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Agricultural researchers were surprised and disappointed by the anti-GM information released by the Western Australian Greens last week. The release followed petitions presented to parliament last year, and outlined plans for the Greens, with Labour support, to move a disallowance motion in the Upper House.

Professor Peter Gregg, Chief Scientist at the Cotton Cooperative Research Centre (Cotton CRC) said, if the level of scientific understanding among the petitioners was indicated by the arguments put forward by Greens MLC Paul Lllewellyn, the WA Government would be well advised to discount their advice.
Professor Gregg has 30 years of research experience in cotton pest management, much of it with GM cotton (though he is not associated with GM companies). From that perspective he offers the following facts to counter the allegations made towards GM crops especially GM cotton”, he said:

Allegation: “Potential adverse health impacts when GM products enter the food chain”
Fact: GM crops are among the most thoroughly tested food products in history. They have been used for nearly 15 years, and are now grown on over 125 million hectares in 23 countries, by 8 million farmers. 43% of the world’s cotton is transgenic, as is 64% of its soybeans and 24% of its maize. There have been no credible reports of adverse effects on human health. Mr. Llewellyn does not mention that Bt toxin is a natural component of soil – the organism which produces it is a soil-dwelling bacterium, which can be found in almost all soil and that the most sustained human exposure to Bt toxin in the food chain is not through GM crops but through Bt sprays, which have been widely used in organic farming and home gardening for many decades – again with no documented ill effects.

Allegation: “Scientific evidence does not support the claims made by GM advocates that GM crops use less chemicals”
Fact: A recent review by a senior CSIRO scientist concluded that Bt crops had reduced insecticide use in every country in the world where they were introduced, by 25-85%. In Australian cotton the reduction is 85%.

Allegation: “Research shows that caterpillars are developing resistance to it.”
Fact: While insects can develop resistance to Bt (as to all toxins, including the synthetic insecticides GM cotton is replacing, and the natural insecticides in organic preparations), there is only one case of control failure with Bt in the field. That case is with an organic Bt spray, not a GM crop. A recent review by US university scientists, published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, concluded that the stringent resistance management procedures which accompany Bt crops have contained resistance, around the world.

Allegation: “CSIRO research shows that GM cotton continually secretes Bt toxins into the soil”
Fact: CSIRO research does show that Bt cotton can secrete Bt toxin into the soil. What is not mentioned is that further CSIRO research shows that this release is transient, and has no detectable effects on soil biology.

Allegation: “The issue of secondary pests emerging is a major problem … these pests will require more chemical insecticides to control and so the initial reason to use the GM product is being defeated”.
Fact: GM crops do not control all pests, so some are emerging from under the pesticide blanket which previously covered cotton crops. This is not unexpected, and not directly due to GM crops. It is due to the very reduction in chemical use that Mr. Llewellyn claims does not exist! The damage caused by these pests is minor compared to that caused by the pests which are controlled by Bt, and there is ample evidence that the problems are being adequately managed, with no significant increase in chemical use in Australia.

“I can produce scientific references to back up all these statements. I urge the WA Government and the people of WA, to base decisions relating to GM crops on science, not on claims which lack scientific substance”.

“GM crops are not the solution to all agricultural problems, but they will be a crucial element in meeting the world’s future food security challenges, and in enabling WA farmers to remain competitive on the world stage. Extensive research conducted by the Cotton Cooperative Research Centre for a decade has clearly shown that GM will be essential if a cotton industry is to be developed in the Ord River”, said Professor Gregg.

GM cotton is becoming widely adopted around the world, and Australian farmers now grow 90% GM. It has enabled them to remain competitive, and to produce export income for Australia with less potential environmental damage than existed a decade ago.

“I would have hoped that the Greens would applaud this, not condemn it” concluded Professor Gregg.

For Further Information please contact Professor Peter Gregg on 02 6799 2451 or 0427 727 931