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World Needs GM Crops, Says UN Food Chief

According to the Financial Times, Jacques Diouf, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) gave genetically-modified (GM) organisms his backing on Wednesday, saying new plant and animal varieties were needed to feed a burgeoning world population.

"We cannot deprive ourselves of the potential to have crops that require less pesticide, need less nitrogen and phosphorus to grow and offer poor people improved nutrition, whether added vitamins or oligoelements. We need to take all the necessary precautions to protect human health and the environment. But in the long term, I believe this is a vital tool in the fight against hunger." Diouf said.

He said the FAO was setting up a special "ethics committee" to study human dimensions raised by GM agriculture, but he was wary of a proposal, due to be discussed in Japan, to create a broad-based international panel to collate latest scientific thinking on GM products, warning this should not attempt to replicate the role played by Codex Alimentarius.

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