POTATO IS AN EXAMPLE OF NEEDED GM VARIETIES
Published online: Aug 07, 2013
Potato Storage, Potato Harvesting, Herbicide, Irrigation, Fertilizer, Insecticide, Fungicide, Seed Potatoes, Potato Equipment
Rich Keller, Editor, Ag Professional
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At least one conventional crop breeder and even an organic farmer consider genetically modified crops worth being allowed on the market. The example is GMO potatoes that aren't registered because of opposition to GMO foods, even though they could help reduce the use of pesticides and save a higher percentage of potatoes against diseases and insects.
The distaste for Monsanto Company's original monopoly of GMO crops and its early business practices have fueled much of the world's ant-GMO protests and regulations against GMO crops, according to a lengthy article written by Amy Maxmen that appears on www.pbs.org.
Worldwide huge amounts of pesticides are used to grow and store potatoes, and there is no doubt about it that GMO potatoes with genetic trait resistance to insects and disease would reduce the amount of pesticide put into the environment and reduce pesticide residue concerns on foods being consumed-especially in third-world countries.
Walter DeJong, a potato breeder and geneticist at Cornell University, who isn't a real fan of Monsanto, contends GM potatoes, such as those being developed in Indonesia to resist potato blight, make sense, and should be registered. Maxmen quoted DeJong as saying, the potato's future is uncertain because of politics, rather than faulty science. "I worry that when the Indonesian government nears its approval, Greenpeace will invade with a lot of money and a lot of PR stunts. The questions is, what happens then?"
http://www.agprofessional.com/newsletters/agpro-weekly/articles/Potato-is-an-example-of-needed-GM-varieties-217370271.html