26.11.2008 | permalink
It is still with us and not hard to find, from food prices in supermarkets worldwide to hunger in the Pacific, Asia and Africa. There were food riots in Africa and South-East Asia this year, and the crisis was linked to the fall of the Haitian government. Unless its causes are dealt with, it will worsen in the years to come. [...] When India switched to GM cotton, it increased productivity by 75pc in four years. It went from a net importer of cotton to the world’s second-largest exporter. None of us know if such gains will come from other crops, but ignoring the potential of genetic modification puts superstition ahead of science.