Cunningham at odds with arable experts over GM trials

THE sharp divide on GM crops was to the fore when environment minister Roseanna Cunningham addressed a meeting of top arable farmers yesterday.

Cunningham's speech followed a decision by the European Commission to approve the first ever GM potato variety, the first genetically modified crop to win EC approval in 12 years.

In her address to the annual meeting of Scottish Agronomy in Perth, she praised the breeding work done by the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Blairgowrie, saying research and development were central to government plans to increase food production.

But while she accepted the need to use molecular markers to help improve the efficiency of plant breeding in getting better varieties to market, she said she had great difficulty accepting the need for open field trials of GM cultivars.

The issue of containment was still unresolved, she said.

However, former NFU Scotland president Sandy Inverarity took her to task saying he understood the point of banning genetic modification across species but not within a species.

"If we were allowed to do this, then we could cut costs and improve our efficiency," he said.

But Cunningham was not persuaded, saying GM organisms could be compared to "magic beans", of which the consequences were neither understood nor controllable.

Hardly a day went past, she said without someone contacting her about the negative consequences of permitting GM crops to be grown in Scotland.

John Picken, the convener of the combinable crops committee of NFU Scotland asked if there was any way she would allow a field trial, saying if there were issues with security she could bolster regulations.

But Cunningham flatly rejected this argument saying:

"This is not the right way to go in the short, medium or even long term."

The meeting then heard from Dr Thomas-Axel Stenske, of agri-chemical firm BASF, who revealed the company's starch rich potato variety had just won EC approval. Around 2.5 million tonnes of potatoes are processed into starch each year in the EU, but none in Scotland or England.

Most of the starch extracted from the crop is used in the paper industry where it produces a glossy sheen to basic paper. It is also used in the oil industry.

"Everyone will benefit from this variety," said Stenske. He claimed the GM potato would demand a higher price, with his company taking a share of a projected 100 million uplift in the industry.

Stenske also revealed the company was trialling another variety of GM potato called Fortuna.

It takes genes from a wild Mexican variety which was found to have resistance to blight. The genes were transferred into a normal variety to produce Fortuna.

Classical breeders have tried to hybridise this mix, but have always been frustrated by the negative aspects that can come through with random breeding processes.

During the wet summer of 2007, Stenske said some potato growers in the Netherlands had to spray more than 20 times to keep late blight at bay and even in a normal year, the average in Scotland could be well into double figures.

With the massive reduction in spray costs, he estimated that growers could save an average of 789 per hectare and achieve better yields with no crop loss. "It is better for humans, better for animals and the environment."

He rejected concerns that there could be a breakdown in resistance if the organism which causes late blight changed its molecular make-up.