WEEKLY WATCH number 269

Print
Details
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEEKLY WATCH number 269
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear all:

This week's edition is stuffed full of news and reports from around the world. There's also a focus on the extraordinary pro-GM event at the Vatican, which was stuffed full of pro-GM stooges (LOBBYWATCH: VATICAN EVENT). 

And don't forget to pay a visit to our newly launched GMWatch database of GM pushers at www.spinprofiles.org (LOBBYWATCH: OTHER STORIES).

Claire <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOBBYWATCH: VATICAN EVENT
LOBBYWATCH: OTHER STORIES
FOOD SAFETY
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
EUROPE
GM WHEAT
CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY
CORPORATE CRIMES
AFRICA
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
NON-GM SUCCESSES/GM FAILURE
AUSTRALASIA
MULTI-MEDIA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOBBYWATCH: VATICAN EVENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ VATICAN GM EVENT IS "CHARADE BY VESTED INTERESTS" - SPINWATCH
A "study week" on GM at the Vatican (15-19 May) was condemned as a “total farce" by SpinWatch. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, told the Catholic News Service that the aim had been to gather "an objective group of experts" in a search for "scientific clarity". But objectivity was the last thing anyone should expect from the "experts" in question, according to Prof. David Miller of SpinWatch, which recently launched SpinProfiles, a new online database which tracks, among others, experts with vested interests or who spin for industry. "This event is just the kind of charade by vested interests that SpinProfiles was set up to challenge," said Prof. Miller.
http://www.spinwatch.org/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/46-gm-industry/5283-sp inwatch-condemns-vatican-gm-event-as-a-charade-by-vested-interests
or http://tiny.cc/PuhjA

+ UNHOLY ALLIANCE
John Vidal, The Guardian, 20 May 2009: Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo is the chancellor of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the official voice of Catholic science. Alas, he appears to have no idea how far his organisation has been hijacked by the genetic modification (GM) companies and their chums. This week, the academy is hosting a "week of study" about food, and Sorondo says the intention has been to gather "an objective" group of experts. Ho-hum. Of the 40 people invited, all are well-known GM enthusiasts, claims Spinwatch, an independent organisation that "monitors the role of public relations and spin in contemporary society". One of the participants, Eric Sachs, is a Monsanto employee; another, Robert Paarlberg, is an adviser to Monsanto's CEO; and several others work for companies heavily backed by Monsanto. So who could have invited this esteemed group to Rome? It seems the organisation was left to Ingo Potrykus, developer of GM "Golden Rice". This is the man who accused opponents of GM of "crimes against humanity".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/may/19/vatican-gm-foods
National Catholic Reporter on the Vatican event:
http://ncronline.org/news/ecology/vatican-studies-genetically-modified-crops
SpinProfiles: Ingo Potrykus
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Ingo_Potrykus

+ CATHOLIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES CRITICISE VATICAN GM EVENT
CIDSE - the international alliance of Catholic development agencies - has written a letter to the head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, expressing its concerns about the Vatican GM event. The letter says "the tone, the objectives and content of the study week appear to reflect the views of only the proponents of genetically engineered seeds" and notes that the event excludes important stakeholders, including the Catholic Church in Africa. The letter also draws attention to the working document presented by Pope Benedict for this fall's Synod of Bishops for Africa. This points out that using GM crops risks "ruining small landholders, abolishing traditional methods of seeding and making farmers dependent on the production companies" (Letter of 27 April 2009, from Bernd Nilles, Secretary General of CIDSE, to Bishop Marcello Sanchez Sorondo)

+ STREET PROTEST AGAINST VATICAN GM EVENT
A sit-in was organized in the centre of Rome on Piazzale Flaminio to protest the Vatican GM event and inform the citizenry about GMOs - see the press release by Guido Pollice, President of Verdi Ambiente e Societa and Fabrizia Pratesi, Scientific Committee Coordinator of Equivita at
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
NB after the end of May this url will change, probably to
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/2009/may.php 

