Argentina's Vast Tracts of GE Soybeans Are a National Disaster

New Charles Benbrook technical paper on Argentina

From:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/reports/ex-summary?item_id=715074
&language_id=en

"Rust, Resistence, Run down soils and Rising Costs - Problems facing Soybean
producers in Argentina."

Author: Charles M Benbrook

Date published: 20, January 2005

Format: Adobe PDF

Download the full report: (paste the WHOLE link into your nrowser, if
necessary)

Other Benbrook technical papers on GM crop issues:
http://www.biotech-info.net/highlights.html#technical_papers
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2.Invasion of the forest snatchers
Greenpeace, Thu 20 January 2005
ARGENTINA/Buenos Aires

In the science-fiction classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, alien plants
with destructive clone-manufacturing world-domination plans threatened the
future of humanity. Bad news: the pods have arrived, disguised as soybeans.

All of us concerned about genetically engineered (GE) crops have been losing
sleep for a while over the relentless take-over of traditional fields in
many parts of the world. Now, a new report reveals how thoroughly Argentina
has been taken over, and outlines previously unimagined dangers for our
future when an entire country's agricultural system is invaded by a
clone-replicating force like Monsanto.

Within the last 10 years, Argentina's agricultural production system has
become dominated by one crop: the genetically engineered Roundup Ready
soybean developed by US agrochemical company Monsanto. The large scale
environmental, social, and economic impact is unprecedented.

Agronomist Charles Benbrook warns that the planting of 14 million hectares
(34 million acres) of a single, genetically homogenous crop has created a
highly vulnerable agricultural production

Argentinean soy production uses GE seeds that are resistant to the herbicide
glyphosate, marketed under the trade name "Roundup." Roundup Ready soy
relies on repeated herbicide applications to control weeds. As every high
school student knows, Nature abhors an herbicide, and finds ways to evolve
around it. Already, strains of Roundup-resistant weeds have appeared in
Argentina, requiring ever-heavier doses of the poison, killing off microbes
and degrading soil quality. Heavy herbicide applications and widespread
planting of Roundup Ready soybeans has also led to increases in pest and
disease severity. And when fungi and other threats to the crop encounter
none of the natural diversity barriers to their spread, the possibility of
monoculture crop collapse increases significantly.

But unlike the devastating Irish potato famine of the nineteenth century,
the soy Argentina grows isn't actually feeding people. The vast majority
(above 80%) of soybeans are bound for animal feedlots, providing protein for
cattle, hogs and poultry. The European Union (EU) is the largest importer of
Argentinean soybean meal.

Worse, farmland which once produced subsistence crops and legume forages now
produce only soybean monocultures. From 1996 to 2002 (the period of major
soybean production expansion) the number of Argentineans lacking access to
basic nutrition grew from 3.7 million to 8.7 million. Production of meat,
dairy products, and eggs has dropped significantly, to be replaced by
soybeans destined for export markets.

Sound like an alien force is taking over? The invasion doesn't stop there.

Can't see the forest for the beans

After Roundup Ready technology was introduced in 1996, the pace of land
conversion has increased dramatically. The soybean frontier has expanded
deeper and deeper into the ecosystems of Argentina, with 5.6 million
hectares of non-agricultural land converted for soybean production since
1996. That compares to 2.4 million hectares converted before 1996. The rate
at which forests in Northern Argentina are being turned into soy plantations
is 3-6 times higher than the world average. The massive destruction of the
forests, in particular of the Yungas and Chaco forests, has sparked violence
and protests by agrarian families desperate to preserve their land. These
forests also support diverse animal populations, including jaguars, pumas,
monkeys, and more than 50% of all bird species of Argentina.

Monopoly + monoculture = Mon$anto

You'd expect that such a rapid expansion of soy production in Argentina must
mean big, big profits for the Argentine nation, right? Think again. Not
only is Roundup Ready soy a monoculture, it's controlled by a monopoly.
Monsanto Corporation, the American owners of the patent on both Roundup and
Roundup Ready soy, sets the price for both the herbicide and the crop.
Glyphosate prices are going up in Argentina, and Monsanto has announced that
it intends to collect retroactive royalty payments, and aggressively enforce
patent laws on Roundup Ready technology. Adios to the profit margin for the
farmer, howdy big bucks for Monsanto.

To a nation suffering from international debt, rising unemployment, and
widespread poverty, Roundup Ready soybean production has offered little
compensation, and Argentina's economic vulnerability is worsened by the
volatile world soybean market.

A recent report by a team of US scientists found that Argentina soybeans
contain 5-10% less protein, with lower levels of important amino-acids, than
soybeans from competing countries. Poor quality soybeans also means less
revenue. Buyers of Argentina soybeans will likely seek price concessions.
And in Europe, widespread consumer rejection of GE soy means little market
for human food production.

First, we take Buenos Aires, then we take Beijing

Like any good alien invasion, this one is bent on global domination. China
is a major importer of Argentinean soybeans. Because China is the centre
of biodiversity for soy, any contamination of the wild soybean species there
could alter natural soybean evolution irrevocably. And accidental release
during import, transport or processing poses a major risk to related wild
soybean species.

We demand: Not one single hectare of forest or other natural ecosystems
should be converted to soy plantations in Argentina. We call on the
Argentinean government to take immediate action to protect Argentina's
forests and on international institutions and banks to stop financing
unsustainable agriculture and forest conversion in the region.

The use of genetically engineered soy in Argentina should be phased out with
a view to implementing a ban on all genetically modified organism (GMO)
releases. The Argentinean government must respect consumer opposition to
GMOs by providing its citizens the right to reject GMOs through mandatory
food and feed labelling and withdraw from the US-led WTO case against the
(now historical) de facto ban on GMO approvals by the European Union.

The European Union - a key market for Argentinean GE soy (used for animal
feed) - should ban Roundup Ready soy . Greenpeace calls on EU Member States
not to re-approve Roundup Ready soy when Monsanto's approval for use of
Roundup Ready soy expires in 2006. Moreover, the EU must provide its
citizens the right to reject GMOs in food production by introducing
mandatory GE labelling for eggs, meat and dairy products if GE animal feed
has been used.

In China - another major market for Argentinean GE soy - the risk of genetic
contamination of the worlds' centre of soy biodiversity through GE soy
imports must be acknowledged. Strong measures to avoid such contamination
must be taken by the importers of GE soy and the Chinese government, by
banning GE soy imports into China.

Don't close your eyes! Become a cyberactivist today and fight against the
takeover of planet Earth. http://act.greenpece.org/register

View a short documentary with Windows media player:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/mms://a515.v90026.c9002.g.vm
.akamaistream.net/7/515/9002/7d5114e1df/activism.greenpeace.org/video/ge/Arg
entina%20GE%20Soya.wmv

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