May 18, 2000 / Reuters / Reese Ewing
SAO PAULO -- Brazilian agriculture officials were cited as denying on Thursday the New York Times newspaper's statement that 30 percent of Brazil's entire billion-dollar soybean crop could already be genetically modified.
The president of the Brazilian Association of Soybean Producers (Abrasoja) Jose de Barros Franca Neto was cited as saying the paper or its source was not accurate about their assessment of the amount of genetically modified (GM) soybeans in Brazil, adding, "Last year Abrasem (the Brazilian Seed Producers Association) estimated, before the crop was completely planted, that up to 30 percent of Rio Grande so Sul state could contain these illegal seeds, not the national crop."
But Franca Neto added he knew of no Brazil-wide estimates about transgenic contamination of soy crops and added that last year's estimates on Rio Grande do Sul were unofficial.
The story notes that planting GM seeds is prohibited by federal law in Brazil and has made its products appealing to discerning buyers in such markets.
The Agriculture Minister of Rio Grande do Sul, Jose Hermeto Hoffmann was cited as saying the figure is nowhere near 30 percent even for the state of Rio Grande do Sul and that the state embarked on a campaign to eradicate soy plants grown from the super seeds in June of 1999, adding, "We launched a statewide programme involving TV, radio, billboards and mailings warning farmers not to plant the illegal seeds or they would risk the government torching their fields."
(posted without permission)
