GM Potatoes to Be Grown in Ireland by Teagasc :The GM Debate

[Holly]

It baffles me how easy it is to frighten Irish people with all kinds of implausible scenarios just to stop criticism. The politicians are adept at it and so are the present-day Luddites.
One lesson the Irish should have learned a long time ago is that the organic potato deserves no loyalty from us to preserve it naturalness with all its weakness to disease. It more than decimated our people already. Anything that improves its taste, health, appearance, and value has my vote. And as for the argument that gourmet foreigners wont buy them ... heck who cares, they don't as it is and we import potatoes from all over the place, even the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.


Tommy loves when his mother prepares GM potatoes.

[Jolly Green Giant]

Crops of potatoes here though are resistant to blight as they are crossed with strong strains or treated with copper sulphate. There is the chance of a rogue gene escaping into the wild but what effect would this have? It would be negligble as it would have to be something that would effectively be dangerous and cross contaminate in big numbers. Industrialisation is already interfering in the evolution of animals and plants in the world as things stand (see the peppered moth as a classic example of how pollution changed its evolution). GM crops have a lot of potential, they do need safe guards but there is too much hysteria over how dangerous they are.

Can you tell me the potato varieties?

[fluffybiscuits]

Can you tell me the potato varieties?

To be honest myself I dont know off hand, I can only go based on what I read

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/New...125369103.html

Scientist were able to match up the 12 chromosomes that combined create the potato genome. With that information breeders are able to create different varieties of the crop that are resistant to pesticides as well as making the potato more nutritious

Of course Jolly Green Giant I am open to correction

[Jolly Green Giant]

To be honest myself I dont know off hand, I can only go based on what I read


Of course Jolly Green Giant I am open to correction

I suggest you read some horticulture papers. I am a farmer(an actual farmer not a wolly jumper allotment gardener) and your original post suggested that we had blight resistant varieties already. We don't, we have varieties that are resistant to some forms of late blight but the bacteria continues to develop into new strains faster than conventional breeders can keep up. So even spraying copper sulphate, I still experience blight especially in mid harvest due to harvest interval unless I burn the crop tops off.

I am all for GM technology because

• pesticides continue to increase the costs on Irish farmers,
• increases the risk of environmental damage from ever more pesticide usage
• the licencing system for pesticides is very restrictive on Irish farmers compared to other countries that have a broader grower base.

Other GM developments into food plants abilities to produce there own nitrogen as legumes already naturally do, will vastly reduce farmers fertilizers costs and the pollution of Irish waterways from run off.

Its no surprise that the main professional farmers objecting to this are organic farmers based in that great bread basket of Ireland, Leitrim. The real farmers that feed the Irish population remain silent because they fear that their crops will be damaged by anti GM that have little knowledge of the Irish Food Industry and Farming.

[fluffybiscuits]

I suggest you read some horticulture papers. I am a farmer(an actual farmer not a wolly jumper allotment gardener) and your original post suggested that we had blight resistant varieties already. We don't, we have varieties that are resistant to some forms of late blight but the bacteria continues to develop into new strains faster than conventional breeders can keep up. So even spraying copper sulphate, I still experience blight especially in mid harvest due to harvest interval unless I burn the crop tops off.

I am all for GM technology because

• pesticides continue to increase the costs on Irish farmers,
• increases the risk of environmental damage from ever more pesticide usage
• the licencing system for pesticides is very restrictive on Irish farmers compared to other countries that have a broader grower base.

Other GM developments into food plants abilities to produce there own nitrogen as legumes already naturally do, will vastly reduce farmers fertilizers costs and the pollution of Irish waterways from run off.

Its no surprise that the main professional farmers objecting to this are organic farmers based in that great bread basket of Ireland, Leitrim. The real farmers that feed the Irish population remain silent because they fear that their crops will be damaged by anti GM that have little knowledge of the Irish Food Industry and Farming.

Any links I can read (as in papers etc) will have a read of them

[Jolly Green Giant]

Any links I can read (as in papers etc) will have a read of them

I will post when I break the stupid 10 post rule that prevents links.

[C. Flower]

I will post when I break the stupid 10 post rule that prevents links.

You should have stuck around.

[C. Flower]

There is some pretty bad GM news coming through these days - the BBC is reporting that "superweeds" - exactly as predicted by anti-GM people from day one - have become an enormous problem in the States.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19594335

Was also reading last week ready of a limited study associating raised cancer rates in rats fed on some GM foods.

Will hunt for a link on this.

I believe that the legal challenges in Ireland have failed ?

[Jolly Green Giant]

There is some pretty bad GM news coming through these days - the BBC is reporting that "superweeds" - exactly as predicted by anti-GM people from day one - have become an enormous problem in the States.



Was also reading last week ready of a limited study associating raised cancer rates in rats fed on some GM foods.

Will hunt for a link on this.

I believe that the legal challenges in Ireland have failed ?

Is that the same study that was doing the rounds on boards.ie? The one that pointed out it was published in 2009 and involved feeding herbicide directly to the rats?

[MediaBite]

The debate about GM is over - it has to be halted right now. That's all there is to it. No matter how shrill its exponents become they have been proved comprehensively wrong.

http://www.naturalnews.com/037262_GM...to_debate.html

[C. Flower]

Is that the same study that was doing the rounds on boards.ie? The one that pointed out it was published in 2009 and involved feeding herbicide directly to the rats?

Would you like to post a link to the study ? We could take a look at it and form an opinion on its credibility.

We all consume a certain amount of unwanted additives on food. I had a dose of Aldicarb on Irish cucumbers a few years back. Not an experience I would like to repeat.

[fluffybiscuits]

The debate about GM is over - it has to be halted right now. That's all there is to it. No matter how shrill its exponents become they have been proved comprehensively wrong.

http://www.naturalnews.com/037262_GM...to_debate.html

Not having a pop at you but have seen that site before, look at the following article about the Aurora gunman

http://www.naturalnews.com/036536_Ja...alse_flag.html

There is already conjecture that James Holmes may have been involved in mind-altering neuroscience research and ended up becoming involved at a depth he never anticipated. His actions clearly show a strange detachment from reality, indicating he was not in his right mind. That can only typically be accomplished through drugs, hypnosis or trauma (and sometimes all three).

A site which promotes natural foods is not going to be exactly impartial is it...

[Jolly Green Giant]

Would you like to post a link to the study ? We could take a look at it and form an opinion on its credibility.

We all consume a certain amount of unwanted additives on food. I had a dose of Aldicarb on Irish cucumbers a few years back. Not an experience I would like to repeat.

Sure, what was the study reference you were referring to? Who were the authors?

[C. Flower]

Sure, what was the study reference you were referring to? Who were the authors?

I'm asking you to provide a link to the one you referred to, that was linked over at Boards.ie.

I'll provide the one I mentioned.

[Jolly Green Giant]

I'm asking you to provide a link to the one you referred to, that was linked over at Boards.ie.

I'll provide the one I mentioned.

Still waiting for you provide that link.

http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm