THE NEW South Wales (NSW) Government must seize the opportunities gene technology poses for Australia’s agricultural production base – both in terms of better and more drought-resistant crops, and our long-term economic efficiency and competitiveness on the world stage. The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) says NSW farmers have been ’left behind’ by an international marketplace that has already embraced GM as a safe and viable science. Australian farmers are now being ’held back’ from cutting-edge farm techniques, based on out-dated hysteria.