Is it time to relax the restrictions on growing genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe? Owen Paterson, the UK Environment Secretary believes so. He is expected to talk about the issue in a speech next week saying that if we don’t embrace this technology we will be left behind in terms of agricultural science.
According to the UK newspaper, the Independent, 61% of UK farmers say they would like to grow GM crops following the extremely bad weather of the last 12 months and the effect it has had on crop yields.
Ministers hope that by starting a dialogue within Europe they can have the regulations relaxed for GM based science. But with a consumer survey from YouGov in the UK stating 35% of people opposed to GM technology and only 21% supporting it, there is still a way to go to convince the people that the technology is safe.