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May 2014 GLOBAL
STATUS OF GMO AND NON-GMO CROPS (PART 2) By Dr. Mae-Wan Ho Small-holder non-GMO agro-ecological farming areas total 560 to 600 m ha globally An important component of non-GM agriculture is organic farming. Globally, certified organic agriculture occupies 37.5 m ha in 2013, with a further 31 m ha in organic wild collection. The regions with the largest areas of certified organic agricultural land are Oceania (12.2 m ha, 32%) and Europe (11.2 m ha, 30%). Latin America has 6.8 m ha (18%) followed by Asia (3.2 m ha, 9%), North America (3 million ha, 8%) and Africa (1.1 m ha 3%). Australia has the most organic agricultural land at 12 m ha, Argentina comes second with 3.6 m ha and the US third with 2.2 m hectares. These figures account for a very small fraction of the world’s agricultural production, and are highly misleading because they have left out the small-holder family farmers who are responsible for producing most of the food consumed in the world, and as it turns out most of that is organic, though not officially certified. Thus, organic non-GMO agriculture is in fact by far the largest sector of food production in the world. Small holder family farmers – an estimated 99% of the 2.6 billion farmers worldwide – cultivate half of the 1.6 billion ha of global croplands, producing 70% of the food consumed in the world (including their food for themselves and their families). These small farms (1 to 2 ha or less) are much more productive than large farms, as studies over several decades have confirmed. Among the most successful are diverse agro-ecological farms – which satisfy all the requirements of organic agriculture and more – now practiced on an estimated three-quarters of the global croplands area cultivated by small-holder farmers, i.e., 560 – 600 m ha in Latin America, Asia and Africa, producing well over half of the food consumed globally. Agro-ecological farms are diverse, with an emphasis on indigenous crops and livestock adapted to the local ecology, operating in accordance with the circular economy of nature by maximizing internal input and recycling wastes into resources. These farms are not only highly productive, but also resilient to flood and drought and other climate extremes, while being much better at sequestering carbon and regenerating oxygen and hence perfect for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Practically all UN agencies and a majority of scientists and policy-makers see agro-ecological farming as the way ahead. GMO versus non-GMO crops in biodiversity GMO crops are overwhelmingly restricted to just two traits, insect resistance and herbicide tolerance in three major crops, soybean, maize and cotton. They are in fact extreme forms of industrial monoculture, and hence also most vulnerable to pest and disease outbreaks as well as climate extremes. Non-GMO crops in comparison have diverse, complex and ecologically relevant traits such as drought, salt, and flood tolerance, disease and pest resistance, health-promoting vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, high yielding, biological controls, etc. Most of the food consumed today is derived from some 5000 domesticated crop species and 1.9 million peasant-bred plant varieties. The biodiversity of food crop species is the best protection against pests and disease outbreaks that devastate monoculture industrial crops. We should also mention the hundreds of novel non-GM varieties that have been created, many already grown commercially in the 20 years since GM crops were first commercialized; and further non-GMO successes are tumbling out of research institutes all over the world with the help of marker-assisted conventional breeding. Global non-GMO market Another major indication that the days of GMOs are numbered is that globally, the non-GMO food market is booming. According to a recent report from Packaged Facts, a market research company, global sales of non-GMO food and beverage products will double to $800 billion by 2017, growth driven largely by demand in Europe and the US. Actually, people in the rest of the world, notably China, are also demanding non-GM food. Police in Huaihua city, Hunan province busted a smuggling ring of ‘US golden corn’ (said to be from Monsanto and Syngenta) via Hong Kong and Thailand, operating since 2003. Agricultural specialists had detected that part of the seed might be GM, and the Chinese authorities have stepped up checks at the borders. In 2013, China blocked an unprecedented 545000 tonnes of US corn, because it was tainted by an unauthorized GM variety MIR 162. In March 2014, Syngenta halted commercial sales in Canada of its GM rootworm resistant corn MIR162 because China and Europe have not approved it, and corn processor ADM and exporter Cargill have refused to handle it. Not only are consumers demanding non-GM food, they want animal feed also to be GM free. In response to the market, GM-free soybean from Brazil for European animal feed industry is available both in sufficient tonnage and quality, according to the ProTerra Foundation, ABRANGE and VLOG, three organizations from the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil, respectively, refuting German Poultry Association (ZDG), which said several groups of poultry fatteners and some egg producers