18/June/20

 

A plan to release 750 million GM mosquitoes in Florida and Texas is a step closer to fruition after a state regulator approved the idea, over the objections of environmentalists. The Florida department of agriculture and consumer services has given the green light to a plan to release the GM mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also approved the Florida plan, as well as a further trial next year that will take place in Harris county in Texas, which includes Houston. The plan has caused uproar among conservation groups, which have sued the EPA for failing to ascertain the environmental impact of the scheme. Scientists have also expressed concerns about the oversight of the trial. The Guardian

 

 

Million Belay, coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, explains the probable route by which Ethiopia was transformed from a bastion of resistance to GMO agriculture to an eager supporter of the technology. Citing a paper written by Matthew A. Schnurr about Uganda, he identifies three strategies by which corporate actors, aid agencies, philanthrocapitalists, policy officials, and research scientists have influenced the acceptance of GMOs and changed regulations. He says that these strategies are likely to have been employed in Ethiopia, just as in other African countries. Ethiopia Observer

 

 

Pat Thomas of Beyond GM gives an update on what's happened with the amendment to the UK’s Agriculture Bill, proposed by Julian Sturdy MP, chair of the APPG for Science & Technology in Agriculture. If adopted, the amendment would effectively deregulate GMOs. GMWatch

 

 

A new report, "The myth of climate smart agriculture – why less bad isn't good", shows why the modern intensive agricultural system is more climate-damaging than climate-smart. The authors show that corrections via Big Data, precision farming and increasing yields per hectare/animal unit cannot significantly change this. In this report, Dr Andrea Beste, agricultural scientist and political adviser and Dr Anita Idel, Veterinarian and Mediator and lead author of the UN IAASTD report on global agriculture (2008), also show how arable and livestock farming can be made sustainable, climate-friendly and climate-proof. They say cattle shouldn't be demonized; instead, their potential must be realised. Agricultural systems can become resilient and flexible with agroforestry and permaculture and thereby better able to withstand extreme weather events. The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament