Brazil approves GMO sugar cane, a global first
The chief executive of CTC Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira announced that Brazilian regulators have approved the use of a genetically modified version of sugarcane, the first time any country has allowed commercialization of biotech cane.
USDA increases sugar import quota 15 percent
U.S. sugarcane growers will be unable to provide enough sugar to meet demand from food and beverage makers, so the USDA raised the import quota for cane sugar 15 percent for the year ending on Sept. 30.
Sugar beet growers unfazed by GMO debate, record crop expected
At the same time sugar cane production ends in Hawaii, the USDA forecasts a record harvest next year of sugar beets, grown in the upper Midwest and the West and the dominant U.S. source of sugar, reported Reuters. "The estimate indicates that beet farmers are remaining resolute even as food manufacturers shun GMO crops like their beet sugar."