|
|
 
|
Canadians 'lose faith' in GM technology 'religion'
(Thursday, July 17, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- Alistair Driver and David Burrows, Farmers Guardian, 07/11/03: Canadian farmers with first hand experience of growing genetically modified
crops have warned their British counterparts that the costs of adopting the
new technology can far outstrip the benefits.
After seven years of growing GM crops, Canadian farmers are turning their
backs on the technology because the promised benefits have not been
delivered and unforeseen problems have arisen, according to farmers
visiting the UK this week to share their GM experience.
The introduction of GM crops in 1996 has not increased yields or reduced
input costs. But GM crops have created 'super weeds' that are resistant to
herbicides and problems with 'volunteer' crops that have led' to increased
chemical use in some cases. There have also been problems of
cross-pollination with conventional crops, while GM crops have damaged
Canada's international markets and placed farmers in the control of the
biotechnology giants, three Canadian farmers warn in an interview with
Farmers Guardian.
At one stage, GM herbicide tolerant oilseed rape, was grown on 14 million
acres of land in western Canada. That figure is now down to 9m acres as
farmers have begun to lose faith in the 'new religion', according to Stewart
Wells, president of the Canadian National Farmers Union, which represents
about 7,000 small and family farmers in Canada. The change in attitude is
illustrated by the strong opposition within the farming community -
including the Canadian Wheat Board - to Monsanto's attempt to introduce GM
wheat to Canada.
Lyle Wright, who farms 3,000 acres in Saskatchewan, started growing GM
herbicide resistant oilseed rape in 1996. The main attraction was that he
would no longer have to apply `residue' herbicides to the soil, but instead
would be able to `burn out' weeds by spraying Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.
The promise of higher yields and lower input costs were added attractions.
Two years later, he had given up on GM oilseed rape. "There turned out to be
no yield advantage or cost savings when the £15/acre fee to Monsanto to use
the technology was taken into account. I did not like the contract I was
tied in to as it gave Monsanto the power to come and check at any time
whether I had saved any seed, which is not allowed. I was also concerned
about liability if something went wrong," he said.
The prospect of cross-pollination was not an issue when the idea of GM crops
was first presented to farmers. But studies in Canada have since shown high
levels of GM crosspollination between crops and wild plants growing wild
that have made a mockery of the required 100m separation distance, he said.
The prospect of contaminating neighbouring crops was a major factor in Mr
Wright's decision to give up.
Wayne Amos' Big Dog Farm is primarily devoted to producing pedigree seed. He
started growing GM oilseed rape, alongside conventional OSR and other crops,
but now wants to stop. While there has been no increase in yield or
reduction costs, he has been presented with a new problem of trying to
control volunteers - plants that sprout up after the main crop has been
harvested - that are resistant to Roundup.
He has been forced to apply additional chemicals to control the volunteers,
including some of the more unpleasant ones he thought he had left behind.
This is happening across Canada, not only with volunteers, but with
'superweeds' that have become resistant to Roundup, he said. "My advice to
British farmers considering GM crops is to think what might happen two or
three years down the line," he said.
Mr Wells is an organic farmer who has never grown GM crops but is affected
by the technology as he feels unable to grow oilseed rape for fear of GM
contamination from nearby farms. He said the only real benefit of GM is that
they make it easier to farm large acreages and urged UK farmers to debate
all the issues properly and not to be fooled by false promises of higher
yields or profits.
The farmers were invited to the UK by Michael Hart, of the UK's Small and
Family Farmers Association. "GM crops are not working for North American
farmers and they are even less likely to work for UK farmers," he said. | |
