Agnet Dec. 4/03
Recent
research not a factor in fight over GM wheat
Italy to set
up tighter barriers against GMO imports
Ministry
warned over trials
EU's Byrne
sees hostility to GMOs easing over time
Ontario
hybrid corn performance trials report available in earlyDecember
French
biotech firm eyes Colorado for fat-busting corn enzyme production site
California
citrus growers nervous over clementine imports
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Recent
research not a factor in fight over GM wheat
December 4, 2003
The Leader-Post (Regina)
B4 / Front
Angela Hall
The National Farmers Union wants, according to this story, to use research
linking the crop blight fusarium with a popular herbicide in their fight against
genetically modified wheat, but a federal government scientist was cited as
saying that particular research isn't a factor his committee would consider in
the registration of Roundup Ready wheat.
The story explains that the research, conducted by the federal government's
Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre in Swift Current, will be
presented next week at an agronomists conference in Manitoba. Researchers
studied 648 wheat fields in southeastern Saskatchewan between 1999 and 2002 to
determine the association between farming practices and fusarium, a disease that
can reduce yields and create a toxin that makes wheat unsuitable for
consumption.
Plant pathologist Myriam Fernandez was cited as saying that environment -- such
as moisture levels -- was found to be the most important factor in the
development of fusarium head blight although she also found they was a greater
incidence of fusarium in fields where glyphosate, or the herbicide Roundup, had
been applied the previous year, adding, "Because of the significant and
consistent effect of glyphosate throughout the four years of the study, we are
suggesting that there should be more research done."
Stewart Wells, president of the National Farmers Union, was quoted as saying,
"The major concern is if glyphosate herbicides are making disease problems
worse, we probably shouldn't be approving any more bio-tech products that are
going to mandate the use of more glyphosate."
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada wheat breeder Stephen Fox, who chairs one of
the bodies involved in the registration process, was cited as saying the Swift
Current research isn't something that comes into play in deciding whether GM
wheat should be introduced, adding, "We don't really look into any of the
pesticides, whether they're herbicides or insecticides, that the farmers may use
to control whatever pests there is in whatever crop you're dealing with, in this
case wheat. We consider only the merits of the plant species itself."
Italy
to set up tighter barriers against GMO imports
December 2, 2003
La Stampa via BBC Monitoring
Gian Paolo Marro
Agricultural Policies Minister Gianni Alemanno was cited as announcing at the
23rd International Conference on Biodynamic Agriculture that is due to wind up
in Sabaudia today that the Italian government is going to be launching a decree
as soon as possible to confirm zero tolerance on GMOs "until tests have
been conducted on their impact on neighbouring crops."
The minister was quoted as stressing that the decree is both necessary and
urgent "because seeds have already been approved in other countries in the
[European] Union, that may contain genetically modified parts varying from 5 per
cent to 10 per cent, and we are in danger of finding them on the market".
The issue was addressed also by EU Commissioner Fischler in Venice. So that is
how the man in charge of agricultural policies has responded, by his actions, to
an appeal launched by FAI [Italian Environment Fund] Chairwoman Giulia Maria
Mozzoni Crespi when she asked him to "save us from the transgenic
catastrophe which has not been sufficiently well explained to people".
Alemanno was further quoted as saying, "When a genetically modified
organism comes into contact with the environment, we do not know what it may
generate. But what we certainly do know is that seven years after an experiment
conducted on a terrain in Italy for a single season, powerful traces are still
being found of genetically modified material that tends to transfer to
subsequent crops. What are the consequences of this? Well, that terrain cannot
be used for any other kind of crop because we absolutely do not know what might
happen."
The minister went on to criticize "Europe, which has made only generic
recommendations", noting that the [EU] Court of Justice has set a procedure
in motion "against Austria that declared itself GMO-free, and it is getting
set to do the same against Puglia and Tuscany".
Ministry
warned over trials
December 3, 2003
Bangkok Post
Kultida Samabuddhi
Consumer groups and farmers were cited as warning he Agriculture Ministry's
support for commercial cultivation of genetically-modified crops would
compromise the government's plan to make Thailand the "world's
kitchen."
Tassanee Weerakan, coordinator of the Alternative Agriculture Network, was cited
as saying that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared 2004 food safety
year, with global export markets in mind, but the plan would lose credibility if
the government allowed open-field trials and commercial cultivation of
genetically modified (GM) crops.
Sairung Thongplon, of the Confederation of Consumer Organisations, was cite as
saying GM crops were not toxic-free, adding, "Farmers growing GM crops
still spray large amounts of pesticide and herbicide because the crops are
resistant only to specific kinds of pest. Moreover, transgenic crops are
designed to be resistant to herbicide such as Monsanto's Roundup Ready weed
killer. This means farmers still use toxic weed killers."
Varoonvarn Svangsophakul, of Greenpeace, was cited as saying statistics showed
that since the US allowed commercial cultivation of GM crops eight years ago,
there had been a sharp increase in the use of herbicide by American farmers,
adding, "Several GM crops have become 'super weeds' that are strongly
resistant to herbicide."
