10 PERCENT GLOBAL RISE IN BIOTECH CROPS

BRAZIL LEADS WORLD GROWTH
IN BIOTECH CROP ACREAGE

SAO PAULO (AFP) - Global plantings of genetically modified crops increased 10 percent in 2010 compared to the prior year, according to a study which has been released by an organization that promotes crop biotechnology. Last year, 15.4 million farmers in 29 countries planted genetically modified crops on 148 million hectares (366 million acres), said the report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). Of the four most commonly planted biotech crops, a rising percentage of the total of all plantings are biotech. In 2010, 81% of all soybeans, 64% of cotton, 29% of corn and 23% of canola globally were from biotech seeds, the ISAAA says. The group's chairman, Clive James, said a rapid increase since 1996 shows that “biotech crops are the fastest-adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture.” The most common modification is herbicide tolerance, where plants are given a gene that allows farmers to spray them with the weed killer glyphosate, known to most home gardeners as Roundup, without harming them.

Sixty-one percent of biotech crops carry this gene. The other commonly used trait is the addition of a gene from a soil bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis that allows plants to produce their own insecticide. About 17% of biotech crops carry this trait. About 22% contained both genes. The United States remained the largest biotech crop growing country with nearly 67 million hectares (165 million acres) of soybeans, corn and cotton. Brazil was second with 25 million hectares (62 million acres), an increase of 19 percent over 2009. Developing countries grew 48 percent of biotech crops last year, the report said, adding that they will surpass industrialized countries by 2015.


The amount of land devoted to genetically engineered crops grew 10% last year, and 7% in the year before, as farmers in major grain and soy exporting countries such as Brazil and Argentina continued to adopt the new seeds. These so-called biotech crops, often bred with genes that allow them to tolerate weed killers or generate their own insecticides, now cover 10% of the world’s farmland. Just for the profit of huge corporations and companies, interested only in money, these genetically engineered crops have produced ill effects on mother earth, environment and health of living beings all over the world. We need to find a spiritual solution to the coming dangers.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

All over the world large corporations such as Monsanto are controlling basic life support systems. Our food, our air, our water, our earth. The results will prove hazardous, not only to our food supply, but to the health and well being of all living entities. This means me and you. What happens to the environment happens to us. It is the age old story of the Hiranyakasipu’s in our present modern day, repeating the Puranic Histories of the Bhagavatam - exploitation of the masses, to profit by the control of a few. ... Genetically modified food, human experimentation, and our basic human rights is what I am talking about. ... The blind are leading the blind and the delicate balance of our earth systems is being threatened, thus affecting both me and you. ... From the very food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, we are all in this together. In this polluted environment, in this dangerous time, let us take the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna Mantra seriously.

Śrīmati Pracetana Devi Dasi
“Our Genetically Modified World
Needs the Holy Name Badly”
Feb 15, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada (SUN)
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/02-09/editorials4028.htm