Uruguay

GMO corn takes over

Andrés Gaudin

19/10/2010

Opinión

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More than three-quarters of Uruguay's farmland is dedicated to growing corn and soy. All of the soy and at least 80 percent of the corn are genetically-modified, manipulated seeds that require heavy use of toxic agrochemicals that degrade water and soil and threaten human and animal health.

Ecologist María Isabel Cárcamo of the Red de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas para América Latina, or RAP-AL, an action network for pesticide alternatives, notes the entry of transgenic soy in Uruguay 12 years ago brought with it a long list of agrotoxins, including glyphosate, paraquat and endosulfan, some so dangerous that some nations have prohibited their use.

Despite the fact that the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an international agreement that seeks to ensure the safe handling of living organisms created through biotechnology, has been in force in Uruguay since 2003, genetically modified sweet corn for human consumption has been sold to the public since 2004, even though this product is not registered or regulated by the National Seed Institute.

Two varieties of corn used for livestock feed and one for human consumption currently circulate in the country.

Unintentional GMO contamination

Even when farmers do not elect to plant genetically modified corn, unintentional polinization is possible with transgenic crops nearby because of the ease with which corn is fertilized.

Both scientists and activists have called for stronger control over genetically modified crops in the country, and a reopened debate about how these varieties must be handled by authorities along with traditional ones.

According to the international environmental network Friends of the Earth, current legislation on transgenic crops in Uruguay, in place since 2008, fails to take into account the potential impacts on human health, the environment, and toll on traditional and organic agriculture. It also fails to properly alert consumers, the organization says, adding that the country should reopen a debate with the participation of civil society organizations.

Protecting native crops

In the eastern department of Treinta y Tres, the only region with an Ecological Farming and Food Sovereignty Secretariat, farmers continue to plant native corn, while trying to prevent contamination from genetically-modified seeds.

Traditionally an important rice-growing region, the National Office of Environment has noted that genetically modified corn is not circulating in the department, and that the rice farmers themselves have refused to grow transgenic seeds.

In Villa García, a town on the outskirts of Montevideo, citizens’ group Residents for Transgenic-Free Land was able to block the entry of genetically modified corn seeds last November, fearing contamination and the destruction of small-scale family farming because of the heavy use of agrotoxins by those varieties.

Small-scale farming becomes economically unviable with transgenic seeds, many farmers complain, arguing that this kind of agriculture is more apt for large farms, and that they are under pressure to sell their properties to large-scale agricultural companies, a move that would force them to migrate to the cities. In Palmitas, in the southern Canelones department, residents have demanded a law that prohibits the use of transgenic seeds altogether.

RAP-AL notes that there are other varieties of genetically modified corn as well as rice that could be approved by Uruguay's government, which could pose a further threat to native crops. In February, the government authorized tests with five new varieties of transgenic corn, all of which would mean heavy use of agrochemicals, since they are resistant.

Agronomist Fernando Queirós Armand-Ugon, citing a study last year by the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering, based in the University of Caen in France, showed that transgenic foods are not healthy.

“Each time that one consumes any type of transgenic corn, the kidneys and liver – the principal organs that react to chemical intoxication – have problems,” he said. —Latinamerica Press.

https://www.alainet.org/pt/node/144981