crop and Food is concerned about anti-GM activists attacking the trial, and says
it is safer for everyone if the plants remain in the ground.
OGTR
issues licence for GM canola
December 19, 2003
OGTR
Australia's Gene Technology Regulator has made a decision to issue a licence in
respect of application DIR 020/2002 from Monsanto Australia Limited. The licence
approves the commercial release in Australia of genetically modified (GM)
herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready®) canola.
The decision to issue the licence was made after extensive consultation on the
risk assessment and risk management plan with the public, State and Territory
governments, Commonwealth agencies, the Federal Environment Minister, the Gene
Technology Technical Advisory Committee and local councils, as required by the
Gene Technology Act 2000.
Issues relating to the health and safety of people and the protection of the
environment raised during the consultation process on this application were
considered in finalising the risk assessment and risk management plan and in
making a decision on whether to issue a licence.
Extensive consultation with the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines
Authority (APVMA) has also been undertaken in relation to its decision to
approve the use of Roundup Ready® herbicide on Roundup
Ready®
canola www.apvma.gov.au
Complete and summary versions of the finalised risk assessment and risk
management plan and the licence conditions can be obtained from the
Office of the Gene Technology www.ogtr.gov.au
Information on the registration of Roundup Ready® herbicide (which will be used
in conjunction with Roundup Ready® canola), is available from the APVMA.
Growers
closer to cleaner, greener, more productive crops as government approves
Monsanto canola
December 19, 2003
Monsanto Australia Limited – Press Release
Monsanto Australia welcomes today’s approval of Roundup Ready canola by the
Federal Government’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR).
The OGTR concluded that Roundup Ready canola is as safe as ordinary canola for
human health and safety and for the environment. Monsanto applied to the OGTR in
June 2002 after conducting Australian trials of Roundup Ready canola since 1997.
The OGTR has conducted a rigourous and lengthy review, combining scientific
knowledge from Australia and around the world with extensive public
consultation, I applaud their process and finally after 18 months, their
decision, said Terry Bunn, Managing Director of Monsanto Australia.
Today’s decision is a major step towards giving Australian farmers the
opportunity to choose cleaner, greener and more productive canola. It?s a
win-win for growers and the environment, said Mr Bunn.
Roundup Ready canola offers farmers the yield potential and vigor of the best
conventional varieties combined with the simple and reliable weed control that
has made herbicide tolerant varieties popular.
Roundup Ready canola is a special type of herbicide tolerant canola developed
using plant biotechnology. It offers farmers a safe and more effective way to
control weeds in their crops than existing herbicide tolerant canola, including
Triazine Tolerant canola, which is the current market leader in Australia.
Triazine Tolerant canola makes up more than 60% of Australia’s canola crop.
Roundup herbicide used on Roundup Ready canola has an excellent environmental
safety record. In contrast, atrazine used on Triazine Tolerant canola can
persist in the environment for long periods and can move in to ground water.
Farmer opinion indicates many growers are eager to move beyond the regulatory
review and understand how Roundup Ready canola could work on their farms. Recent
market research showed the majority of farmers surveyed believed it would be
valuable to conduct large scale trials of Roundup Ready canola. Small plot trial
results from 2003 indicate yield benefits for
Roundup Ready canola compared with Triazine Tolerant canola of between 20% and
40%.
Monsanto is working closely with the grain industry and with government to allow
planting of sufficient area of Roundup Ready canola in 2004 to demonstrate
co-existence between different canola production systems, to demonstrate the
integrity of the supply chain and to provide an opportunity for more farmers to
see Roundup Ready canola perform, said Mr Bunn.
Development of Roundup Ready canola began in the late 1980?s, with
Canadian farmers first using it in 1996. Since then it has grown to be the most
popular weed control choice for Canadian growers, who chose Roundup Ready canola
for almost 50% of the canola crop in 2003. All types of GM canola made up 73% of
the Canadian crop in 2003. ?Our experience in the USA and Canada is that Roundup
Ready canola has proved popular and successful with canola growers and their
grain is finding ready customers, said Mr Bunn.
