GM Crops Good for Swedish Farm Economy

There is no cultivation of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in Sweden today but prospects for future cultivation look good. According to a recent report from the Swedish Institute for Food and Agricultural Economics (SLI), cultivating GM crops would be economically profitable for Swedish farmers. SLI is a government agency commissioned to carry out economic analyses within the fields of agriculture, foods and fishing.

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Debate on GM food becoming a political fight

The genetically modified (GM) food issue continues to raise its head, with the result that more and more public comment comes along. In principle, public comment is good, but public comment should not intrude deeper into the issue than the public can comprehend, or than it is able to add value. For example, if there is public comment on heart transplants, that is good – if the comment is about the ethics of transplants, and which hospitals should be equipped to handle such work.

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Southern Africa: GMO Products Spread in SADC - Study

GENETICALLY Modified Organism products and seed are fast spreading into most Southern African countries which lack the technological capacity to screen and detect GMOs, a new study has revealed.

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GM potato crop trial approved

Biotech firm BASF has been given permission to grow genetically modified potatoes at a farm near Hull. It will use a one-hectare site between Preston and Hedon, east of Hull, to grow up to 45,000 GM potatoes a year until 2011. A petition signed by 600 people has expressed concerns, including the risk of GM potatoes cross-pollinating with non-GM crops.

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India: GM potato to reduce blight disease

Introduction of genetically modified potato seeds would reduce damages due to occurrence of the blight disease, said a senior scientist at the Shimla-based Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI).

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India: Supreme Court lifts 8-month ban on field trials of GM crops

One of the riders for conducting future field trials would require the company to disclose a detailed report of the toxicity and allergenicity of the GM-crops being cultivated.

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GM crops trials return to UK farms

Trials of genetically modified crops are taking place again in the UK three years after being abandoned over ecological concerns. A crop of GM potatoes was planted last weekend and a report commissioned by the Government calls for a change in the way agriculture is regulated in the UK.

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