GMWatch News Review archive

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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 68
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Dear all:

Lots of fascinating news and reports, and if you're not a Weekly Watcher, make sure you check out REST OF THE MONTH: NEWS IN BRIEF for some really important stories.

Editor: Claire Robinson
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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INTIMIDATION
GENETICS AND HEALTH
LOBBYWATCH
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
GM DISASTERS
RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
PATENTS ON LIFE
FEEDING THE WORLD
REST OF THE MONTH: NEWS IN BRIEF

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INTIMIDATION
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+ THREATS TO SCIENTIST WHO SHOWED ROUNDUP DANGERS
Reports from Argentina say there have been attempts to intimidate the lead researcher of a study showing that Roundup - the glyphosate herbicide developed by Monsanto - can cause brain, intestinal and heart defects in fetuses. 

The lead researcher for the study, carried out in Argentina where Roundup is used on a massive scale on GM herbicide-resistant soy, is embryology professor Dr Andres Carrasco. 

Dr Carrasco has worked for nearly thirty years in embryonic development, and was President and Assistant Secretary of Conicet (Brazil's National Commission for Scientific Research). He now works at the Defence Ministry. 

Dr Carrasco has warned that the doses of herbicide used in his study "were much lower than the levels used in the fumigations [crop spraying]," and so the situation "is much more serious" that the study suggests because "glyphosate does not degrade". 

According to an article in the Argentine press, after news about the study broke, Dr Carrasco was the victim of an act of intimidation, when four men arrived at his laboratory in the Faculty of Medicine and acted aggressively. 

Two of the men were said to be members of an agrochemical industry body but refused to give their names. The other two claimed to be a lawyer and notary. They apparently interrogated Dr Carrasco and demanded to see details of the experiments. They left a card identifying them as being from Basilico, Andrada & Santurio, attorneys on behalf of Felipe Alejandro Noel. 

Dr Carrasco also reports being subjected to offensive phone calls and there have been disparaging references to his research in newspapers with links to agribusiness. Dr Carrasco however is resisting the intimidation, saying, "If I know something, I will not shut my mouth." 
News report in Spanish:
http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-123932-2009-04-26.html
Articles about the research: 
http://tiny.cc/CbFSd
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46516 http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=331718&CategoryId=14093

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GENETICS AND HEALTH
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+ GENETIC "MAGIC BULLET" CURES PROVE A FALSE DAWN
Geneticist, Prof Steve Jones has said that the hope that genetic research could provide a cure for a host of common illnesses has proved a "false dawn". Jones said the belief that a few genes held the key to ridding the world of conditions such as cancer and diabetes had proved to be "plain wrong". In most cases, hundreds of genes are responsible, and often they have less effect than other factors such as diet, lifestyle and the environment.

"It's not done to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, nor to bite the hand that feeds you... We thought it [genetic research] was going to change our lives but that has turned out to be a false dawn."
http://tiny.cc/8px8I

+ PURPLE TOMATOES WON'T BEAT CANCER CANCER RESEARCH UK
The UK National Health Service published a sceptical response to the John Innes Centre's GM "purple tomatoes to beat cancer" hype:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/10October/Pages/Purpletomatoes.aspx 
Cancer Research UK also put out a similarly cautionary article. Cancer Research UK notes that "cancer is a complex disease that has lots of 'causes' - including the genes you inherit from your parents, the lifestyle you subsequently lead, and, sadly, a bit of bad luck too. The problem with a lot of the coverage of the super-tomato story is that it misses out on this complexity, and suggests that one single lifestyle change - buying high-tech fruit and veg - can compensate for all of the above."
http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org:80/2008/10/27/purple-tomatoes-wont-beat- cancer/

+ QUESTIONS OVER ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTATION
The JIC's GM tomatoes are genetically engineered to contain high amounts of antioxidants. Yet antioxidants abound in many natural foods. What is more, according to an article in New Scientist, the jury is still out on whether antioxidant supplementation is desirable. "The antioxidant myth: a medical fairy tale" concludes: "supplements and extracts don't seem to work or may even be dangerous: the doses are too high, and produce too many free radicals. For now, the advice is simple. "... Don't start taking high-dose supplements or heavily fortified foods, until we know more."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19125631.500

