AFTER years of heated debate and bitter wrangling, farmers in the UK may be planting their first commercial genetically modified crop within months.
On Tuesday, the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) gave a provisional go-ahead to planting of weedkiller-resistant GM maize. The panel gave its advice after assessing the results of the four-year farm-scale trials into the environmental impact of modified crops. If the government accepts ACRE’s findings, GM maize could be sown this spring.
However, modified beet and oilseed rape will not be planted any time soon. ACRE concludes that the crops as grown in the…
