MEXICO CITY - The environmental watchdog Greenpeace wants the Mexican government to apply sanctions against Monsanto, to make an example of the agribusiness transnational for planting genetically modified cotton without authorization.

Local authorities reported on Apr. 12 that they detected unauthorized planting in the northern state of Sonora, at a site not included in the licenses Monsanto received this year to cultivate transgenic cotton for non-commercial purposes in Mexico. In 2005, Monsanto planted 7,000 hectares of cotton for experimental purposes.

"We hope the government takes harsh action against Monsanto, including the destruction of unauthorized cotton. These illegal actions must not be repeated," Gustavo Ampugnani, coordinator of Greenpeace's transgenics campaign in Mexico, told Tierramérica.

A Mexican biosafety law in effect since May 2005 states that planting transgenic seeds without authorization is a punishable offense. However, the provisions of the law have not yet been established, so the penalties have not been defined.

BOGOTA - A Colombian government project to produce honey instead of planting coca bush in the northern Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta yielded five tons of the sweet stuff in 2005 and is projected to produce 30 tons for export to Europe in 2006.

Since 2005 the initiative has benefited 840 families in the Presidential Program Against Illicit Crops, which was founded in 2003 and cleared more than 1.25 million hectares of illegal plants, especially coca, the raw material for producing cocaine.

The Italian government donated 500,000 dollars to the project, headed by Victoria Restrepo, who told Tierramérica that honey production is intended to provide an alternative source of income for the families, in addition to cacao and special coffees being promoted in the region.

The project is being carried out by the Network of Ecological Producers in the Sierra area.

RIO DE JANEIRO - On Apr. 18, Brazil inaugurated the country's first laboratory for applying nanotechnology -- the science of manipulating particles measuring one-millionth of a millimeter -- to agricultural development.

The National Laboratory of Nanotechnology for Agribusiness, located in Sao Carlos, 250 km from Sao Paulo, enables innovations such as miniscule mechanisms for controlling animal temperatures and "intelligent containers" impermeable to oxygen, that would slow the decomposition of foods.

Ladislau Martin Neto, of the Brazilian national farm research agency, Embrapa, which runs the lab, told Tierramérica that 20 experts are being hired and the agency is putting together a nanotechnology research network of its own institutions, universities and private entities to boost the country's agricultural competitiveness.

Sensors and new materials of interest to the farming sector, fibers for industrial use and nanoparticles for protecting or feeding soils, plants and livestock will be researched at the laboratory.

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's Congress approved on Apr. 19 a new law on biofuels to promote the production and use of plant-origin alternatives to petroleum, through tax incentives and market quotas.

The law establishes that four years after its enactment, gasoline will be sold with five percent ethanol from sugarcane, maize or beets. Gasoil will have to contain the same proportion of fuel based on plant oils, such as those from soybeans or sunflower seeds.

But Jorge Rulli, of the environmentalist Rural Reflection Group, told Tierramérica that the law "will strengthen the monculture" of soybeans, which he says is harmful to the environment and the agrarian social structure.

As a major producer of soy and plant oils for the world, Argentina has a good base for producing biodiesel. There are already about 50 production plants for domestic consumption, and some exports.

GUATEMALA CITY - The Guatemalan resort Semuc Champey, a hydric complex of ponds, waterfalls and the Cahabón River, is being hurt by deforestation, says the organization Trópico Verde.

Semuc Champey is located 250 km north of the capital, and in 2005 was declared a protected area because of the contamination of the ecosystem. But the area is also suffering the results of deforestation and "could turn into a desert," Trópico Verde activist Carlos Albacete told Tierramérica.

Albacete and fellow activist Carlos Salvatierra, with the MadreSelva organization, believe it is essential that Congress also declare the surroundings of the resort protected areas as well.

"Unregulated logging brings degradation of the soils that function as hydric rechargers for the nearby communities, which will also be affected by the declining water supplies," Salvatierra told Tierramérica.