Chicago, Aug 31 - A widely planted U.S. rice variety has tested positive for the unapproved genetically modified Liberty Link trait, said the Louisiana State University AgCenter on Thursday.
The foundation seed from the 2003 Cheniere variety developed by the university contained a trace amount of LLRICE 601 material, which was engineered to resist herbicides. All other varieties tested negative, the center said.
"The good news is that there are plenty of other seed stocks available to grow non-genetically engineered rice," said David Coia of USA Rice Federation, an industry group.
The 2003 foundation seed would have been planted throughout the southern United States to produce the 2006 crop, which farmers are now harvesting, said Steve Linscombe, a rice breeder and director of the LSU Rice Research Station.
Cheniere foundation seed was first produced in 2002 but the university did not have any samples left to send for testing, Linscombe said. No Cheniere foundation seed was produced in 2004. The 2005 seed, which would be planted next year, tested negative for the GMO material.
In Texas, 13 percent of rice planted this year was the Cheniere variety, according to the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center at Beaumont/Eagle Lake. Figures for other states were not immediately available.
Louisiana State University said it did not know how the GMO material got into the seed. Field research on Liberty Link was conducted in collaboration with Bayer CropScience, a unit of , at the LSU Rice Research Station near Crowley, Louisiana, from 1999 through 2001. Bayer could not be reached to comment.
Other major U.S. rice-producing states such as Arkansas are also testing their foundation seed. California announced on Wednesday that its foundation seed, used to produce short grain and medium grain rice, was GMO free.
The U.S. Agriculture Department rocked the rice markets on Aug. 18 with an announcement that trace amounts of an unapproved GMO variety engineered by Bayer CropScience were found in rice storage bins in Arkansas and Missouri.
USDA said there was no health or environmental risk.
The genetically modified variety of rice called LLRice 601 led to Japan shutting down imports of U.S. long grain rice, and the European Union requiring certification that long grain rice from the United States is free of the transgenic strain.
Chicago Board of Trade rice prices have fallen to their lowest level in three months, or about 13 percent, since the Aug. 18 discovery of unapproved GMO rice was found in the U.S. supply.
Adding to the woes of the market was a government report this week that showed the U.S. rice stocks were 9 million cwt bigger than previously forecast, and the ongoing harvest with more supplies moving into marketing channels.
The news was not expected to have a big impact on CBOT prices in overnight trade or Friday morning after this week's sell-off, analysts said.
"I think most folks have already been of the opinion that those are the two likely varieties that would have been susceptible. Because everyone knows that the Liberty Link studies were done at LSU ... and those two varieties were issuances of LSU," said Neauman Coleman, analyst and rice broker from Brinkley, Arkansas.