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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more
information contact:
Mimi Ricketts,
NCGA Communications Director
(636) 733-9004
NCGA: IRM Refuges
are a Must for Bt Corn Growers
Compliance Assurance Program infractions may result in denied access
to Bt technology in 2005
ST. LOUIS (April
23, 2004) — As growers throughout the Corn
Belt work through spring planting season, the National Corn Growers
Association (NCGA) encourages all farmers planting Bt corn borer resistant
corn to implement insect resistant management (IRM) refuges to ensure
they meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) IRM requirements.
Growers who do not plant proper refuges along with their Bt corn risk
losing access to this technology in the future.
For the first time,
there may be growers who will be denied access to the Bt technology
for
the 2005 growing season if they do not meet
the refuge requirements again in 2004. Under the Compliance Assurance
Program (CAP) — an EPA-approved IRM awareness and compliance
program implemented in 2002 — growers who have been found not
meeting IRM refuge requirements in two consecutive years, can be denied
access to Bt corn borer resistant corn in the third year.
As a CAP requirement, registrants of Bt corn borer resistant corn
are responsible for evaluating the extent to which growers are adhering
to IRM requirements through on-farm visits and an annual grower compliance
survey.
Importance of IRM
Established in 1999, IRM refuge requirements were enacted to help
prevent corn insect pests, such as the European corn borer, from developing
resistance to Bt technology, enabling the technology to be used well
into the future. According to these requirements, growers are obligated
to plant at least a 20 percent refuge, with Bt corn fields located
within one-half mile (preferably one-quarter mile) of the refuge. In
certain corn/cotton areas of the South, growers are required to plant
at least a 50 percent corn refuge.
“Research confirms that farmers growing the majority of Bt corn
acres value the technology and are adhering to IRM requirements,” said
Helen Inman, NCGA Biotech Working Group chairman. “As efforts
to elevate the importance of IRM and implementation of IRM practices
continue to increase, so does grower compliance. Every effort is being
made to provide growers with the right information so they can make
informed-decisions that result in added value to their business — economic
and environmental. We do not want any grower to be deprived of this
valuable technology.”
According to the
2003 IRM grower compliance survey, 92 percent of farmers met regulatory
requirements
for IRM refuge size, while 93 percent
met refuge distance requirements — an increase from 87 and 82
percent reported respectively in 2000 when the survey began.
NCGA Online Learning Center for IRM
To
help support IRM awareness efforts, NCGA recently launched the industry’s first IRM online education center for growers — the
Insect Resistance Management Learning Center (IRMLC).
Developed
by NCGA and the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Committee (ABSTC) — a coalition of the four Bt corn borer registrants — the
IRMLC provides a comprehensive overview on the principles of IRM.
Available free-of-charge at www.ncga.com, the IRMLC provides corn
growers access to training on several topics, including IRM, Compliance
Assurance Program (CAP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Corn Borer,
and Corn Rootworm. Within each section, users of the IRMLC can complete
a series of questions to reinforce their knowledge. Upon satisfactory
completion, the user can print out a certificate of completion.
The
NCGA also suggests growers consult with their seed dealers and seed company
representatives
to help ensure they understand IRM requirements.
Growers also can visit the “Know Before You Grow” section
of www.ncga.com for more information on Bt corn and the IRM requirements.
# # #
The Agricultural
Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC) includes Bt
corn registrants
Dow AgroSciences; Monsanto Company; Pioneer
Hi-Bred International, Inc., A DuPont Company; and Syngenta Seeds,
Inc. The committee is working with the EPA to enforce IRM compliance.
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the Biotechnology
Industry Organization (BIO), along with various seed companies and
universities, all support the Committee’s IRM compliance efforts.
For additional information on biotechnology, go to www.ncga.com.
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The National Corn
Growers Association mission is to create and increase opportunities
for corn growers in a changing world and to enhance corn’s profitability
and usage. NCGA represents more than 33,000 members, 25 affiliated state
corn grower organizations and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute
to state checkoff programs.
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