2010-08-11 | permalink

Fighting GM maize in Italy

On Monday 70 anti-GM activists destroyed a GM maize field in Italy and effectively prevented harvest. Although there is no outright ban on the cultivation of GM crops in Italy, a long-running legal tangle effectively prevents farmers from doing so. As the second-largest producer of organic crops in Europe, the issue of GM contamination is particularly explosive in Italy.

• CommonDreams.org: Italian Activists Storm Field

2010-08-10 | permalink

Wild GM Canola in the USA

Wild GM canola found in the USA

Scientists at the University of Arkansas identified genes from GM-canola in wild plant populations in the United States. Wild canola was found at almost half of the tested sites along the highway. About 83 percent of the weedy canola contained transgenic material. Wild canola contained herbicide resistance genes from genetically modified canola. Further, some of the plants contained resistance to both herbicides, a combination of transgenic traits that had not been developed in canola crops. "That's not commercially available. That has to be happening in the wild," said Schafer, from the University of Arkansas.

• University of Arkansas: First Wild Canola Plants With Modified Genes Found in United States
• British Broadcasting Corporation, UK (BBC): GM plants ‘established in the wild’
• Nature News, UK: GM crop escapes into the American wild

2010-08-06 | permalink

GM wheat produces extremely toxic fungal disease

Swiss scientists have demonstrated alarming effects in genetically engineered wheat. They have shown that a particular transgene can have large effects on the entire phenotype of a plant and that these effects can sometimes be reversed when plants are from the glasshouse to the field. Hence 'Crash tests' (simulating a change of extreme climatic conditions) should be mandatory for the risk assessment of GM plants.

• Testbiotech, Germany: Genetically engineered wheat shows unexpected ecological behaviour
• PLOS ONE: Transgene xEnvironment Interactions in GM Wheat

2010-08-03 | permalink

Alarming development – biotech industry celebrating

Pic: greenplanet.net

Biotech industry welcomes EU approvals on GM maize. “These approvals show promising movement in the EU for biotech approvals,” said Pioneer Hi-Bred President Paul E. Schickler.
Among the new GM maize products are Herculex RW and Herculex I, which contain two different Bt traits (59122 and 1507) and the glyphosate tolerant Roundup Ready Corn 2 (NK603).These products have been jointly developed by DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred and Dow AgroSciences LLC (Dow Chemical Company).

2010-08-02 | permalink

Green light for GM feed in Europe

EU opens the market for six genetically modified (GM) maize varieties to market to Europe’s livestock farmers. The approvals are valid for 10 years and cover imports for food and animal feed, but the maize is not authorised for cultivation in Europe.

• Farmers Guardian, UK: GM feed gets EU green light

2010-08-02 | permalink

Taxpayer´s money wasted on GM-research

science amd monsanto (photo:the ecologist)-+-

Science does not serve public interest, but the success of GM technology. "PR strategy relies on seemingly independent scientists making empty promises about the future benefits of GM crops," said Helen Wallace, of GeneWatch UK. Critics claim the trial, the results of which are likely to be used to "sell" GM technology to the British public, is a waste of money because blight-resistant potatoes have already been produced through other techniques.

• The Observer, UK: Scientist leading GM crop test defends links to US biotech giant Monsanto

2010-07-30 | permalink

Greenpeace has taken action today to prevent contamination from GM crops

Greenpeace activists quarantine illegal GE crops in Italy

Greenpeace identified the illegal Monsanto maize type, MON810 in northern Italy. Activists from Italy, Austria, Germany and Hungary intervened to prevent the spread of GM pollen. “For days these crops will have been contaminating not only neighbouring fields, but countryside further away as well, as insects and winds disseminate their pollen,” said Federica Ferrario, Greenpeace Italy Agriculture campaigner.

• Greenpeace International, The Netherlands: Greenpeace activists quarantine illegal GE crops in Italy

2010-07-28 | permalink

Amflora threatening potato diversity

The agricultural minister in the German State of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (MV) called on Ilse Aigner the German agricultural Minister to urgently reconsider the cultivation of the gm-potato amflora. “The gm-potato endangers the only ‘healthy region’ for the production of seed potatoes because Amflora is characterized by a high risk of virus infestation” said Till Backhaus. Indeed MV and Scottland are the only remaining regions in Europe ensuring no virus transmission via lice. These healthy regions are essential for breeding and production of healthy seed potatoes and are threatened by susceptible to deceases.

• nnn.de: Interview mit Till Backhaus

2010-07-23 | permalink

Unauthorised release of GM event NK603 in Irish conventional maize seed

On 3rd June 2010, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) informed the EPA of the unauthorised release of GM (genetically modified) event NK603 in conventional maize variety PR39T83. This release was subsequently confirmed by DAFF on 19th July 2010. The maize variety was supplied by Pioneer Hi-Bred Northern Europe and was in the process of being evaluated for cultivation and use under Irish farming conditions in DAFF small scale field trials.

• Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland: Unauthorised release of GM event NK603 in conventional maize seed
• GM-free Ireland, Ireland: Illegal GM maize grown in Ireland

2010-05-25 | permalink

The Global Struggle Over Who Will End Hunger

Eric Holt Giminez reports from the first meeting of the UN High Level Task Force on the global food security crisis to hear civil society comments on its Comprehensive Framework for Action to end hunger (CFA). An open dialogue in Dublin, which is however unlikely to change the path of the World Banks 20 billion $ Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

• Huffington Post (Huffington Post): A Tale of Three Cities: The Global Struggle Over Who Will End Hunger