Credit: G. Fidenato

Libertarian farmer Giorgio Fidenato and former journalist, Leonardo Facco, have sown six genetically modified seeds in an act of civil disobedience. Fidenato, who grows conventional corn, is one of a few hundred farmers wanting to plant genetically modified crops in Italy. The MON810 variety seedlings are growing in an undisclosed site near Vivaro, in the north of Italy, and their progress is being posted on YouTube. Although MON810 is approved for planting in the EU, it is still unclear whether the six GM plants are legal, since the Italian Ministry of Agriculture never authorized the sowing but neither did it invoke a safeguard clause in directive 2001/18 to enforce a ban. The symbolic harvest is expected for mid-September and will be displayed on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS7nEDL3CzE).