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Wednesday, 15 July 2009 19:13 |
All sort of interesting and positive news has sprouted this week regarding agricultural biotechnology. The Government of India is promising GM vegetables within three years, the European Union has dropped a ban against genetically modified canola products from Canada, and the Monsanto company announced it is getting back into biotech wheat...
Each one of these announcements by itself is tremendously positive news. But all in such a short period of time is outstanding.
Here's a link to The Times of India story 'GM veggies in India within 3 yrs: Govt' - that states the government plans to introduce genetically modified (GM) food — tomato, brinjal and cauliflower — in the country within the next three years" and that "This is the first time the agriculture ministry has promised to introduce GM food crops."
An absolute must-read editorial by The Financial Express (India) dated July 16 is beyond supportive of the decision in stating that the announcment:
"...clarifies a situation made murky by constant activism. This should be taken as proof that the government is serious about bringing about a second Green Revolution in a fast stagnating agriculture sector. India has been very slow to adopt GM technologies and has thus missed the opportunity to exploit the many advantages that come with GM farming. GM crops, at a minimum, offer the unambiguous benefits of higher yields and greater resistance to pests, both of which could give a big boost to the average farmer."
The editorial concludes in boldly stating "the government must proceed even beyond the three vegetables on the near-term agenda." One point not included though of note for India is the fact that agricultural biotechnology is scale neutral; it holds the potential to benefit any size farm whether small or large - a point that Truth About Trade & Technology (TATT) and others have made often.
The National Post (via Canwest News Service) posted 'Canada EU drops ban on Canadian genetically modified canola' on July 15. Obviously the EU has been a major road block , and while there is a long ways to go the tone reported in the article is positive:
"The European Union, for its part, said it was not modifying a broad regulatory regime which prevents GMOproducts from being marketed in the EU. Indeed, it has outstanding disputes with Argentina and the United States that are preventing GMO products from those countries from entering the European market.
But in its agreement with Canada over canola seed, the EUseems to suggest that it is prepared to consider GMO products on an ad hoc or case-by-case basis.
"The mutually agreed solution with Canada is a clear sign that this type of dialogue works. I hope we can follow the same constructive approach with Argentina and the United States," said EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton."
After lagging far behind other major crops, there has been positive news this year with support from major groups to move towards potential biotech wheat acceptance. The report of Monsanto again moving forward on biotech wheat after a long hiatus (even though it will take several years to get to market) simply adds more good news to an already good week for agricultural biotechnology.
*Editorial Note - not included above in the original posting is the announcement by Pioneer Hi-Bred having available the "first drought-tolerant corn hybrids developed with Accelerated Yield Technology (AYTTM) as early as 2010."
Talk about an even bigger week for ag biotech news!
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