Brazil turns to GM soy and Bt corn

 

 

A countrywide survey shows that 2009-10 planting of genetically modified seeds exceeded the cultivation of conventional crops in Brazil.

 

Brazilian media outfit RPC Crop Expedition PRC revealed that industry leaders in Rio Grande do Sul, Parana and Mato Grosso state, the largest producing regions, are using transgenic seeds which will take 67.4 percent of the Brazilian soy area in the 2009-10 crop. Already the Bt corn, technology that controls Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), occupies 39.5percent of the area.

 

Both Brazilian states, Mato Grosso and Parana, have 22.8 and 8.2 million hectares respectively (56.3 and 20.2 million acres) this summer. Roundup Ready soy and Bt corn are the only two transgenic crops available for commercial cultivation in Brazil. Until last year, most estimates indicated participation below 50 percent for transgenics, considering these two grains, which are the most important crops in the country.

 

With options more adapted to the various regions of the country and in its fourth edition, the Roundup Ready soy (resistant to glyphosate) widens its participation and consolidates a turnaround over the conventional soy. The choice of RR is due to costs and weed handling, but also has to do with logistic, market and price, always depending on the region where it is planted. Brazil's corn farmers have adapted to Bt corn seed faster than the switch from conventional to transgenic soy seed.

 

In Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest soy producer, has 6 million hectares (14.8 million acres) and or 55 percent for RR cultivation. It is almost 10 points less than the coverage reported in Parana, the second in the ranking of soy. In Rio Grande do Sul, this rate reaches 95 percent.

 

Mato Grosso has an exclusive boarding to GM seeds facilitated by industries who want to engage the European market. Ademir Rostirolla, from Campos de Julio town, plants only conventional seeds as "GM seeds have to be sent to ports farther away." The distance of 800 kilometres would be enlarged to 2.5 thousand kilometres.

 

The discussion about logistics and costs is weaker in Rio Grande do Sul. Gelson Melo de Lima, director of production in Cotrijal cooperative, explains that the crops are too susceptible to climate and has much problems with weeds. In that case, GM is not an option but a necessity, he said.

 

Giovani Ferreira and Jose Rocher are agricultural journalists with the nationwide newspaper, Gazeta Do Povo, in Brazil.

 

2009-10 is only the second season Brazil is using Bt corn, but 39.5 percent its planted area is already covered with GM seeds. In a year, Bt biotechnology adoption grew seven times in the country.

 

In Parana state, which accounts for 35 percent of the Brazilian annual corn production, GM acreage is eight times bigger than a year ago. Around 41 percent of the states corn area is planted with Bt corn. Brazil has this summer 7.9 million acres of GM corn, 1.02 million acres in Parana. The country planted a total of 20.2 million acres of corn in 2009-10, 2.5 million acres in Parana. The projections are from the RPC Crop Expedition.

 

Last season, only 5 percent of the 23 million acres Brazil dedicated to the corn crop were planted with GM seeds, according to Abrasem, the Brazilian Seeds Producers Association. In Parana, Bt corn accounted for 4 percent of the total area (3.3 million acres), according to the survey, which was expanded this year. In 2008-09, the first season to legally incorporate the Bt technology, Brazilian farmers had a hard time finding GM seeds due to short supply.

 

Not only does the Bt technology work, but it also pays, says Modesto Daga, grain producer in Cascavel (West Parana). He planted 50 percent of his corn fields with GM seeds last summer. The result was so good that he decided to follow the same strategy this year."Fall Armyworm is a real problem around here because corn is almost a permanent culture. The second crop is planted right after the summer crop is harvested", he explains. Daga says that last season his non-GM corn demanded up to four insecticide applications to control corn borers, while the Bt fields required only one, making Bt corn more practical to plant.