Minister tells farmers to push GM
THE benefits of genetically modified crops are to be promoted as part of the drive to modernise farming, Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, has said.
Farmers, policymakers and scien- tists have a duty to turn around the image of GM technology, the Cabinet minister in charge of food and farming is expected to tell the Oxford Farming Conference.
“We should not be afraid of making the case to the public about the potential benefits of GM beyond the food chain, for example, reducing the use of pesticides and inputs such as diesel,” Mr Paterson will say.
“I believe that GM offers great opportunities but I also recognise that we owe a duty to the public to reassure them that it is a safe and beneficial innovation.”
New technologies for agricultural production, including plant breed- ing and machinery as well as GM, are being developed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in conjunction with the Department of Science and Technology.
Farmers lost £1.3 billion last year because of poor harvests and higher feed bills for cattle, making the need for new technology even more urgent.
Mr Paterson says Britain could produce much more food at home and urges consumers to “buy British” to boost the sector. “We currently import 22 per cent of food that could be produced here. We
can all do more and, just as everyone got behind Team GB last summer, we must get behind our farmers,” he will say.
“By buying British, we can support our producers and enjoy some of the best quality produce in the world.”
Mr Paterson will also talk about the need to control the cattle disease bovine tuberculosis by going ahead with a badger cull this summer.
“The decision to postpone the culls last autumn was a disappointing one but the right one in terms of the effective delivery of the policy. I would like to thank the farmers’ leadership and members for the huge amount of work they put in on the ground and their courageous public stance on this emotive issue. The pilots will go ahead this summer.”
Mr Paterson’s comments are likely to alarm opponents of GM food, who fear that the crops can cause environmental damage and even be harmful to human health.
The Coalition has allowed small-scale cultivation trials for GM food but its widespread use is effectively banned. Some GM products are contained in imported foods, but most supermarkets have banned the ingredients from their own-brand products because of public unease.
In the late 1990s, Tony Blair, the former prime minister, promoted the use of GM food, but later retreated in the face of public scepticism and campaigns against “Frankenfoods”.
Pete Riley of GM Freeze points out that supermarkets retain a ban on GM ingredients in their own products because the public is against them. He says the Government would be better to concentrate on sustainable methods that do not cause problems with superweeds and seed control, as well as health fears.
“The message is clear: the public do not want GM. It is the job of government to look at the issues facing agriculture in a sustainable way.”
The Oxford Real Farming conference, held at the same time as the rival event to raise awareness of organic farming methods, will argue productivity could be boosted by improving the fertility of the soil by crop rotation and “mob grazing”. The conference will also hear from the Woodland Trust about the benefits of planting trees.