Biotech Maize Up In Spain
15 January 2007 Spanish maize farmers have decreased total planted maize hectares (all varieties and types) since the record achieved in 2001, but the reductions are related, in large part, to shortages of irrigation water and more recently to severe drought.
However, during the same period of consideration, Spanish maize growers in regions where the corn borer is prominent have increased biotech plantings. The statistics paint a clear picture of the value modern technological advances in seed-maize breeding has for maize producers in areas where the corn borer is difficult or impossible to control through other pest-control methods. The regions of Aragon and Catalonia are the most susceptible to corn borer infestation, and since 2001, farmers in these two Autonomous Regions have dramatically increased biotech maize plantings.
The biotech maize planted and harvested in Spain in used exclusively in the production of compound feeds, where it is labeled to contain “genetically modified organisms” before it is sold for use in Spain’s robust livestock industry. The compound feed industry labels all feeds with the same “GMO” notice, because there is not a political, social, or economic impediment to doing so, and because it is the most economic means of dealing with the EC-mandated labeling and traceability legislation.
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