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

The farm is now the battleground of a heated dispute in Germany A row over
new Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer's plans to cut backing for
ecological farming and pave the way for genetically modified crops continues
in the Christmas season, January 2006 by Hardy Graupner.

Germany's ministry for agriculture is fiercely denying reports about an
impending U-turn in agricultural policies.

Opposition Green party leaders and some ruling Social Democrats are unhappy
about Minister Horst Seehofer's remarks on the future of organic farming.

After almost a decade of vast resources going into organic farming under the
previous Social Democratic-Green party government, Seehofer said the grand
coalition is not in a financial position to shell out extra money for a
project that hasn't yielded the results once envisaged and hoped for by the
ecologist Greens.

Despite massive financial shots in the arm, ecological farming still makes
up less than 4 percent of overall farming in Germany.

Seehofer will have to save some 200 million euros ($237 million) in 2006.
And to him it seems only logical that any previous, ideologically-driven
projects will have to do without special help from the government.

"A more balanced approach"

A spokeswoman for the ministry, Ulrike Hinrichs, said that her boss didn't
want to leave organic farmers to their own devices, but that he wanted a
more balanced approach from now on.

"What he means is that he's not in favor of boosting organic farming
exclusively without stirring a finger for conventional farming," Hinrichs
said.

"Mr. Seehofer is by no means intending to do away with organic farming. He's
just aiming for a peaceful coexistence between the various production
methods. He wants to let them develop according to demand and not impose any
regulations predetermining which branch has to achieve what."

Despite the ministry's clarifications, some lawmakers insist that biological
farming continues to deserve special treatment.

"Those who want to cut back on organic farming must know that they'll slow
down the enormous growth rates that we've seen in the bio-farming sector of
late," such as Social Democratic agricultural spokeswoman Waltraud Wolf
said. She added that cuts would also jeopardise many otherwise sustainable
jobs which have been created in the sector.

"After all, the market share for produce from organic farming has risen in
Germany. If prices were to soar, we'd see a greater percentage of the
domestic demand being met through imports, and this cannot really be in the
interest of the government," Wolf said. "It's certainly not what the Social
Democrats want, and we're prepared to put up a good deal of resistance."

Okaying GM food brings new problems

Seehofer has also openly voiced his support for genetically modified crops.
His comments are in line with European Union-wide legislation that has
opened up opportunities for companies such as Monsanto and Pioneer to
conquer new markets.

There too, he has angered critics who consider coexistence between GM and
non-GM-based production problematic.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that genetically modified foodstuffs should not
be produced at all," said Thomas Dosch of the German Association for
Ecological Farming. "But consumers should certainly have a right to know
what exactly they're buying."

However, Germany's limited food labeling requirements are little help to
consumers trying to determine whether products contain GM traces or the
remains of pesticides. And Seehofer hasn't indicted he's inclined to change
them.

Still, opposition leaders and Social Democrats are hopeful that a new
consumer information bill that Seehofer is expected to submit to parliament
in January will change the situation.

[www.dw-world.de]

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