The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) confirmed
the success of GM grains in international trade by concluding in a July 2003
report that, there is no strong evidence to suggest that GM grains generally are
not finding ready markets throughout the world.
Independent regulatory agencies in Japan, the USA and Canada have previously
concluded that
Roundup Ready canola is safe for health and the environment. Today’s approval
is the outcome of assessment by several government agencies. Food Standards
Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has previously confirmed Roundup Ready canola to
be as safe as other canola for food use.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has
reviewed the use of Roundup herbicide with Roundup Ready canola. The APVMA
studied a resistance management plan developed by Monsanto in consultation with
leading Australian researchers.
Today’s approval, including APVMA endorsement of the resistance management
plan confirms that Roundup herbicide can be used sustainably with Roundup Ready
canola.
FFA
supports GM crops
December 22, 2003
Crop Biotech Update
www.isaaa.org/kc
Solleti Jayapal Reddy, Secretary-cum-Treasurer, Federation of Farmers
Associations (FFA) in Andra Pradesh, stated during the recent ‘Farmer to
Farmer: Sharing Experiences Related to Agricultural Biotechnology’ workshop in
Manila, Philippines, that the FFA strongly supports new technologies that have
the potential to alleviate the economic well being of Indian farmers, and
protect the environment. Solleti said that 67% of India’s population is still
based on farming and other rural activities.
The FFA also opts for a re-focusing of research and development (R&D) pro
grams by all organizations (public and private) in India. Re-focusing is
suggested based on the following points:
* R&D must keep the small farmer as its prime focal point.
* R&D must be localized to ensure higher productivity, better quality and
greater adaptability to local environmental factors.
* R&D must provide resistance to environmental factors such as salinity,
drought, and water logging.
Further, Solleti presented the need for an international organization, similar
to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which could be empowered to
carry out multi-locational and long-term studies to address biosafety issues
worldwide. A universal license to trade genetically modified (GM) products
should also be established by this future organization.
The Federation of Farmers Associations, AP (FFA) is a state level apex
organization of various farmers federations in India. On the other hand, the
farmer workshop was co-organized by the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, University of the Philippines Los
Banos, SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture,
Cornell University, and the United States Government under the auspices of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The Asian Farmers Regional Network or
ASFARNET, which aims to promote the active exchange of experiences and knowledge
on alternative modern farming technologies, was likewise formed during the
workshop.
For more information on ASFARNET, email Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Southeast Asia
Center director at r.hautea@isaaa.org.
GM
straw could increase livestock production
December 22, 2003
Crop Biotech Update
www.isaaa.org/kc
Jonathan Gressel, Professor of Plant Sciences of the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Rehovot, Israel, and colleagues observed that straw could increase
animal production, by at least one third, if its lignin content is decreased
through genetic modification. This process would make straw more digestible, and
also increase the carbohydrate available to ruminant animals.
Gressel stated that if straw can be converted into hay-quality material using a
combination of biotechnology, physical and chemical treatments, this roughage
could be given more ecological and economic importance. Ammonification, which
separates lignin and serve as a nitrogen source for ruminant bacteria, and
biotreatment with ligninolytic fungi are the technologies that can be used for
upgrading.
This technology, according to the researchers, could increase cattle, goat, and
sheep production by at least 25%. US and Europe could produce another 200
million cattle per year (35% increase); Asia 250 million more cattle (50%
increase); Africa 170 million more goats per year, or 500 million goats if its
current grain yields were tripled to match the global aver age; and Australia
could produce 30 million more sheep (25% increase).
For more information, email Jonathan Gressel at Jonathan.Gressel@weizmann .ac.il.
Europe
split over safety of GM corn
December 21, 2003
Independent
Geoffrey Lean
The Independent on Sunday was cited as reporting that Britain is pressing for a
genetically modified sweetcorn to be allowed into shops despite an official
French report warning that people eating it could suffer "unforeseen
effects" and that crucial safety tests, claiming to show the sweetcorn is
safe, were in fact carried out on a different type of maize, grown to be fed to
animals.