+ REFRAMING THE GM DEBATE
Even though Cancer Research UK and the National Health Service have criticised the claims made for the GM purple tomato, the JIC, whose press release directly triggered the misleading tone and claims in the coverage, see the story as an excellent means of promoting GM. A front page piece in a JIC house publication noted enthusiastically: "Our research has been reported very positively world wide... and has already had a societal impact in the UK, helping re-frame the GM debate." (Advances, John Innes Centre and Sainsbury Laboratory, Issue 12, Winter 2008-9)

+ BIG PHARMA TRIES TO SUGAR THE PILL
An article in The Guardian says the pharmaceuticals industry is trying to rebuild its image with a public sceptical of science and GM crops. Bayer is holding a series of seminars for 12 to 18-year-olds in "Baylabs", and claims success in opening young minds to "the complexities of the GM debate".
http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/business/2009/apr/22/pharmaceuticals-industry-gm

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ SENSE ABOUT SCIENCE GM GUIDE FAILED TO DISCLOSE INDUSTRY AFFILIATIONS
An article - 'Bowdlerising Biotech' - published in the latest issue of The Ecologist gives the low down on the lobby group Sense About Science's GM guide and its failure to disclose the biotech industry aligment of many of its authors. On the shelves now: The Ecologist, May 2009, p.12
http://theecologist.org/pages/current.asp

+ VILSACK PLEDGES BETTER PUSH ON GM CROPS
Obama's Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he's going to do a better job than the Bush administration at promoting GM crops overseas. 
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/author/philip-brasher/

+ GM OVERPROMISES AND UNDERDELIVERS
Writing in Grist about Vilsack's pledge, Tom Laskawy says: "I would hope that he's serious about bringing what he referred to as "agricultural science" front and center. Because if he does, he'll see that perhaps, at last, the research tide has turned against GM seeds”¦ Even Monsanto's own research demonstrates the limits of GM techniques. According to a study they funded, RoundUp Ready crops still require significant investment, careful pest management and applications of multiple kinds of pesticides. Say what? The dark side is supposed to be the quick and easy path. Now it turns out that the stuff doesn't even do what it's supposed to do. That's one seriously naked emperor."
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-22-biotech-overpromise/

+ GATES MAN GETS USDA POST
Rajiv Shah has been appointed to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Shah is on the board of directors for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and is the director of the Agriculture Development programme for the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation's agriculture efforts have been criticized for ties to Monsanto. In 2007, the Gates Foundation named Rob Horsch, a long-time Monsanto VP, deputy director of its agricultural development initiative.
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/philanthropy/2009/04/17/gates_foundations_ raj_shah_pic.html 
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-17-gates-agusda/

+ BIG AG TAKES UMBRAGE AT MRS OBAMA'S ORGANIC GARDEN
Here's more on the attempts by the pesticide lobby group, the Mid-America CropLife Association, to persuade Mrs Obama against organic principles in the White House vegetable garden:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk:80/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6146396.ec e

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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ BIG BUSINESS AND ACADEMIA: WHERE IS THE LINE?
David Chicoine is president of South Dakota State University, the state's Land Grant university (land grants get public moneys for ag research) and its premier research and teaching institution. He has also just accepted a paid position consulting for Monsanto. In 2009, says an article by Alan Guebert, Monsanto will pay Chicoine $400,000 in money and stocks - a hundred grand more than his university presidential salary. 
http://journalstar.com/articles/2009/04/26/news/business/doc49f2252609aeb1879413 74.txt
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/04/28/news/top/doc49f77e4ed8d56270 561910.txt
Monsanto U: Agribusiness’s takeover of public schools
http://www.alternet.org/environment/76804/?page=entire
Seedy Monsanto: http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005125838
Monsanto's global pollution legacy: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-Global-Pollutio-by-Barbara-Peterson- 090428-441.html
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Monsanto's_Global_Pollution_Legacy

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GM DISASTERS
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+ SUPERWEED EXPLOSION THREATENS MONSANTO HEARTLANDS
Glyphosate-resistant superweeds are plaguing Monsanto GM crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms, says a report for France 24. Superweeds have appeared in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. 

Today, 100,000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have confirmed resistance to glyphosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia.

