A pre-eminent Australian crop scientist and the former head of the world wheat breeding centre has launched a scathing attack on green groups opposed to the wider use of genetically modified crops, accusing them of scientific hypocrisy. Tony Fischer queried yesterday why “irrational minority groups” were prepared to accept scientific evidence that climate change was occurring, but ignored or refuted the science that backs GM crops as completely safe to grow and consume.
Dr Fischer, an honorary fellow with CSIRO Plant Industry division and former director of the international wheat and maize centre in Mexico, said GM varieties of maize, soybean, cotton, lucerne, sugarbeet and canola were now grown on 150 million hectares of land around the world without posing any problems to health. He praised the federal government for moving to encourage community acceptance and fast-track the planting of more genetically modified crops in Australia in the effort to meet growing food demand.
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View the original article here: Scientist lashes ‘irrational’ green groups for hypocrisy over GM crops