gave up using non-GM feed, on grounds that the supply of GM-free material from Brazil is shrinking. Agricultural analysts from Brazil said that the availability of GM-free soybean is increasing rapidly. Ricardo Tatesuzi de Sousa, Managing Director of ABRANGE, the Brazilian Association of Non-GMO Grain Producers, confirmed a 10% increase in non-GM soya in 2014 compared to the previous year. Forecasts for the biggest soybean-prducing state Mato Grosso predict a 50% increase over 2013. The volume and quality of GM-free soybean seeds are increasing year by year through the work of Soja Livre Program. Non-GMO movements take off in the heartland of GMO The GMO-labelling movement has had a high profile in the US; the hope is to unleash the might of consumer power to get GMOs off the food chain. With strong opposition from biotech companies and agricultural groups, it is slowly gaining ground, with labelling bills passed in Maine and Connecticut so far, and dozens still to go through in other states. Meanwhile, businesses have been taking the initiative to go GM-free, with much greater success. The supermarket chain Whole Foods, already selling non-GMO and Organic labelled products, announced in 2013 that it plans to label GMO products in all its US and Canadian stores within five years; and cereal giant General Mills said it would no longer use GMOs in its original Cheerios recipe. Target announced it would phase out GM ingredients by the end of 2014. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is currently 80% GM-Free, and expect to be completely GM-free by mid-2014. The latest to join up is Boulder-based Smart Balance, which announced it has stopped using GM GM ingredients in its 15 buttery spread and hope to be a catalyst for change in the food industry. The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization offering America’s only third party verification and labelling for non-GMO food and produce. The ‘Non-GMO Project Verified’ seal first appeared on products in 2010, and has become one of the fastest growing labels in the natural products industry. Annual sales topped $5 billion in 2013, with more than 14000 products verified, including meat and liquid egg products. Meanwhile, other eco-labels are also benefiting from the GM labelling fight. Trader Joe’s, a leading natural food retailer in North America, states that 80% of its products are GMO-free, while all its own brand products are free from GM ingredients. The Organic Monitor, a global research, consulting and training company, sees voluntary GM-free labelling schemes and third party certification as the way forward for American food companies and retailers. The organic food sector, generally recognized as being free from GM ingredient, has consolidated its market share from the battle over GM labelling. Organic food sales in North America passed $34 billion in 2013. And that does not include local farmers’ markets selling fresh non-GM or non-certified organic foods produced in more than 4000 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms all over the country. US farmers abandoning GMOs on simple economics Modern Farmer magazine discovered a movement among farmers abandoning GMOs in the United States, not for any other reason than simple economics. Crop consultant and farmer Aaron Bloom said of non-GMO seeds, “We get the same or better yields, and we save money up front.” Bloom has been experimenting with non-GMO seeds for five years and discovered they are more profitable. Farmers can get paid more for conventional corn, and as reconvert farmer Christ Huegerich discovered, conventional corn can produce more per acre. Two years ago, Huegerich planted 320 acres of conventional corn and 1700 acres with GMO corn. The conventional fields yielded 15 to 30 more bushels per acre with a profit margin of up to $100 per acre. Last year, he planted conventional corn in 750 acres; he gets 50 cents per bushel premium for non GMO corn. The group Farm & Water Watch reported that 61.2 million acres of cropland in the US are plagued by weeds resistant to glyphosate. The economics of reconverting to non-GMO is easily summed up.
At least 10 companies are listed offering contracts to farmers to grow non-GMO and organic grains in 2014, all offering premiums over GMOs. And if that is not enough, recent media reports have revealed that Monsanto is now focusing on traditional plant breeding instead of genetic modification in the company’s Seminis vegetable seed business. Monsanto also announced a partnership with Danish biotech company Novozymes to “discover, develop and sell microbial solutions that enable farmers worldwide to increase crop yields with less input.” – Third World Network Features. -ends- About the author: Dr. Mae-Wan Ho is the Director of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS). The above article is reproduced from ISIS Special Report 3/4/2014. A fully reference version of this article is available at the ISIS website. When reproducing this feature, please credit Third World Network Features and (if applicable) the cooperating magazine or agency involved in the article, and give the byline. Please send us cuttings. And if reproduced on the internet, please send the web link where the article appears to twnet@po.jaring.my. 4085/14
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