FOCUS ON ASIA
http://www.gmwatch.org/asia.asp

"A test planting of soybeans in Ibaraki Prefecture met with strong resistance last year, with protesters using a tractor to destroy the crops."

Interesting, that the Hokkaido farmer who wants to grow Minsanto's GM soya beans says it's because they "will be able to increase his yield by three to four times, with the same amount of effort", while in the US the flattening, and even decline, of U.S. soybean yields, which has cost farmers an estimated $1.28 billion, is being attributed to exactly the same source.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4462
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Hokkaido farmer goes it alone on GM beans
Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20041023wo35.htm

Yoshimasa Miyai, 46, a farmer from Naganumacho, Hokkaido, known as one of nation's leading soybean-producing prefectures, plans to begin cultivating genetically modified soybeans next spring. But he faces fierce opposition from the Hokkaido government and the local agricultural cooperative, which fear rumors that the beans are unsafe could damage the reputation of locally produced crops.

The beans, which have been safety approved and have long been imported to Japan in bulk, are modified to be resistant to glyphosate pesticide.

Miyai plans to sow 4.6 hectares of his 85-hectare farm with the beans.

He previously used four types of pesticide, but will now only use one, cutting his costs by 30,000 yen to 40,000 yen per hectare. In addition, he says with the new beans, he will be able to increase his yield by three to four times, with the same amount of effort.

"This should be great for the consumer because I'll be able to provide a steady supply of safe produce," he said.

Miyai's confidence is based on firsthand experience of cultivating genetically modified soybeans on several visits to the United States. In 1998 and 1999, he test-grew seeds from a U.S. grain company on his farm in Hokkaido and sold them wholesale to business operators.

But the local agricultural cooperative, JA Naganuma, cannot hide its agitation. In 2003, of the about 230,000 tons of soybeans produced nationwide, Naganumacho produced 2,630 tons--the most in Hokkaido.

Kazuyuki Uchida, head of the cooperative, has demanded Miyai stop, saying, "Consumers will never embrace a product they feel is unsafe."

The Hokkaido government currently is in the process of adding regulations to already existing guidelines regulating genetically modified produce, as well as drawing up an ordinance with stronger provisions.

Miyai's plan, Hokkaido's Vice Gov. Shinji Asada warned, "would destroy people's trust in Hokkaido's agricultural produce."

The genetically modified soybeans are permitted under a law that went into effect in February that ensures biodiversity through regulations on the use of genetically modified produce.

While the exact effects on the environment are still being examined, the use of such produce in foodstuffs and animal feed was confirmed to be safe in 1996 by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry. Miyai is following existing regulations in the way he is handling the produce.

But genetically modified produce has so far not been cultivated regularly in this country. A test planting of soybeans in Ibaraki Prefecture met with strong resistance last year, with protesters using a tractor to destroy the crops.

Japan imports 95 percent of its soybeans, 75 percent of which come from the United States. As much as 80 percent of the soybean crop in the United States is said to be genetically modified, meaning that modified beans have already deeply penetrated the Japanese market.

Meanwhile, in the European Union, sales of new genetically modified produce on the market reopened in April, after a temporary sales ban due to conflicting opinions on GM crops among member countries