In 2007, 10,000 acres of land were abandoned in Macon country, the epicentre of the superweed explosion, North Carolina State University's Alan York told media.
http://tiny.cc/vTMid

+ THE TRAGEDY OF FARMER SUICIDES IN INDIA
Good articles on causes of India's farmer suicides and the readily available solutions: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mallika-chopra/the-tragedy-of-farmers-su_b_189843. html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vandana-shiva/from-seeds-of-suicide-to_b_192419.ht ml

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RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
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+ GM BANS "CAN'T BE IGNORED IN BRUSSELS"
The German ban on the MON810 GM maize has found broad support in the German public. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper commented: "To the four small EU countries that have so far banned MON810, two large ones have added their weight: first France, and now Germany. This development can't be ignored in Brussels."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,619347,00.html

+ MONSANTO SUES GERMANY OVER GM MAIZE BAN
Monsanto said it has started legal action against the decision by German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner to ban cultivation and sale of Monanto's MON 810 GMO maize which stopped it being sown for this year's harvest. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8467513
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/apr/28/monsanto-court-germany-gm -maize

+ GERMANY: FARMERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST PATENTS ON ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Over a thousand farmers joined by environment and development aid organisations demonstrated against patents on animals and plants in Munich. Over 5,000 people and some 50 organisations have filed a joint opposition to a patent on fast-growing meat pigs originally registered by Monsanto. 

Those taking part in the protest march, being made under the heading "Stop the patent on the poor creature", are calling for patents on life to be prohibited by law. Greenpeace presented new research on patent applications author¬ised by the European Patent Office, showing these now ranged from the breeding of cows to milk. The Munich demonstration against patents on life is reckoned to be the biggest so far in Europe. 
http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor y&id=3&Itemid=28〈=en

+ GERMAN MINISTER PUSHED TO BAN GM POTATOES
German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner is under pressure from her Christian Social Union party to ban planting of GM potatoes. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aG9BW_W1SEEo&refer=germany

+ EU TO "REFLECT" ON GERMANY'S GM MAIZE BAN
EU Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said the European Union would "reflect" on Germany's decision to ban the GM maize MON810. Germany is the sixth EU country to introduce a provisional ban on MON 810, following similar action taken by France, Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg and Greece. The European Commission sought to force Austria and Hungary to reverse their bans on the crop but its ruling was overturned by a majority of EU nations last month.

A source close to the European Commission said the German ban might bring a revision of the European legislation on GM crops. Throughout Europe, the public opinion is now against and if the people were asked one more time, "there would be a rejection," the source said on condition of anonymity.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1239807722.48
NOTE: Euro News recently concluded an online poll on GM food and farming:
Should genetically modified organisms be banned in Europe?
Yes: 79%
No: 18% 
I don't know: 3% 
http://www.euronews.net/news/you/

+ OPPONENTS OF GM CROPS PROTEST IN SPAIN
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Spanish city of Zaragoza calling for a ban on the use of GM crops. They want their government to follow Germany's lead in banning GM maize. 
http://www.euronews.net/2009/04/18/opponents-of-gm-crops-protest-in-spain/
Some great images from the protest in Zaragoza in this video:
http://www.euronews.net/2009/04/18/opponents-of-gm-crops-protest-in-spain/
Zaragoza is the capital of Aragon, which research shows has suffered a 75% reduction in the area devoted to organic maize since the introduction of GM maize. Coexistence has proved impossible.
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/studien/bericht-113314.html
http://bangmfood.org/quotes/24-quotes/31-gm-and-non-gm-crops-cannot-coexist

+ LUXEMBOURG SAYS NO TO GM RICE
Luxembourg will vote against the proposal to allow Bayer’s LL62 GM rice to be made available for sale in the EU. According to opinion polls, around 75% of Luxembourg's residents oppose growing or selling GM food.
http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/luxembourg-says-no-to-genetically- modified-rice/

+ THREE OUT OF FOUR ITALIANS DON'T WANT GM
Almost three out of every four Italians (72%) feel that GM food is less healthy than traditional food. What is more, opposition amongst Italians continues to grow (up 5.2%).
Source: www.coldiretti.it 

+ SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT OF GERMANS WANT GM-FREE LABEL
Seventy-three percent of German consumers have stated that they want retailers and food manufacturers to use the new German "GM-free" (Ohne Gentechnik) label on animal products.

