Brazil government agency approves new GMO corn seeds

By Tony Danby

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

September 23, 2008

CheckBiotech

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazil's National Biosafety Commission has given the green light to two new varieties of genetically modified corn seeds, which should further pave the way for the uptake of such products in the 2008-09 crop season, according to analysts and industry specialists.

CTNBio approved Monsanto Co.'s (MON) Roundup Ready 2 and Syngenta AG's (SYT) GA21, both of which are resistant to glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide which is widely used in corn growing areas, an agency press officer said on Friday.

These two new varieties of genetically modified corn join three other types of GM corn seeds that were approved in 2007 by CTNBio from Syngenta, Monsanto and Bayer CropScience Ltd. (506285.BY).

Paulo Molinari, a grains analyst at consulting firm Safras & Mercado, said that genetically modified corn seeds are only just starting to enter the Brazilian market due to the long development and approval process.

Molinari said that farmers are likely to plant only 4% or 5% of their land with genetically modified corn in the first harvest, but should plant between 40% and 50% with GMO corn in the second harvest.

Brazil has two corn harvests each year. The first corn is planted between September and December, while the second corn crop is planted between December and January.

Brazil should plant corn in over 6 million hectares in 2008-09, said Molinari.

The analyst said corn farmers are keen to use transgenic seeds, which are resistant to pests and insects, but the process will start slowly because the seeds still aren't widely available.

By Brazil's second corn harvest, however, transgenic corn seeds should be more widely available and more farmers will buy them, said Molinari.

Medard Schoenmaeckers, head of media relations for Syngenta in Europe, sees Brazil's regulatory process as increasingly favorable towards genetically modified crops.

"Approval by CTNBio of our GA21 and BT11 transgenic products, shows that Brazil takes a responsible, scientific approach to making decisions," said Schoenmaeckers.

He also said Syngenta is likely to expand its mix of transgenic corn and soy products in Brazil, but gave no details.

Schoenmaeckers said Brazil is still behind other countries such as the U.S., where the use of genetically modified corn has been faster and where Syngenta expects its entire range of seeds to shift to GMO by 2012.

Still, the use of genetically modified seeds remains controversial in Brazil and Syngenta has faced invasions of its test center in Parana state by Rural Landless Workers Movement, or MST. Parana is the No.1 corn producing state.

The landless rights group has been campaigning against the use of genetically modified seeds and has vowed to keep on fighting companies such as Syngenta that develop them.

Other groups such as non-governmental group, Greenpeace, is also campaigning against the use of genetically modified seeds in Brazil.

"We are against the use of genetically modified crops in Brazilian fields because of the negative impact on the environment and the potential risk to humans and animals," said Gabriella Vuolto, a Greenpeace specialist on transgenic crops.

Vuolto said that CTNBio hasn't undertaken adequate scientific research into the impact of transgenic crops and that many of the potential impacts are still unknown. Seeds from genetically modified crops in one field can get carried and start to grow in neighboring fields, meaning that the farmer's crop are contaminated, she said.

CTNBio also approved one version of transgenic cotton last week and approved transgenic soybeans two years ago. Depending on the state, a little more than half of the soy crop is transgenic.

Corn is Brazil's No. 2 crop in acreage behind soybeans, which is Brazil's leading farm commodity.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

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