Close This Window
Send To Your Printer
Subscribe
Printer Friendly
Send to a Friend
Video Gallery
Related Article
UK GROWER BOB FIDDAMAN WANTS BENEFITS OF PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY IN EUROPE
Looks to Consumers to End the Genetically Modified Food Debate
While genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in parts of Europe, UK farmers are not able to plant commercially and realize the benefits of plant biotechnology within their own operations. UK farmer Bob Fiddaman participated in GM Farm Scale Evaluations on oil seed rape and shares his hope that the benefits of plant biotechnology that he witnessed on his farm will soon be commercially available to farmers throughout the UK.
“The outcome — as far as I was concerned — was a benefit for the GM crop because it gave a higher yield, and it was much easier to manage,” says Bob Fiddaman, who has farmed for more than 40 years and currently grows wheat, barley and field beans for animal feed on 1,300 acres (520 hectares) in the UK. “We were getting anything from 10 to 15 percent increased yield from the GM part of the crop. … Given the opportunity, I'd grow it tomorrow. The technology was that good.”
Consumers and farmers in the UK continue to engage in a genetically modified food debate, and there are currently no GM crops being grown in the country. However, the UK government has determined there is no scientific case for a blanket ban on GM crops and will assess potential biotech crops on a case-by-case basis. Ultimately, regulatory decisions on the commercial approval of GM crops occur at the European Union level, and various GM crops are currently working their way through that system.
Fiddaman recently took part in a public discussion on the co-existence of conventional, organic and GM crops, which he believes is quite achievable based on his personal experience and success meeting established thresholds on specific conventional crops. “Give farmers the protocols, and we can implement them. I grow double low rapeseed for food use and industrial rape, which is poisonous to humans. With the right separation distances and on-farm protocols, I can meet the 0.3% admix threshold, even with volunteers to cope with. It has been measured and it can be done. We can do the same with GM.”
Fiddaman is hopeful that sound science will be heavily factored into the genetically modified food debate. “Science is a positive thing. It's a plus factor — not a negative scare factor,” says Fiddaman. “Consumers are beginning to say, "Well hang on. Are we really right to keep this negative attitude?"
© 2006 Monsanto Company. All rights reserved. The copyright holder consents to the use of this material and the images in the published context only and solely for the purpose of promoting the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.
French farmers discuss the benefits of GM crops and explain why they think the country needs to reevaluate and adopt plant biotechnology.