+ GMOs WILL CREATE FAMINE AND HUNGER
Father Sean McDonagh gave a powerful interview to the National Catholic Reporter at the sit-in protest in Rome, about the one-sided GM 'debate' being held by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. It's well worth reading in full.
http://ncronline.org/news/gmos-are-going-create-famine-and-hunger

+ QUOTE OF THE WEEK: THE HIDDEN GOAL
Catholic missionary and author Father Sean McDonagh on the real purpose of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences meeting: "They want to get rid of the very minimal regulations [on GM] that we have at the moment. They said it in the introduction to the study week, and every one of them says it in his abstract. That's their goal. Bishop Sanchez Sorondo (chancellor of the Pontifical Academy) has said that the purpose is to examine whether GM crops are safe, but I'm sorry, that's not it. The purpose is to use the prestige of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and its good name to beat on governments so that you can reduce regulation. I would also claim that they want to use something like the Potrykus rice [Golden Rice] as a battering ram against the regulatory process. The strategy is that if you get it through once, you've set the precedent."
http://ncronline.org/news/gmos-are-going-create-famine-and-hunger

+ VATICAN NEWSPAPER DENOUNCES PRESSURE TO INFLUENCE CHURCH ON GMOs
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=2789

+ VATICAN SPEAKERS MARKED BY ALMOST FARCICAL EXTREMISM
Typical of the farcical extremity of the Vatican GM event was the inclusion of contributors like CS Prakash, Henry I. Miller and Andrew Apel. Apel is the former editor of a GM industry newsletter who’s described the likes of GMWatch as "liars", "cretins", and "baby-killers" and has sought to link critics of GM to terrorism and even to the 9/11 attacks.
Andrew Apel's SpinProfile
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Andrew_Apel
Henry I. Miller's SpinProfile
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Henry_I._Miller
CS Prakash's SpinProfile
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Channapatna_S._Prakash

+ PONTIFICAL ACADEMY ACCUSED OF UNSCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY
According to the Sunday Examiner, the Pontifical Academy for Sciences is being accused of using unscientific methodology in its preparation for the GM study week. Critics say that while the topic is valid, the event goes against the scientific tradition of vigorous debate in that it is entirely one-sided. The breakdown of speakers shows that it is top heavy with representatives from the US - 18 of the 39 - and critics argue that the mega-farm model of the US, which is highly dependent on agrichemicals and manufactured seeds, is not a suitable one for majority of third world countries, such as India, the Philippines, China, or Africa.
http://sundayex.catholic.org.hk/inter/2009/inter090412.html

+ NEW REPORT UNDERMINES VATICAN MEETING
A new report from GM Freeze released on the eve of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences' "Study Week" on GM food shows why GM won't, and can't, deliver on its promises. The report, GM Nutritionally Enhanced and Altered Crops, exposes the myth that new research will provide GM crops to feed the world. 
http://www.gmfreeze.org/uploads/GMF_nutrient_brief_final.pdf

+ GOLDEN RICE: A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT
Golden Rice hasn't been proven safe to eat, yet it's being targeted at malnourished people in the third world. What's more, better, cheaper and proven solutions are already available.
http://www.bangmfood.org/feed-the-world/17-feeding-the-world/37-golden-rice-a-da ngerous-experiment

+ GOLDEN RICE AND HAZARDS OF GMOs
Lecture by Dr Mae-Wan Ho on the problematic history of Golden Rice and other GMOs:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/goldenRiceHazardsGMOs.php

+ QUOTE ON HUNGER AND THE VATICAN EVENT
"From an economic point of view, the hungry will remain hungry, with or without genetically modified food. It's up to governments to rid their countries of causes of poverty and to fight monopolies like Monsanto." - Chege Mbitiru, Daily Nation (Kenya), 11 May 2009
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/596052/-/13nid7sz/-/index.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOBBYWATCH: OTHER STORIES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ NEW DATABASE ON LOBBYING AND SPIN LAUNCHED
A new online database on lobbying, PR and spin has been launched. SpinProfiles is a massive international undertaking, written collaboratively with wiki technology, aimed at tackling PR and propaganda activities on a wide range of issues, including GM. The main website is at
http://www.spinprofiles.org
The GM portal is at
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
For the SpinProfiles project to really succeed it will need the support and involvement in the SpinProfiles community of as many concerned citizens from around the world as possible. If you’d like to get involved, contact the managing editor of SpinProfiles, Claire Robinson <claire.robinsonATspinprofiles.org> 

