THE SOIL Association and the Scottish Greens have expressed concern that agricultural research agendas are controlled by agribusiness interests.

According to the SA, about £100m of public funds are spent each year on agricultural biotechnology research in the UK.

In comparison, DEFRA’s annual budget for research and development into organic farming is only £2m.

The SA argued that this “disproportionate level of government funding for biotech research” was down to pressure from commercial interests.

The organisation made the point in its response to the latest report from the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission about the drivers of agbiotech research in the UK.

It also said that the bias in favour of technology-based over management-based approaches to agriculture had contributed to neglect of agricultural research in the fields of ecology and biology compared with research into chemistry and genetics.

AEBC member Matthew Freeman acknowledged that “the needs of non-conventional, lower-input farmers are not sufficiently represented in setting research agendas”.

What shapes the research agenda in agricultural biotechnology?, the AEBC’s report, concluded that the public good and the needs of society and sustainable agriculture should guide research, and that diversity and plurality in science must be promoted.

Mark Ruskell MSP, Green spokesman on environmental issues, said: “Biotechnology corporations are controlling the science agenda, stifling scientific progress in any direction that runs counter to their commercial aspirations for GM crops.”

“It is a sorry state of affairs when whole branches of science such as ecology and biology are largely ignored at the expense of a technology that nobody wants or needs.”

“Funding awards and research are not being directed by the public interest, significant avenues are left unexplored, and this report clearly recommends that this changes,” Mr Ruskell said.