At the recent WPC in Edinburgh, Mark Lynas a UK based environmentalist spoke about how the bounty of the planet is no longer unlimited and the 2050 challenge to support the 9.9-10 billion people in the world to the standards we have in the western world. He states that from studies it is obvious that biodiversity is in trouble, extinction rates are high as farming is competing with wildlife and climate change is real.
Mark is fully behind the use of GM crops, a complete turn around for him since he used to actively protest against them, "I feel now I need to make things right".He explains that organic farming is not the answer
to solving the global food problem as it would need to much land.
He said, "Scotland's policy on GM free crops was not based on knowledge and reason but on ignorance and superstition and these policies must go if Scotland was to continue to be a leader in the future," a statement which drew applause from the audience. Lynas said the use of GM would be very beneficial in reducing the use of fertilizer as well as many other challenges facing agriculture such as water use, the lowering loss due to disease and increasing yields.
He went on to say that there was no background to GM fears, this was echoed by Ian Crute, Chief Scientist with AHDB.
Ian Crute supported the use of GM in breeding new resistant potato varieties, saying it would save scientists years worth of research time. Cutting the time scale for breeding new varieties from 12-15 years down to 3-5 years. He went on to say that that most of the traditional fears people have about GM crop do not apply to potatoes as the process is carried out naturally it just takes longer.
"Which ever way you look at it it seems to me that the benefits outweigh the negatives".
He believes that in time the global demand to reduce disease and increase yields will come but may take a little longer. People have to become aware of issues such as disease, nowadays the population is much more urbanized and do not realise the issues faced by farmers. In the end the rises in food prices will make people change their minds".