The story says that the disclosure is hugely embarrassing for the official Food
Standards Agency, which has been in the forefront of the campaign to have the
corn approved for human consumption, which would end a five-year, Europe-wide
moratorium on new GM foods.
Last Monday its representatives voted in an EU committee to approve the corn,
which was developed by the biotech firm Syngenta and incorporates an
insecticide. But the committee was deadlocked - splitting six countries to six
with three abstaining - and the decision will now go before EU ministers in the
new year.
Country
cautioned on GMOs
December 19, 2003
allAfrica
Herbert Mugagga
http://allafrica.com/stories/200312190868.html
KAMPALA -- Mr Wolfgang Weinz was cited as saying at workshop organised by the
International Union of Foods and the National Union of Plantation and
Agricultural workers of Uganda NUPAWU at Hotel Africana on Monday that Uganda is
likely to face a food shortage should the government allow Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs) here.
Weinz was cited as saying that multinational companies in Europe and USA
manufacture these organisms to raise their pesticide sales to farmers, adding,
"We as IUF strongly discourage the use of these GMOs and any thing related
to them. We call on governments of the growing nations to think twice about the
issue." He also said Uganda's agricultural products would lose market once
the buyers know that GMOs are used in the country.
Effect
of endosulfan on male reproductive development
December 2003
Environmental Health Perspectives Vol 111, No 16
Habibullah Saiyed,1 Aruna Dewan,1 Vijay Bhatnagar,1 Udyavar Shenoy,2 Rathika
Shenoy,2 Hirehall Rajmohan,3 Kumud Patel,1 Rekha Kashyap,1 Pradip Kulkarni,1
Bagalur Rajan,3 and Bhadabhai Lakkad1
1National Institute of Occupational Health (Indian Council of Medical Research),
Meghani Nagar, Ahmedabad, India; 2Department of Pediatrics, Kasturba Medical
College, Mangalore, India; 3Regional Occupational Health Research Centre,
Bangalore, India
http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/6271/abstract.html
Abstract
There is experimental evidence of adverse effects of endosulfan on the male
reproductive system, but there are no human data. Therefore, we undertook a
study to examine the relationship between environmental endosulfan exposure and
reproductive development in male children and adolescents. The study population
was composed of 117 male schoolchildren (10-19 years of age) of a village
situated at the foothills of cashew plantations, where endosulfan had been
aerially sprayed for more than 20 years, and 90 comparable controls with no such
exposure history. The study parameters included recording of clinical history,
physical examination, sexual maturity rating (SMR) according to Tanner stages,
and estimation of serum levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH),
follicle-stimulating hormone, and endosulfan residues (70 study and 47 control
subjects). Mean ± SE serum endosulfan levels in the study group (7.47 ± 1.19
ppb) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in controls (1.37 ± 0.40
ppb). Multiple regression analysis showed that SMR scoring for development of
pubic hair, testes, penis, and serum testosterone level was positively related
to age and negatively related to aerial exposure to endosulfan (AEE; p <
0.01). Serum LH levels were significantly positively related to AEE after
controlling for age (p < 0.01). The prevalence of congenital abnormalities
related to testicular descent (congenital hydrocele, undescended testis, and
congenital inguinal hernia) among study and controls subjects was 5.1% and 1.1%,
respectively, but the differences were statistically nonsignificant. Our study
results suggest that endosulfan exposure in male children may delay sexual
maturity and interfere with sex hormone synthesis. Our study is limited by small
sample size and nonparticipation. Key words: endocrine disruptor, endosulfan,
luteinizing hormone, male reproductive development, sexual maturity rating,
testosterone. Environ Health Perspect 111:1958-1962 (2003). doi:10.1289/ehp.6271
available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 22 September 2003]
New
protocol offers early diagnosis of sugar beet disease--and more
December 22, 2003
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
To spot early signs of Cercospora leaf spot disease in sugar beets, an
Agricultural Research Service scientist has developed a method to detect the
culprit fungus, Cercospora beticola, early on--even in plants lacking any
symptoms.
