Scientist urges GM crops rethink

The GM food industry is worth £2.5bn worldwide

One of Scotland's top agricultural scientists has warned the country will pay a heavy price if it turns its back on genetically modified crops.

No GM food has been grown in Scotland since protests against trials held at three farms in 2003 and 2004.

Professor Howard Davies, from Invergowrie-based Scottish Crop Research Institute, said it made no sense to ignore a whole new industry.

He recently received funding to examine possible side effects of GM.

The new SNP government is opposed to GM crops, and many farmers and environmentalists believe altering the genetic makeup of plants could be dangerous.

Increasingly attractive

But Prof Davies said the GM food industry was worth about $5bn (£2.5bn) worldwide, with more than 100 million hectares of GM crops being grown by 10 million farmers.

He added that it would make no sense for Scotland to snub the technology when there was no evidence that GM food was unsafe.

Prof Davies said: "The fear is understandable because it has been fuelled by a lot of misinformation over the years.

"We are now entering the 11th year after the first introduction of GM crops worldwide and so far there has been no indication of any safety issues, either to humans, animals or the environment.

"Having said that, no technology is risk free - even traditional breeding has its issues from time to time."

Prof Davies predicted GM crops would become increasingly attractive to Scottish farmers because of the challenges posed to the industry by climate change and the need to use more pesticides.

He added: "The fact that we in Scotland are not using the technologies will have its price to pay."

What Scotland needs for its economic success is a reputation as an unspoiled environment Duncan McLaren Friends of the Earth

Prof Davies has been awarded a share in a £400,000 project to develop new techniques to track the side effects of GM.

Duncan McLaren of environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth accused Prof Davies of having a "vested interest" in championing the safety of GM crops.

Mr McLaren said: "There are a whole host of vested interests in the GM business so I am not surprised to hear another one putting their head above the parapet.

"What Scotland needs for its economic success is a reputation as an unspoiled environment."

Environment Minister Mike Russell said the Scottish government would be standing by its pre-election commitment to a GM-free country, as was the case in countries like Ireland and Austria.

He warned that rushing into using GM simply because other countries were doing so would be the "height of folly" because of the potential threat to the environment.

Mr Russell said: "Scotland has to be very careful indeed. There are huge issues of Scottish biodiversity and indeed the health of the whole Scottish environment at risk here.

"The SNP stood on a manifesto which was for a moratorium on GM crops and that is entirely what we believe in."