CALGARY – Genetically modified potatoes and corn resistant to insect pests that could save farmers millions of dollars in chemical costs have been approved in the United States.
A genetically altered potato resistant to the Colorado potato beetle received approval as a safe product May 5 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Developed by Monsanto, the potato is the first plant with engineered resistance to a pest to receive approval for commercial use. It received prior approval from the U.S. department of agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.
Read Also
Increasing farmland prices blamed on investors
a major tax and financial services firm says investors are driving up the value of farmland, preventing young farmers from entering the business. Robert Andjelic said that is bullshit.
Available next year
The potato will be available to commercial growers early in 1996 and to home gardeners later in the year, a Monsanto spokesperson said.
It is a Russet Burbank and will be sold under the name NewLeaf.
While most of the work on this variety has been done in the United States, the Potato Growers of Alberta said one producer in the province was contracted by Monsanto to grow a small plot of the hybrid.
As well, a hybrid corn resistant to European corn borer has passed the first stage of approval for use in the United States by getting the go-ahead from the EPA.
Research on the enhanced field corn will be conducted on 500 plots on farms throughout the U.S. this summer and at research stations owned by Northrup King Seeds Ltd.
A few acres of the hybrid have also been planted in Ontario this spring, said Tom Francis of the Canadian division of Northrup. The approval process for Canada is about one year behind that of the U.S., he said.
The potato and corn hybrids received a protein from a soil bacteria called Bacillus thurinigienis or “Bt” that makes them resistant to insect pests.
