New GM crop row likely as Owen Paterson backs move
Environment Secretary and Shropshire MP Owen Paterson is set to reopen the controversy over genetically modified crops with a speech extolling the benefits of the technology.
Mr Paterson, who has previously expressed his backing for GM, was expected to say that Government, scientists and industry "owe a duty to the British public to reassure them that GM is a safe, proven and beneficial innovation" for farmers and consumers.
The North Shropshire MP will claim that there are potentially significant economic and environmental benefits to growing GM produce, including increasing yields, protecting crops from disease and reducing the use of pesticides.
But opponents of GM say it contributes to intensive farming practices and pesticide use that are environmentally damaging and that it will not tackle problems facing agriculture or deliver secure food supplies.
The only benefits are for the large agricultural businesses that develop and sell the technology, they claim.
Mr Paterson was due to tell representatives from industry, science and the media at the Rothamsted research institute, near St Albans: "Used properly, GM promises effective ways to protect or increase crop yields.
"It can also combat the damaging effects of unpredictable weather and disease on crops.
"It has the potential to reduce fertiliser and chemical use, improve the efficiency of agricultural production and reduce post-harvest losses."
But Europe is "missing out" on the technology, which is now used on 12 per cent of arable land around the world, and which globally farmers are growing, governments are licensing and consumers are buying, he was due to warn.
"While the rest of the world is ploughing ahead and reaping the benefits of new technologies, Europe risks being left behind. We cannot afford to let that happen."
Mr Paterson's move has been welcomed by scientists.
There is just one active GM crop trial in the UK for wheat that has been engineered to contain a gene from peppermint that deters aphids and attracts their predator, a parasitic wasp.
There are no commercial crops grown in this country, but livestock is commonly reared on imported feed which has been genetically modified.
The Environment Secretary's speech follows a recent intervention by Prime Minister David Cameron, in which he said there was a need to take a new look at GM food. But the move looks set to reopen a bitter debate over the use of genetically modified organisms.
