January 17, 2008

Brazil: 2007/08 soy crop seen as 60 percent GM

Brazil's 2007/08 soy crop is projected to be 60 percent GM, according to Alda Leraya, the director of the Biotechnology Information Council (CIB).

In an interview with Estado news agency, Leraya said that the GM soy area is lower than initially expected as prices for conventional soy increased. He further pointed that there are still no varieties adapted to Mato Grosso, Brazil's main soy state.

Brazil is still falling behind other countries in the use of GM technology, he pointed.

Even with the reduced GM soy, Brazil is still the third largest producer of GM crops in the world, after the US and Argentina.