Greenpeace has long campaigned against the planting of GM maize Germany is to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize - the only GM crop widely grown in Europe. The decision, announced on Tuesday by German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner, is a blow to the US biotech firm Monsanto, which markets the maize. Monsanto's variety, called MON 810, is resistant to the corn borer, a moth larva which eats the stem. MON 810 is controversial in the EU. Several countries have banned it, defying the European Commission. Ms Aigner, a member of the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU), said she had concluded that "there is a justifiable reason to believe that... MON 810 presents a danger to the environment". The variety has been allowed in Germany since 2005. Ms Aigner said the decision to ban it now, based... [read full story]
