GM Foods Update

After a long hiatus, GM crops are being sown in Europe. In March, it was reported that a GM potato crop, the Amflora crop had been sown in Sweden and now there is news that the EU has decided to let the individual states decide whether or not to grow GM crops. The GM debate is at an interesting point right now. There is a growing recognition that a world faced with the challenge of feeding an ever increasing population needs to consider all the tools at its disposal. Higher temperatures resulting from global climate change are expected to lower crop yields already diminished due to negative environmental changes.  The food scarcity of the 1960s and 1970s was met by Mexico, India, China and other countries by a revolution in agriculture brought about by the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and high yielding varieties of crops. A second revolution is needed which will avoid the negative impacts of the first and GM foods present a viable alternative. Every country should frame its policy after careful evaluating the health and environmental concerns, access to GM technology for poor farmers, ethical concerns etc but ignoring GM technology is not a viable position anymore.