GM crops benefit poor countries (From Gazette & Herald)

GM crops benefit poor countries

THE great GM debate of a couple of years ago seems to have gone onto the backburner, but the fires could be rekindled by a recent review of the possible benefits of genetically-engineered crops to developing countries by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The FAO report indicates that potential environmental problems and health risks from the production and consumption of GM crops are likely to be small; and claims of dangers to human health remain unfounded.

On the other hand, such characteristics as built-in insect resistance, the incorporation of enhanced protein content and vitamin characteristics are of particular advantage to developing countries.

The implication is that they could make an important contribution to the improvement of food quality available to the most needy. The report argues that GM technology can improve agricultural production in three major ways:

By raising farmers' production and incomes;

By increasing food supplies and thus reducing prices;

By contributing to the nutritional quality of crops.

The report points out that scientific opinion differs on the environmental impact, since it is clear that genes from GM crops can be transferred to wild species.

There is a need for more research to assess the environmental consequences of this so-called "gene flow". It is interesting that 99pc of land planted with GM crops last year was in just six countries, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, South Africa and the United States.

The FAO would like to see more GM research into basic food crops for the poor, such as potato, rice, wheat and cassava.

The authors also draw an interesting comparison between current GM technology. which is largely funded by private companies, and the so-called "green revolution" some years ago which produced the high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat and rice.

The solution for the massive world problems of malnutrition and hunger do not necessarily lie in the creation of new technology, including GM, but in the better use of existing crop varieties and husbandry techniques.

My own view is that the benefits of GM technology for poor countries seem to outweigh any disadvantages; but to make a balanced judgement we need to assess the risks.

We cannot assess those risks unless we undertake further research.

I shall now stand back and await the constructive comments from the Gazette & Herald readers.

A two-year study by the RSPB and others has shown that the dramatic fall in the skylark population can be reversed by the introduction of skylark plots into cereals.

Farmers are being asked to lift the drill twice in every hectare to leave unseeded areas of 4m x 4m.

On the 15 test sites, the breeding success of skylarks has improved by 50pc because the patches not only provide nesting habitats, but also feeding grounds for the birds.

Provision of skylark patches could also be a requirement of the new Entry Level Stewardship Scheme; so why not try it and help a skylark!

This is a Northern Irish claim which, although perhaps overstated, demonstrates the ongoing cost to the country and the farmer of our OTM scheme, which requires all older cattle to go into the burner and not the food chain.

Beef prices in Europe, and especially in Southern Ireland, have risen sharply, with cow beef making 70-80p per kilo liveweight.

This is double what farmers currently receive in the UK for their OTM cows.

Not only, therefore, is the farmer losing £200-£300 per head on the disposal of cull cows, but we, the tax payers, have to fund the scheme itself, which is costing a similar amount.

Europe has declared our cow beef to be acceptable, but the wonderful ministry of health still believes the safety measures are not safe enough!

Perhaps we should force-feed them British cow beef for a month and see how many are left. I am not sure it would matter either way.

In the event of another foot and mouth disease outbreak, the Government has said its preferred strategy would be "vaccinate to live".

Having made such an appalling hash of the last epidemic, I suppose this comes as no surprise and DEFRA has wisely decided to contract out some of the work that it was incapable of doing.

It has awarded a contract to Genus Plc to provide emergency vaccination in future and the 150 personnel will be ready to undertake an emergency vaccination programme within five days of an outbreak.

Figures released recently by the US Department of Agriculture show the similarity in the changing structure of the industry both in America and the UK.

The average American farmer is now 55 years old and he farms 441 acres of land.

Furthermore, as Churchill would have said, "never has so much been grown by so few"; and the survey calculates that only 3pc of the farms earn 61pc of the money paid for agricultural products.

David Sheppard reports the drought, together with the dreaded orange blossom midge, have combined to lift new-crop grain prices by about £2/tonne over the past week. There is no doubt that the UK is very dry and could do with decent rain.

However, conditions in continental Europe, Russia and the Ukraine remain good; and whilst UKIP may want to pull out of the EU altogether, it is more difficult to withdraw from the wheat markets.

If their crops live up to their current prospect, this will have a bigger impact on our prices than local UK weather conditions.

'Cereals 2004' combined with 'Sprays and Sprayers' takes place this week near Sleaford and approximately 30,000 farmers will be attending the event which has become the premier arable showpiece for the UK.

In many ways, Cereals 2004 has replaced the local agricultural shows as the talking shop of the industry.

The first of this week's memorable quotes is from Samuel Johnson writing in The Times with advice on retirement:

"Don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire."

The second bon mot comes from Ethel Barrymore who said:

"The best time to make friends is just before you need them."

Forward on Tuesday were 184 cattle including 71 bulls and 24 cows; 813 sheep including 224 ewes.

Light steers to 129p from J L Gray, Grindale (average 115.7p); heavy steers to 129p from W & L Thompson, Middleton (105.8p). Light heifers to 135p from G I Marwood, Harome; medium heifers to 129p from J L Gray (108.9p); heavy heifers to 139p from G I Marwood (110.4p). Light bulls to 117p from M Sunley, Farndale (108p); heavy bulls to 120p from M Sunley (103.2p); black and white bulls to 95p from D Flinton, Marishes (83.2p).

Standard lambs to 140.5p from T B Hunter, Norton (133.4p); medium lambs to 139p from G H Sutton, Wold Newton (131.4p); heavy lambs to 135p from G Harper, Newton-on-Rawcliffe (125.2p). Medium hoggets to 104.4p from J H Ruston, Knapton. Ewes to £54 from M Ward, Yedingham (£40.20).

Updated: 12:57 Wednesday, June 16, 2004