August 1, 2005

Brazilian soy seed growers vote against Monsanto's GM royalty
 

Soy seed growers in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, have rejected GM giant Monsanto's proposal to charge a 0.88 real/kilogram royalty for its GM soy seeds.

Monsanto had earlier struck a deal with Brazil's National Association of Seed Producers (Abrasem) on royalty payments for using its GM Roundup Ready (RR) soy seeds, following the recent legalisation of GM soy sales in the country.

Meanwhile, Monsanto had also concluded a deal with cooperatives to charge a 2 percent royalty on RR soy at the point of sale to the seed grower for this year's harvest.

Seed Producers Association of Rio Grande do Sul state (Apassul) feared that if Monsanto charged a 2 percent royalty at the point of sale, and 0.88 real/kilogram for legal seed royalties at the same time, growers might be encouraged to purchase GM soy seeds on the black market.

Illegal GM soy planting in Rio Grande do Sul had grown to comprise more than 90 percent of total soy production in the state over the past ten years, according to reports.

Apassul estimated that at existing soy prices, a grower who opted to buy certified GM soy seed from an official producer would pay about 54 real/hectare in royalties, as opposed to only 24 real/hectare on the black market.