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GM Crops 'Will Help Save British Farming'

The debate over the safety of GM crop trials was reignited last night after a leading scientist told agriculture experts the tests were vital to the future of British farming.

Dr. Colin Scanes, the head of the US Plant Sciences Institute, said the risk to other crops from cross-pollination was minimal.

He told experts meeting at the National Agricultural Centre in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, that benefits from GM crops far outweighed any fears.

GM crops had been accepted in the US and not only offered consumers better quality food but also boosted farmers' incomes, he said.

'There is minimum risk of environmental problems through cross- pollination and that's been true in the States.' But speaking after the meeting, Friends of the Earth spokesman Mr. Pete Riley said that the public of North America had been misled and given little choice in eating GM crops and that the same will happen in Britain unless more tests are carried out.

Dr. Scanes, a former bio-chemist and Leeds University lecturer told the conference organized by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, that modified soya, oilseed rape and maize were already used widely and safely in many American food products.

'The Food and Drug Administration is very stringent and would not state GM was safe if they were not convinced,' he said.

As one of the scientists who spearheaded GM techniques, Dr. Scanes told the invited audience how American markets had been flooded with improved GM produce for the past ten years.

He said: 'GM foodstuffs which have been approved by the FDA are being used by farmers to feed livestock as well as in particular market products.

'I don't think they would allow this to be fed to animals if they had any doubts at all over the safety of GM products.' v He said as well as boosting agriculture in the US there were other possible long-term benefits with natural remedies found in plants being made stronger and more effective if genetically modified.

'We could see a range of 'healthy crops' being developed, but before we do this we need to educate people, especially in Europe, about the safety of GM,' said Dr. Scanes.

'After the BSE crisis in Britain people don't seem to trust the scientists very much and don't like the idea of them tampering with nature.'

West Midlands MEP Mr. Philip Bushill-Matthews (Con), a member of the European Parliament Environment Committee, told the conference: 'I hope people will be convinced over the safety of GM foods in the future.

'But we need to have a full and frank exchange of different views and opinions, and that means inviting the public to discuss the issue on a wider scale.'

'We have been reminded that the FDA in America spotted the dangers of thalidomide before it was produced in Europe. Maybe we should listen to them when they say GM is safe for people to eat.'

Mr. Riley of the Friends of the Earth said: 'In the US the use of GM crops is like the old Henry Ford adage, you can have any food so long as it's black.

'Farming conditions in North America are completely different to over here and it's ridiculous to say that if it works there it'll work in Britain.

'They have hundreds of miles between plantations, with low risk of contamination between GM and organic crops. This country is like one huge nature reserve and the growing of GM crops will greatly affect other crops.

'Neither in America or over here has anyone ever given any real reason for GM crops and Dr. Scanes' comments are pure speculation.

'He has no sufficient evidence for any benefits whatsoever and so cannot justify why we should be spending so much money on them.'

He added that the majority of people in Britain were saying no to GM crops and so had put a stop to any substantial market for the foods.

Yesterday's meeting came only four days after environmental campaigners threatened to take legal action to prevent new GM trials taking place around the Midlands.

Last week Greenpeace activists accused the Government of flouting planning laws by allowing GM oilseed rape to be planted in 25 fields across the country - including three in Warwickshire, one in Worcestershire and one in Gloucestershire.

GM crops are already planted at 49 farms around Britain as part of a three year project. GM champion: Dr. Colin Scanes, head of the plant sciences institute of Iowa University in America, at the National Agricultural Centre, in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.