title: Use of transgenic seeds in Brazilian agriculture and  concentration of agricultural production to large agribusinesses.
abstract: We identified the commercial releases of genetically  modified organisms (GMOs) in Brazil, their characteristics, the types of  genetic transformation used, and the companies responsible for the development  of these GMOs, classifying them into two categories: private companies,  subdivided into multinational and national, and public institutions. The data  came from the data bank of the national registration of cultivars and the  service of national protection of cultivars of the Ministry of Agriculture,  Fishing and Supply (MAPA). This survey was carried out from 1998 to February  12, 2011. Until this date, 27 GMOs had been approved, including five for  soybean, 15 for maize and seven for cotton cultivars. These GMOs have been used  for the development of 766 cultivars, of which, 305 are soybean, 445 are maize,  and 13 are cotton cultivars. The Monsato Company controls 73.2% of the  transgenic cultivars certified by the MAPA; a partnership between Dow  AgroSciences and DuPont accounts for 21.4%, and Syngenta controls 4.96%. Seed  supply by these companies is almost a monopoly supported by law, giving no  choice for producers and leading to the fast replacement of conventional  cultivars by transgenic cultivars, which are expensive and exclude small  producers from the market, since seeds cannot be kept for later use. This  situation concentrates production in the hands of a few large national agribusiness  entrepreneurs.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil. caillet.marinho@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.forename: F J O
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Amaral Júnior
authors.forename: L S A
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: S C S
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: de Mello
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil; D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003257:Consumer Product Safety / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D007878:Legislation as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000254:growth & development*; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic