Johannesburg, South Africa
May 27, 2010
A high powered delegation of agricultural scientists from Poland who visited South Africa on a GM maize fact-finding mission were impressed with the development of GM maize in South Africa over the past 11 years. Their visit was arranged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and hosted by AfricaBio.
The delegates were Dr Roman Warzecha, head of the maize and triticale laboratory, Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute, National Research Institute; Prof Dr Andrzej Aniot, from the same institute; Prof Tomasz Twardowski, Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences; Radek Iwanski, Polish maize farmer;
Jolanta Figurska, marketing specialist, central Europe and the Baltics, office of agricultural affairs, Embassy of the USA, Warsaw, who acted as interpreter, and
a Polish television crew.
They visited commercial and small-scale farmers, regulators from the Department of Agriculture, the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee for science and technology in Cape Town, officials from the Department of Health, and the Buhle Farmers’ Academy at Delmas. In addition, specialists from AfricaBio gave them an in-depth briefing on the development of agri-biotechnology in South Africa with specific reference to small-scale farmers.
One of their visits was to Hans van Rensburg Farming, Bronkhorstspruit, Mpumalanga, a leading commercial maize farmer who has been planting GM maize for the past 10 years on 1560 ha dry land and 340 ha under irrigation.
Van Rensburg pointed out that since switching to GM maize his yield had increased by up to 15%. Savings on chemical products due to reduced spraying had amounted to R400/ha and labour was being employed more productively.
“With input costs of R12 500/ha for irrigation and R6 500/ha for dry land we need to do everything possible to limit risks. Without GM maize we would not survive. I am very grateful that we have access to this technology,” he told the scientists as they walked through a flourishing field of GM Maize of Monsanto’s DKC 7815.
In Poland maize is produced mainly for animal feed. When Mrs Susan van Rensburg told them that “mieliepap” was a sought-after breakfast dish in South Africa, they were very surprised.
She promptly produced a bowl of “mieliepap” left over from breakfast and Dr Roman Warzecha was the first to have a taste. “Delicious. I’m certainly going to introduce this to my home,” he quipped.
Van Rensburg was elected regional Farmer of the Year by the SA Agricultural Writers for the former Transvaal region. Grain SA elected him Maize man of the Year in 1999.
Small-scale Sowetan maize farmer Motlatsi Musi outlined the financial benefits GM maize had brought to small-scale farmers. Since growing Bt maize in 2004, his yield had increased by 34% over conventional maize, he said. With his extra profits he was mechanizing his operations and had increased his planting from seven ha to 25 ha in 2007. He now rented another 18 ha from a neighbour.
“I believe that GM crops are the best solution for agriculture. With Bt maize I have reaped financial benefits and enjoy a better quality of life. What has been good for me can also be good for millions of small-scale farmers in other countries,” he emphasized.
Poland has more than a million small-scale farmers. Their farming operations vary from one ha to 10 ha with mixed farming including livestock, poultry, vegetables, grain, fruit and paprika grown in tunnels.
Dr Roman Warzecha said the delegation was very impressed with the benefits GM maize had brought to South African commercial and small-scale farmers. He also expressed the delegation’s appreciation for the meetings which AfricaBio had arranged.
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