Genetic engineering in agriculture was best suited to the largescale farming practised in the United States rather than to smaller-scale Irish operations, Mr Quentin Dargan of Genetic Concern told a public meeting on genetically modified organisms last night.
"The agronomic benefits of genetic engineering are more suited to large-scale farms - farms of around 5,000 acres where they can be crop-dusted by plane - rather than to the smaller-scale, less intensive farming we have here in Ireland," he said.
Mr Dargan said the entire genetic engineering technology was going to make Ireland less competitive in world markets and farmers would be better advised to pursue niche markets in Europe for non-genetically engineered food.
"Intensification of farming will make Irish farmers less competitive. We would be better off declaring Ireland a GMO-free zone and pursuing niche markets in Europe. It would make our produce much more attractive in the European market."
Genetic Concern was not satisfied that the genetic engineering technology "was ready to be taken out of the lab and into the supermarket". It was premature to start using the technology to produce food for sale and consumption.
"We would draw parallels with the early years of the nuclear industry when people started building Magnox reactors before fully understanding the side-effects of radiation - again we're using the technology before we understand why it happens."
He cited the case of Tryptho phane - an amino acid - which, when genetically engineered in 1989, proved toxic and killed 37 people and permanently disabled 1,500 in the United States as an example of the danger of premature use of the technology.
Dr Patrick O'Reilly of leading genetic engineering firm Monsan to strongly rejected Mr Dargan's arguments regarding the risks posed by GMOs, saying that GM crops pass through more rigorous testing than any other method of food production.
This included food produced by conventional cropping or indeed organic crop production. "For our GM sugar beet to reach the market, for instance, will involve at national level various competent authorities such as the EPA, the Pesticide Control Service and the Departments of Health, Environment and Agriculture."
Dr O'Reilly said 25,000 field trials in 30 countries on more than 60 crops have shown no adverse effect on human health or the environment. "Globally this year, 75 million acres of GM crops are being grown commercially, all approved and deemed safe." He said it might surprise some people that GMOs were widely used in Ireland in the foods and drinks industry for many years without any adverse effect. Genetic engineering was the sole reason for the availability of vegetarian cheeses, he said.
GM production offered tremendous potential to meet the growing food demands of the world's population, which is predicted to double in the next 30 years, Dr O'Reilly added. While there were some with genuine concerns about GM, there were others who fed on those concerns.
"These are people who cannot mention genetic engineering without mentioning as many other unrelated issues as possible - remember DDT, BSE, dioxin, nuclear war, antibiotic resistance etc. - and they're all Monsanto's fault."
Dr O'Reilly said Ireland should follow the example of Germany where, after an anti-GE campaign five years ago, the government realised the safety records and opportunities offered by GE and pledged to become the leading biotechnology country by 2000.
"Why shouldn't Ireland, for instance, build on its agriculture strength in grassland knowledge or potato-breeding and become a global leader in these fields through using GE?" he asked.
The public meeting - which was organised by the Fine Gael spokeswoman on environmental information and protection, Ms Deirdre Clune - also heard contributions from Dr William Reville, senior lecturer in biochemistry at UCC and cook and broadcaster Ms Darina Allen.
Ms Allen said: "Scientists have got several things wrong in the past, such as producing Thalidomide and DDT, which had dire consequences. If we get this wrong with food, there will be no going back. It will be a global crisis."
