Hokkaido farmer goes it alone on GM beans (10/23/2004) Yoshimasa Miyai, 46, a farmer from Naganumacho, Hokkaido, known as one of nation's leading soybean-producing prefectures, plans to begin cultivating genetically modified soybeans next spring. But he faces fierce opposition from the Hokkaido government and the local agricultural cooperative, which fear rumors that the beans are unsafe could damage the reputation of locally produced crops.
