Corn growing on a farm

Portuguese Farmers Turn Backs on Monsanto’s GMO Maize

Portuguese farmers are turning their backs on Monsanto’s genetically modified MON810, which is the only GM crop commercially grown in the European Union, according to the Portuguese government.

September 28, 2016 | Source: Sustainable Pulse | by

Portuguese farmers are turning their backs on Monsanto’s genetically modified MON810, which is the only GM crop commercially grown in the European Union, according to the Portuguese government.

Official government data shows that Portuguese farmers have reduced the number of hectares under GM maize cultivation for the second year in a row. Portugal is one of only five countries in the European Union that commercially cultivates GM maize.

The Portuguese GM Free Coalition announced Tuesday that farmers in Portugal have grown a total of 7069 hectares of Monsanto’s Bt maize in 2016, this is around 1500 hectares less than in 2014.

In July Economia Digital reported that Spanish farmers are also reducing the number of hectares under GM maize production fast.

GM maize plants contain Bt, an insecticide that kills the worms that eat them. Farmers in Spain and Portugal are convinced that GM maize cultivation eventually hurts yields. Cooperative members from Huesca in Spain claim to have conducted field studies that show lower productivity in the medium term.