Activists Wary as Monsanto Withdraws GE Wheat Stephen Leahy, IPS Activists who fight genetically engineered products are declaring victory after agricultural giant Monsanto's decision to shelve plans to launch GE wheat in Canada and United States. But some warn that the battle over the wheat, and GE crops in general, is far from over. BROOKLIN, Canada, May 11 (IPS) - I was surprised and sceptical about the announcement, says Marc Loiselle, an organic farmer in Saskatchewan. On closer examination Monsanto really said it will begin to focus on other types of GE crops but also look at other types of GE wheat aside from the 'Round-Up Ready' varieties it has already developed, he says. The company genetically engineered Round-up Ready wheat to withstand its herbicide of the same name. The U.S.-based firm did not respond to IPS requests for an interview, but in a statement Monsanto Executive Vice President Carl Casle said, this decision allows us to defer commercial development of Roundup Ready wheat, in order to align with the potential commercialisation of other biotechnology traits in wheat, estimated to be four to eight years in the future. The approval of GE wheat would have been a disaster for Canadian grain farmers and their grain trading company, the Canada Wheat Board (CWB). Nearly 90 percent of the CWB's customers had previously said they would not buy GE wheat. Monsanto has made the right decision by respecting the wishes of their customer farmers, CWB Chairman Ken Ritter said a statement. Farmers overwhelmingly opposed the introduction of Roundup Ready wheat, which offered few agronomic benefits and threatened to destroy premium markets for their product, he added. Canadian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) joined farmers and others in a bitter three-year battle to stop the crop being approved for use in Canada. Just last week, Friends of the Earth in the province of Quebec and the Council of Canadians launched a campaign to have Canadians mail Prime Minister Paul Martin a slice of bread to protest the government's support of GE wheat. Strong rejection of GE wheat from virtually every corner of the globe once again showed the resistance to GE foods, said Pat Venditti of Greenpeace Canada, in a statement. Strong opposition by farmers, consumers and countries likely prompted Monsanto's decision, says Debra Harry, executive director of the U.S.-based Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism. The issue has particular relevance for indigenous people because GE crops are grown in open field environments and have the potential to affect neighbouring environments, including soil and water, Harry told IPS at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. Any time we can set a limit or stop the proliferation of GE crops, it's good for all of us, she added. The NGO Genewatch UK is warning that as a result of Monsanto's decision and other companies' withdrawal of other GE crops from Europe, the developing world will likely become the focus of the biotechnology industry's market aspirations. India is being used as a bridgehead into the vast cotton markets of Asia while South Africa is being used as an entry into the African continent, Genewatch Director Sue Mayer wrote in the 'Guardian' newspaper Tuesday. While supporters of biotechnology make claims for its ability to provide solutions to world hunger, those at the sharp end have a different perspective. Monsanto and the rest of the biotechnology industry may see these largely disempowered communities as easier to overcome than the consumers of the developed world, she added. In 2002, two farmers in Canada's Saskatchewan province filed a class-action lawsuit against Monsanto to prevent the sale of GE wheat. They feared that seeds and pollen from neighbouring farms would blow onto their fields and contaminate their organic crops. That lawsuit was part of a larger effort to get compensation from Monsanto over the loss of the organic oilseed rape market. Contamination from widely grown GE oilseed made it impossible to grow GE-free rape in Western Canada the farmers alleged, and cost organic growers 14 million dollars (10 million U.S. dollars) in lost sales. The lawsuit will continue despite the announcement, says Loiselle, who represents organic grain growers at the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate (SOD). However, an injunction to prevent Monsanto from planting more GE wheat in open field test plots will likely be dropped, he said. After such a long, intense battle against GE wheat, Loiselle remains wary about the company's aims. It doesn't look like Monsanto (has) officially withdrawn their application for commercialisation to the Canadian government, he points out. Despite this week's announcement, the biotech juggernaut continues to roll, according to BIO, the industry association. Eighteen countries are now growing 67 million hectares (165 million acres) of GM crops, chiefly cotton, maize and soya. The area planted with GM strains rose 15 percent in 2003, it adds. Harry cautions that corporations, partnered with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will continue to do whatever they can to prevent opposition to and increase the spread of GE crops. It will take continued activism to stop all of the other GE food sources, she predicts. (END/2004) ---- Monsanto to Realign Research Portfolio Development of Roundup Ready Wheat Deferred Decision Follows Portfolio Review, Consultation with Growers ST. LOUIS (May 10, 2004) - Monsanto announced today it is realigning research and development investments to accelerate the development of new and improved traits in corn, cotton, and