+ CONFRONTING TWO-FACED SCIENCE
Part of the aim of SpinProfiles is to expose industry-friendly experts, and the institutes, think tanks, and front groups they operate out of in their battle to influence public opinion and public policy. As part of this, see Claire Robinson's incisive article on the lobby group Sense About Science, "Nothing to declare - GM guide's two-faced science". The article looks in detail at the undisclosed interests of a wide range of supposedly objective experts and public science institutions. Containing as it does, multiple embedded links to specific profiles and sources, it also provides a good introduction to the kind of material and resources available on the SpinProfiles site and the user-friendly way in which it operates.
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Nothing_to_declare_%E2%80%93_GM_guide%E2%8 0%99s_two-faced_science

+ IMMORAL MAIZE - THE DEGINITIVE ACCOUNT OF THE CHAPELA AFFAIR
"There's no bigger, odder, or meaner story in biotechnology," is how the journal Science and Policy perspectives described the Mexican maize scandal, and SpinProfiles hosts the definitive account of the affair and of the industry's dirty tricks campaign to destroy Dr. Ignacio Chapela. Immoral Maize is by SpinProfiles editor and investigative journalist Andy Rowell, who worked with GMWatch to expose the dirty tricks campaign that George Monbiot famously reported on in three articles in The Guardian newspaper. Andy's account gives much of the back story to the whole affair. 
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Immoral_Maize:_Extract_from_Don%27t_Worry%2C_It%27s_Safe_to_Eat_by_Andrew_Rowell

+ SEED FUNDING
John Vidal, The Guardian, 20 May 2009: The British Biochemical Society (BBS) has announced that it is accepting GBP113,000 from the Monsanto Foundation - the philanthropic arm of the giant American GM company - to "provide new resources in support of secondary school science". The cash will go to the SciberBrain website (SciberBrain.org), from which teachers are invited to download genetics master classes for their budding boffins.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/may/19/monsanto-philanthrophy-ed ucation

+ PRO-GM MP CAUGHT WITH SNOUT IN TROUGH
Ian Gibson is a British Member of Parliament who was forced to admit in 2004 that he and Derek Burke, former Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, were "working together to try and erode the anti-GM debate." Now Gibson is offering to stand down at the next election in the wake of disclosures about his dubious expenses claims as an MP. On Gibson's role in the GM debate, read Claire Robinson's article: Collusion and Corruption in GM Policy
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/CCIGMP.php 
For the Gibson expenses scandal:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5364417/MPs-expenses-Ian -Gibsons-flat-for-daughter-and-boyfriend-courtesy-of-the-taxpayer.html

+ DEAL WILL DAMAGE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
David Chicoine, the president of South Dakota State University, a land grant university with a mission for agricultural research and extension, is being paid almost $400,000 a year by Monsanto for sitting on its board of directors. This is in addition to the $300,000 the people of South Dakota are paying him for being SDSU's president. Said James Abourezk, former US senator, and William Du Bois, former assistant professor at SDSU and currently assistant professor at Southwest Minnesota State University, “The corporation wants something for its money, and, if enough money is spread around, it most likely will get what it wants.”
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20090517/VOICES05/905170327/1052/OPINION01
http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=703
See also ag columnist Alain Guebert’s excellent piece:
Big biz and the big university
http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/big-biz-and-the-big-university/11888.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD SAFETY
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ DOCTORS CALL FOR MORATORIUM ON GM FOODS
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has raised serious concerns about the safety of GM foods on human health and has called for an immediate moratorium on such foods. The AAEM concluded, "there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects," and that "the strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies." Dr Jennifer Armstrong, President of AAEM, said, “Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions.”
http://www.growingedge.com/the-american-academy-of-environmental-medicine-calls- for-immediate-moratorium-on-genetically-modified-foods
See Jeffrey Smith’s commentary
http://www.opednews.com/articles/American-Academy-of-Enviro-by-Jeffrey-M-Smith-0 90519-809.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ DARK SIDE OF GM PLANTS
A concise summary of the environmental effects of Bt plants, translated from the Russian, is at http://www.russia-ic.com/education_science/science/science_overview/911/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GERMAN COURT REJECTS MONSANTO PLEA TO END GM MAIZE BAN
A German court has rejected an urgent application from Monsanto to end Germany's ban on cultivation of its GM maize MON810. A statement from the court said under Germany's law on GMOs research showing there were indications that the crop could be dangerous were enough to trigger a ban.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKL558166220090505?pageNum ber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

