Posted on 3-2-2004
Developing
World Adopting GM Crops
Seven million farmers in 18 countries -- more than 85% of whom
are
resource-poor and from the developing world -- now plant GM
crops, says a
survey by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications
Farmers in developing countries are switching to genetically
modified (GM)
crops at more than twice the rate of farmers in the industrialised
world,
a new global survey has found.
Last year, the amount of land planted with GM crops in developing
countries grew by 4.4 million hectares, or 28%. By comparison,
the rate of
growth in industrialised countries was only 11%. As a result,
almost
one-third of the worldýs GM crops are now grown in developing
countries,
compared to one-quarter in 2002.
This data comes courtesy a survey that was released recently
by the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
(ISAAA), an organisation that supports the transfer of biotechnology
to
developing countries.
The survey also finds that seven million farmers in 18 countries
-- more
than 85% of whom are resource-poor farmers in the developing
world -- now
plant GM crops.
ýFarmers have made up their minds,ý says Clive
James, chairman and founder
of the ISAAA. ýThey continue to rapidly adopt biotech
crops because of
significant agronomic, economic, environmental and social advantages.ý
But Alex Wijeratna, a food campaigner for the development organisation
ActionAid, argues that the uptake of GM crops in the developing
world
could have more to do with aggressive marketing by influential
seed
companies than with any benefits that the crops might offer.
ýIn Africa,
the formal seed sector is dominated by three companies,ý
he says. ýWe are
increasingly worried about the concentration of the market.ý
According to the ISAAA survey, six countries together grow 99%
of the
worldýs GM crops, up from four in 2002. Brazil and South
Africa joined the
United States, Argentina, Canada and China as the leading growers
of GM
crops.
China and South Africa experienced the largest increases in
2003, each
expanding the area planted with GM crops by a third.
Soya is the most commonly planted GM crop -- 55% of the worldýs
soya crop,
covering 41.4 million hectares, is now genetically modified,
according to
the ISAAA. GM maize was planted on 15.5 million hectares worldwide
in
2003, an increase of a quarter over the previous year; GM cotton
was grown
on 7.2 million hectares; and GM canola occupied 3.6 million
hectares.
The ISAAA predicts that within the next five years, 10 million
farmers in
25 or more countries will plant 100 million hectares of GM crops.
According to the report, the global market value of GM crops
is expected
to increase from US$4.5 billion this year to US$5 billion or
more by 2005.
Source: www.scidev.net, January 16, 2004
Indiaýs GM food safeguards inadequate: Gene Campaign
In the absence of a competent and vigilant regulatory system,
permission
granted to GM products could pose a threat to Indiaýs
environment and
public health, the Delhi-based NGO has noted in its petition
to Supreme
Court of India
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court
seeking
changes to Indiaýs rules on genetically modified (GM)
products, to make
them more efficient and transparent
Gene Campaign, a Delhi-based non-governmental body involved
in food
security and bio-resource issues, has sought a moratorium on
the
commercial release of GM products until technically competent
and
transparent regulations are in place. In the absence of a competent
and
vigilant regulatory system, permission granted to GM products
could pose a
threat to Indiaýs environment and public health, the
group says.
ýOur biggest concern is the lack of technical competence
and the shocking
absence of transparency,ý says Dr Suman Sahai, president
of Gene Campaign.
Sahai explains that Gene Campaign filed the petition only after
repeated
attempts to discuss its concerns about flaws in the existing
rules with
various government departments were stonewalled. ýWe
spent 18 months
seeking data about field trials and safety tests,ý says
Sahai. ýThere is
no reason why such data should remain hidden, but they donýt
even
respond.ý
The need for revised regulations to govern GM products in India
emerged at
a national symposium in New Delhi last year.
According to the department of biotechnology (DBT), existing
rules in
Indiaýs Environment Protection Act were adequate to cover
GM products. A
senior department official has said that guidelines to assess
the
environmental and ecological impact for risk assessment were
already built
into the act and that ýthey are no less stringent than
anywhere in the
worldý.
Sahai expresses surprise over the apparent unwillingness of
departments to
share information with even the Indian parliament.
The symposium had suggested that a review of decisions by the
Genetic
Engineering Advisory Committee (GEAC), the panel responsible
for approving
GM products in India, be presented to parliament. However, a
DBT official
said: ýSubmission of GEAC decisions to parliament is
not a practical
exercise.ý Sahai responds: ýWhose agenda is being
set here that the DBT
thinks that even the Indian parliament need not be informed
about GEAC
decisions.ý
Dr Satish Raina, professor at the National Centre for Plant
Biotechnology
at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, says
there is no
reason why details about safety and environmental tests should
not be
released. ýThere is nothing proprietary or secret about
how the tests were
conducted and what results were obtained -- the public has a
right to
know.ý
Although the committee has so far approved only GM cotton, several
edible
GM products are in the research pipeline. Protein-rich potatoes,
iron-laced rice and, perhaps, edible vaccines too -- all products
of
genetic engineering -- are expected to come up for approval
by the panel
within the next two to five years.
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