Warning GM plants cause surge in disease-resistant weeds and insects

Genetically modified plants have caused a surge in disease-resistant weeds and insects, warns one leading Irish organic food producer.

Irish Organic Food Growers Association’s (IOFGA) Grace Maher supported her views with statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA), noting that the US alone has used an extra 383 million pounds (c175m kilos) of herbicide in the first 13 years of its cultivation of GM crops.

Ms Maher was speaking in response to an article in Thursday’s Irish Examiner on a UCD conference on GM foods, at which key speakers included UCD’s Professor Jimmy Burke and USDA’s Jack Bebo, a special adviser to Hillary Clinton on biotechnology and global trade issues.