+ IMPORTANT: TAKE ACTION ON BAYER'S GM RICE
In the coming weeks, the EU will decide whether Bayer’s glufosinate-tolerant GM rice LL62 can enter EU countries, appear on supermarket shelves and end up on our dinner plates. Note: glufosinate is believed to be so toxic that it will soon be banned from Europe.
Take Action: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/gm/rice-20090416

+ SCOTTISH GOVT SUPPORTS GLOBAL OPPOSITION TO GM
In a video address to the fifth international conference on GM-free regions in Europe, Scotland's new environment minister Roseanna Cunningham strongly re-affirmed the Scottish government's anti-GM stance. Cunningham said, "We are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with other nations who are opposed to GM and fight for what our people want." 
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/04/24150325
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/04/24150325/Q/Video/548
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-09/wa0422.htm

+ MAKING SWEDEN GM-FREE
A municipality in Jamtland county, Sweden called Are has announced its decision to work towards making the municipality GM-free. The first GMO-free municipality in Sweden is Ostersund in Jamtland. According to an opinion poll conducted by farmers' newspaper, ATL, nearly 80% of farmers in Sweden are not interested in farming with GM crops or using GMOs in animal feed.
Source: Akiko Frid

+ STOP GM ALFALFA IN CANADA
Eighty groups including farmer associations and food businesses from across Canada have joined the growing call to stop the introduction and field-testing of Monsanto's GM alfalfa.

"The contamination of alfalfa would be inevitable and irreversible. We've already seen an end to organic canola due to GM contamination and we can't afford to lose alfalfa," said Arnold Taylor of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate. "Because it's pollinated by bees, genes from Monsanto's GM alfalfa would spread out of control." For more information and to see the list of groups endorsing the campaign:http://www.cban.ca/NoGMOAlfalfa

+ CONSUMERS STILL DON'T WANT GM WHEAT
http://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=98938&PC=FBC&issue=04182 009 

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PATENTS ON LIFE
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+ NEW REPORT ON PATENTS ON LIFE
The European Patent Office is granting further property rights on foodstuffs, plants and seed which have been conventionally grown, says a new report by Greenpeace, No Patents on Life, the Berne Declaration, Swissaid, the Development Fund and Misereor. Besides maize and lettuce, trees, baby food and beer are claimed in the 500 patent applications researched by the No Patents on Life organisation and in roughly 70 patents already issued. The organisations involved are calling for the flood of patents to be stopped by political guidelines. 
http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor y&id=3&Itemid=28

+ GM CROPS BAD NEWS FOR FARMERS
Unproven and patented GM fixes will not help farmers in the South adapt to climate change, says a report for SciDevNet.
http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/gm-crops-and-the-gene-giants-bad-news-for-farm ers.html

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FEEDING THE WORLD
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+ QUOTE OF THE MONTH REAL SOLUTIONS IGNORED
"As an African American farmer from Mississippi who has visited and traveled to Africa many times, I am stunned that the real solutions continue to be ignored. We face multiple crises - financial, climate, energy, and water. Business as usual will not solve our global hunger crisis.

"More expensive genetically modified seeds, pesticides and chemical-intensive practices won't help the hungry and will only allow more profits and control for seed companies like Monsanto and Syngenta.

"While the G8 calls for more 'free trade' in agriculture and more biotechnology, groundbreaking scientific reports and actions at the United Nations are actively calling for a different vision of agriculture. This would be based on agroecological methods that respects our planet's resources and provide a decent living for family farmers."
- Ben Burkett, Mississippi farmer, President of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, President of the National Family Farm Coalition, and North American representative on the Food Sovereignty Commission of La Via Campesina

+ AFRICA'S GENE REVOLUTION
African Centre for Biosafety has produced a new briefing paper, titled: "Africa's Green Revolution rolls out the Gene Revolution" by Mariam Mayet. The report tells how the 'New Green Revolution in Africa', touted since the 1990s, was given renewed impetus two and a half years ago, when the Rockefeller and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations launched the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).1 Although AGRA itself does not incorporate GM crops in its projects, the ominous presence of GM companies hovers over the Green Revolution push. 

