Roundup Ready Canola

Today's Landline is talking about Roundup Ready canola, i.e. GM canola. I am a little bit surprise to know that there are so many Roundup Ready canola growing in Australia including NSW, VIC and WA. South Australia still bans it and I didn't find information about Queensland. This makes me wonder if most canola oils selling in supermarket are made from GM canola and if they will label GM and GM-free on the bottle. I think it will make farmers in South Australia very difficult to maintain their GM-free canola especially those farmland next to NSW, VIC and WA.

-----------------
Farmers take up GM canola (Posted Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:40am AEST) (ABC)

The Agriculture Minister Terry Redman says the Government's decision to lift the ban on genetically modified canola has been vindicated.

Bio-tech company Monsanto says more than 70,000 hectares of Roundup Ready canola had so far been planted in WA, more than double original estimates.

-----------
Roundup Ready® Canola (Monsanto)

Roundup Ready canola is the most profitable weed control system, so get ready to see more yellow.

Higher yield and oil content

--------------------
Monsanto's GM Roundup Ready canola (09 February 2005)
Industry avoid the truth about GM segregation problems (09 November 2009)
Agronomics and Economics of GM Canola (29 January 2009)

-------------------
Roundup (herbicide) (from wiki)

Roundup is the brand name of a systemic, broad-spectrum herbicide produced by the U.S. company Monsanto, and contains the active ingredient glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in the USA, and Roundup has been the number one selling herbicide worldwide since at least 1980.

The main active ingredient of Roundup is the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate. Another important ingredient of Roundup is the surfactant POEA (polyethoxylated tallow amine), which is known for its toxicity in wildlife. It increases herbicide penetration in plant and animal cells.

Several weed species, known as superweeds, have developed Roundup resistance largely because of repeated exposure.

Monsanto also produces seeds which grow into plants genetically engineered to be tolerant to glyphosate, which are known as Roundup Ready crops. The genes contained in these seeds are patented. Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against most broadleaf and cereal weeds.

Genetically modified crops
In 1996, genetically modified Roundup Ready soybeans resistant to Roundup became commercially available, followed by Roundup Ready corn in 1998. Roundup Ready soybeans patent is due to expire in 2014. Current Roundup Ready crops include soy, maize (corn), canola, sugar beet and cotton, with wheat and alfalfa still under development. As of 2005, 87% of U.S. soybean fields were planted with glyphosate resistant varieties.