A major region of Peru has banned genetically modified (GM) varieties
of a crop that has been grown there for thousands of years and which helped
to fuel the ancient Inca empire.
The Cusco regional government's Order 010 is intended to protect the
genetic diversity of thousands of native potato varieties. It forbids the
sale, cultivation, use and transport of GM potatoes as well as other native
food crops.

The potato originated in the highlands of South America. Peru and its
Andean neighbours are the crop's centre of diversity - with more than 4,000
distinct varieties that farmers have developed over generations.

Local farmers' organisations fear that genes from GM potatoes could
transfer into local varieties and alter their unique properties.

The head of the regional government's environmental office, Abel
Caballero, proposed the ban "in recognition of the historical, cultural,
social and economic importance of the potato and other native crops to the
Cusco Region."

The Order was passed in response to proposals submitted by a network
of local potato-farming communities and Asociacion ANDES, an indigenous
nongovernmental organisation based in Cusco, in collaboration with the
sustainable agriculture, biodiversity and livelihoods program at the
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

"This is unprecedented for Peru and a great victory for the
communities of Cusco," says Alejandro Argumedo, director of Asociacion
ANDES. "It will protect the region from contamination with GM varieties that
can threaten the diversity of the potatoes and other important native food
crops that are critical for food security and the economy."

Dr Michel Pimbert, director of the sustainable agriculture,
biodiversity and livelihoods program at IIED says: "With this decision to
keep GM crops out of one of the world's most diverse centres of potato and
other Andean crops, the regional government of Cusco has acted wisely and
with courage. "

"Responding to citizens' concerns, it has put issues of food security,
human well-being and the environment first and foremost at a time when most
national governments persist in their failure to implement international
agreements to protect the environment and human rights."

"This, and a growing number of other examples throughout the world,
suggests that much can de done by working with local governments that are
not captive to national elites and transnational corporations," says
Pimbert.

More than 1.2 million people live in the Cusco region. Many are
small-scale farmers for whom the potato is the most important crop.

The region's capital Cusco is the oldest, continuously inhabited city
in the Americas and, along with nearby Machu Picchu (the 'Lost City' of the
Incas which was recently named as one of the new seven wonders of the
world), is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Peru-based International Potato Center (CIP) announced on 6 July
that it had developed the first GM crop variety in Peru - a GM potato that
can resist attack by insects called weevils (a major pest species).

The potato, named Revolución produces no pollen, and has been tested
only in the laboratory to date. It was genetically modified to carry a
bacterial gene that produces a protein called Bt that is toxic to insects.

Similar potato varieties are undergoing field trials in Egypt, South
Africa, the United States and Indonesia.
[us.oneworld.net]