Australia needs GM crops to meet global food demand

 

 

Australian farmers will need to increase use of genetically-modified crops to meet an expected surge in food demand in coming decades, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said Friday.

 

The United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organisation expects the world's human population to rise to 9.1 billion in 2050 from 6.7 billion now, which - given increasing income growth and urbanisation - would require a 70-percent increase in global farm production.

 

"On the face of it, it's an impossible equation. The only way we can meet what the world will demand is by following every possible path of scientific research," he said in a statement. "I don't see how anyone can mount a moral argument against genetically modified food when we're facing these sorts of projections on global hunger."

 

Burke made his comments on World Food Day, which marks the date the FAO was founded in 1945.

 

In Australia, commercial production of GM canola is approved in New South Wales and Victoria and its uptake by farmers is growing rapidly. Western Australia is trialing it this cropping season, while commercial production of GM canola is banned in South Australia.

 

Nearly all Australia's cotton is grown from GM seed, with cottonseed a major input to Australia's dairy industry as livestock feed.

 

Separately, Australian Food & Grocery Council Chief Executive Kate Carnell said the lobby supports the use of GM technology to boost production of crops.

 

The council supports labeling that states whether the food contains GM ingredients, because some consumers don't want to eat GM foods, she said.

 

"But the vast majority of people are quite comfortable" with GM ingredients in food, she told reporters.

 

Meanwhile, one of Australia's biggest grain companies, GrainCorp Ltd., has bids to buy both GM canola and non-GM canola at various sites in eastern Australia, Corporate Affairs Manager David Ginns said by telephone.

 

AWB Ltd. Corporate Affairs General Manager Peter McBride said customers in some international markets are willing to buy GM canola, as are some smaller domestic customers, and if a customer wants GM canola, the company - one of Australia's grain exporters - will aim to supply it.

 

"It will be purely driven by customer demand," he said.

 

Unease about GM canola has discouraged big buyers, namely Cooperative Bulk handling Ltd. and Elders Ltd., "in recognition of the market sensibilities of their European and Japanese customers," The Land weekly newspaper reported.