GMO wheat could solve food crisis

WHEAT genetically modified to tolerate drought would boost crop yields and may help the world resolve a food crisis, an Australian state researcher said.

Australia, forecast to be the third-biggest exporter of the grain, is developing a modified wheat that could be released on the global market in five to 10 years, said German Spangenberg, executive director at Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre. Adoption of GMO wheat, not grown commercially by global producers, is inevitable for food security, he said.

The World Bank has warned record prices of wheat, rice and corn could push 100 million people deeper into poverty and provoke civil unrest in more than 30 countries.