+ REPORT FOR GERMAN PARLIAMENT SAYS GMOs WON'T SOLVE HUNGER
A study compiled for the German parliament shows that the use of GM in agriculture does not bring any macro-economic benefits. In fact, the use of GM crops incurs extremely high costs in the entire food chain, which would impact heavily on developing countries. These costs are generated by strongly increasing seed prices as well as necessary measures to avoid threatening resistances, the separation of commodity flows, and analyses. 

Additionally, there are losses to the tune of several billion US dollars, which where caused in corn and rice by contamination with unapproved GM. Also in farming, the at best marginal cost benefits of planting GM crops pay off only in the short-term. Clear winners from the use of GM seeds are a handful of corporations, first and foremost Monsanto, which secure high profits for themselves from seed patents.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4231194,00.html
Download the report (in German): http://www.boelw.de/uploads/media/BOELW_Schadensbericht_Gentechnik090318.pdf
Listen to the report (in German):
http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,4231012_start_0_end_0_type_audio_struct_3176_contentId_4231194,00.htm

+ IRELAND: ILLEGAL GM RICE DESTROYED BY HEALTH OFFICIALS
Health officials have destroyed banned GM rice flour that was being illegally imported into Ireland from China. The rice flour was made from Bt63 rice, a strain that contains a pesticide gene, but which is not authorised for sale in China or Europe.
COMMENT from GM-free Ireland: Illegal GM rice was first discovered in September 2006 in Chinese foods in specialty stores in the UK, France and Germany. Animal feed protein concentrate contaminated by Bt63 was discovered again in 2007 and 2008 in Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and Spain and the UK.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18003.cfm

+ EUROPE'S UPRISING AGAINST GMOs AND PATENTS ON LIFE
The recent call for a moratorium on GMOs in Europe at the 5th Conference of GM-Free Regions, Food & Democracy reflects an unstoppable groundswell of opposition to GMOs from both European citizens and governments. When Germany outlawed the cultivation of Monsanto's GM maize MON810, becoming the sixth EU country to introduce a ban on the GM maize, a source close to the European Commission (EC) said the German ban might bring a revision of the European legislation on GM crops. Germany also voted with the majority in March when the EC failed to force Austria and Hungary to reverse their bans, with its ruling being overturned by a big majority.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/EuropesUprisingAgainstGMOs.php

+ OPPOSITION GROWING ACROSS WHOLE OF EU
When countries from the former eastern bloc joined the European Union, the US and the global GM lobby expected them to act as its allies in countering opposition to GMOs within the EU. But exactly the opposite has occurred, with newer members strengthening the GM opposition, often in direct defiance of the EU Commission in Brussels.
See: Hungarian Ag Minister thanks Spanish counterpart for supporting GM crop ban
http://bbjonline.hu/?col=1001&id=48544 
We hope for GM-free Bulgaria
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=103663
GM production banned in Latvia
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=13731

