Brazil legalizes genetically modified crops

Soy demand
Brazil is second only to the United States in soy production, but easily has the potential to become the world’s largest soy producer because of cheap land, low labor costs and plentiful water.

International demand for soy has skyrocketed in recent years, driven by ever-increasing purchases by China for soy used in products ranging from animal feed to cooking oil.

Monsanto’s soy seed is engineered to withstand the spraying of herbicides, which saves farmers money by cutting down on the number of workers and weed killers needed. Brazil’s ban on such crops did little to stop farmers, because it was rarely enforced.

The company disputed claims that GM crops harm the environment, saying many Brazilian farmers have boosted their profits while significantly reducing the amount of herbicides used to kill weeds.

Experts estimate about 30 percent of Brazil’s soy is grown with genetically engineered seeds, but the figure is near 90 percent in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the seeds were first introduced in the 1990s after being smuggled in from neighboring countries with no bans on them.

In India on Thursday, Greenpeace pressured the government to scrap licenses it gave to Monsanto for selling its genetically modified cotton seeds. The company has faced stiff opposition from environmental groups there since 2002, when it was granted licenses to sell three varieties of its seeds.

The licenses are due to expire this month. Monsanto has sought licenses for 10 new varieties of BT (bacillus thuringiensis) cotton and an extension for the existing three.

Monsanto’s BT cotton is the only genetically modified crop allowed in India. Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterium whose gene is injected into cotton seeds to give them resistance against boll worms, a major concern for farmers in India.

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