Denying farmers the chance to grow genetically modified wheat is
causing people in the developing world to die from starvation, the head of a
global wheat research institute has told the news agency Reuters.
Resistance from public and consumer groups in rich countries to GM
wheat has forced major wheat producers, such as Australia, the United States
and Canada, to steer away from growing it.

But GM crops can boost yields and help poor countries feed their
people at a time of food shortages and rising world prices, Thomas Lumpkin,
head of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), said.

?Governments should try to help the public appreciate how much the
high price of food affects the poor in developing countries,? he told
Reuters. ?By denying them this technology, you are keeping them hungry, they
are dying.?

Countries that banned genetically modified crops were being
short-sighted and ?pandering to the fears of voters,? he said.
No commercial GM wheat is currently grown in the world due to the
strong opposition by consumer and environmental groups. But several biotech
crop developers, including Monsanto and Syngenta, have researched GM wheat
with herbicide or disease-resistant traits


by Mike Abram


www.checkbiotech.org