Agriculture
- Scientific Truth About Agri Biotechnology
NASIR BUTT Introduction of new technologies has always been resisted in any field by the people who are the beneficiaries of the status-quo and those afraid of any new technology. Same thing is happening to agriculture in Pakistan and there is heated...
- Biotechnology Adoption Can Help Overcome Agriculture Challenges
Pakistan can address challenges in agriculture by using biotechnology as globally the adoption of genetically modified crops has been a success with proven socio-economic benefits. In addition to meeting food security challenge, genetically modified/biotech...
- Serious Threats To Agriculture
Climate change is posing serious threats to country?s agricultural productivity and water resources and it cannot be avoided totally, but its effects can be mitigated through developing high temperature tolerant, climate resilient, climate smart and genetically...
- Russia Completely Suspends Use Of Monsanto's Gm Corn
What does Russia know about genetically modified corn that we don't? Well, maybe not much, but the difference is Moscow is at least prepared to act on the information it has. According to recent reports, the Russian consumer-rights watchdog...
- Monsanto Bets On Biotech To Feed Growing Demand
With increasing population, rising purchasing power, growing food consumption and changing dietary habits, how would the world feed itself, say, 20 years from now? Monsanto Company believes it has the answer. The route to feeding the world is through...
Agriculture
Major GM food company Monsanto 'pulls out of Europe'
By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent
Monsanto, one of the world's biggest and best known genetically modified crops companies, is effectively pulling out of Europe, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The news is a major blow to the nascent British GM industry which ministers have been championing this year as fears grow about food security.
Monsanto, whose name is synonymous with GM crops, confirmed that it is withdrawing all of its EU applications for approval for new crops.
The decision is understood to affect as many as 10 applications for approval for new GM crops. It is understood that Monsanto is pulling all of its applications for crops in frustration at delays over clearing existing crops at EU level. 
It does not affect clearance for an existing crop grown from GM seeds in Portugal and Spain.
Monsanto currently sells only one biotech seed product in Europe ? a biotech corn which is modified to be resistant to a destructive pest called the European corn borer. It accounts for less than one per cent of the corn grown in the EU.
A company source pointed to the fact that the EU has not approved a new GM crop for cultivation since 1998, adding that it "currently has suspended the progression of cultivation files towards decisions for political reasons".
The source added: "As the EU today is effectively a conventional seed market we have been progressively de-emphasising cultivation of biotech crops in Europe.
"Amongst other things, this means we are no longer seeking approval to commercialise biotech seeds in the EU. We intend to withdraw pending regulatory applications for commercial cultivation of new biotech crops in the EU."
A Monsanto spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: "Monsanto´s business in Europe is very strong and growing. In order to better serve farmers in Europe we will be investing several hundred million dollars in Europe over a decade to expand our conventional seed production and breeding.
"In parallel, biotech crops are highly successful in the rest of the world. In order to fully support both of these success stories, we will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe.
"Instead, we will focus on enabling imports of biotech crops into the EU and the growth of our current business there."
Monsanto is planning to invest hundreds million dollars in Europe through the end of the decade including ?225 million ($300 million) in corn production plant expansions that are already under way in France, Hungary,
Romania and Turkey, creating more than 150 new full-time jobs and many more seasonal jobs.
The news comes just as the Government, led by Environment secretary Owen Paterson and Science minister David Willetts, lead a major push to persuade Britons to eat more GM food.
Source: The Telegraph- Scientific Truth About Agri Biotechnology
NASIR BUTT Introduction of new technologies has always been resisted in any field by the people who are the beneficiaries of the status-quo and those afraid of any new technology. Same thing is happening to agriculture in Pakistan and there is heated...
- Biotechnology Adoption Can Help Overcome Agriculture Challenges
Pakistan can address challenges in agriculture by using biotechnology as globally the adoption of genetically modified crops has been a success with proven socio-economic benefits. In addition to meeting food security challenge, genetically modified/biotech...
- Serious Threats To Agriculture
Climate change is posing serious threats to country?s agricultural productivity and water resources and it cannot be avoided totally, but its effects can be mitigated through developing high temperature tolerant, climate resilient, climate smart and genetically...
- Russia Completely Suspends Use Of Monsanto's Gm Corn
What does Russia know about genetically modified corn that we don't? Well, maybe not much, but the difference is Moscow is at least prepared to act on the information it has. According to recent reports, the Russian consumer-rights watchdog...
- Monsanto Bets On Biotech To Feed Growing Demand
With increasing population, rising purchasing power, growing food consumption and changing dietary habits, how would the world feed itself, say, 20 years from now? Monsanto Company believes it has the answer. The route to feeding the world is through...