Canadian Wheat Board officials say they are pleased with Monsanto’s decision to temporarily shelve its Roundup Ready wheat project, but the CWB wants Monsanto to go one step further.
In its News release
news, Monsanto made no mention of what will happen to the applications for regulatory approval of GM wheat, which it submitted in various countries including Canada.
The CWB has a suggestion.
“What we think would work best is if they let the application lapse,” said special projects manager Patty Rosher. “If they do get approval for unconfined release it creates a lot of uncertainty in the minds of our customers.”
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Even though Monsanto has publicly stated it won’t commercialize the product for the next four to eight years, if GM wheat receives Canadian government approval it could spook customers, said Rosher.
Monsanto Canada spokesperson Trish Jordan said the company has not resolved what to do about outstanding applications.
“We don’t know the answer to that question.”
The company is contacting regulatory authorities in countries where information packages have been submitted.
“We will work with them to identify and initiate the appropriate next step,” said Jordan.
Another concern raised by a number of farm groups was Monsanto’s plans for research trial plots of GM wheat. Jordan had a definitive answer to that question.
“No field trials. That’s done. But we will not discontinue stewardship requirements associated with those field trials.”
Any plots seeded to GM wheat in 2003 will be monitored for the next few years to ensure they are in compliance with Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations.
Monsanto’s investment in GM wheat for the current fiscal year amounted to $5 million, or less than one percent of the company’s overall research and development budget. Jordan said that is consistent with the proportion of spending devoted to the crop in previous years of the project.
She said there has been “a big misconception” that Monsanto devoted hundreds of millions of dollars to the development of Roundup Ready wheat.
Money spent on GM wheat research will be reallocated to corn, cotton and oilseeds. The News release
news stated there would be a renewed emphasis on developing stress tolerance and several improved health profile traits for vegetable oils.
While many groups and anti-biotech lobbyists were elated by Monsanto’s decision to back away from GM wheat, one farm group laments it.
Cherilyn Jolly, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, is disappointed Monsanto is shifting resources away from a project with that kind of potential.
“It’s kind of a stab in the heart that wheat has lost out.”
She knew the decision was coming because the world wasn’t ready for GM wheat, but she is discouraged that growers lost a beneficial crop over a lack of consumer education and industry support.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get our act together and start supporting companies like Monsanto that are willing to help us increase our bottom line. The wheat growers are always about profitable farming,” said Jolly.