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GM WHEAT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ WHEAT GROUPS GANG UP AGAINST CONSUMERS 
With the view that acting together would minimize market disruptions, wheat industry groups in the United States, Canada and Australia said they would work toward the objective of "synchronized commercialization of biotech traits in the wheat crop." However, the Canadian Wheat Board said it won't support GM wheat until key conditions are in place, including assurances that its overseas markets would accept the crop. Maureen Fitzhenry, spokeswoman for the Wheat Board, said, "Farmers don't want to lose a key market opportunity due to customers' resistance of GMO." GM wheat would be unpopular with many of Canada's overseas markets, said Jerry Klassen, an independent grain analyst. "This is a blind decision (by the farmer groups) without talking to the customer first," he said.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17977.cfm
See also the excellent piece: A Farmer Speaks: No to GMO Wheat
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-a-farmer-speaks-no-to-gmo-wheat/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ MONSANTO PHILANTHROPY
Report on how Monsanto builds its image as a champion of the poor by giving grants and gifts of seed to NGOs and disaster-struck regions but uses these philanthropic gifts as a way to gain a foothold in developing countries.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/05/monsanto-and-its-philanthropy/

+ GATES FOUNDATION SEEKS TO INTRODUCE GM RICE INTO GM-FREE KERALA
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is creating a partnership with the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) to do research on GM rice in Kerala. The agreement states that the goal of the research project is to genetically modify rice to make it resistant to adverse climatic conditions. It further states that this is being done to alleviate poverty in South Asia and Africa. The Kerala government has a policy against GM seeds. Environmentalists and anti-GM activists say that this research program is merely a cover for the Gates Foundation to take out from the state the germplasm of rice varieties that are of interest to them.
http://www.mathrubhumi.com/php/newFrm.php?news_id=1224604&n_type=NE&category_id= 3&Farc=

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE CRIMES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ ACTION AGAINST WWF SUPPORT FOR MONSANTO GM TOXIC SOY
On 19 May the head office of WWF-Netherlands received some extraordinary visitors, including a weeping panda, a Monsanto circus director, and various people in white overalls spraying "Roundup". The action is a protest on the occasion of the upcoming vote of the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), on 28 May in Campinas (Brazil). This forum will allow GM Roundup Ready soy to be certified as “responsible', while in reality, this soy is responsible for massive use of pesticides as well as deforestation and driving small farmers from their lands. For great pics and more info: 
http://www.corporateeurope.org/agrofuels/blog/nina/2009/05/19/action-wwf-against -responsible-soy
http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/05/59556.shtml

+ TAKE ACTION SIGN PETITION AGAINST TOXIC SOY
http://www.toxicsoy.org/toxicsoy/irresponsible.html

+ TAKE ACTION: JUSTICE FOR AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS
Sign the 'Justice for Victims of Agent Orange Petition' to President Obama and Members of Congress 
http://petitiononline.com/Monsanto/petition.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFRICA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ CALL FOR INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION INTO GM CROP FAILTURE
Three varieties of Monsanto's GM maize failed to produce crops during the 2008/9 growing season, leaving up to 200 000 hectares of fields barren of cobs and crop losses across several provinces in South Africa. According the GRAIN SA, the varieties are: MON 810, NK 603 and MON 810 x NK 603. These seeds were sold to commercial maize farmers and provided to resource poor farmers in South Africa. Monsanto has compensated commercial farmers who lost their yield, and barred these farmers from speaking to the media or public. Monsanto has claimed that a mistake was made in the breeding process. No further details regarding this mistake or how it might have similarly affected all three varieties has been forthcoming from Monsanto. Why the veil of secrecy on Monsanto's part and the gagging of affected commercial crop producers?
Click here to sign on
http://www.activist.co.za/campaigns/2009/investigategm.php

+ SOUTH AFRICA FACING A TSUNAMI OF RISKY GMOs
The African Centre for Biosafety has warned that a wave of new GMOs are expected to flood the South African market during 2009, as the backlog of commodity import permits that have been stalled by a moratorium since 2005 are about to be processed, heralding the opening of the floodgates. Vast amounts of money from biotech backers, such as the Bill Gates Foundation, are also bringing new GM crops onto the South African scene, and South Africa may be the only country in the world to have GM potatoes on the market.
http://www.biosafetyafrica.net/index.html/index.php/20090515221/SNAPSHOT-South-A frica-facing-a-tsunami-of-risky-GMOs/menu-id-100026.html
or http://tiny.cc/Wb6Ax
Download the ACB report (124.69 Kb)
http://www.biosafetyafrica.net/index.html/images/stories/dmdocuments/acb_briefin g_sa_gmo_update_may_2009.pdf

