Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
expensive. It is not uncommon to see hybrid specialty tomato seed sold for $US0.20
each seed!
10.11.3 Transgenic Seed
Many farmers are now planting transgenic seeds such as the varieties of maize shown in
Figure 10.14. Most of these crops are hybrids and due to the nature of hybrids, new seed
must be purchased each year. Because the development of these transgenic crops is so
costly, the companies make each purchaser sign an agreement promising not to replant
the harvested seed and not to sell to others for replanting. This is a way for the company
to recover development costs.
For hybrid crops, seed saving is not a problem. Replanting the seed from a hybrid
will result in lower yields. However, some other crops are largely self-pollinated. This
means that a variety will reproduce itself each year and new seed does not need to be
purchased. This is the case with soybeans. Seed can be selected each year and replanted
to produce the same variety as the original. There is no loss in yield. The only thing
stopping most farmers from planting harvested transgenic seed is the producer agree-
ment they signed when they purchased the original seed.
For farmers in industrialized countries, the legal penalties for breaking a producer
agreement are severe enough that few take the risk of replanting transgenic seed.
However, a notable exception occurred in Brazil when herbicide-tolerant soybeans
were introduced there. Many farmers in the state of Rio Grande do Sur signed agreements
with the vendor not to replant their harvested seed. In spite of this, many farmers did
replant their harvested seed. In 2004 over 5 million hectares (30 percent of the total
soybean area) were planted to transgenic soybean, but none had been purchased from
the company responsible for developing the variety. The company withdrew from
Brazil. This prevented Brazilian farmers from purchasing transgenic hybrid maize and
reduced their competitive advantage in the world market. As a result of this confrontation,
the Brazilian congress passed a biosafety law in March, 2003. 5 When it was signed by the
president in March 2005, it provided a legal framework for companies to enforce their
agreements and opened the way for sales of new transgenic varieties.
Figure 10.14. Transgenic maize variety trial.
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