Prospect of blight-resistant crop receives guarded welcome

Teagasc’s GM potato trials can help counter blight and combat projected world hunger, says Tipperary farmer Tommy Cooke.

Primarily a dairy farmer, Mr Cooke’s own small potato crop was destroyed by blight caused by this year’s flooding. He welcomes the EPA’s decision to approve Teagasc’s state-controlled trial into GM strain of blight-resistant potatoes.

“My own crop was destroyed this year,” said Mr Cooke, an ICMSA council member and a Teagasc board member. “I have an organic kitchen garden that I try to maintain in a sustainable way. It was impossible to control the blight in this year’s terrible weather.