April 25, 2007

 

US exporters fear GMO corn seed will hurt sales

 

 

US farmers have expressed concern over genetically modified corn waiting for approval overseas may co-mingle with regular corn supplies which may affect corn exports which were worth US$4.8 billion last year.

 

Swiss-based Syngenta AG is selling the seed that contains a trait called Agrisure RW which allows corn to resist root worm, an insect that can cause crop losses. The company has instructed farmers to grow and utilise corn only for domestic use and has informed grain companies to separate it from regular corn sold for export.

 

The US Agriculture Department has approved the seed as safe for use as food and animal feed, Syngenta said.

 

Syngenta said the amount of seed corn with the trait was small, but it could not immediately specify the amount because this is an introductory year for the product.

 

Grain exporters have tried to segregate various GMO varieties in the past but have found it impossible due to the wind carrying pollen and accidental commingling, said Kevin Adams, chief executive of CGB Enterprises, a grain handler and exporter.

 

Adams said "it is irresponsible of Syngenta to release this trait" since the separation approach have failed several times.

 

CGB has informed farmers it may not accept Agrisure RW corn when they harvest their crops this fall.

 

Some ethanol plants are telling farmers they will not accept corn containing the Agrisure RW trait because they may export a byproduct of ethanol production--dried distillers grains, traders said.

 

Syngenta came under fire in 2005 for accidentally mixing some insect-resistant, genetically modified Bt10 -- which has not been approved by the European Union for import¡ªinto its approved Bt11 biotech seeds between 2001 and 2004.

 

In 2000, a biotech corn called StarLink, approved for use only as animal feed, was found in the US human food chain, sparking a nationwide recall of taco shells and corn-products foods from grocery shelves.

 

The detection led several countries, including top buyer Japan, to ban temporarily imports of US corn.

 

Syngenta sold the Agrisure RW seed to farmers to help them boost yields to meet the strong demand from the makers of ethanol and livestock feed.

 

Syngenta has started the process of gaining approval from Japan, but exporters fear the approval may not come before the crop is harvested this fall. Japan allows several varieties of US GMO corn to be fed to livestock.

 

US farmers are expected to plant the most acres of corn this spring since 1944, which has boosted earnings at seed companies such as Syngenta and Monsanto Co. and helped both stocks climb more than 30 percent in the last year.

 

DuPont Co. the No. 2 US chemical company, said on Tuesday that first-quarter profit rose 16 percent, helped by strong seed sales.