Millions of dollars have been poured into the coffers of a host of carefully selected role players, to lay the groundwork for the industrialisation of African agriculture and creation of markets for agribusiness giants. These AGRA players include US groups such as Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA) and the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC). These groups are successfully enmeshing the corporate interests of Syngenta, Dow, Bayer, Du Pont and Monsanto within AGRA projects in African countries.
Download the document:
http://www.biosafetyafrica.org.za/images/stories/dmdocuments/gene_revolution_bri ef.pdf

+ NIGERIAN GOVT PLANS TO GIVE GM SEEDS TO FARMERS ON BASIS OF ISAAA HYPE 
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has condemned plans by the government to distribute GM seeds to Nigerian farmers, saying the decision is at the instance of biotech firms that want to dictate Nigeria's food needs for profit motives. ERA/FoEN's stance is coming on the heels of media reports quoting Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Bako Zaku. ERA/FoEN warned that the minister's arguments about how well GMOs are doing in the world are all from a discredited report by biotech industry-backed International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/33603/43/

+ TAKE ACTION (U.S.) GET GM RESEARCH OUT OF FOREIGN AID!
Despite a mountain of evidence that GM crops have failed to deliver, a new multi-billion dollar aid bill before the Senate directs more money towards more GM research. This portion of the bill (the Lugar-Casey Global Hunger Bill) is a stealth giveaway to agribusiness in the name of feeding the world’s poor. It will further de-stabilize the developing world’s capacity to feed itself for generations to come.

Act Now! Urge your Senator to strip the biotech provision it revises the 1961 Federal Assistance Act to mandate that US food aid include research on GM crops.
TAKE ACTION: http://action.panna.org/t/5185/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27074

+ G8 URGED TO REJECT ANOTHER "GREEN REVOLUTION"
The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis, a group representing anti-hunger, family farm, community food security, environmental, international aid, labor, food justice, consumers and other food system actors, is urging the G8 at the upcoming Agricultural Ministerial in Treviso, Italy to reject the failed policies of the Green Revolution. The move is backed by a recent landmark report by the UN and World Bank that argues for agroecological and sustainable agriculture, rather than reliance on chemical-intensive practices and genetic engineering.
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/04/16-19

+ CUBA: SCIENTIST SAYS ORGANICS CAN SOLVE FOOD PROBLEMS
Cuba is trialing a GM maize engineered to resist the corn moth. But Dr. Eduardo Francisco Freyre Roach, a tenured professor at the Havana Agricultural University (UNAH), questions the necessity of the GM approach in an interview with the Havana Times. He says of the problems created in Cuba by the so-called Green Revolution: "It it has been demonstrated across the island - and even the authorities at the World Bank have praised us for this - that with large-scale organic or agro-ecological agriculture it is possible to solve the dilemmas we've produced."
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=7770&wbExam=quid55hmq4esbuk4emf2phkag2

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REST OF THE MONTH: NEWS IN BRIEF
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+ GM FAILS TO BOOST CROP YIELDS 
An important new report from Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman, a former biotech specialist with the EPA who is now with the Union of Concerned Scientists, shows that "despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase US crop yields."

The report reviews the literature on yield for the primary GM food/feed crops, soybeans and corn (maize). 

Dr Gurian-Sherman concludes, "If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields. Traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down."

In addition to evaluating GM's record, "Failure to Yield" considers the technology's potential role in increasing food production over the next few decades. The report suggests that it makes little sense to support GM at the expense of technologies that have proven to substantially increase yields, especially in many developing countries. 

In addition, recent studies have shown that organic and similar farming methods that minimize the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can more than double crop yields at little cost to poor farmers in developing regions.
http://tiny.cc/gNgsB

Failure to Yield - Frequently Asked Questions: http://tiny.cc/IcVzQ

Download the new report Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops
http://tiny.cc/eqZST

+ GERMANY BANS GM CORN
Germany has banned the planting of MON 810, the only GM crop widely grown in Europe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/14/germany-gm-crops
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLE16356920090414
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,619166,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4179022,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/14/germany-gm-crops

+ FRANCE ADOPTS GM-FREE LABELS FOR MEAT AND DAIRY
A new label bearing the words "Nourri sans OGM" (Fed without GMOs) was adopted for non-GM fed animal products on 3 April by the French government.
http://www.minefi.gouv.fr/conseilnationalconsommation/presentation.htm

+ ORGANIC PIONEER FEARS HIS FARM IS THREATENED BY GM STUNT
GM advocate Jonathon Harrington claims to have grown GM maize on his Powys farm and says he and 30 other farmers will do the same this year in defiance of Welsh Assembly Government policy. One of his neighbours, Dr Paul Benham, director of the Centre for Sustainable Food, at the Primrose Earth Awareness Trust, explains why the stunt jeopardizes his farm and his livelihood in an article for the Western Mail.
http://tiny.cc/g8oTn
Former TV gardener and Soil Association president Monty Don’s view: http://tiny.cc/dWhew

