Those pesky biotech companies never give up. After recently spinning the line that GM crops can be used to safeguard food production from the ravages of climate change, their latest wheeze is to try and convince us that GM technology can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As reported in today's Guardian:
Money paid by green consumers to offset their flights and by companies that go carbon-neutral will be used to fund the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops under plans drawn up by a US biotechnology company.
Arcadia Biosciences is working with the Chinese government to reward farmers in China that grow the firm's genetically modified (GM) rice, with carbon credits that they can sell for cash.
Agriculture is responsible for around 14 per cent global greenhouse gas emissions, predominently methane and nitrous oxide (N2O) which have a far greater impact than CO2 on climate change. Arcadia claims the strain of GM rice it has developed requires less fertiliser than conventional crops so less N2O is released.
Sigh, yet another techno-fix we don't need. Instead of changing the crops to fit bad farming practices, why not try changing farming practices to fit the crops? As a new report from our international office suggests, there are far more sensible solutions - minimising the use of fertilisers by adopting organic and sustainable farming methods, for instance.
