Yielding to pressure

Going against the grain of a September 9 federal appeals court directive, Brazil has allowed farmers to grow genetically modified (gm) soya bean this year. In the process, the country has temporarily legitimised large-scale cultivation of the legume in its southern states. Farmers of this region had, for some years now, been acquiring gm soya seeds from neighbouring Argentina and planting them on the sly. The biggest beneficiary of the government's move will be Monsanto