June 16, 2010
GM rapeseed booming in Western Australia
Plantings of Roundup Ready rapeseed in Western Australia (WA) have far exceeded expectations with more than 70,000ha now being sown.
This is more than double the early estimates from technology developer Monsanto Australia only two months ago, and highlights the extent to which western Australian grain growers are embracing the new technology.
Early this year, the WA government announced an exemption to their GM crop moratoria legislation, to allow GM rapeseed traits that have been approved by federal regulators to be planted commercially in WA for the first time.
Monsanto's WA business manager, Tom Breen, said the phenomenal uptake in this first year confirmed how eager growers were to take up the technology. ''We now have just over 300 growers sowing GM rapeseed for the first time this season, with over 700 farmers and agronomists completing the Roundup Ready rapeseed accreditation'', Breen said.
''It's our understanding that WA growers see Roundup Ready rapeseed as an excellent fit to make their cropping systems more sustainable, because of the reliable weed control and assistance it gives them in managing resistance to other herbicide groups,'' he added.