These symptoms include ash-colored spots and dark blotches. When these symptoms
appear on the leaves of a sugar beet plant, beet farmers suspect Cercospora leaf
spot. The fungus behind this foliar disease reduces both yield and sugar content
in sugar beets, the plants that provide the United States with about half of its
sugar supply. But the fungal pathogen doesn't always announce itself, especially
as it moves from the soil to the beets' leaves.
Plant pathologist Robert T. Lartey, along with three ARS colleagues, created the
pathogen-detecting protocol. It uses real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
a technique for rapidly producing many copies of a fragment of DNA so that
specific genes can be identified. ARS' John J. Weiland, TheCan Caesar-TonThat
and Sarah Bucklin-Comiskey assisted Lartey, who is at the agency's Northern
Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Mont.
The new protocol drastically reduces the time needed to isolate and subculture
the pathogen and to purify the DNA for amplification, from a task traditionally
requiring up to two weeks to one that can be accomplished in a single day.
The technique relies on a kit developed and sold by Sigma-Aldrich, a St.
Louis-based biotech company.
The PCR method can be used to determine how early in the growing season C.
beticola may infect nearby plants, and from there spread to sugar beets. Early
detection provides a better forecasting of the disease and allows for more
precise fungicide applications. Lartey anticipates the use of the new protocol
for disease management in a range of plant pathogen applications. While PCR is
widely used to detect fungal, bacterial and viral diseases of crops, for many
pathogens there still is no rapid and sensitive test. Scientists are already
interested in the technique for identifying diseases in wheat. ARS is the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
Agnet is produced by the Food Safety Network at
the University of Guelph and is sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
and Food, Plants Program at the University of Guelph, Agricultural Adaptation
Council (CanAdapt Program), AGCare, Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors,
ConAgra Foods, Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (Canada), Ag-West Biotech, Inc.,
Monsanto Canada, Meat and Livestock Australia, National Pork Board, Pew
Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Council for
Biotechnology Information, Canadian Animal Health Institute, Croplife Canada,
Syngenta Seeds Canada, Inc., Canadian Food Information Council, Saskatchewan
Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization, JIFSAN, National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, National Food Processors Association, Ontario Agri-Food
Technologies, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Ltd., BC Ministry
of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Feedlot Health Management Services, Syngenta
Crop Protection, Ontario Corn Producers' Association, DuPont Canada, Inc.,
Office of Consumer Affairs, Burger King, Sobeys Ontario, McCain Produce Inc.,
Canadian Institute for Food Inspection and Regulation, Canadian Wheat Board,
National Meat Association, Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Ontario Soybean Growers,
Bunge, Ltd., UC Davis Biotechnology Program, Consumer Federation of America
Foundation, Optibrand, University of Idaho Department of Microbiology, Molecular
Biology and Biochemistry, Tactix Government Consulting, Inc., Plant Bioscience
Ltd., CanAmera Foods, Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management, Inc.,
Hartono and Company, Agri Business Group, Inc., and Global Public Affairs.
To subscribe to the html version of Agnet (subscription is free), send mail to:
listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca
leave subject line blank
in the body of the message type:
subscribe agnet-L firstname lastname
i.e. subscribe agnet-L Doug Powell
(replace agnet-L with agnettext to subscribe to the text version of agnet)
To unsubscribe to the html version of Agnet, send mail to:
listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca
leave subject line blank
in the body of the message type:
signoff agnet-L
(replace agnet-L with agnettext to unsubscribe to the text version of agnet)
For more information about the Agnet research program, please contact:
Dr. Douglas Powell
Associate Professor
dept. of plant agriculture
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ont.
N1G 2W1
tel: 519-824-4120 x54280
cell: 519-835-3015
fax: 519-763-8933
dpowell@uoguelph.ca
http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu
The Food Safety Network's bilingual toll-free line for obtaining food safety
information: 1-866-50-FSNET (1-866-503-7638)
archived at "http://131.104.74.73:96/agnet-archives.htm