By Abdallah el-Kurebe
LONDRINA, Parana State, Brazil (March 15th 2015) – Jose Quirino Gouveid De Moraes, Brazilian farmer and owner of Fazenda Tangara Farms has said that he has never heard about cases of side effects resulting from the use of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in Brazil of the 35 years he has been a farmer.
De Moraes spoke with journalists, soybean farmers, regulators, breeders and policymakers from Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya who are in the country for “Biotechnology and Science Communication Confidence Building Project,” and study tour of Brazil Biotech Farms to the country.
According to him, “I am a Brazilian of 58 years old and have been a farmer for 35 years. I own 300 hectares of farmland but cultivate 220 hectares from where I grow soybean and corn and I also produce hey. I have never seen or heard any reported case of side-effect of genetically modified (GM) crops.”
He added that 90 – 95 percent of soybean grown in Brazil is GM and that the country is the second largest producer of GM crops, globally. “Ninety percent of soybean grown in Brazil is genetically modified and most of other crops too are GM. So, if there were negative side effects, the world would have witnessed that and government would definitely have taken a position against it since it began commercialization of the product ten years ago,” De Moraes said.
The farmer said that he uses phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on his 220 hectares soybean farms where he harvests about 880 tonnes (four tonnes of soybean per one hectare). “I harvest between three and four tonnes of soybean per hectare and this is because GM crops as modified are easy to handle and the productivity is high.”
Answering journalists’ questions, a deputy director and Head of Biosafety Unit of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment, Rufus Ebegba said that his country has so much to learn from Brazil, especially that Nigeria which other African countries looked up to, was evolving as a nation.
“Nigeria can learn immensely from Brazil which is one of world’s acclaimed in terms of agricultural biotechnology and especially now that it has adopted modern biotechnology as one of the approaches in the attainment of sustainable development. It is joining the league with the passage of Biosafety Bill by the National Assembly just this week.
“In addressing fears and concern about the safety of GM crops, there is the need for education and sensitization for African farmers, policymakers and the general public about the crops,” Edegba said.
Director of Technical Services of the Kenyan National Biosafety Authority, Prof. Dorington Ogoyi also told Journalists that his visit to Brazil was an eye-opener. “With what I have seen, it is possible for Kenya to also join the developed countries in biotechnology. I will love to see biotech products being released by my country. I am speaking from the regulatory point of view and if the ban is lifted, it is possible.”
The tour takes place between 15th and 20th March, 2015.
