Protecting the wild ancestors of maize | Lessons for efforts to protect indigenous and other traditional farmers and plant breeders in the USA
Moderator’s Note: While Spain is not a center of
origin and diversity of maize (corn), there is growing concern in that country
over the threat of genetic contamination of the wild ancestors of the grain as
a result of cross-pollination with genetically engineered (transgenic) maize.
The proven threat of gene flow posed by transgenic corn has led a coalition of
civil society organizations involved in agricultural and environmental advocacy
in Spain to issue a letter urging their government to ban the planting of
transgenic corn. The concerns expressed by the coalition are troubling
indicators of an area of environmental risk that has been tragically
underplayed in the USA movements to regulate the commercial planting of GE
corn. This despite the fact that the USA has multiple bona fide centers of
origin and diversity of maize, including the Culebra watershed in Costilla
County, Colorado.
In August of 2015, the Sangre de
Cristo Acequia Association, which represents more than 300 acequia farmers in
Costilla County, initiated a project to draft and implement a county ordinance
to ban transgenic corn, the rationale involved an appeal to protect the local
land race variety of heirloom corn known as maíz
de concho (see our posts of November
16, 2015 and November
19, 2015). This local effort continues to unfold after the Acequia Association
received a rare unanimous vote of 7-0 supporting the proposed ordinance from
the Costilla County Land Use Planning Commission this past January.
However, as we will soon be reporting
in greater detail, two weeks ago the County Attorney unilaterally, and without
a record of the decision (ROD) explaining the legal rationale, urged the three members
of the Costilla County Commissioners to “table” the ordinance. Presumably the
legal rationale had something to do with the Colorado “Right to Farm” law. Legal
counsel from the Center for Food
Safety, advising the proponents of the ordinance, vigorously disagrees. I
will be posting the CFS analysis of the statute in question as soon as attorneys complete their review that offers an interpretation of the same statute that supports
passage of the ordinance with some amendments. Members of the Sagre de Cristo Acequia Association and even the
Planning Commission insist that a misinformed county attorney will not have the
last word on this matter.
One member of the Planning Commission,
who requested anonymity, recently told me, “The idea that one man can decide
what is legal and what is not violates everything I thought we knew about
democracy – that the people decide. Apparently, the county commissioners have
decided to follow a one-man dictatorship. What an insult to the farmers and the
families with young children who are threatened by the chemicals in our water
and soil. It is an offense to the acequia farmers who have worked so hard to
protect the native corn.”
I am reposting a report on the
statement from the Spanish civil society organizations. It first appeared in Sustainable
Pulse, an excellent source that provides the general public with the
latest global news on GMOs, Sustainable Food and Sustainable Agriculture from
our network of worldwide sources that includes scientists from plant genetics
and plant pathologists to epidemiologists and other risk scientists.
Look for coming updates on the
Costilla County initiative by acequia farmers and corn breeders.
Spain urged to ban GM maize over crossbreeding concerns with invasive
wild ancestor
ORGANIC FARMERS HAVE ABANDONED MAIZE PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF THE
RISK OF CONTAMINATION
On Thursday thirteen civil society organisations active in
agriculture and environmental issues have officially alerted the European
Commission that the wild ancestor of cultivated maize, teosinte, has appeared
in Spain and is spreading widely in maize growing areas as an invasive species.
Teosinte and maize have the potential to interbreed and form
hybrids. This applies equally to genetically engineered maize MON810, produced
by Monsanto and grown on more than 100,000 hectares in Spain. Due to the risks
of appearance of an invasive, transgenic teosinte species, the organisations
have asked the Commission and the Spanish government to ban the cultivation of
MON810 in 2016.
Teosinte was discovered in Spain for the first time in 2009, but
has never been reported to the Commission by the Spanish authorities nor by
Monsanto. However, Monsanto is legally obliged to publish annual monitoring
reports about the cultivation of MON810 in the EU and potential environmental hazards,
including crossbreeding. That maize is not supposed to cross and interbreed
with any other species in the EU was an important precondition for allowing
genetically engineered maize to be cultivated in the EU.
Meanwhile, the weedy teosinte plants continue to spread through
a number of regions in Aragon, Navarra and Catalonia, and have become a serious
threat to maize farmers. In some regions, the teosinte population has reached
such a high density that local governments have prohibited maize cultivation to
prevent it from spreading further.
“Thousands of hectares of transgenic maize producing an
insecticide Bt toxin are being grown in areas affected by the spread of
teosinte. If gene flow takes place from MON810 to the teosinte, it could become
even more invasive”, said Blanca Ruibal, responsible for Food and Agriculture
at Amigos de la Tierra. “We are highly concerned that neither the Spanish
government nor Monsanto has officially informed the Commission about this major
threat to agriculture and the environment. Europe could soon find itself in a
situation with transgenic plants persisting and spreading not only in Spain but
also in other maize growing regions in countries such as France, Italy and
Portugal.”
“If there is now a wild relative of maize in Europe, it is
obvious that the risk assessment of MON810 is no longer valid and that its
authorisation for cultivation should be withdrawn immediately by the European
Commission. This must be done before the upcoming planting season begins”, said
Christoph Then from Testbiotech.
“Many organic farmers have had to abandon maize production
because of the risk of contamination by MON810 maize”, said Eric Gall, policy
manager at IFOAM EU. “The potential for teosinte to exacerbate the spread of
transgene contamination and undermine organic production even further should be
investigated by Spanish authorities and the Commission”.
In their letter, the signatories urge public authorities to
immediately start investigations into the ongoing spread of teosinte in Spain,
to take measures to inform farmers and to initiate measures to stop the further
spread and potential introduction of teosinte to areas not yet affected.
Background
No formal alerts or information has been issued by the Spanish
authorities to the EU. In response to a written question from a Member of
Parliament in November 2014, the Commission stated that it had “no data on the
appearance of teosinte”, and teosinte plants are not included in a list of
invasive species published by the Commission in 2015.
According to the latest report from Monsanto, in 2014 MON810
maize was grown in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain,
with the latter having by far the largest area, around 130,000 hectares.
Teosinte is known to grow in Mexico and was first discovered in
Spain in 2009.
Thirteen organisations have alerted the European Commission:
Amigos de la Tierra, Andalucia; Libre de Trangénicos Plataforma; CECU –
Confederación de Consumidores y Usuarios; COAG – Coordinadora de Organizaciones
de Agricultores y Ganaderos; Ecologistas en Acción; Ecovalia; Foundation on
Future Farming; IFOAM EU; Red de Semillas “Resembrando e Intercambiando”; Save
our Seeds; SEAE – Sociedad Española de Agricultura Ecológica; Testbiotech; The
Software AG Foundation.
Link to the letter sent to the Commission:
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