Review 602: GMOs in General, Part I

Welcome to our latest Review, which leads with an inspiring update on “new GMOs” and goes on to feature GMO FAILURES, GMO DISASTERS, and cases of GMO EXPANSION. Part II will follow soon, with all the latest on GMO CONTAMINATION, CORPORATE CONTROL, and more.

NEW GMOs: IMPORTANT UPDATE

Victory! UK High Court finds government failed to properly assess gene editing deregulation

Beyond GM and its co-claimants have welcomed the High Court judgment on the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025. The Court found that the government did not investigate fully the consequences of its decision to deregulate gene-edited (so-called “precision bred”/PB) organisms before removing longstanding safeguards relating to transparency, traceability, labelling and regulatory oversight.

A wake-up call for the EU: Act now for a GMO-free future
German Green MEP Martin Häusling commented on the ruling (above): “The British ruling makes it crystal clear: the European Commission’s planned deregulation of new genetic engineering techniques is a dangerous misstep based on incomplete analyses, false promises and a disregard for democratic principles. The promises of fewer pesticides or more climate-resilient crops are pure speculation, whilst the risks to the environment, health and freedom of choice are very real. The Greens/EFA therefore urge the European Parliament to learn the lessons from the UK’s legal misstep. The final votes on the NGT legislative proposal must be used to maintain the current legally sound, transparent framework based on the precautionary principle, and not to allow deregulation through the back door. We need an agroecological transformation, not empty promises about technology at the expense of our farmers, our environment and our consumer rights.”

GMO FAILURES

Global GMO acreage remains stagnant
In 2024 – the last year for which comprehensive figures published in a peer-reviewed academic journal are available – 209.8 million hectares (518.4 million acres) of GM crops were grown worldwide, representing just 4.2% of global farmland. Beyond this relatively low percentage, it is also important to note that, for decades, GM crops have been limited to just four countries. Brazil, the US, Argentina and Canada cultivate 85.2% of the total global GMO crop area, and just four crops – soybeans, corn, cotton and canola (rape) – account for 99.2% of that. Other GM crops account for less than 1% of the global acreage. Yet GMO proponents readily cite the Bt eggplant in Bangladesh, or African countries that have recently authorised transgenic cotton or cowpeas, to create the illusion of GMO success. Over the 2018-2024 period, just one country – Brazil – is responsible for 91.4% of the global increase in the area planted with GM crops. A large part of that increase came from soybeans almost entirely genetically modified to tolerate herbicides, and 60% of this production is exported to China as animal feed for factory farms. This expansion of cultivated land is also linked to deforestation. For more analysis see the full article by Inf’OGM.

Nigeria: GMO cotton suspension triggers regulatory tension in biotech sector
A recent regulatory intervention by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), which we reported in Review 598, has brought Nigeria’s biotechnology oversight framework under further critical scrutiny. The suspension of four GM cotton varieties over what the agency described as “serious compliance abnormalities” in their approval process has triggered fresh concerns over regulatory coordination, compliance enforcement, and governance gaps within Nigeria’s biotechnology sector. It also shows the deliberate disregard for due process that results from the desperation and arrogance of the biotech industry, according to the prominent environmentalist and author Dr Nnimmo Bassey.

Nigeria needs to critically re-examine its appetite for GMOs
According to Joyce Brown, Director of Programmes and Lead on Hunger Politics at the ecological think tank the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nigeria needs to take a step back to critically re-examine its appetite for GMOs, noting that the previously approved Bt cotton, according to the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, does not perform much better than the conventional varieties but instead degrades the soil, making it unproductive for local varieties. Farmers have planted Bt cotton for up to four years and couldn’t find any comparative advantage, other than that it was destroying their soil.

First Lady of Nigerian state leads campaigns that promote organic produce over GMOs
Nigeria has one of the few African governments pushing GMOs. But the wife of the governor of the Nigerian State of Anambra leads campaigns that advocate for organic farm produce over GMOs, emphasising soil health and improved biodiversity and food security. First Lady Dr Nonye Soludo’s work empowering households to cultivate healthy organic foods in their home gardens and communities – to promote food security and economic support – has contributed to a merit award for advancing public health by the Nigerian Medical Association, as well as other notable awards.

New hype on old studies misleads about GMO chestnut tree

SilvaBio, the corporation seeking to mass clone and sell genetically engineered American chestnut trees, released a press release on 25 April claiming “four independent studies” validate the blight tolerance of their Darling 54 (D54) trees. In reality, according to the Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP), far from validating the “blight resistance” of the D54, “SilvaBio repackages limited, short-term and previously available studies to create the appearance of momentum for a deeply flawed tree.”

India: Punjab bets on new non-GM seed to revive cotton
A new high-yielding non-Bt cotton variety, introduced this kharif (monsoon) sowing season, could become a game changer at a time when Punjab is facing a challenge in boosting the acreage of the traditional kharif crop. Developed by Punjab Agricultural University, the new desi (indigenous) cotton variety is resistant to whitefly, jassid and other diseases, and is less susceptible to pink bollworm attacks. Experts said that four years of tests and trials have shown the non-GM variety has a low-input cost, and cotton derived from indigenous varieties has commercial value in the pharmaceutical industry. The acreage under cotton declined in 2022, then fell sharply in 2023 and 2024, largely due to persistent pest attacks (on GM Bt cotton) that drove up input costs.

