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1. India urged to halt gene cotton field trials
2. Breeder accused of lying
3. Isaan farmers planrice demonstrations

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1. India urged to halt gene cotton field trials
By Thomas Kutty Abraham

AHMEDABAD, India, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indian environmental activists called on Monday for suspension of field trials and production of gene-modified cotton until further studies were conducted on possible health and environmental hazards. The call for a 10-year moratorium follows the detection of large-scale illegal planting of genetically modified (GM) cotton in India's western state of Gujarat. The government ordered the destruction of the GM cotton last Friday. While the government does not currently permit commercial production of GM crops, it has allowed a few firms and research bodies to conduct field trials under the supervision of nominated agencies. "The government should stop the field trials and further deployment of seeds in the field until it develops measures to control the hazardous effects of GM crops," said Vandana Shiva of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. Manju Sharma, secretary in the federal Department of Biotechnology, told Reuters last week the government was likely to allow commercial production of GM crops by March. The first approval is likely to be given to Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (MAHYCO), which has been conducting large- scale field trials of its GM cotton variety in collaboration with U.S-based biotech firm Monsanto (MON.N). Green activists said the government should implement a stringent regulatory framework to make seed companies liable for any negative impact of GM crops on the environment or human health. "There is a veil of secrecy as far the negative influence of GM crops on the ecology and humans are concerned. Therefore, companies should be asked to make public all information on the positives and negatives of GM crops," Chunibhai Vaidya of Gujarat Lok Samiti, a non-government organisation (NGO), said. The federal Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) asked the Gujarat government to identify and destroy BT (bacillus thuringiensis) cotton sown on an estimated 10,000 hectares.

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2. Breeder accused of lying
The Nation (Thailand) October 22, 2001

A group of environmentalists and academics believe US plant-breeder Chris Deren is not only a thief but also a liar. And they say they suspect he smuggled original jasmine rice seeds out of Thailand and did not, as he claims, obtain them from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). If this is proven to be true, Thailand has the right to call for a halt to his experiments at the University of Florida, on the grounds that smuggling is illegal under Thailand's Plant Protection Act. And if successful, Thailand will also stand to benefit from the fruits of Deren's experiments. The group yesterday urged Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to raise the issue when he met US President Gorge Bush during his upcoming visit to the US. Witoon Lianchamroon, director of Biothai, an NGO which works for the protection of farmers' rights and plant conservation, said yesterday he had recently discovered that another plant-breeder from the same programme as Deren had admitted illegally obtaining jasmine-rice germ plasma from Thailand. Witoon alleged that James Gibbons, an Arkansas rice-breeder at the Rice Research and Extension Centre in Stuttgart, had admitted this on the University of Arkansas' own website. He also said he had assigned Thai students working on doctorates there to analyse the chemical and physical components of Thai rice varieties.

 Gibbons and Deren both worked for the University of Florida's Everglades Research and Education Centre, a leading rice-breeder under the US Stepwise Programme for Improvement of Jasmine Rice. This aims to genetically develop jasmine rice for the world market and receives financial support from the US Department of Agriculture.

 Buntoon Srethasiroj, from the Thai Agriculture Ministry's Natural Resource and Biodiversity Centre, said a check of the website had revealed no record of any US scientist taking rice genetic material from the IRRI's gene bank in 1995, as Deren had claimed. Instead, the Institute's web site shows that any rice germ plasma in its collection was obtained by US scientists in 1994 and again in 1996. Last week Deren said in an e-mail to The Nation and the Agriculture Ministry that he had obtained the original seeds of Thai jasmine rice (Khao Dok Mali 105) from the IRRI in December 1995. But Witoon said Daren might have made this claim to avoid sharing any financial or other benefits with Thailand, knowing that the IRRI did not have regulations about benefit-sharing with owners of germ plasma. Buntoon said he suspected that Deren might have taken the ears of rice directly from paddy fields in Isaan. He added that Deren's claim that the original seeds for his research had been taken from the IRRI had been a smokescreen, because if he had admitted taking them directly from Thailand that would have broken Thai law.

 Rice varieties are indigenous plants which fall under the Plant Variety Protection Act. This clearly states that any foreign researcher wishing to remove genetic plant material from Thailand must first obtain permission form the Department of Agriculture - and benefit-haring must be negotiated. Deren was not available for comment throughout this week. And Jakkrit Kuanpoth, an expert on intellectual property law, admitted that it was difficult for the Thai government to fight foreign researchers by legal means. He suggested that the government should instead use diplomacy by negotiating directly with the US government to stop this research or to refuse to issue patents, and he said that he personally had no faith in Deren's promise to The Nation that he would not apply for a patent. Prasong Sriead, a jasmine-rice farmer from Surin, said he was "pretty sad" that the American researchers were trying to "thieve" one of the country's genetic resources. Ubon Yoowa, another farmer, said the US plant-breeders must respect Thai farmers, who have developed and protected jasmine rice varieties for centuries, by putting an end to their experiments. "If you [the US researchers] don't stop the research, and if the Thaksin administration ignores the issue, we will not stay silent. You will see all of us in Bangkok," said Ubon. He warned that the government now had only one week to take strong action, otherwise Isaan farmers would rally in Bangkok and the US Embassy and the Agriculture Ministry would find themselves targets of their wrath. But he refused to disclose precisely what form their protest would take.

Pennapa Hongthong THE NATION

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3. Isaan farmers planrice demonstrations
The Nation (Thailand) October 22, 2001

Isaan farmers planrice demonstrations ROI ET - Farmers from the Kula Ronghai Plain in the Northeast will join a rally today against an American rice-breeder's project to develop genetically modified Thai jasmine rice, an organiser said yesterday. About 150 villagers and farmers from Roi Et are expected to join the rally in front of the office of a local farmers' group, said Supat Kumpitak, a representative of the Network of Alternative Agriculture of the Northeast. Kula Ronghai Plain's paddy fields yield some of the country's best khao hawm mali, or jasmine rice. Supat said the farmers wanted to know why the government had not taken any action to stop the experiment by US researcher Chris Deren, who is working on samples of Thai jasmine rice seeds he claims to have obtained from the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute. Supat said a similar rally would be held in Bangkok on November 9.