Seeds of Change: GM Giant Monsanto in the News

The agribusiness giant Monsanto released press releases this week announcing the regulatory approval of its new Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. They have already been approved in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.

"These regulatory decisions by Mexico and Europe represent significant steps forward in delivering Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans to our customers," according to Brett Begemann, Monsanto's executive vice president of global commercial business. "Farmers have used Roundup Ready® soybeans for more than 10 years to achieve unsurpassed weed control. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans have increased yields, and will advance farmers' ability to meet the world's growing food, feed and fuel needs."

These second generation soybeans are projected to have a yield advantage of nine to 11 percent over its predecessor, Roundup Ready Yield soybeans. Read full press release here.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has deregulated new insecticide technology by Monsanto.

In response to recent reports from Monsanto about their upcoming "special protection regime for maize" that will allow them to "start experiments with genetically modified maize," Silvia Ribeiro writes, "What a historic irony that such a regime, instead of protecting maize and its peoples, is yet another gift from the government to multinational companies that have privatized
seeds, the key to the whole food network and rural families' legacy to humanity. To cap it all: the seeds are less productive!"

"After analyzing yields in the U.S. cereal grain belt over the last three years, Kansas University published a study in April 2008. It showed that the productivity of GM crops (soya, maize, cotton and canola) was less than in the era prior to the introduction of GM seeds. Soya showed a drop in yield of up to 10%."

Read Ribeiro's article, "Mexico: Want to cut food production? Sow GM seed!" from Rebelion on ZNet. Ribeiro is a researcher with the Erosion, Technology and Concentration Group.

Image: Interet-general.info