Belize to be next country to burn GMO corn crops
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- JanforGore
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Over the recent weeks, the public debate has been raging over whether Belize should exploit genetically modified organisms or GMOs—touted as hardy, economical and high-yield—or whether Belize should, instead, keep its agricultural sector as natural as possible.
The debate has been triggered by reports that Monsanto Bt corn, which has an implanted bacterial gene that produces a toxic pesticide from within the plant itself, has been imported into the country for test plots.
Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agricultural and Fishers, Gabino Canto, had told Amandala that the trial run in Belize should not pose a danger of cross-pollinating other natural cornfields, since the 20 pounds of seed would be planted under quarantine, and the 6 plots of about 15 by 20 feet, to be surrounded by electric fencing, would be under the watch of a guard to discourage theft of the GMO corn.
We understand that some high-ranking technical staff in the Government service, including some who sit on the Biosafety Council, firmly objected to their superiors, and Cabinet has since declared that it will not allow the propagation of GMO seeds in Belize.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced on Wednesday, October 5, on the KREM WUB Morning Vibes, that the GMO corn will be destroyed with the Government Press Office as witness. We have tried to find out from Mr. Barrow if independent media can also witness the event, but we have not gotten a response to our query.
How will the government verify that no one will try to pull a fast one, by switching the Monsanto corn with regular corn?
Since Barrow’s announcement, members of the public have been advocating for confirmation testing to ensure the seeds earmarked for destruction are really the said GMO seeds.
More at the link
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JanforGore
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http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2011/10/belize-political-gossip-on-g...
Supposedly pictures were to be taken. If I find any I will post them. I find this suspicious. It may just be a ruse. They managed to sneak these seeds in even though there was definite opposition to it.
- 8 months ago
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JanforGore
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artemis6
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Wish someone would post that on utube...... Worth watching .
- 8 months ago
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artemis6
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JanforGore
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http://www.7newsbelize.com/index.php#story5
The controversy over genetically modified corn has been raging for weeks after one producer imported some for a few test plots - apparently without the requisite permission from the Bio-safety council.
The CEO in the Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries, Gabino Canto, seems to have gone out on a limb to get the seeds into Belize - and the Prime Minister has since said - the GMO seeds were strictly disallowed and must be destroyed.
Well, they were today - albeit without oversight from the independent media. Only the Government Press Office was there - and Canto gave a modest overview:..
Gabino Canto, CEO, Ministry of Agricultural and Fisheries
"Today October 7th 2011, we are destroying the GMO corn seed that came in to the country about 2 weeks ago because the Cabinet did not approve the establishment of the trial plants in the country. So this is the process that we had to go through, the representative from BAHA is here the representative from Midwest Steel that brought in the seed along with CARDI, they are here to witness and we have the people witnessing as well from central farm."
Of course, we live in a perhaps justifiably suspicious society and destroying the seeds in such a manner likely only increases those suspicions.
Fears about cross contamination of other fields or whether all the gmo seeds have truly been destroyed, persist.
- 8 months ago
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JanforGore
