1.Campaigners clash over industry claims of rise in GM crops
2.GM crops remain a global failure
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1.Campaigners clash over industry claims of rise in GM crops
John Vidal, environment editor
The Guardian, 8 February 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/08/industry-claims-rise-gm-crops
*NGOs accuse industry body of inflating claims that the acreage of biotech crops grew by 8% in 2011
Pro- and anti-GM organisations clashed on Tuesday over the accuracy of industry figures which suggested a rise internationally of 8% in the acreage of GM crops in 2011, a 16th straight rise since they were first sold in 1996.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotic Applications (ISAAA), an industry body funded by GM companies including Monsanto, Bayer CropScience and CropLife International, claimed in its annual report that biotech crops grew by 12m hectares, to 160 million hectares, in 2011.
"A record 16.7 million farmers, up 1.3 million or 8% from 2010, grew biotech crops notably, over 90%, or 15 million, were small resource-poor farmers in developing countries. Seven million small farmers in China and another 7 million in India, collectively planted a record 14.5 million hectares of biotech crops," said the report.
ISAAA said that developing countries were expected to grow more GM crops than rich countries in 2012 for the first time. "Unprecedented adoption rates are testimony to overwhelming trust and confidence in biotech crops by millions of farmers worldwide," said Clive James, author of the annual ISAAA report.
The food crops, which are mostly herbicide-resistant varieties of maize, soya and oilseed rape, are grown now in 29 countries but over 40% by acreage is grown in the US. Much of the rest is grown in Brazil and Argentina, with Bt cotton grown mostly in China and India.
Wenonah Hauter, director of the NGO Food and Water Europe, accused the ISAAA of inflating the statistics by including "trait acres", a figure derived by multiplying the surface area grown by the number of genetic traits engineered in GM crops. Using this system, said Hauter, ISAAA could argue that a field of GM crops that had three genetically engineered traits became three "trait fields", thereby tripling the acreage.
"Our analysis ... reveals they derive their figures from reliance on biased data sources, overstating the benefits of GM for farmers and ignoring figures that don't support their pro-GM position. They have a vested interest in the success of GM technology, and their figures simply can't be trusted," said Hauter.
The ISAAA, which is based in the Philippines, could not be contacted last night.
Friends of the Earth Europe and Greenpeace both claimed that the industry had in effect given up trying to persuade Europe to accept the crops, due to opposition from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians.
Greenpeace said in a statement: "Last month BASF, the world's biggest chemical company, said it was abandoning plans to develop and commercialise GM food in Europe. The total acreage grown in Europe is now 0.1% of the cultivable land available and only Spain marginally increased its acreage grown in 2011."
Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: "The public's rejection of genetically modified crops has ensured that they are confined to small pockets of the European Union. In comparison, organic farming accounted for 3.7%."
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2.GM crops remain a global failure
Media statement on the ISAAA GM Crop Lobby 2012 Report
Greenpeace Australia-Pacific, 8 February 2012,
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/mediacentre/media-releases/food/Media-statement-on-the-ISAAA-GM-Crop-Lobby-2012-Report-/
Sydney: Greenpeace responded today to a report on the perceived success of genetically modified (GM) crops around the world, which was published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a bio-tech industry lobby organisation.
"Contrary to claims in the report, GM crops remain a global failure with only about 1% of global farmers cultivating GM crops.[i]" said Greenpeace campaigner Éric Darrier.
"There are so many oversights and exaggerations in this report that is hard to know where to start," said Mr Darrier.
For example, the 'acreage' of GM crops is completely exaggerated in the report through the presentation of acreage by 'trait' rather than the actual acreage of a crop. If a particular plant is cultivated on 100 hectares, ISAAA does not calculate its acreage as 100 hectares; they consider how many traits (characteristics) have been inserted into the ground. In the case of a crop that is stacked with three traits (e.g. pesticide producing + tolerance to 2 herbicides), the acreage is presented as 3 times 100 hectares = 300 hectares, wrongly tripling the acreage and misleading alike.
GM food and crops are still rejected in most parts of the world by concerned consumers, farmers and governments. Around 90% of the GM crops are commercialised by the giant agro-chemical US company Monsanto. After 16 years of commercialisation, just four countries in the Americas (US, Argentina, Brazil and Canada) represent 80% of the world GM crops acreage. Recent attempts to introduce GM food to China (GM rice) and India (GM aubergine) failed[i].
"GM crops remain controversial because they have not been adequately tested by independent scientists. Most data that are the basis for government's approval for GM crops are conducted by scientists who work either directly or indirectly for biotech companies. Moreover this data is confidential and not available for counter evaluation by independent and credible experts," said Mr. Darier.
"This is why the plan to commercialise GM wheat in Australia as soon as 2015 is completely irresponsible. According to an Australian industry report released last year, 80% of international customers for Australian wheat do not want GM wheat[ii]. The fact that Australia is yet to ratify the United Nation Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will not reassure our international wheat customers."
In recent years, the use of GM crops (soya, canola, corn, cotton) tolerant to glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup has also led to increased weeds or volunteers resistance that forces farmers to spray even more toxic herbicides.[iii]
"Contrary to the ISAAA claims, GM crops remain a global failure. It is time to move on to better farming and agricultural solutions," said Mr Darier.
Media Contact:
Elsa Evers 0438 204 041
Notes
[i] See: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/China-says-no-to-genetically-engineered-rice/ and http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/monsanto-GE-brinjal100210/.
[ii] http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/what-we-do/Food/resources/reports/No-appetite-for-Australian-GM-wheat/
[iii] http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/what-we-do/Food/resources/reports/Herbicide-tolerance-and-GM-crops/