India is a complicated place, but has tremendous potential: Paul D Conway, Cargill

US food giant Cargill's vice-chairman Paul D Conway is not perturbed by the tumbling rupee just as he wasn't too revved up by the "Incredible India" slogan when things were better. In an interview with ET, Conway said he supported the food security bill but was concerned about its implementation. He also supports genetically modified crops. Excerpts:

Paul D Conway, Cargill

What brings you to India?

From the business perspective, it is a very complicated place to do business. But we believe there is tremendous potential. That is why we continue to invest here. In Karnataka, we are building a large plant, the single largest investment here. It's a corn milling plant. It's a $100 million greenfield investment.

Does the current economic turmoil change your strategy?

Not really. The decline in rupee since the past six weeks is getting a lot of media attention. We are investing in this new plant in Karnataka for the next 20 years. When the slogan was 'Incredible India', we didn't quite believe that either.

The underlying strengths of India remain. It is the largest producer of milk in the world, it is one of the top three producers of wheat in the world and has the largest growing middle class. Of course, there are issues like infrastructure, which is not what it could be.

What are your thoughts on India's food security law?

For any government to make a right for consumer to have access to food is a good thing. I have concern only on the implementation part. Governments have a tendency to intervene in markets in a way we don't consider helpful.

It usually ends with tears with unintended consequences. What we would like to see is that government consults with private industry on how this laudable project should be implemented. Would it lead to increase in government procurement and intake of grains? That I don't think will be positive.

Would it lead to increase in government storage to check potential wastage? Making grains available at affordable prices to poor people is absolutely fine. Dealing it in a way that doesn't disrupt market and is as efficient as possible is what we will like to see.

How can private traders help?

The public sector setting up framework and the private sector, who can be held accountable, doing more execution — that is the way for the future.

The food bill has revived the debate on GM crops. Do you have a view on that?

We do. We believe that in order to feed 9 billion people in future we need to use all tools in our disposal. We believe that technology has the capability to bring in traits to plant that will allow you to plant in areas where there is drought.

Another one, which is certainly the case in the US, it has cut sharply use of pesticide which is good for the environment. In certain crops it can enhance yields. So north and south American farmers have not bought these things in order to provide pension to CEO of Monsanto or Syngenta. They buy this because it makes economic sense.ET

Eco-Groups Challenge Obama Administration Over GMO Farming in National Wildlife Refuges

Eco-Groups Challenge Obama Administration Over GMO Farming in National Wildlife Refuges

Environmental advocates are once again suing the Obama administration to stop the farming of genetically engineered crops in national wildlife refuges, this time in five refuges in four Midwestern states.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, the environmental groups charge that the US Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully entered into farming contracts to grow genetically engineered crops at national wildlife refuges in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois without completing an environmental impact review required by federal law.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed farming on national wildlife refuges for decades, and environmentalists claim agriculture has harmful impacts on wildlife, biodiversity and native grasses in the refuges. In recent years, farmers have switched to genetically engineered crops - also known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs - that are altered to produce or be resistant to pesticides.

Environmentalists are specifically concerned about Monsanto-brand GMOs that are engineered to tolerate the company's Roundup herbicide, which can be sprayed over entire fields to kill weeds while sparing the GMO crops. Widespread use of Roundup has been linked to outbreaks of herbicide-resistant weeds and increased pesticide use. Environmentalists also fear the herbicide could pollute waterways and harm ecosystems in the wildlife refuges.

This is the fifth lawsuit challenging GMOs in national wildlife refuges. In the recent years, lawsuits filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Center for Food Safety on similar grounds have stopped the US Fish and Wildlife Service from farming GMOs at refuges in 12 Northeastern states and at 25 refuges in eight Southeastern states.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is working on an environmental impact assessment of farming genetically engineered crops at refuges in the Southeast so it can re-establish its farming programs in the region. The federal agency says it uses farming as a "wildlife management tool" that helps meet conservation objectives for waterfowl and other species.

