In an effort to rid the country of Monsanto’s GMO products, Hungary has stepped up the pace. This looks like its going to be another slap in the face for Monsanto and other large scale agribusiness. A new regulation was introduced this March which stipulates that seeds are supposed to be checked for GMO before they are introduced to the market. Unfortunately, some GMO seeds made it to the farmers without them knowing it.
Almost 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said. The GMO maize has been ploughed under, said Lajos Bognar, but pollen has not spread from the maize, he added.
Unlike several EU members, GMO seeds are banned in Hungary. The checks will continue despite the fact that seed traders are obliged to make sure that their products are GMO free, Bognar said.
During their investigation, controllers have found Pioneer and Monsanto products among the seeds planted.
The free movement of goods within the EU means that authorities will not investigate how the seeds arrived in Hungary but they will check where the goods can be found, Bognar said. Regional public radio reported that the two biggest international seed producing companies are affected in the matter and GMO seeds could have been sown on up to thousands of hectares in the country.
Most of the local farmers have complained since they just discovered they were using GMO seeds. With season already under way, it is too late to sow new seeds, so this years harvest has been lost.
And to make things even worse for the farmers, the company that distributed the seeds in Baranya county is under liquidation. Therefore, if any compensation is paid by the international seed producers, the money will be paid primarily to that company’s creditors, rather than the farmers.
h/t AllAboutFeed
Related Articles:
- Stop Monsanto Again–GM Alfalfa Threatens to Contaminate Organic Crops
- USDA hits organics again, approves Monsanto’s GMO sugar beets
- Monsanto Hired Blackwater to Spy on Animal Rights Activists?
- Monsanto’s Roundup Really DOES Cause Birth Defects, New Report Finds
Photo Credit: faungg
While I totally agree with the sentiment of this quote, I have a huge problem with the use of the word ‘they’. It implys judgement upon others, finger pointing and exclusive blameless uninvolvement, all unfounded. While we all continue to buy food from the local supermarket, suporting the GMO industry with our dollars, then ‘WE’ are part of the problem, not the solution.
Thus, to generate a more correct and helpful mentality, the quote should read:
For WE have sown the wind, and WE shall reap the whirlwind: … and become the strange and twisted nation that shall swallow it up.
I saw a story on a cross culture channel about a huge underground structure in ice where they have stored an unbelievable amount of seeds for future preservation. I believe if seeds are kept frozen, they go dormant until planted. I have preserved seeds for years by freezing them and planting them later. Problem is, this also applies to frankenseeds.
Many flower seeds can lay dormant and still germinate after many years. Have seen parts of the Sahara, the Kalahare and Nulaba deserts bloom when rains came after 30-40 years of dormancy. Its a fantastic sight.
And you are correct in saving seeds in the fridge or freezer year to year.
But vegetable seeds dont usually survive long dormancy.
However, there is an easy way to find out. Take a couple of paper towels, dampen and wring out any excess water. Sprinkle a half dozen or so seeds on the towel, spread them apart, then roll up the towel. Place it inside a plastic bread bag, tie the top and place on the top of the hot water cylinder or fridge at the back where it will get the heat. After a week, unroll the paper and see how many have sprouted. If you are not sure roll up and replace in the warm place for another week and then check again. If none has sprouted the seed is dead. If half have sprouted can still use but sew two seeds at a time. Sprouted seeds are too delicate to try to peal off the paper, but you can carefully tear the paper around any sprouted seeds and plant paper and all. I use this test to check any/all saved seeds before I plant.
Great article, and you’ll be getting a trackback on it, since I’ll be blogging it and adding my own spin.
I did want to call Planetsave’s attention to its google (?) advertisers. You might want to weed a couple of them out using your ban list in your admin panel. This is one of them, going under the VERY misleading name “Resourceful Earth” which is in truth an astroturf group with a very cleverly constructed petition page. This is the url that the ad leads to. http://resourcefulearth.org/join-the-fight-001/?utm_source=Targeted%2BDisplay&utm_medium=Banner&utm_term=StrongPetitionV1&utm_content=AD3A%2B160x600&utm_campaign=Resourceful%2BEarth
Striking a blow for freedom of choice against surreptitious introduction of GMO seeds.
if I was starving in Africa I wouldn’t give a shit if life saving food was GMO. this was so wasteful it makes me sick. you don’t want to eat GMO? you can bet your ass that there are other ppl that would kill for it. how about they turn on the news and see babies dying in their mothers arms in Africa because they have no crops at all? must be nice to be able to burn crops and still go to bed with a full stomach, some ppl don’t have that luxury.
Most GMO crops are designed not for general consumption; as a crop inedible and only useful after being processed into ethanol or high fructose corn syrup. Of course those who are starving don’t care if the corn has no nutritional value and tastes like cardboard…they are starving.
http://gnosticteachings.org/the-teachings-of-gnosis/book-excerpts/717-cultivated-fruit.html
It seems that cross-pollination is okay; but if even grafting is foolish, then genetically modifying plants in a laboratory is most likely thousands of times worse.
Canned food is toxic too, whether it’s coated with plastic with BPA’s or not.
Who wins in this situation? Not the farmers who lose not only their crop but also any chance of recourse against the distributor. Not the people who would have eaten either that crop or animals fed from it. Not the local businesses that will suffer because the farmers don’t have the money to patronize them.
No one wins. Everyone loses.
Amazing!! Congrats Hungary!
These are the same evil people who made agent orange for Vietnam – don’t google agent orange if you don’t want nightmares for the rest of your life.
Monsanto should be burnt to the ground everywhere.