GM balance key to future
GM balance key to future
By Ian Pigott
AT a time when farming is struggling over a seemingly never ending obstacle course of challenges, my search for good news took me to London for a conference entitled Seeds of Opportunity: The Future of Biotechnology in Agriculture.
To summarise, the worlds population is growing at an alarming rate, with an additional 1bn people to feed every 12-13 years. Demand for cereals is expected to rise from 1.78bn tonnes in 1995 to 2.47bn tonnes in 2025 and overall food production needs to increase three-fold over the next century.
That is enough to give anyone a glimmer of hope for the future of farming. But will UK farmers get a fair share of the action?
Speaker after speaker was clearly convinced GM crops would play a crucial role in meeting the extra demand. But will UK farmers be able to grow them, given the deep scepticism currently prevailing in Europe?
Biotechnology, an unknown quantity in its own right, has been overshadowed by past food scares across Europe, which have bred a deep distrust.
That is in striking contrast to attitudes from elsewhere around the world.
One speaker from Argentina spoke of being puzzled by the European attitude to GM crops. Argentina has gone from no GM crops to 50% GM cropping in five years, the new varieties enabling the use of no-til establishment, which has increased soil fertility and reduced erosion. Production has doubled over the period.
Last year, there were 44m ha of GM crops grown worldwide. It seems that UK farmers are now in danger of being at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the world.
Executives from supermarket chains spoke of their willingness to supply GM products, once consumers show they are welcome.
That is, of course, where there is such passionate debate in the UK. Until there is direct advantage to the individual consumer, genetically modified goods will be regarded as products from a cartel of biochemical manufacturers and farmers.
Many speakers concentrated on integrating biotechnology and ecology, and how this must be embraced if GM is to progress in Europe.
That makes sense. When I look at the spectrum of pesticides we use to control a myriad of weeds and diseases – with some products less environmentally friendly than others – it is churlish to dismiss biotechnology solutions.
On the other hand, some speakers felt GM progress cannot be left to the blunt instrument of market forces. Instead, GM crops must be phased in, their effects on the environment monitored and market uptake managed.
That is dangerous. If farmers are to regain some public trust, GM crops need to be shown to be both environmentally and consumer friendly and there must be greater education of the pros and better understanding of the cons associated with the technology.
Fail to do that and GM crops could become just one more obstacle on farmings long path back to recovery, instead of the boost so many are looking for. *