Reuters | December 7, 1999 | Phil Stewart
SAO PAULO - Rio Grande do Sul state's agriculture secretary, Jose Hermeto Hoffmann, was cited as saying that the southernmost state of Brazil will launch what may be the world's first-ever crop substitution programme aimed at weeding out genetically modified (GM) crops, and that by treating GM soybeans like drug plants, the state will offer farmers a total of 10 million reais (US$5.37 million) in special low-interest loans if they rip out the lab-enhanced soy - illegal throughout Brazil - and replant normal varieties, adding, "What we are telling them it is better to lose seedlings than lose their entire crop."
Brazil, the world's second-largest soybean producer, is, the story says, the last major competitor to top grower United States who has not followed the North American country down the transgenic trail.
But the ban has not, the story adds, been enough to discourage many farmers, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, where growers itching to save money on costly weed killers have fuelled a thriving black market for the suped-up seeds.
The Brazilian Association of Seed Producers (Abrasem) was cited as estimating that the contraband crop could account for about eight percent of Brazil's upcoming 31.5 million tonne crop and a third of production in Rio Grande do Sul.
Hoffmann, however, estimated that GM planting was far lower - largely due to an aggressive radio and television campaign warning farmers the government will torch illegal crops.
The state has even sponsored a toll-free phone number called "Dial Transgenics" to encourage law-abiding farmers to phone in tip-offs on unusual planting activity.
Hoffmann was quoted as saying, "Sadly, our initial field inspections showed that transgenic soybeans were grown on 20 farms in five municipalities. While that is disappointing, it represents a small fraction of the 700 tests that we have conducted."
