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GM wheat put on hold

Plans to sell genetically modified wheat in the US have been put on hold by Monsanto, the agrobiotech giant in St Louis, Missouri.

The company blamed a drop of 25 per cent in demand for wheat in a statement issued on 10 May.

"As a result of our portfolio review and dialogue with wheat industry leaders, we recognise the business opportunities with Roundup Ready spring wheat are less attractive relative to Monsanto's other commercial priorities," says Carl Casale, Monsanto's executive vice president.

But opponents of GM technology have little doubt that the company halted development of the wheat because of overwhelming consumer opposition in Europe and Japan.

Many farmers in America, especially Canada, opposed the GM wheat because they feared losing their lucrative wheat exports to Europe and Japan if there was even a hint of GM contamination.

"Monsanto has made the right decision by respecting the wishes of their customers-farmers," says Ken Ritter of the Canadian Wheat Board, the world's largest seller of wheat and barley.

The board says that 87 per cent of customers for wheat produced by Canadian prairie farmers said they would not buy GM wheat. "At present, there is no segregation system in place to prevent mingling of GM and non-GM wheat to tolerance levels acceptable to consumers," it says in a statement.

Drought resistance

Opponents were jubilant at the climbdown by Monsanto. "This is a worldwide victory for consumers and farmers," says Pete Riley of Friends of the Earth.

"Let's hope GM wheat permanently joins GM flax, GM tomatoes and GM potatoes in their dustbin of bad ideas," says Pat Vendetti of Greenpeace Canada.

But Monsanto says that it has simply "deferred" its efforts to introduce the GM wheat.

Like many of Monsanto's other GM crops including soya and maize, the wheat survives exposure to Monsanto's powerful glyphosate weedkiller, tradenamed Roundup.

The company says that it will continue research on wheat to introduce other traits such as resistance to drought or cold. But these will take four to eight years to come through.

"The research is definitely not stopping," Tony Combes, director of corporate affairs at Monsanto UK, told New Scientist. "It's not carrying on at field level, but we're leaving the door open," he says.

Official application

Monsanto has spent millions of dollars and seven years developing GM wheat. But it says that the sums are relatively tiny, with the $5 million spent on wheat this year dwarfed by the overall 2004 research budget of $500 million.

Canada's National Farmers Union described the decision as a "tremendous victory" for farmers in Canada and elsewhere.

Now, both the union and the wheat board want Monsanto to withdraw its official application to grow the GM wheat.

The union also expressed hostility to any further development of GM wheat. "It is worrisome that...Monsanto leaves the door open for the introduction of wheat with other biological traits," says NFU vice president, Terry Boehm.

But the wheat board is more conciliatory. "The CWB remains interested in and supportive of any biotechnology products as long as they offer a net benefit to Prairie farmers and their customers," it says.

http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/gm/gm.jsp

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