The Government’s chief scientific adviser has called for an increase in GM technology in the UK if the planet is to avoid future food shortages and alleviate climate change.
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Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference today (6 January), Professor John Beddington told attendees that the UK must embrace GM crops and “cutting-edge developments” in order to avoid “catastrophic” food shortages.
“We need a new and greener revolution, improving production and efficiency through the food chain within environmental and other constraints. Techniques and technologies from many disciplines, ranging from biotechnology and engineering to newer fields such as nanotechnology, will be needed,” Beddington said.
However, he warned that while over the last 50 years improving yields has been most important, accounting for 75% of increase in output, yield growth rates were now slowing.
Beddington added: “Deploying new technologies, processes and knowledge that make our agri-businesses more sustainable and efficient will be critical in meeting our economic, environmental and social goals, including promotion of a thriving food sector.”
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By GlobalDataIn response to the speech, Emma Hockridge, policy manager of the Soil Association, the organic food body, said GM was a “failing technology with no future”.
“GM is not going to feed a growing world population sustainably, now or in the future. We need far-reaching changes to our food and farming systems, rather than GM technology, which, despite millions in public and private research expenditure, has consistently failed to deliver food security.”
Hockridge added that research into Marker Assisted Selection (MAS), which is now “leading the way” in new crop developments, is “enormously important” and should be supported.
Friends of the Earth also slammed Beddington’s comments, saying that the “dangerous obsession” with GM crops must end.
“The most comprehensive farming report ever conducted found no conclusive evidence that GM increases yields and called for a move away from damaging industrial farming,” said food campaigner Helen Rimmer.
“GM crops don’t feed the world – they simply make record profits for the big businesses that sell the patented seeds and chemicals needed to grow them.”
