Spanish farmers seen reaping rewards from GM maize
Date: 30-Sep-02
Country: SPAIN
Author: Martin Roberts
Spain is the only EU country to grow gene-spliced maize on a commercial scale, but seed suppliers have voluntarily confined sales since 1998 to some 6 percent of all maize seed sold, a limit they consider acceptable in the face of public wariness about GM foods.
British agricultural consultant Graham Brookes told a conference organised by biotechnology industry association Antama that Bt maize could be economical in 36 percent of land currently sown, or 173,000 hectares (427,500 acres).
The only commercial GM maize variety in Spain is "Bt", which splices maize genes with protein from a bacteria that is poisonous to corn borers but harmless to the rest of the plant.
Brookes estimated yields would rise by between five and seven percent on average, from a current 10 tonnes per hectare, to give Spanish farmers a net gain of up to 15 million euros ($14.62 million) a year.
"The main benefit to farmers are higher yields, improved farm profitability, convenience, risk management and less exposure to insecticides," he said last week.
There is a moratorium in the European Union on approving GM brands for commercial use in light of public resistance to the technology, but Bt maize has been approved.
Although there is no evidence to show GM foods are unsafe, European consumers, shaken by a mad cow disease scare, are concerned about possible as-yet unknown health and environmental risks from GM plants which could occur in the future.
The 15-nation EU is finalising a set of rules to ensure GMOs grown or used in Europe are clearly segregated from conventional crops and that food ingredients can be traced back to their origin if any problems arise.
Growers said at the conference in northern town Lerida that they would willingly plant gene-spliced maize wherever it would be effective in combating corn borers, pests that weaken maize stalks and stunt growth in corn cobs.
Farmers said they would welcome an increase in yields, but consideration of public opinion would determine the pace at which farmers would increase plantings of GM maize.
"Growers are indeed willing for this potential to be reached. Prudence is also needed to move forward gradually and see how we can reach that potential," David Coll, the general secretary of the Catalonia Young Farmers' Association told the conference.
In a test field near Lerida, journalists were shown conventional maize plants riddled with pests that had collapsed in a recent storm. Many of the plants had rotten cobs. Nearby Bt plants were green and sturdy, with mainly healthy cobs.
"The new maize grows better and is more reliable, the old varieties used to fall down in the wind. Pesticides never used to work anyway, we didn't use them," said Francisco Armengol, at his 40-hectare maize farm near Lerida.
Public opposition in Spain is enough to make farmers guarantee they are selling GMO-free to maize millers, who produce starch for human consumption.
Animal feed makers, however, are happy to buy GMO maize, which they say has the advantage of being free of toxins left behind by corn borers.
"There's the irony," said Antama Treasurer Miguel Leon. "We sell our contaminated maize for human consumption and give the healthy maize to pigs."
