WESSEX
NLP PRAISES HAMPSHIRE SEED MERCHANT
New GM-free Soya variety tested for UK production by Bishops Waltham company
Wessex News Release
February 1998
Joint venture with University of London
Rosemary Barry, Natural Law Party candidate in the 1997 Winchester by-election, has welcomed the development of a new variety of Soya bean suitable for growing in UK conditions. The new variety is being tested by Hampshire seed merchant Robin Appel Ltd of Bishops Waltham in conjunction with Wye agricultural college, part of the University of London. Unlike large portions of the crop grown in the United States the new variety is not genetically engineered and is therefore likely to find a premium market in Europe.
The new variety has been on trial in Hampshire and is proving suitable for the colder conditions found in the United Kingdom. With Soya not grown as a commercial crop in the UK since the war the new variety represents something of a breakthrough in domestic agriculture, particularly as the impending reform of the Common Agricultural Policy means that Hampshire’s farmers will need to look to new sources of income in order to maintain the viability of their holdings.
The timing of the new UK Soya variety is particularly fortunate as it is ideally suited to supply the rapidly developing global market for non-genetically modified Soya. 60% of supermarket processed foods contain Soya, mostly imported from the United States. 40% of this year’s US Soya crop will be genetically engineered so that it is resistant to Monsanto’s total herbicide "Roundup".
Emerging market
Because of growing concern across the whole of Europe about the unknown long-term consequences of genetically modified (GM) crops for consumer health and the environment, food processors and retailers are now trying to hunt down non-genetically modified Soya on international markets. Members of the UK Federation of Master Bakers currently source non-modified Soya from Canada, but the new variety being tested by Robin Appel means that this demand could now be supplied on a fully traceable basis by arable farmers in Hampshire and elsewhere in the UK .
A boost for sustainable agriculture and economic competitiveness
According to Rosemary Barry, "Robin Appel’s work in this area represents an ideal opportunity for farmers to diversify their cropping and obtain added-value premiums for their production because of the universally recognised safety of natural soya varieties compared to the genetically modified crops now being imported from the US. Those of us who are concerned about food safety and the environment are very grateful to Robin Appel and Wye College for the work they are doing in this area."
"There is also a growing realisation amongst the farming community that keeping UK agriculture free from genetically modified crops is opening new markets for premium value produce rather than hindering the economic competitiveness of UK farmers as the large Biotechnology and Agrochemical companies have been trying to suggest," adds Mrs Barry.
Farmers and Government advisors oppose genetically modified crops
Recognising that the introduction of genetically modified crops could do irreparable damage to the future viability of European agriculture, members of the second largest farmers union in the Aquitaine region of France last month raided seed stocks of genetically modified maize belonging to the Swiss biotechnology giant Novartis and destroyed the entire consignment.
Also last month English Nature, the UK Government’s own advisor on the Nation’s ecology, called for a 3 year moratorium on the growing of genetically modified crops in the UK because of increasing evidence of their damaging effect on the environment and sustainable systems of agriculture such as "integrated crop management" or "ICM".
Data on
global Soya production
Iceland Foods ban all GMOs
Dorchester Guardian on genetically engineered foods
What leading scientists and public figures have said about the
dangers of genetically modified foods
English Nature calls for moratorium
on introduction of gm crops
Wye College Agriculture
Section Home Page
Will GM crops deliver benefits to farmers? - some realities behind
biotechnology myths