Transgene flow: challenges to the on farm conservation of maize landraces in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v61i0.85886Keywords:
coexistence, GMO monitoring, Zea mays L., community seed banks, family farmingAbstract
Brazil is one of the largest global producers of genetically modified crops and a center of origin and diversification of relevant species for agriculture and food. Transgenic monocultures occupy around 50 million hectares, whereas smallholder farmers, indigenous people, and traditional communities are responsible for in situ/on farm conservation of local genetic resources. Based on 15 years of expertise in regulating GMOs and in cross-institutional agrobiodiversity conservation projects, this article discusses the challenges regarding the coexistence of these two agricultural models based on transgene flow detection in maize landraces. As part of a broad and unique participatory transgene-flow-monitoring process, 1.098 samples of maize landraces were collected in the Brazilian Semi-arid Region between 2018 and 2021 and analyzed using immunochromatographic strips. The tests revealed 34% of samples with presence of GM proteins. It is concluded that the biosafety standards in force in Brazil do not allow the assurance of on-Farm conservation of maize. The sectors that contribute to agrobiodiversity conservation and do not benefit from using GM seeds are taking on the burden of this process. Transgene flow can be reduced by approving and enforcing more effective coexistence rules that consider maize landraces crop areas also as seed-producing areas added to full disclosure of commercial seeds origin.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright on works published in this journal rests with the author, with first publication rights for the journal. The content of published works is the sole responsibility of the authors. DMA is an open access journal and has adopted the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Not Adapted (CC-BY) license since January 2023. Therefore, when published by this journal, articles are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial) and adapt (remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose, even commercial). You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license and indicate if changes have been made.
The contents published by DMA from v. 53, 2020 to v. 60, 2022 are protected by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
DMA has been an open access journal since its creation, however, from v.1 of 2000 to v. 52 of 2019, the journal did not adopt a Creative Commons license and therefore the type of license is not indicated on the first page of the articles.
