South Africa’s First Publicly-Funded GM Crop Awaits Approval
July 11, 2008| |
South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has developed a new potato variety resistant to the potato tuber moth, a major pests causing millions worth of harvest loss in major solanaceous crops. The transgenic potato SpuntaG2, developed through the support of the United States Agency for International development (USAID), now awaits safety assessment and general release approval from the national authorities. The approval will enable the ARC to initiate farmer participatory trials under unconfined conditions and develop a certification and labeling system to prepare for commercial release of improved potato varieties. SpuntaG2 is the first publicly-funded genetically modified crop to enter the safety approval process in South Africa.
The new variety performed well in field trials. Environmental studies further showed that the GM crop controls the potato tuber moth without affecting other organisms. Once approved by regulators, ARC will include SpuntaG2 to its breeding program and transfer the potato tuber moth resistance to other preferred varieties. The council does not plan to release SpuntaG2 for commercial farming unless farmers specifically request the material.
View the press release at http://www.arc.agric.za/uploads/images/0_Media_Release_BT_Potato.pdf
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