EU's
Byrne sees hostility to GMOs easing over time
December 4, 2003
Reuters
Jeremy Smith
BRUSSELS - European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne was
cited as saying Thursday ahead of a speech that Europe's overwhelming hostility
to gene-spliced foods may mellow over time, provided consumers are better
informed and see no bid to manipulate them in favour of biotechnology, and that
consumers should have more solid scientific information on genetically modified
(GM) foods to help them choose whether or not to eat them, instead of just
saying "no," adding, "It's difficult to say over what period of
time consumer anxieties about GM food will subside, if at all. My guess is that
it will, in time. Once consumers know they are not in any way being misled,
there's no attempt to manipulate them, that this is an issue completely within
their own power to decide for themselves: in those circumstances, people will
begin to relax."
Byrne was further quoted as telling delegates in a keynote speech at the start
of a two-day conference that, "Despite repeated assurance about the safety
of consuming genetically modified food products, public attitudes towards GM
foods show few, if any, signs of a thaw. The science-based message simply fails
to get across. Citizens seem, by and large, to have made up their minds."
Ontario
hybrid corn performance trials report available in earlyDecember
December 3, 2003
Ontariocorn - Here's An Earful!
http://ontariocorn.org/whatsnew/2003performancetrials.htm
The Ontario Hybrid Corn Performance Trials Report, published annually by the
Ontario Corn Committee, is scheduled for release in the first week of December.
Performance Trials were conducted at 21 locations in 2004. Planting
Was significantly delayed at all but two sites by the prolonged cool, wet
weather this spring. Tests at five locations were abandoned because a
planter malfunction resulted in uneven emergence and uneven stands.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in there being no data in the report
For Table 1, the 2400 to 2500 corn heat unit area. Elsewhere, emergence
Was good resulting in trials that were quite uniform with remarkably little
variability due to soil conditions, despite the adverse weather.
Although rainfall was limiting in some parts of western Ontario in August and
September, yields were excellent considering the growing season and test
weights were within the normal range. Corn borer infestations were highest
in the south-west but were lower than what were observed in 2002.
Because of the late planting and cool July, maturity and harvest were
delayed.
Harvest was further delayed by the wet weather this fall. At the time
Of harvest, the grain moisture contents of a few hybrids in some tests were
still over 35%. Because moisture meters are unreliable in this range, the data
for these hybrids is also unreliable. Thus, no data is presented in these
situations and a note is included to indicate that the hybrid was over 35%
moisture. The trials at Forest and Ilderton were eventually discarded because
they suffered sufficient damage from high winds and wet snow in mid-November as
to make the results unreliable.
Most corn growers will receive a copy of the Performance Trials Report with
their December issue of The Ontario Corn Producer magazine. Producers who do not
receive this magazine will be able to obtain the report from their nearest OMAF
office. Reports are also available from some seed corn dealers and some farm
supply outlets. The report can also be downloaded, in PDF format, from the web
site of the Ontario Corn Producers' Association (http://ontariocorn.org/whatsnew/2003performancetrials.htm).
Growers who are unable to obtain a report by any of the above means can obtain a
copy by calling the office of the Ontario Corn Producers' Association
(1-519-837-1660).
French
biotech firm eyes Colorado for fat-busting corn enzyme production site
December 4, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Bill Jackson, Greeley Tribune, Colo.
Officials with French biotechnology pharmaceutical company Meristem Therapeutics
are, according to this story, touring Colorado looking at the possibility of
establishing a U.S. headquarters and/or a production facility to produce lipase
from corn to help treat people with cystic fibrosis.
Dr. Bertrand Merot, chief executive officer of Meristem Therapeutics was cited
as saying a telephone interview from Denver on Wednesday that he has been
pleased with the visit, which concludes today by looking at a former tomato
greenhouse operation near Rifle, adding, "We have been given a very, very
warm welcome by everyone. They are very enthusiastic for business in general,
but in biotechnology in particular."
California
citrus growers nervous over clementine imports
December 3, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
According to this story, renewed imports of Spanish clementine fruit has
California citrus growers jittery over a possible pest outbreak and increased
competition.
The story says that Spain for the past two seasons has been barred from
exporting the easy-peeling clementine into California and several other
citrus-producing states after the destructive Mediterranean fruit fly was
discovered in several shipments, although Spain has now succeeded in getting the
California ban lifted this season under new shipping rules developed by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, a citrus industry trade
association in Exeter, was quoted as saying, "We have argued repeatedly
that the rule the U.S. developed does not adequately protect domestic
citrus."
Federal officials have assured growers that the new shipping rules are adequate
and that the Spanish fruit will be closely monitored.
But David Brown, an Orange Cove citrus grower, was cited as saying he isn't
convinced that Spanish clementines are safe, adding, "It is something a lot
of growers are concerned about. The Medfly is a real problem."
Agnet is produced by the Food Safety Network at
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Association, National Food Processors Association, Ontario Agri-Food
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