A new food label of ‘organically-grown GM produce’ could open up “futuristic business opportunities for the agriculture industry” and help meet UN Sustainable Development Goals, according to biotechnology experts.
Offering a third option for consumers other than conventional and organic arable farming, such a label would allow the sustainable intensification needed to feed a growing human population, Amjad Husaini and Muhammad Sohail argued in an article in Journal of Biotechnology.
Tackling multiple concerns
Neither ‘business as usual’ or solely organic methods offer a vision of sustainable food production for the coming years, they suggested.
Conventional methods make “disproportionate use” of pesticides and fertilisers, damaging ecosystems and posing health hazards, while organic production suffers losses due to pests and diseases, resulting in lower yields which prompt further global land-use changes to meet growing food demand.
Production under the new approach would use agrochemical-free GM seeds and robotics to minimise pests and diseases while maximising efficiency in the face of a likely continued decrease in available agricultural labour.
The urgency of climate change offers a new opportunity to explore novel ideas such as the modernisation of organic agriculture through the introduction of new technologies and better seeds, the scientists argued.
Addressing GM negativity
“The concept of ‘organically grown GM produce’ is new with ample commercial scope, and, therefore, there is likely to be a lag before this idea is widely accepted and takes commercial roots,” Husaini told Farming Future Food.
“The blanket negativity surrounding GM produce needs to be addressed more clearly and the counter arguments discussing the benefits of GM, such as the avoidance of agrochemicals with known detrimental health and environmental impacts, needs to be put forward in stronger terms.”
Criticism of GM is “largely baseless, artificial and merely commercial,” he said, with the anti-GM lobby using dated arguments which don’t fit current scientific evidence.
“Whether or not the industry takes a leap into this arena remains to be seen, which will largely depend upon how the policy-makers and the general public perceives it,” he noted.
“The consumers opposed to chemical-driven crops but amenable to modern DNA engineering techniques are the likely initial target group for this campaign. This might be the only way forward if GMOs are to be a key part of the future of agriculture.”
Doubts around public acceptance
Helen Hunt, food chain adviser for The National Farmers’ Union, however, is sceptical about whether such a novel certification could catch on.
“Food labelling is required by law to be factual, clearly understood, unambiguous and allow consumers to make an informed decision about the product they are purchasing,” she said.
“Organic farming standards are legally defined, and certification is legally required to produce organic food. One of the principles behind organic production is that it prohibits the use of GM. Therefore, any use of the term organic which does not meet the production standards could be misleading for shoppers.”