 In the past, PEER has alleged that support for farming on wildlife refuges goes all the way up to the White House as the Obama administration struggles to boost GMO exports while European consumers and their governments grow increasingly leery of importing American transgenic food. In 2011, a PEER investigation revealed that the White House had formed special biotech agriculture working group made up of top-level officials from every federal agency involved in agricultural trade and beyond. Members of the working group were asked to weigh in on the environmental assessments of GMO farming on national wildlife refuges.

Internal emails show that a lobbyist with the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a lobby group heavily funded by Monsanto and other GMO purveyors, emailed a senior White House science policy analyst about the legal challenges to GMO farming on wildlife refuges.

PEER claimed the communication was evidence of "collusion" between the White House and the biotech industry as part of an effort to boost the image of GMO farming worldwide, but the White House has withheld portions of the email, arguing that it contains proprietary business information.

In 2011, a Truthout investigation revealed that BIO and other industry groups had put mounting pressure on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speed up the regulatory approval of new GMO crops. BIO warned the USDA that preparing rigorous environmental impact reviews of each crop would slow the approval process and threaten America's dominance in international agriculture markets.

Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.

Argentine farmers see green light for more corn to China

Argentine farmers see green light for more corn to China

Argentine farmers expect China to soon approve their one remaining variety of genetically modified corn yet to be certified for import by the commodities-hungry Asian country.

Corn growers across Argentina's vast Pampas farm belt want to push quickly into the Chinese market while fellow grain exporter Brazil is stuck on the sidelines, waiting for Beijing to approve its genetically modified corn varieties.

China, whose corn market has long been dominated by the United States, allowed its first major Argentine shipment of the grain to enter the country earlier this month.

Traders in Buenos Aires said the 60,000-tonne cargo included some corn of the MIR-162 strain, which has not yet gotten approval from Beijing. But apparently not enough, if any, MIR-162 was in the cargo to cause problems with Chinese customs.

"It's called asynchronicity," said Fabiana Malacarne, biotechnology chief at Argentina's ASA seed industry chamber. "Importing countries permit a low-level presence of non-approved strains."

The Chinese have signaled likely approval of MIR-162 imports later this year or in early 2014, she added.

"The only issue with China is MIR-162 ... which is tough to detect," said an Argentina-based corn trader with a major export company who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

There is broad scientific consensus that food derived from genetically modified crops poses no greater risk than that from conventional ones. However, advocacy groups argue the risks of GMO food have not been adequately identified.

Most Argentine corn is genetically modified. A small amount was allowed into China late last year as a test case under a China-Argentina GMO deal signed in February 2012.

CHINA WANTS MEAT

Chinese demand is rising for grain-based pork, cattle and chicken feed as the country's expanding middle class wants more meat in its diet.

The United States is the world's top corn exporter, followed by Brazil, which is lobbying China to approve its GMO corn. Argentina, which ranks third, clinched an import deal with China last year.

Various corn varieties are mixed in Argentina's farm-side silos before being trucked to the country's export hubs, making it hard to know which GMO strains are contained in which cargoes.

Aside from MIR-162, all corn strains grown in Argentina - MON-810, T-25, Bt-11, NK-603, TC-1507, GA-21, MON-89034, MON-88017, Bt-176 and MIR-604 - are already approved for import by China, Malacarne said.

Companies such U.S.-based Monsanto and Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta stand to gain from more use of seeds engineered to increase yield and allow growers to plant in areas lacking optimum corn-growing weather.

"Now that the mechanics are flowing and the first big cargo has gotten into China, we expect future shipments to go smoothly," said Martin Fraguio, head of Argentine corn industry chamber Maizar.

China imports corn mainly from the United States.

Besides bilateral agreements, China requires safety certificates for GMO corn imports. This month's landmark Argentine corn shipment was imported by Chinese state-owned trading house COFCO.

Futures traders see China as a wild card in their attempt to pencil in price projections.

Chicago corn prices have fallen 28 percent since January after hitting record highs during the North American drought in the summer of 2012. Many analysts and traders expect prices to fall further on prospects for a U.S. bumper crop this season.

Argentina's 2012/13 crop is harvested, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates it at a record 26.5 million tonnes. Oscar Solis, Argentina's deputy agriculture secretary, told Reuters last week that the crop was likely to come in at 32.1 million tonnes, with between 22 million and 24 million tonnes going for export. Reuters