Will you produce genetically modified potatoes for 2015?

BASF Chemical Company in the UK is applying for a license to develop the first experiments on planting and harvesting genetically modified potatoes. They hope that in 10 years this food will be sold in supermarkets in the country.

Picture 1 of Will you produce genetically modified potatoes for 2015?

(Photo: abc)

BASF said that this type of potato will have extremely high resistance to bacteria, mold in the field and in storage warehouses. So they will not risk being damaged as quickly as normal potatoes. That means the cultivation of this potato variety, farmers will not have to constantly spray fungicides in the fields as they do.

But environmental researchers say consumers will not want to use this type of potato, even though it eliminates the risk of chemical poisoning.

The broken disease in potatoes has caused famine in Ireland and many other countries. Two types of genes in wild potatoes have been found to be able to give potatoes good resistance, preventing them from being damaged. And the only way to put these two genes into the current potato varieties is by using genetic modification.

According to BASF, if this type of potato is widely propagated, farmers will not lose about 50 million pounds (about 1,250 billion VND) of damage every year because the potato is damaged.

The first tests will be carried out in the near future in two regions: Cambridgeshire and Derbyshire.

BASF is looking forward to the prospect of genetically modified potatoes, but recently, Claire Oxborough, from the " Friends of the Earth " organization, said: " There will not be any stores. Who sells this kind of potatoes Customers don't accept them . " She added: " If this test is to be implemented, in the future, people will surely spoil all lost crops."