We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.THE SENTRY CONFERENCE
Sentry Conference: UK Government is ‘very pro-GM’
Delegates at The Sentry Conference were asked last week: Can farming lead the way back to prosperity? Clemmie Gleeson reports.
THE change in public attitude to genetic modification was ‘a very exciting shift’, Dr Julian Little, chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, told the Sentry conference, at Linton, Cambridge.
The media has moved hugely over the past few years recognising these technologies bring benefits.” He said it was only six years ago when headlines provoked fear over ‘Frankenstein foods’ – now it was much more positive about biotechnology.
There was a big difference in support for GM technology across Europe, he said, with some countries, including Spain, adopting it widely, while others were very sceptical – notably Austria.
“There are countries which want to see progress and the UK is one of those. We have a very pro-GM Government.”
However, the only GM crop being grown in the EU was insect-resistant maize, which passed through the European regulatory system before it was reorganised 12 years ago. He said despite attempts to bring new traits to market there had not been one in the last 12 years. The problem was the European regulatory system where ‘an awful lot goes in, but absolutely nothing comes out’.
Generally supportive
Poul Christensen, chairman of Natural England, said he was generally in support of GM technology, but it was essential to assess the impact on the natural environment. “The rewards are huge but there are risks. Let’s make sure it is right and safe for the natural environment, not just throw it out here on a whim.”
Food safety expert Prof Patrick Wall, of University College, Dublin, said asking if genetic engineering was bad or good ‘was like asking if science is bad or good’.
“It can deliver great benefits – it is not inherently evil. We have been modifying food for years. Crops grown now are not the same crops which were grown by Adam and Eve.”
Bill Northey, Secretary of Agriculture for the state of Iowa, and fourth generation farmer, said biotechnology was widely used and accepted in the USA. “Ninety-five per cent of the soya beans grown are biotech and more than 80 per cent of corn”, he says.
They retained some non-biotech crops each year for the refuge – a ‘bank’ of non-GM crops kept in a bid to avoid resistance.