Safe and nutritious food becomes important as GM food is not helping, Bangladesh minister says
Bangladesh is going to export “organic meat” produced by feeding cattle with completely natural and nutritious grass without any genetic modification within the next three years, according to the country’s Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid. Addressing a seminar in Dhaka, the minister said safe and nutritious food is becoming very important globally as genetically modified food is not bringing good results. GMWatch notes that at one point Bangladesh was the darling of the GMO lobby. The honeymoon clearly seems to be over.

New book – Feeding the World as If People Mattered: How Small Farms Produce Value Beyond Yields
Food Sleuth Radio has an interview with food and farming systems researcher Andrew Flachs, assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, about his new book, Feeding the World as If People Mattered: How Small Farms Produce Value Beyond Yields. The interview takes in his research on GMO crops. For example, he says: "The more efficient (GMO) glyphosate-tolerant crops came to be, the more glyphosate was sprayed on them. And we even found that effect to be true in pesticide-reducing Bt crops... India now sprays more pesticides on Bt cotton than they did before this technology was introduced."

GMO DISASTERS

Herbicide cocktail used in GMO agriculture causes leaky gut

In response to the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds in GM agriculture, the agbiotech industry has developed GM crops tolerant to glyphosate plus 2,4-D, and glyphosate plus dicamba. The two additional herbicides are both problematic ones that glyphosate was originally meant to replace. As a result, people are increasingly exposed to mixtures of these herbicides, yet no studies have been conducted to assess the health risks of such chemical cocktails. In a new study, scientists have found that both glyphosate at a dose that regulators claim does not cause ill effects, and a glyphosate, 2,4-D, dicamba mixture at levels that regulators deem safe to ingest over a lifetime, cause gut dysbiosis. This translates as an imbalance in the composition and biochemical function of the gut, including the microbiome, and compromised integrity in both the small and large intestine (‘leaky gut’) – with the mixture showing the greatest negative impact.

102 farmers died by suicide in Yavatmal, India in 2026
As many as 102 farmers died by suicide between January and May 2026 in Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. “This reflects a complete collapse of the agrarian support system and the government’s failure to protect distressed farmers,” said Kishor Tiwari, founder of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS). Tiwari said Yavatmal, located in the drought-prone cotton-growing belt of Vidarbha, remains heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture and continues to suffer from severe irrigation shortages. He added that rising input costs, expensive GM Bt cotton seeds, lack of assured remunerative prices and the absence of effective crop diversification policies had further intensified the crisis.

GMO EXPANSION

GM bananas in Ecuador?
The Ecuadorian govt is considering authorising the planting of genetically modified bananas, even though the Constitution prohibits it. Currently, 99% of exported bananas are of the Cavendish variety and this narrow genetic base makes them prone to diseases caused by the pathogen species Fusarium oxysporum. The NGO Acción Ecologica says there are alternatives to GM for controlling disease, like genetic diversification and proper agronomic management. The latter includes shade cultivation and replicating the forest conditions in which the banana originated. Above all, says the group, "We must stop producing bananas as if they were factory-made". GMWatch comments that many non-GMO bananas are resistant to Fusarium diseases. Some of these varieties are considered suitable for direct commercial deployment. However, scientists are mining resistant varieties for useful naturally occurring genes that they can genetically engineer into bananas, thereby enabling patents to be claimed. The false claim that only GM can save the banana has been heavily promoted for over a quarter of century – more on this and the alternatives here.

Guatemala: Group takes legal action over agreement that facilitates use of GM seeds
The Network for the Defence of Food Sovereignty in Guatemala (REDSAG) has filed suit against President of Guatemala over an agreement that facilitates the expansion of GMO seeds – despite Guatemala’s de facto ban on GMOs due to peasant resistance that included the largest waves of protests in the history of Guatemala. REDSAG said: “Our native seeds have been protected by our ancestors and we are concerned about contamination.” Government Decree 53-2026 aims to streamline procedures for producers, exporters, importers and livestock farmers “in the areas of plant and animal genetics and native resources, plant health, animal health and agricultural safety”. The agreement contains provisions that will facilitate the registration of biotechnology processes associated with GM seeds, thereby putting native seeds at risk, said David Paredes, a member of REDSAG.

Pakistan government decides on major amendments to liberalise GMO import rules
The Pakistan government has decided on major amendments to the Biosafety Rules, aimed at liberalising the regulatory framework for imports of GMOs and simplifying licensing procedures. The reforms are expected to affect Pakistan’s edible oil and poultry sectors, which rely heavily on imported GM soybean and canola for food processing, feed and industrial use. Bt cotton is the only GM crop currently in commercial cultivation in Pakistan, where, as in India, it has been devastated by the pink bollworm, causing huge production losses. Efforts to introduce GM maize for cultivation have faced fierce resistance from agricultural experts and government officials.

Angola eases GMO stance with approval for industrial crops
Angola has authorised the import and production of GM cotton and castor seeds, marking a cautious easing of its long-standing restrictions on GMOs. The Ministry of Agriculture announced the exceptional measure in a statement published on May 15. However, the ministry said producers cannot use the crops for edible oil production. The authorities claim the authorisation will support strategic industries including textiles and biofuels.

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Review 602: GMOs in General, Part I