oilseeds. As part of this realignment, the company is deferring all further efforts to introduce Roundup Ready wheat, until such time that other wheat biotechnology traits are introduced. This decision was reached after a comprehensive review of Monsanto's research investment portfolio and extensive consultation with customers in the wheat industry. "As a result of our portfolio review and dialogue with wheat industry leaders, we recognize the business opportunities with Roundup Ready spring wheat are less attractive relative to Monsanto's other commercial priorities," said Carl Casale, executive vice president of Monsanto. "Acreage planted in the spring wheat market in the United States and Canada has declined nearly 25 percent since 1997, and even more in the higher cost weed control target market for this product. This technology adds value for only a segment of spring wheat growers, resulting in a lack of widespread wheat industry alignment, unlike the alignment we see in other crops where biotechnology is broadly applied. These factors underscore the difficulty of bringing new technologies to the wheat market at this time. "We will continue to monitor the wheat industry's desire for crop improvements, via breeding and biotechnology, to determine if and when it might be practical to move forward with a biotech wheat product," Casale said. "This decision allows us to defer commercial development of Roundup Ready wheat, in order to align with the potential commercialization of other biotechnology traits in wheat, estimated to be four to eight years in the future." Shifting resources away from Roundup Ready wheat enables Monsanto to increase its research emphasis on stress tolerance and several improved health profile vegetable oil traits. Overall, Monsanto's biotechnology research and development focuses on providing new solutions in the areas of yield improvement and stress tolerance, agronomic pest resistance traits, and food and feed improvement traits. "We have pipeline products like Roundup Ready Flex for cotton and an improved soybean oil for food manufacturers from our conventional breeding program that are moving close to commercialization," said Casale. "We also saw good results in our field trials for drought tolerant corn in 2003, and we will be expanding our field trials in 2004. "Wheat growers are already experiencing the benefits of biotech, but in other crops such as corn, soy, and canola, which are increasingly being grown on acreage formerly devoted to wheat," according to Casale. "Growers will continue to benefit as we bring traits such as cold stress and drought tolerance to the marketplace." Monsanto began the technical development stage of Roundup Ready wheat in 1997. Six years of field testing by Monsanto scientists and academic researchers demonstrate that Roundup Ready wheat performs exceptionally well under the most difficult production environments for spring-planted wheat and offers the potential to increase yields by 5 percent to 15 percent. Monsanto will discontinue breeding and field level research of Roundup Ready wheat. The company will be working with regulators around the world to take appropriate next steps with regard to regulatory submissions. Monsanto's investment in wheat in fiscal year 2004 has been less than $5 million, or less than one percent of the company's $500 million research and development budget. Funds budgeted for wheat will be redeployed to other research and development efforts. The company announced on May 4, 2004, that it is increasing its fiscal year 2004 earnings per share (EPS) guidance, now expected to be in the range of $1.55 on an ongoing basis for the 2004 fiscal year. Even with this decision, the company is maintaining its reported and ongoing earnings per share guidance for fiscal year 2004, and its projected 10 percent compounded annual growth rate for earnings per share on an ongoing basis for 2005 and 2006. Copyright © 2004 Monsanto Company ----- Monsanto pullout an opportunity GeneEthics Media Release, 12/5/04 Monsanto has decided to pull out of GE canola in Australia and GE wheat globally. This is a great opportunity for Australian farmers and the community. "GeneEthics welcomes Monsanto's decision not to proceed with GE canola in Australia," says GeneEthics Director Bob Phelps. "It would have been a huge environmental and economic disaster," he says. "Monsanto influenced Australian governments to pour $100 million of public money each year into gene technology research and development in food and farming, for over a decade," he says. "Monsanto contributed little except its patented genes, aiming to make huge profits from publicly funded research," he says. "Scarce public resources were wasted, as gene technology failed to deliver any of the promised benefits and many projects failed," he says. "Our governments now have a golden opportunity to reallocate the wasted money into halting the degradation of farm environments and making our food production systems sustainable," says Mr Phelps. "We call for a public review of national research and development priorities," he says. "GE crops could make no useful contribution to solving the salinity and soil acidity, drought, soil loss and water management problems which threaten Australia's food security for future generations," he says. "We must heed CSIRO Land and Water's warning, that Australia will soon be unable to feed its population unless we repair farm systems," he says. "Our governments acted in the public interest by banning commercial GE canola and this can be a new beginning," he concludes. More comment: Bob Phelps (03) 9347 4500 (office) (03) 9830 1592 (home)