Genetically Modified Food.

Farmers have been making hybrids of food plants for very many years by selective breeding. Nowadays they can introduce genes from different species into our plants to produce desirable qualities like drought or pest resistance. Most European countries have banned this but the USA have introduced it and it increases crop production considerably. What is your view ? http://www.newsdaily.com/article/30e...ed-food-debate

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

I find it quite worrying, making things pesticide resistant could mean we get a strain of plants that cannot be stopped, anyone dealt with Japanese knotweed will know how awful that can be.

Looking at how rape seed plants escape and get into hedge rows and gardens, make them resistant to pests and pesticides imagine the consequences !

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

Do you mean weedkiller Julie ? Surely resistance to pests is a good thing as the farmers don't have to use chemical sprays.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

I think healthy plants can take a hit from quite few pests before it becomes a problem, so over use of pesticides doesn't need to happen. If we alter the balance of nature, those pests are food to some other creatures we could start something we cannot control.

Weed killer too (which I had got mixed up with pesticides ) is over used in farming today.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

Well the way the population is growing: "He said world food production will need to increase by 60 percent to meet the demands of 9 billion by 2050. ", something will need to be done about increasing the amount of food available - yields.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

Or stop some of that expansion of the human race, we can't/don't/won't feed a lot of people now it will only get worse if we don't put a halt to it sometime.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

Absolutely

Or maybe introduce a cull

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

Not sure I would suggest a cull but we have enough ways to prevent pregnancies we should be able to work with that.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

I believe there is enough food to go around if some people weren't so wasteful. There needs to be a way of sharing it with those who need it. Are there still grain mountains etc? There's an awful lot of fish thrown back in the sea.

Re: Genetically Modified Food.

What a good idea but how? Perhaps based on population density? Say we obliterate all countries with more than 200 people per square kilometre.

Gee, that gives the rest of us a lot of space to move into. All of Europe, India, Pakistan suddenly became vacant and we still have China to sell all our resources to.

Brilliant idea, love it.