Brazilian farmers complain that Monsanto restricts access to conventional soybean seeds

Was José Hermeto Hoffmann a clairvoyant or merely the Secretary of Agriculture in the Government of Rio Grande do Sul ten years ago, Brazil's southernmost state and at the time the only target of illegal smuggling of GM seeds from Argentina?

During his tenure in the late 90s until 2002 he gave quite a few interviews such as this one in his Porto Alegre office where he correctly predicted what farmers based two and a half thousand kilometers further north are experiencing now, ten years later: A severe dependency on the whims of seed giant Monsanto when procuring conventional soybean seeds, extortionist royalties for those planting GM beans and an overall restriction of freedom in their profession as farmers.

Owners of the comparably huge Mato Grosso farms are now getting a taste of the truth underlying these concerns expressed by Hoffmann back in 1999. Although in the end unsuccessful in his attempts to stem the tide of these early "imports" of Roundup Ready soybean seeds, the developments since those days of illegal smuggling have proven his government to be absolutely right about the warnings it issued at the time.

Analysts and policy makers working for the European food and retail industries today ought to realize this as well as their own role in the entire equation. They ought to come out in support of the efforts of those Brazilian farmers and soy crushers who want to continue supplying GM-free soy products. It may seem strange, but more and more are reverting to planting conventional soybeans. This trend is reflected by the fact that this year, for the third season in a row, the increase of the GM soybean crop in Brazil has leveled off at 55 percent. This fact remains despite the annual celebrations of one-man show ISAAA who this year predicted a "second wave of biotech growth" all the while grossly distorting the situation in Brazil. (Our subscribers may recall our coverage on 26 FEB 2010, still accessible on our website – (Wishful thinking? - ISAAA prediction season regarding 2nd wave of biotech growth and development begins)

The fact that handsome premiums are paid for IP soy meal certified as Non-GMO is just a minor reason. The foremost reasons for the discontinuation of the expansion of Roundup Ready beans in Brazil are already listed here and in the article below; but they must be complemented by the following:

* There is a rapidly growing issue of herbicide resistance among the major weeds and several other serious downsides to the planting of Roundup Ready beans.

* Due to a number of factors, today, planting conventional soybeans in Brazil has become less costly than GM beans – and it comes with higher yields! Simple, short and sweet!

Apart from these reasons for continuing or reverting to plant conventional soybeans, Brazilian law states unmistakably that withdrawing any successful conventional seed varieties from the market, as Monsanto has done with MONSOY 8866 and MONSOY 8757, is simply illegal. It should be interesting to see what the courts will do with this aspect.