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ PHILIPPINES: FARMERS REVEAL TRUTH ABOUT GM CORN
A farmers' forum to study the socio-economic impact of GM corn was held at the end of April in the Philippines. The results showed that the planting of GM corn resulted in farmer indebtedness, higher production costs, sickness from Roundup exposure, lower yield, reduced income, and loss of control over technology.
http://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/05/11/farmers.reveal.the.truth.about.gm.corn.h tml

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AMERICAS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ MONSANTO, DUPONT IN BUNFIGHT
DuPont has claimed Monsanto is only interested in preserving its monopoly and has stressed it will "fight" Monsanto's efforts to limit availability of competitive products. This followed Monsanto filing a lawsuit in a St. Louis federal court accusing DuPont of stealing intellectual property associated with the genetic traits of its Roundup Ready unit.
http://tiny.cc/a3sbM
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dupont-accuses-monsanto-of-anti-competitive-act ion?dist=msr_2

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NON-GM SUCCESSES / GM FAILURE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ NON-GM DROUGHT-RESISTANT RICE 
A new upland rice variety has been released in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was bred using marker-assisted backcrossing for improved root growth to improve its performance under drought conditions. It is an early maturing, drought tolerant and high yielding variety with good grain quality suitable for the direct seeded uplands and transplanted medium lands of Eastern India. It out-yields its parent variety by 10% under rainfed conditions.
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2009/may/26018.htm

+ "FAILURE TO YIELD" TURNS ON BIOTECH SPIN MACHINES
Two superb responses to criticisms (from the usual suspects) of the recent report on GM food crops in the USA, Failure to Yield.
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-t o-yield.html
They come from The Real Scoop, a new online column from the Union of Concerned Scientists on the science- and policy-related aspects of industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, and sustainable agriculture.http://ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/the-real-scoo p/the-real-scoop.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALASIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ TASMANIA EXTENDS GM BAN TO 2014
Tasmania's ban on the release of GMOs to the environment will continue for at least another five years under a Bill passed by the State Parliament. Minister for Primary Industries, David Llewellyn, said the State's GM-free status was a key factor in the Tasmanian brand. "Tasmania's GMO-free status is a vital factor for our primary producers, helping them realise their full potential in international and interstate markets," Mr Llewellyn said.
http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/tas-extends-g m-crop-ban-to-2014/1522098.aspx

+ TASMANIA BECOMING A SUPPLIER OF CHOICE FOR GM-FREE
http://www.farminguk.com/news/Australia-GM-grain.15803.asp

+ FARMERS FAST OVER GM CROP TRIALS
Farmers from the Shire of Williams in Western Australia have been fasting at Parliament House in protest against the State Government's plans to go ahead with GM canola trials.
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=141486

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MULTI-MEDIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GM CROPS - A "SPECTACULAR FAILURE"
University of Guelph agricultural scientist, Dr E. Ann Clark says GM has been a "spectacular failure". Listen to Ann Clark talking in this Canadian radio programme: download/open -
http://media.libsyn.com/media/deconstructingdinner/DD051409.mp3
Stream -
http://www.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/audio/DD051409.m3u

+ LITTLE CROP OF HORRORS
Sam Bee warns that Michelle Obama's elitist organic garden could simultaneously cause starvation, obesity and cancer!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=227353&title=little-crop-o f-horrors

+ DEEP AG: VIDEO OF MICHAEL POLLAN
"Monsanto and these companies say... 'this is the most studied, the most regulated food in history'. The fact is that you, as an independent scientist, are not allowed to study a Monsanto product! You are simply forbidden! And if you want to do a test of
the environmental or health implications of genetically modified soy or corn or whatever, you must sign a contract that gives Monsanto prior approval before you can publish." Watch the video:
http://fora.tv/2009/05/05/Michael_Pollan_Deep_Agriculture