Monsanto Genetically Modified -corn harvest fails massively in South Africa
Pastor Dale Morgan
Monsanto Genetically Modified -corn harvest fails massively in South Africa*
By Adriana Stuijt.
Published April 15, 2009 by ■ Adriana Stuijt
Monsanto: "No Food Shall Be Grown That We Do Not Own"
South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost income when
82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize) failed to
produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy from the
outside. Monsanto has offered compensation.
Monsanto blames the failure of the three varieties of corn planted on
these farms, in three South African provinces,on alleged
'underfertilisation processes in the laboratory". Some 280 of the 1,000
farmers who planted the three varieties of Monsanto corn this year, have
reported extensive seedless corn problems.
Urgent investigation demanded
However environmental activitist Marian Mayet, director of the
Africa-centre for biosecurity in Johannesburg, demands an urgent
government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods, blaming
the crop failure on Monsanto's genetically-manipulated technology.
Willem Pelser, journalist of the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport, writes
from Nelspruit that Monsanto has immediately offered the farmers
compensation in three provinces - North West, Free State and Mpumalanga.
The damage-estimates are being undertaken right now by the local
farmers' cooperative, Grain-SA. Monsanto claims that 'less than 25%' of
three different corn varieties were 'insufficiently fertilised in the
laboratory'.
80% crop failure
However Mayet says Monsanto was grossly understating the
problem.According to her own information, some farms have suffered up to
80% crop failures. The centre is strongly opposed to GM-food and
biologically-manipulated technology in general.
"Monsanto says they just made a mistake in the laboratory, however we
say that biotechnology is a failure.You cannot make a 'mistake' with
three different varieties of corn.'
Demands urgent government investigation:
"We have been warning against GM-technology for years, we have been
warning Monsanto that there will be problems,' said Mayet. She calls for
an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods
in South Africa.
Of the 1,000 South African farmers who planted Monsanto's GM-maize this
year, 280 suffered extensive crop failure, writes Rapport.
Monsanto's local spokeswoman Magda du Toit said the 'company is engaged
in establishing the exact extent of the damage on the farms'. She did
not want to speculate on the extent of the financial losses suffered
right now.
Managing director of Monsanto in Africa, Kobus Lindeque, said however
that 'less than 25% of the Monsanto-seeded farms are involved in the
loss'. He says there will be 'a review of the seed-production methods of
the three varieties involved in the failure, and we will made the
necessary adjustments.'
He denied that the problem was caused in any way by 'bio-technology'.
Instead, there had been 'insufficient fertilisation during the
seed-production process'.
And Grain-SA's Nico Hawkins says they 'are still support GM-technology;
'We will support any technology which will improve production.' see
He also they were 'satisfied with Monsanto's handling of the case,' and
said Grain-SA was 'closely involved in the claims-adjustment
methodology' between the farmers and Monsanto.
Farmers told Rapport that Monsanto was 'bending over backwards to try
and accommodate them in solving the problem.
"It's a very good gesture to immediately offer to compensate the farmers
for losses they suffered,' said Kobus van Coller, one of the Free State
farmers who discovered that his maize cobs were practically seedless
this week.
"One can't see from the outside whether a plant is unseeded. One must
open up the cob leaves to establish the problem,' he said. The seedless
cobs show no sign of disease or any kind of fungus. They just have very
few seeds, often none at all.
The South African supermarket-chain Woolworths already banned GM-foods
from its shelves in 2000. However South African farmers have been
producing GM-corn for years: they were among the first countries other
than the United States to start using the Monsanto products.
The South African government does not require any labelling of GM-foods.
Corn is the main staple food for South Africa's 48-million people.
The three maize varieties which failed to produce seeds were designed
with a built-in resistance to weed-killers, and manipulated to increase
yields per hectare, Rapport writes.