Reports in Australian Cotton Outlook that India is on the cusp of a “White Gold Revolution” have prompted renewed calls from for all Australian farmers to be given the right to participate in the biotech revolution.
India has progressed from an importer of cotton to become the world’s second largest exporter, and in just four years production has risen from 17.9 million bales to 31 million bales in 2007-08 with the help of GM cotton.
NSW Convener of the Australian bioadvocacy group Producers Forum Maree McKay is pleased with the easing of NSW and Victorian moratoria, saying Australian growers will now be able to choose to use the technology.
“Canadian GM canola growers have been benefiting at our expense for over a decade. At last we now have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field,” Mrs McKay said.
“Maybe in a few years time the headlines will be: Australian Farmers Experience Yellow Gold Revolution.”
However South Australian Convener, Heather Baldock, is looking forward to the South Australian government announcing the decision of its moratorium review and enabling South Australian growers to take advantage of the economic gains.
“It is farcical that in an attempt to coerce the state government into keeping the GM moratorium, the anti-GM groups are still publicly stating that GM cotton has been a disaster for Indian farmers. If that’s a disaster, I’ll have it any day,” Ms Baldock.
“In fact the reports from India support the Australian experience where cotton growers have reduced pesticide usage by 85 percent, and increased production of food and fibre with less water, less acreage, and a lower greenhouse footprint.”
A recent report in the New Scientist magazine stated that a new generation of GM crops could reduce greenhouse emissions by more than grounding all the aircraft in the world.
National Convener Jeff Bidstrup, himself a GM cotton grower, said the debate from the opponents of GM canola is at odds with the reality. “We have all been eating GM foods for over a decade with nothing but positive benefits for human health,” Mr Bidstrup said.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Lets hope Jen that Minister Chance follows his peers and unleashes Western Australia’s production potential ASAP. GM – its a no brainer when you consider the sad state of global food stocks and hence rampant food prices. Its not a perfect solution merely part of it, but then again its not a perfect world!
It’s laughable how the anti-GM, anti-nuclear, fanatical and anti-development AGW crowd (who are largely the same mob) try to paint themselves as progressives and their opponents (who are not so consolidated), as luddites.
I had a good read of ‘stuffed and starved’ by Raj Patel. The GM debate appears to be more about patent controls on agriculture than increasing angricultural production.
You sure about that Anthony with a mere 40-45 days of grain left in the world (lowest in modern history outside of wartime only with 6.6 billion people, near record livestock on feed numbers and people’s car gobbling up grain)… couldn’t possibly be about aiding in short term food security as he world adjusts to the higher price paradigm for food.
Aaron, intuitively, I don’t think GM makes sense. All it does it increase our dependance on science to stay one step ahead of nature. I don’t think this is a race that can be won in the long-term. It also concentrates power within the food industry which will only exacerbate supply issues
I think we need to be smarter about how we produce, distribute and consume food, no doubt, but don’t see GM as the answer. I think we need to use our urban infrastructure smarter, decentralise alot of food production.
I don’t have Raj’s book on me (and I know I can’t rely on one ref) but I will try to get to it tonight and go into a bit of details
Its one tool in the toolbox. Its not THE ANSWER. Given breeding has been pursued with the assumption fossil fuel inputs will always be cheap over the last 5 decades, the sudden realisation we been breeding our towards extinction should the oil run thin means we need to be able to change breeding goals and achieve quickly (matter of years not decades as its time we don’t have).
Ultimately we must get across to low input food production systems to remain sustainable when you consider all our inputs are largely fossil fuel based. Conundrum for the world is a likely plummet in food volume output in this low input regime. I agree with decentralisation, Cuba has done it well.
http://www.stuffedandstarved.org/drupal/node/261
Aaron, I think you will find this site interesting – i’ve just linked a GM blog post.