Portuguese farmers first
planted Bt maize in 1999; and after a
five-year gap, resumed planting in 2005.
By 2007, approximately 4,300 hectares –
nearly 30 percent of the 15,000 hectares
infested by the European corn borer in
Portugal – were planted with Bt maize.
View this video with two Portuguese
farmers discussing the value of Bt maize
to the EU, as well as to their
individual farming operations.
View video
José María Falcão, Farmer,
Portugal
Portuguese farmers planting
GM crops are averaging yield
increases of 12 percent per
hectare. José María Falcão
explains how Bt maize is
enabling him to produce more
food on less land in a more
environmentally responsible
way – which he believes is
critical to the ongoing
sustainability of EU
farmers.
Related article
BT
MAIZE INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY ON
PORTUGUESE FARMS
Falcão Describes How Corn Developed
through Biotechnology Requires Less Land
for Increased Food and Feed Production
Portugal is one of eight EU countries in
which farmers are planting Bt maize
(corn) developed through biotechnology
to increase food and feed production by
combating European corn borer (ECB)
infestations. The ECB is an insect pest
that affects approximately 10 percent of
Portugal’s maize hectares annually.
Regions infested by the ECB can
experience serious production losses
through plant destruction and decreased
yields. “Biotechnology gives us the
ability … to have something more
productive, safer and more
environmentally responsible,” says José
Maria Falcão, a Portuguese farmer who
has grown maize for more than 25 years
and Bt maize for the last few seasons.
Bt maize contains a protein from
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that
protects maize plants from specific
lepidopteron insect pests such as the
ECB. The in-plant protection allows
farmers to control these insect pests
with significantly less insecticide than
conventional insect-control programs.
“We are having more productive crops
that are more resistant to all kind of
pests and diseases, more resistant to
climate phenomena, more resistant to
drought or lack of water,” says Falcão.
“That allows for lower amounts of inputs
in the crops. And by having fewer inputs
and more environmentally responsible
inputs, we are creating sustainability
in regional, national and global terms.”
Portuguese farmers first planted Bt
maize in 1999; and after a five-year
gap, they resumed planting in 2005. By
2007, approximately 4,300 hectares –
nearly 30 percent of the 15,000 hectares
infested by the ECB in Portugal – were
planted with Bt maize. Across the EU,
total plantings of Bt maize exceeded
100,000 hectares for the first time in
2007, with a year-on-year growth rate of
7 percent.
“… we cannot work in agriculture anymore
without biotechnology,” explains Falcão.
“Portugal and Europe are not sustainable
without biotechnology.”
Portuguese farmers growing Bt maize have
seen significant benefits – yield
increases of 8 to 17 percent, with an
average increase of 12 percent of 1.2
metric tons per hectare. Increasing
yield on the same amount of land is a
critical component to increasing food
production for the world’s growing
population.
“If we are not able to have high
productivity, we will have to expand the
cultivated areas. And by doing so, we
can be assured we will go to areas that
will never produce. We will have to go
to the Amazon rainforest since that will
be the only way to contribute to
reducing food needs in the future,” says
Falcão. “But biotechnology tells us
otherwise, and has proved otherwise. It
tells us that we can produce more in
smaller areas.”
Notes:
Bt corn contains a protein from Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) that protects corn
plants from specific lepidopteron insect
pests.
1 hectare = 2.5 acres
