Japan company boosts non-GMO soy in Canada

 

 

Japan's Kanematsu Corp said it planned for triple planting of non-GMO soy for food use on 20,234 hectares on Prince Edward Island, Canada in collaboration with a Canadian seed maker and farmers.

 

Kanematsu has recently introduced to the island non-GMO seed types which grow well in areas at high latitude with shorter daylight hours than in the US Midwest, which is traditionally the world's major producing area, giving the company an opportunity to expand acreage in Canada.

 

Farmers are shifting away from potatoes to more profitable alternatives such non-GMO soy due to lower demand and fears that frequent use of pesticide is contaminating ground water.

 

Ohkita said his company's plantings in the province totaled 2 711.39 hectares this year but would expand to 15,000 acres next year, with an expected output of 15,000 tonnes all for shipment to Japan.

 

"We are aiming for 20,234.28 hectares at a minimum," he said, indicating this acreage would be reached within the next few years and its importing costs are almost the same or lower than those of the US Midwest origin, which requires separate storage and transportation to keep away from GMO soy.

 

More than 90 percent of US soy planting is now genetically modified, but tofu makers in Japan only use non-GMO soy for safety concerns.

 

Ohkita said increasing demand for health food in the rest of the world means the US now accounts for less than half of global demand.

 

The remaining non-GMO soy is mainly from South America, but Japanese importers are less competitive in buying them than European and US rivals due to extra freight costs so we tapped into North America, he said.

 

Canada's non-GMO soy exports total around 750,000 tonnes a year, compared with that of US origin of 2.4 million tonnes, he said.

 

Japanese tofu, soy sauce and other food processing makers use about 1 million tonnes a year of non-GMO soybeans from abroad in addition to locally grown soy, 10 percent of which is provided by Kanematsu.

 

"Having both land and seed, we expect Prince Edward Island later to become a main supplier to Europe, and our second stage is to try it on the west coast," he said.

 

In 2010, Kanematsu plans to provide a total of at least 10 non-GMO soy types and start test farming of these seeds in British Colombia in Canada and Washington State in the US for shipment to Japan and the rest of Asia, Ohkita said.