News

2014-08-04 |

Farmers, Environmental Groups Defend Moratorium of GMO Crops on Hawaii’s Big Island

Report from the Center for Food Safety - HONOLULU – A coalition of local farmers and environmental groups today filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit to defend a Hawai‘i County ordinance that imposes a moratorium on the expansion of genetically engineered (GE) crops on the Big Island. Sustainable agriculture nonprofit, Center for Food Safety (CFS), and three Hawai‘i Island farmers asked the court permission to join as defendants in a biotech industry lawsuit challenging the County of Hawai‘i’s Ordinance 13-121. The ordinance regulates GE organisms to prevent their environmental and economic harms, such as contamination of organic and conventional crops and wild plants and associated pesticide use. The coalition is jointly represented by counsel from CFS and Earthjustice. “Hawaii County, like every county, has the right to protect its farmers and native environments from genetically engineered crops,” said George Kimbrell, CFS senior attorney. “Having GE-free zones is

2014-08-03 |

Brazilian farmers demand Monsanto and other producers of BT corn seeds refund their money for GMO crops that don't work

Brazilian farmers are asking Monsanto and other producers of pest-resistant corn seeds to reimburse them for money spent on additional pesticides when the bugs killed the crops instead of dying themselves. The so-called BT corn seeds are genetically modified to produce an insecticide that will kill the corn leafworm (also known as the southern grassworm). After the insect eats the corn, the toxin inside paralyzes the insect’s digestive system, forming a hole in the gut wall. This forces the bug to stop eating within a few hours, and subsequently starve to death, according to a Colorado State University fact sheet. The GMO seeds are produced by four major manufacturers: Dow Agrosciences, DuPont, Monsanto and Sygenta AG. In Brazil, however, the farmers say that the seeds did not deliver as promised.

2014-07-31 |

Unapproved GM Rice on the market in China

CCTV, China's state broadcaster, has discovered genetically modified rice being sold in two southern provinces, the second such allegation it has made in two years at a time when public opinion seems to have hardened against the technology. An investigative report aired last Saturday said GM rice was found in the market in southern Hubei and Hunan province, where rice remains the staple food. The allegation by the television network has been substantiated by the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau after samples took from the two provinces were tested positive for GM elements.

2014-07-29 |

Gene for salt-tolerant soybeans discovered by Hong Kong professor

After identifying one gene that manifested itself in all the salt-tolerant beans yet mutated in all the salt-sensitive ones, they inserted it into salt-sensitive soybean roots and tobacco cells and found that the gene caused them to become more tolerant to salt. Lam said it would be much quicker to genetically modify the soybeans to make them salt tolerant, but the regulatory process for approving genetic modification in China was still "unclear". "There is too much controversy about GM technology today, so we [are] taking a longer route," Lam said, adding that he wanted to work with as many farmers as possible to begin cultivating salt-tolerant soybeans. Two institutions - in northeast and northwest China - have expressed interest in using Lam's methods.

2014-07-29 |

USA Wasted $34 Million on Soybeans in Afghanistan

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forking over millions of dollars for a soybean program in Afghanistan that's running into major problems, with Afghan farmers slow to embrace a product that few Afghans ate before. The findings were included in a scathing new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), on the $34 million program. It found the program has been marked by mismanagement, poor government oversight and financial waste. Part of the problem is that Afghans don’t really like how soybean products taste and past measures to push the super-food onto the culture have tanked.

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