Wisconsin-based salmon and leafy greens producer Superior Fresh has agreed to buy GM salmon producer AquaBounty’s land-based salmon farm in Albany, Indiana, for $9.5 million, AquaBounty said in a market filing. Portions of the proceeds of the sale are expected to be used to reduce AquaBounty’s debt, the company said. Unlike AquaBounty, Superior Fresh doesn't see the advantage of genetic engineering, even in plants, and states on its website that its fish eat a non-GMO, organic diet. It says its fish contain twice the omega-3 content of other salmon, and "are not fed like most farmed fish, which are too often fed with formaldehyde, pesticides, antibiotics, and GMOs". AquaBounty put its 1,200-tonnes-per-year Indiana facility on the market in February to raise cash. The company is building a 10,000-tonne RAS facility in Pioneer, Ohio, but paused work last year due to rising costs which had increased to nearly $485-$495 million. Fishfarmingexpert.com

 

 

Brazil’s new pro-agribusiness pesticide law, the so-called Poison Bill, eases restrictions on the sale and use of a wide range of agrochemicals — many sprayed on GM soy plantations — that are dangerous to humans and the environment. In the past 10 years, Brazil has increased its pesticide consumption by 78%, particularly in the Amazonian areas where the agricultural frontier is advancing. To experts, the Poison Bill is catastrophic: As well as increasing the risks to Indigenous people, riverine communities and small farmers, the legislation can devastate the Amazon Rainforest biodiversity. “Pesticides are especially harmful at the edge of the Amazon Rainforest, where they affect an intact biodiversity, which suffers more to adapt,” Ricardo Theophilo Folhes, a researcher in geography and environmental sciences at the Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies at the Federal University of Pará, said. “Studies show that soil and water contamination is long-lasting, affecting entire chains.” Mongabay

 

 

Experts have raised the alarm on the state of Nigeria's food system, warning that the increasing presence of GMOs poses significant risks to human health, the environment, and the economy. They said GMOs are not the solution to hunger and that 70% of the food eaten in the world is produced by small-scale farmers, not industrial farmers. The experts advised government to support small-scale farmers and built infrastructure for storage and processing of foods. The Guardian (Nigeria)

 

 

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