+ PROFESSOR BULLSH*T APPOINTED TO COUNCIL OF BBSRC
Professor David Baulcombe has been appointed to the Council of BBSRC, the UK's major public science funding body, by science minister "Lord Smallpox" Drayson, the former head of the Bio-Industry Association. Baulcombe, the former head of the Sainsbury Laboratory of the John Innes Centre, was the original inspiration for GMWatch's character 'Professor Bullsh*t' because of the falsity of his his claims about GM research. 
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/false.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/pb.htm
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6366

+ ROUNDUP RESISTANCE COULD MEAN 100% YIELD LOSS
U.S. researchers found that farmers who plant Roundup Ready crops and spray Roundup or glyphosate-based herbicides almost exclusively are finding that weeds have developed resistance. The researchers say that glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed can cause up to 100 percent yield loss.
Abstract:
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090414JohnsonSurvey.html
Purdue University press release:
http://www.physorg.com/news158944886.html 
+ ATTACK OF THE SUPERWEEDS
Illinois farmers are preparing for their yearly battle with Roundup-resistant superweeds. Agronomist Dr Charles Benbrook says, "Our research shows that for every acre of Roundup Ready seed applied, two-thirds to three-quarters of a pound more herbicide per acre is used than conventional seed. Farmers are just beginning to deal with a serious resistance problem."

Benbrook also comments on the increasing expense of putting a crop - whether corn or soybeans - in the ground. "You're probably looking at the first $300 bag (for about 50 pounds) of ([GM] corn) seed this year. Farmers that used to spend between $15 and $20 a pound on seed per acre are now spending $100."
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x90676933/Attack-of-the-Superweeds

MILK BILL ENDANGERS FOOD SUPPLY
A bill passed the Kansas legislature on April 3, which would restrict any national US dairy from properly labeling their milk products as free from Monsanto’s GM bovine growth hormone (rbGH or rbST). Read Jeffrey Smith’s history of rbGH:
Part 1: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/governor-sebelius-must-ve_b_183838.h tml
Part 2: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/fda-promotes-unsafe-milk_b_184886.ht ml
Part 3:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/monsanto-forced-fox-tv-to_b_186428.h tml

+ "NO RATIONAL REASON" TO WARN OF PCB DANGERS MONSANTO EMPLOYEE
At a PCBs trial in Birmingham, Alabama, 30-year Monsanto employee William Papageorge was shown on video admitting that he and other officials decided "there was no rational reason" for informing residents of Anniston (a town polluted by Monsanto with PCBs) about the PCBs or their effects. During that time, the company tested fish in local creeks and found high levels of PCBs, but opted against telling the people who routinely ate fish from the creeks.
http://www.annistonstar.com/breaking/2009/as-localupdate-0409-0-9d09m0245.htm

+ U.S.: MORE CROP PRODUCERS TO PLANT NON-GM SOY THIS YEAR
Cheaper seed and lucrative premiums for non-GM soy are driving more crop producers to plant non-GM soybeans this year, said Jim Beuerlein, an Ohio State University Extension agronomist.
http://tiny.cc/O4jNw
The same move away from GM soy is occurring in Brazil:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/behindTheScenes/idUKTRE52C5AB20090313

+ GM TRIALS BLOCKED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Moves by the Western Australian (WA) Government to allow large-scale trials of GM canola were thwarted in WA's Upper House, making planting GM canola in WA illegal. But WA Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman has now signed an exemption overturning the vote in the Upper House.
http://www.truefood.org.au/newsandevents/?news=38
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/redman-overtu rns-rejection-of-gm-trials/1486017.aspx

+ WWF ALLIES ITSELF WITH GM INDUSTRY AGAIN
WWF has long claimed to oppose GM technology despite having allied itself with the likes of Monsanto and Syngenta in the Round Table for Responsible Soy. But it has now formed a new alliance with a biotech company, Novozymes, that makes GM enzymes.

GMWatch comment: There's half a decade of experience in producing natural enzymes that will do many of the same jobs. GM is not needed. And these enzymes will end up in food if used in food production.
http://www.novozymes.com/en/MainStructure/AboutUs/March