www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Farmers in the Czech Republic have begun growing genetically engineered (GE)
corn for the first time, and they could start selling it as early as next
year, November 2005 by Jeffrey White.

The corn, which is more resistant to disease-bearing pests, is expected to
be used in the country's animal feed industry. It is not on store shelves
now, and even environmentalists who oppose GE crops acknowledge it's not
likely to show up on shelves any time soon.

Spain, France, Germany and Portugal have also begun commercial growing of GE
corn this year. The European Union has long imported GE products from places
like the United States, but only this year did it amend laws on the
Continent's agriculture industry to enable countries to decide whether to
allow the growing of GE crops.

The EU currently allows only GE corn to be grown, but it could green-light
modified potatoes and rapeseed down the line.

"This is a worldwide trend," says Ji?í Fel?árek, spokesman for the
Agriculture Ministry. "All commercially used GE products will be examined in
detail to eliminate possibilities of any eventual hazards."

GE crops are a far more divisive issue in Europe than in the United States,
where they've been grown for years.

Those who support them say the ability of GE crops to grow in difficult
conditions and avoid disease could improve life in developing nations.
Opponents, such as Greenpeace, argue GE foods may threaten ecosystems and
can harm animals and call for further testing.

"This is like a precedent," says Magdalena Klimovi?ová of Greenpeace. "Corn
is the first GE plant entering our fields, so we have to fight it."

It appears that Czech farmers are approaching GE corn more cautiously than
their counterparts in other countries. Spain grows 50,000 hectares (123,553
acres) of GE corn. Germany grows more than a 1,000 hectares. Czech farmers
are now growing the GE crops on 40 of the country's 88,000 hectares of
cornfields, mostly in central Bohemia and south Moravia. The Czech
government will allow up to 270 hectares of GE cornfields.

"Before any mass use, [farmers] want to test it on a small scale and,
providing it works, expand to larger grounds," says Fel?árek. "Plus, with GM
crops there is also the fact that public opinion in Europe forces farmers to
be somewhat more cautious."

Observers say farmers are turning to the crop to save money: Better harvests
would cut production losses caused by disease and lower the costs of
chemically protecting crops.

With Czech farmers feeling pressure from cheaper products from abroad, GE
food is likely to be getting their serious consideration.

Among the rules governing the crops are an Agriculture Ministry requirement
that farmers to keep their GE corn 600 meters (1,969 feet) from conventional
crops and notify the state and neighboring farms that they're growing it.

Farmers have until February 2006 to register their crops, meaning the
ministry cannot now say how many farmers or farming companies are growing GE
corn. "Farmers can now choose what they want to grow," says Milu?e
Kusendová, a spokesman for Monsanto, a major multinational producer of farm
chemicals.

Monsanto has been growing small batches of GE corn in the Czech Republic
since last year and plans to begin selling GE corn seed to around 60 Czech
farmers next spring.

The corn, like other GE products that are imported to the EU, must carry a
special label. Even seed bags sold to farmers must bear a GE label, and
Greenpeace is fighting to have meats labeled if GE corn was used in the
animals' feed.

Those who lobby throughout Europe for more GE planting argue against further
testing requirements.

Johan Van Hemelrijck, secretary general of EuropaBio, a biotech lobby group,
says 8 million farmers in 17 countries grow GE crops, producing food for 3
billion people.

"Europeans are going every year and traveling as businessmen or tourists in
areas of the world where they eat these products," he says. "No question wha
tsoever is asked. This is the best clinical trial and opinion trial that you
can have."

[www.praguepost.com]

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