Gov't Confronts Transgenic Crop Dilemma

ipsnews.net Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 21 (IPS) - The Brazilian government is moving to stake a balanced and consistent position on genetically modified products in an effort to reconcile the divergent pressures from environmentalists, scientists and the business community. A working group set up this week, with representatives from nine ministries, will have one month to issue a congruent governmental definition on the matter of transgenics. One of the problems for which the group must find a solution is the expanding illegal cultivation of genetically modified soy in southern Brazil. Official figures state that four million tons of this transgenic crop were harvested in the last year. The debate pitting those who warn of the health and environmental risks of transgenic crops against those who promote further research and development created a deep rift between the ministries of Environment and Agriculture under the previous government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2003). The controversy continues under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the Ministry of Environment opposed to the introduction of genetically modified organisms in Brazilian territory and the Ministry of Agriculture championing transgenic crops. Transgenics -- plant or animal -- are created in laboratory by introducing the gene of a different species into the organism's own gene make-up. The aim is usually to improve its characteristics, for example, making a plant more resistant to pests or to extreme climates. Cultivation of genetically modified crops is illegal in Brazil due to a provisional court decision, issued in June 2000, which banned the commercial planting of a transgenic soy variety developed by the U.S.-based seed and agro-chemical giant Monsanto. The case, dating back to 1997, should see a definitive ruling within 60 days, marking the end of a long series of postponements filed by environmental organisations and authorities. The ambiguity of the government stance and uncertainties in the legal sphere have apparently contributed to the illegal planting of genetically modified soy in southern Brazil. According to denunciations, eight percent of the national soy harvest this year is from genetically modified seeds, says agriculture minister Roberto Rodrigues. The illegal crops are the result of seeds smuggled in from Argentina, where nearly the entire national soy yield is from transgenic seeds. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics calculates that the country's total soy production this year will be 48.5 million tons, with nearly four million tons being of genetically modified varieties. Farmers in southern Brazil, however, believe the volume of the transgenic soy harvest is much higher -- more than double -- at 8.5 million tons, and worth 1.74 billion dollars. In Rio Grande do Sul state, which shares an extensive border with Argentina, ”they say that more than 70 percent” of the soy grown is genetically modified, says Carlos Sperotto, president of the local Federation of Agriculture. What to do with the illegal harvest is one of the problems that the inter-ministerial working group must tackle, along with assessing the various ways that genetic engineering can be applied to agriculture. Minister Rodrigues, a defender of biotechnology applications, comments that decision-makers must not forget ”the socio-economic reality” and should not throw out the harvest, jeopardising the approximately 155,000 farmers involved. But six non-governmental organisations are leading the ”Campaign for a Transgenic-Free Brazil”, demanding government action to eliminate illegal genetically modified soy and to penalise those responsible for planting it inside Brazilian territory. Pressure on the government is coming from several fronts, while no conclusive scientific evidence is yet available about the effects of genetically modified organisms on the environment or human health. Researcher Manoel Teixeira Souza, of the governmental Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA), says he regrets that the controversy emerged in reaction to the soy variety Roundup Ready, created by Monsanto to withstand the company's herbicide and thus facilitate its application. This new technology became associated with negative factors, such as greater dependence on agro-chemicals and the dominance of a transnational like Monsanto in the national market, according to Souza. ”But the technology could lead precisely in the opposite direction,” said the agronomist, a researcher of the banana genome at EMBRAPA's Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Centre. The debate, stated in these terms, ”hurts research,” paralysing projects and inhibiting investment, comments Souza. He led the development of a genetically modified papaya, the seeds of which could be ruined due to the ban on planting transgenics in Brazil, while a transgenic papaya is being grown for export in the U.S. state of Hawaii. There is no technology that offers ”100 percent security,” but current knowledge allows scientists to create genetically modified foods that are relatively safe and are resistant to pests. ”I prefer to eat transgenic fruit that does not require agro- chemicals to fruit that is treated with pesticides,” he said. But the new president of EMBRAPA, Clayton Campanhola, said when he assumed the post a month ago that the government body -- which oversees 40 specialised research centres -- should respect the principle of precaution in all of its activities. According to the precautionary principle, established in international talks on biotechnology, nations have the right to ban the introduction or development of substances or organisms whose innocuousness has not been rigorously proven. Caution and the need for further research on genetically modified organisms in a country with such rich biodiversity as Brazil are also the arguments wielded by environment minister Marina da Silva in opposition to the commercial production of transgenics in this country. But it will be difficult to resist economic pressures. Six business associations in the Brazilian cotton industry, which includes textiles, defend the cultivation of transgenic cotton as a means to halt the country's declining production and increasing imports. According to cotton producers, genetically modified seeds could represent 60 percent savings in production costs. Without the transgenic variety, and faced with competition from other countries -- particularly the United States, where it is already widely cultivated -- Brazilian farmers will abandon cotton for other crops, they argue. Transgenic cotton cuts to less than a third the volume of agro- chemicals needed to protect the crop, reducing costs and benefiting the health of farm workers and the environment, Helio Tollini, director of the Brazilian Cotton Producers Association, said in a conversation with IPS. Cotton is particularly susceptible to fungus, insect and bacterial infestations -- a list that runs to 250 pathogenic agents -- and therefore requires the intensive application of pesticides or the development of resistant varieties. Tollini, however, is not calling for the immediate release of transgenic seeds, but rather a greater effort in research, ”based on national data”, so the country can take a decision on the matter, ”in three years, minimum.” (END/2003)