Study shows - the cultivation of genetically modified maize has caused a
drastic reduction in organic cultivation of this grain and is making their
coexistence practically impossible.
This is the main conclusion reached in one of the first field studies in
Europe carried out by a researcher of the Institute of Environmental Science
and Technology of the Universitat Aut?noma de Barcelona, who has analysed
the situation in Catalonia and Aragon, Europe's main producers of transgenic
foods.

The study was carried out by researcher Rosa Binimelis of the UAB Institute
of Environmental Science and Technology. Binimelis is working on the
European project ALARM (Assessing Large Scale Risks for Biodiversity with
Tested Methods) and analyses the application of the concept of coexistence
between Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and conventional organic
agriculture in the European Union. The results of the research have been
published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (April
2008).

Since GM cultivation was introduced in Spain in 1998 it has been surrounded
by controversy, and this has evolved into a debate over the concept of
coexistence between transgenic and organic agriculture. This concept was
introduced in 2002 by the European Commission with two objectives: to deal
with the emerging concerns derived from the admixture of different
cultivations, since organic farmers are committed to not using GMOs, and to
make it easier to lift the existing "de facto" moratorium - which is not
officially recognised - within Europe so as to introduce new transgenic
cultivations.

Thus the concept of coexistence, after applying technical measures, should
make it possible to operate freely in the market while reducing the
political conflicts linked to GMOs. The European Commission is planning this
year to evaluate how the policy of coexistence has been implemented in the
past ten years.

Before GMOs were introduced previous studies in this area were carried out
using modelling or experimental cases, due to the lack of commercial fields
in most European countries. Researcher Rosa Binimelis however analyses the
situation in Catalonia and Aragon, where the commercial cultivation of
transgenic crops began in 1998. This research is therefore unique and
especially relevant to the European Commission's assessment scheduled for
this year. It involved qualitative techniques by means of 51 in-depth
interviews and participant observation (twenty-two interviews with farmers
while the remaining were held with key political figures, including
government representatives, scientists, academics, as well as NGO members
and other organisations and platforms).

The situation of both types of cultivations in 2007 was the following: the
surface used to plant transgenic maize in Catalonia and Aragon was
respectively 23,000 ha and 35,900 ha, which represent 55% and 42% of the
total surface used to cultivate this crop. The variety of maize grown is the
Bt corn, which is designed to ward off the European corn borer and is used
mainly for feed production.

The maize production process is integrated in cereal cooperatives, which
cover the entire production chain from the sale of seeds and inputs to
commercialisation, including technical advice. This system makes it
difficult and expensive to segregate GM from organic and conventional
production. There are no specific silos for organic maize while only a
minority of cooperatives in the region restricts the use of GMOs. In
parallel, organic agriculture is growing in Spain in the number of producers
and hectares. However, this trend is reverted for the case of maize.

The author's analysis reveals a social confrontation between proponents and
opponents of GM technology regarding the consequences it can have and the
measures to be taken in regulating and taking responsibility for any cases
of admixture. Confrontation also exists when trying to define technical
measures that would guarantee this coexistence. Finally, the study analyses
the difficulties organic farmers would face in order to claim compensation
if admixture took place, due to technical uncertainties in measuring the
level of ?contamination? or its origin, but also because of social reasons.
Many farmers who could sue for damages prefer not to do so in order to avoid
any local confrontations in small villages.

As a result, the area devoted to organic maize was reduced by 75% in Aragon
from 2004 (year in which the first analyses were carried out) to 2007 and by
5% in Catalonia between 2002 and 2005. The percentage in Catalonia is lower
because the only available data come from the first years of the analyses,
when the cultivation of GM maize was not as widespread as it is today.

Given this context, the research concludes that both the concept of
coexistence and different implementation proposals have generated new
problems instead of solving existing conflicts. The results until now point
to the promotion of genetically modified farming over any other alternative.
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