According to the position of many experts, agriculture across the
world is facing a trend reversal: Global food stocks are nearly used up,
climate change can lead to significant yield losses in certain regions and
the prices for staple foods are rising worldwide.
In addition, competition between the cultivation of renewable raw
materials (fuel, synthetics, etc.) and the production of foods keeps
increasing.



To feed the ever growing world population, existing areas should be
cultivated more efficiently. A further expansion of agricultural areas,
according to expert opinion, would inevitably be at the expense of
subnatural areas, which are essential to the preservation of biodiversity on
our planet.



In this situation the question is which technologies could contribute
towards solving these problems, which are socially accepted and which ?
based on scientific findings ? are suitable from a technological and
long-term ecological aspect.



GMO Compass cannot and does not want to give definitive answers to
these questions. Obviously we, as editors of GMO Compass, had the recent
polls on this subject in mind when we decided to initiate an online survey
regarding food security and environmental protection. A survey carried out
by Emnid in Germany shows that the reservations against agricultural genetic
engineering were reduced if the global food crisis was eased through GM
plants. Subsequently, 56% of the respondents were prepared to eat
genetically modified plants if the global food situation could be improved
thereby.



With a quick survey on the European consumer portal GMO Compass, we
wanted to capture the opinions on this subject on a larger scale. We asked
whether European agriculture should make use of all available technologies ?
including genetic engineering and biotechnology ? if negative effects on the
environment could be ruled out and positive effects on world nutrition were
possible as a result. Of the 5435 ballots cast in the past 5 days, 83.9%
voted for the utilisation of all technologies.



Regarding the question whether genetically modified plants should at
least be taken into consideration as an option to achieving an increase in
yields and yield stability possible whilst protecting the environment at the
same time was supported by the majority of participants (84.3%). Equally,
plants should ? in principle ? be adapted to environmental conditions, as
for example drought, or improved in respect of their nutrition-physiological
qualities. Only 10.5% voted against this option.



From emails received in response to our survey, it was apparent that
the subject agricultural genetic engineering ? as a building block to an
improved world nutrition and a reduction of environmental impact ? continues
to require intense social discussion.



Questions, such as "Is genetic engineering an acceptable option" or
"Which specific applications of genetic engineering in agriculture may find
consensus" will play a crucial role in these future discussions.



The survey is certainly not representative enough and merely gave us a
momentary picture of public opinion. However, we do see evidence that the
mood is changing. People are aware of global challenges and the need to
react to them appropriately.



What is the editorial team of GMO-Compass planning on the website
www.gmo-compass.org in the future?



GMO Compass will accompany and stimulate the discussions on
GM-technologies in Europe . We will pick up and mirror scientifically proven
facts in biotechnology and genetically modified plants, but we also will pay
strong attention to risks, threats and misgivings ? whether real or as
perceived by the public.



GMO-Compass will provide an arena in which to show and report on
results and proven findings of scientists. We strongly believe that public
interest and scientific findings need to be interconnected to adequately
support the process of social decision making.



We, the GMO Compass team, would like to thank all participants in the
snapshot poll. The strong response to our "quick survey" overwhelmed us.


[www.gmo-compass.org]