THREAT’ TO ORGANIC FARMER BY WEEDKILLER-RESISTANT MAIZE Agnet May 6, May 6/98 PA News

By Amanda Brown, Environment Correspondent, PA News An organic farmer is, according to this story, taking legal action to prevent a neighbour planting weedkiller-resistant, genetically-engineered maize.

The Soil Association, which certifies food as organic, has said that its concerns about contamination may lead to the environmentally-conscious grower near Totnes, Devon, losing his organic status over the crop. The farmer Guy Watson, whose land is separated from the genetic seed test beds only by a river and a road, has now begun legal action to have the trials stopped.

Watson was quoted as saying, "My business could suffer, my employees could suffer, but most of all, I believe this is a catastrophe just waiting to happen. I can grow maize quite satisfactorily without herbicides. What really irritates me is that it seems the only progress we adopt is progress that comes out of a chemical can. I am not emphatically against genetic engineering and there can be some benefits to mankind, but everything is going too fast and we don’t understand what the effects are going to be."

The Friends of the Earth environmental group has warned that the case could be "only the first of many", if the Government does not impose a moratorium on genetically-engineered crops. The test site, to be planted within the next few days, is close to where Mr Watson plans to plant a SWEET CORN crop.

The two crops could cross-pollinate, and the Soil Association’s Organic Certification Scheme has stated that: "If you proceed with planting the SWEETCORN, it will be necessary to monitor this crop over the coming months.

"Subject to the outcome of this monitoring process and our assessment of the likelihood and degree of possible genetic contamination, we reserve the right to withdraw certification from the crop."