The Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc) in Ireland is applying for a licence to test the impact of GM potatoes to determine the potential impact this technology could have on ecosystems.
Teagasc says research has shown that GM potatoes that are resistant to late blight would be require less fungicide so the environment would benefit and farmers would save money.
Dr Ewen Mullins, a researcher at Teagasc, said: “It is not enough to simply look at the benefits without also considering the potential costs. We need to investigate whether there are long term impacts associated with this specific GM crop and critically we need to gauge how the late blight disease itself responds.
“This is not just a question being asked in Ireland. The same issues are arising across Europe.”
The company said the organism which causes late blight disease destroyed the Irish potato crop in the 1840s, sparking the Great Famine, a still remains a real threat.
It said that more aggressive strains of the disease have arrived in Ireland in recent years and farmers have had to use more fungicides. It argues this is not sustainable, especially as the EU has introduced new restrictions on the amounts of chemicals that can be used.
In a statement, the company said the debate that has taken place between the proponents and opponents of GM continues to highlight the public’s wish for further, impartial information on the potential impact of GM crops in Ireland.
It said Teagasc will also conduct an outreach programme with stakeholders and the public through focus groups and open days, to facilitate an inclusive and impartial discussion on the issues that most concern people.
Head of crops research in Teagasc John Spink said: “The field study will be isolated from the on-going conventional potato breeding programme that has been successfully running at Oak Park for over 40 years and with no linkage to the biotech industry on this matter, Teagasc are clear that their work is not about testing the commercial viability of GM potatoes.
“The GM study is about gauging the environmental impact of growing GM potatoes in Ireland and monitoring how the pathogen, which causes blight, and the ecosystem reacts to GM varieties in the field over several seasons.”
Teagasc proposes to carry out the research over the next four years at the Teagasc Research Centre in Oak Park, Carlow.
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