The Genetics Controversy - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 126

Chapter 6
The Genetics Controversy
What Is Genetic Modification?
It is impossible to write of the potential for agricultural transformation
without addressing the controversy surrounding biotechnology and genetic
modification. The challenge facing us is huge, and we will need to make
the very best of our collective ingenuity and willpower. This ought to mean
simply making the best use of any available technology, regardless of its
provenance. Who produces the technologies, how they can be made
available to the poor, and whether they have an adverse environmental
effect, are important questions that will tell us whether new ideas might
make a real difference to the sustainability and success of agriculture. In
the 21st century, we have clearly entered an information age, and infor-
mation in agricultural systems is important from the smallest scale on
genetics to higher scales on ecological interactions within whole eco-
systems. Biotechnology represents one set of technologies that could lead