18 September 2015. Source ABC PM

MARK COLVIN: A meeting of hundreds of the world’s most eminent experts on grain crops has heard arguments for the likely necessity of genetically modified crops. The consensus among the scientists is that current crop yields are not enough to keep up with global population growth and climate change.

David Claughton reports.

DAVID CLAUGHTON: Global wheat production is 700 million tonnes, but researchers say that needs to reach a billion tonnes to feed the world’s population by 2050.

MAN: Things are getting warmer and drier and inevitably there are going to be new disease problems that occur.

MAN 2: In wheat if there is one degree rise in temperature you can almost expect 10 degrees production in yield.

DAVID CLAUGHTON: Sanjaya Rajaram, winner of the World Food Prize, says GM technology is needed to feed the world into the future. A wheat scientist in India and Mexico, he has bred 480 wheat varieties and is regarded as the world’s greatest wheat breeder. He told the ABC’s Country Hour, conventional hybrid breeding could increase production by 20 to 25 per cent, but that won’t be enough to leave genetic modification out of the mix.

03 September 2015. Source: The Land

WA organic farmer Steve Marsh has lost his Supreme Court appeal for compensation after genetically modified (GM) canola was found on his Kojonup property in 2010.

A decision on the appeal of the Marsh v Baxter case outcome was made today in the Supreme Court of WA Court of Appeal.

Mr Marsh lodged the appeal against a Supreme Court decision which ruled his neighbour Michael Baxter was not responsible for acting negligently in his traditional method of growing the genetically modified (GM) canola crop.

Mr Marsh was suing his neighbour for $85,000 in alleged damages after the organic certification of 70 per cent of his property was suspended in late 2010 when GM canola swathes were found in his crop.