Monsanto is to abandon the construction of a huge seed treatment plant for genetically modified maize seeds in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, following fierce protests from local residents over the past three years. According to media reports published in early August, the first part of the not even half-built plant in the rural town of Malvinas Argentinas was dismantled and machinery removed from the construction site. The US seed company has not yet issued an official statement but local Argentinean media cited a source from the head office of Monsanto in Latin America who said the company will give up the project because building the plant will no longer be profitable due a recent reduction in the area planted with genetically modified corn in the country. “The plant was designed to treat 3.5 million hectares of maize, however last year only 2.5 million hectares were sown,” the source told iProfesional. “Such an investment does not make sense from an economic point of view.” Monsanto has another factory for the production of genetically modified seeds in Rojas, in the province of Buenos Aires. “How things are at the moment, this corn processing plant alone will probably be sufficient for the next five years.” However, the spokesman also admitted that local protests by activists and environmentalists had influenced the decision to pull out of the project. Since 2013, citizens have maintained a blockade of the construction site preventing the entry of building material and fuel. In 2014, a provincial court ruled that the construction permit for the plant was unconstitutional. It ordered a halt to construction works and ordered an environmental impact assessment. “Justice was done. The company should have taken the decision to leave long ago,” said Vanesa Sartori, a member of the Assembly Malvinas Lucha por la Vida. “We will remain vigilant and follow the matter closely to see how this story will end until Monsanto has taken the final screw from site and left once and for all,” Sartori announced. Sofia Gatica, one of the leaders of the protest in Malvinas, was also greatly relieved: “We have stayed here for almost three years, in the morning, afternoon and evening, despite hunger and cold, without light or toilets. A lot of people from different places have united at the camp. Marriages have split up because our husbands told us to choose between Monsanto and them,” Gatica told local news channel CBA24n.”If those at the bottom move, those at the top fall,” she added. (ab)