NFU president in ‘Nazi’ jibe at GM crop protesters

NFU PRESIDENT Peter Kendall yesterday condemned the vandalism of the country’s first-ever GM wheat trial, writes Ewan Pate.

In a speech to MPS at the House of Commons later in the day to launch the new NFU Farming Delivers for Britain campaign, Mr Kendall was expected to liken the damage to the Nazi book-burners of the 1930s.

The NFU understands that the wheat trial was vandalised on Sunday during a break-in at the Rothamsted Research Centre in Hertfordshire.

An action group, Take the Flour Back, had already planned a mass protest at the site this coming weekend.

Scientists had already embarked on a pre-emptive publicity campaign designed to explain the benefits of their work and prevent any vandalism taking place.

“I am sorry to say that there still is a widespread view that farming is a lowskilled, low-tech backwardlooking industry,” Mr Kendall said.

“The truth is that much of British agriculture is using cutting-edge technology and the application of science will determine our future.

“In passing I have to condemn the scandalous attempts over the weekend to destroy the trials of GM wheat at Rothamsted.

“This is criminal, and must be dealt with as such.

“It’s worse than that. It is the wilful imposition of ignorance, directly comparable to Nazi book burning in the 1930s.

“Those who have incited this activity, under the guise of a peaceful demonstration, should hang their heads in shame.”

Mr Kendall said science is the key to help farming deliver to help meet the challenges that lie ahead.

“If the aim is to feed nine billion people by 2050 there is a sense of urgency to start dealing with this issue now against a backdrop of pressures on natural resources, unpredictable weather patterns, climate change and the need to manage more carefully the use of chemical inputs.

“To achieve this we will need every single tool in our toolbox — and that includes GM crops that have been adapted to cope in dry conditions, need fewer pesticides or offer nutritional benefits.

“Of course there needs to be a strong legal framework for approvals and effective co-existence measures to allow GM and non-gm systems to operate successfully together but these must be proportional to the need so that growers can retain their markets, and must be based on sound science.”

The Rothamsted experiment is using a modified crop of spring wheat to prove aphids can be controlled without resorting to the use of insecticides, some of which have been implicated in the loss of bees.

The GM wheat exudes a substance which is repellent to aphids.

The trials programme has cost around £1.2 million, with around £ 200,000 allocated for security around the site.

Picture: PA. Peter Kendall.