S. Sulawesi wants permit of GMO producer suspended

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

South Sulawesi Governor Amin Syam asked Jakarta on Friday to suspend the operations of PT Monagro Kimia, the Indonesian unit of U.S.-based genetically modified crops producer Monsanto, after cotton farmers accused the company of withholding supplies.

Governor Amin said cotton farmers could no longer harvest cotton after Monsanto stopped supplying the seeds from December 2002.

Farmers, who had come to rely on Monsanto's cotton seeds since they were first introduced in South Sulawesi in 2000, urged the company to resume supplies.

"We've asked Pak minister not to issue permits to Monsanto for the supply of other genetically modified commodities such as cacao until it has settled its problem with the cotton farmers," Amin said following a meeting on the 2003 national agricultural activities program, attended by Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih.

"Monsanto's decision to cut the supply has caused huge losses to farmers," said the governor.

Minister Bungaran replied that the company had suspended supplies because it had suffered losses. Still, he said the government would consider Amin's request.

Amin said Monsanto had promised the farmers it would supply the cotton seeds. So its financial performance should not be an excuse to abandon that promise, he said. "If they are making a loss, that's their problem. Don't burden the farmers with this."

Monagro spokeswoman Wiwik Wahyuni confirmed that the company had suffered a loss but declined to say why it had suspended supplies. "We're still discussing this issue with the Ministry of Agriculture, as we surely want a win-win solution, " she told The Jakarta Post.

Wiwik said Monagro's operating permit was based on an annual decree from the ministry.

The company had not asked for a new permit this year, after it decided to suspend seed supplies last December. Its 2002 permit had expired, and a new one was due last January, she explained.

Since Monsanto's seeds were first introduced in 2000, farmers reported a sharp rise in productivity, and thus their income.

Transgenic, or genetically modified, organisms are reckoned to create higher-quality crops and stock through the insertion of genes from other species.

The biologically engineered products are meant to protect the plant from pests or make it resistant to a specific herbicide.

But the use of such biotechnology products is controversial.

Environmentalists oppose them because little is known about the long-term impact of genetically modified commodities on the environment and on human health.

A number of European countries have rejected outright their commercial use. American companies remain at the forefront of producing a variety of transgenic crops, and they have been actively looking for markets in the developing world.

Environmental groups in Indonesia protested the entrance of Monsanto's genetically modified crops until it was clear how safe they were to the environment.

In October 2000, the government scrapped plans to release transgenic products to the Indonesian market.

But the Ministry of Agriculture then designated South Sulawesi as a testing ground for such crops, pending assessments on their health and environmental impacts.