Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Transgenic Soy Depresses Prices

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PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Feb 3 2003 (IPS) - International soy prices fell 67 percent since the biotech giant Monsanto began commercial production of genetically modified seeds seven years ago, says Peter Rosset, co-director of the U.S.-based Food First and participant in the World Social Forum here last week. Argentina, the leading Latin American producer of genetically modified soy, is the best example of “this ecological and economic disaster,” Rosset told Tierramérica.

Transgenic soy erased the market's self-regulation mechanism. Soy growers, who before would cut back on planting in order to boost prices, now react by increasing output because of the ease of using this pesticide-specific variety.

They try to compensate for low prices by increasing the volume of their sales, and the prices keep falling, said Rosset.