GM Crops: 10 Million Farmers Already Using Biotech Crops
Checkbiotech
July 30, 2007
Here's an excerpt from an article about a new Australian publication intended to inform each side of the biotechnology debate of recent biotechnology advances. The report states that millions of farmers around the world use gm crops…
There are 10 million farmers around the world using genetically modified crops, according to a new publication released by Australia's peak grains research body aimed at informing the contentious biotechnology debate.
Launched at the Agriculture Australia conference in Melbourne, FutureCrop is from the the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
It explores recent biotechnology advances and investigates developments overseas, where more than 10 million farmers have found ready markets for genetically modified crops.
GRDC managing director, Peter Reading, said his organisation had closely monitored the biotechnology debate and was aware of industry positions that favour and oppose GM.
"FutureCrop provides a snapshot of arguments that define the GM debate, and demonstrates that both GM and conventional non-GM pathways have important roles to ensure our grains industries – and their communities – remain viable," Mr Reading said.
Using GM and non-GM processes, biotechnology provides opportunities to produce higher-value crops with health and industrial benefits, and to mitigate economic and environmental challenges such as climate change.
"Biotechnology has equipped breeders with molecular markers to identify desired gene combinations early in the breeding cycle, making crop improvements through conventional breeding more efficient," Mr Reading said.
"It also has produced the tools to potentially further enhance breeding through genetic modification by broadening the range of traits that are available to breeders and by offering these traits in a format that can be readily implemented."
However, while Australian breeders have embraced molecular markers as a routine breeding tool, Mr Reading said they were not making use of GM technologies because there is no clear path to market in Australia for GM.
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Full article at Checkbiotech.
