Yahoo News Charles and Anne at odds over GM crops? Princess Royal says she would be happy to grow them on her estate
Princess Anne wants to grow genetically modified crops on her estate after Brexit, she has disclosed as she said arguments against the technology were "not practical".
The Princess Royal, who is deeply knowledgeable about farming issues thanks to her work with rare breeds and on her Gatcombe Park estate, said gene technology will have “real benefits” to offer, and that she does “not see the problem” in improving how crops grow.
Her remarks would appear to put her at odds with her brother the Prince of Wales, a passionate organic farmer who has previously spoken out against GM and is royal patron of the Soil Association which campaigns against GM crops and GM ingredients in human and animal food.
In an interview with Radio 4’s Farming Today, in a programme to be broadcast in full on Thursday, the Princess Royal acknowledged that GM is “one of those things that divides people”.
"But surely if we're going to be better at producing food of the right value, then we have to accept that genetic technology - whether you call it modification or anything else - is going to be part of that,” she said.
"How you define what is harmful or what is good, it seems to me rather more difficult.
"Most of us would argue that we've been genetically modifying food since man started to be agrarian. But everybody would say it doesn't happen so quickly [as it can with GM].
"So being able to understand what those changes mean: if you change one aspect of a plant, how does it affect the rest of the environment around it and does it have a long-term impact?
"That's probably a very long term impact and we may not see that for a long time.
"So to say ‘no we mustn't go there just in case’ is probably not a practical argument.
"I do think in the future your gene technology has got real benefits to offer, which will have maybe an occasionally downside, but I suspect not very many."
Anna Hill, the show’s presenter, asked the Princess, who is better known to the public as Princess Anne, whether she could see such crops being grown on her own land if permitted after Brexit. “Yes,” said the Princess Royal.
In October, it was reported that genetically modified crops could be grown across England following Brexit, with George Eustice, the agriculture minister, confirming the government was looking at "possible future arrangements for the regulation of genetically modified organisms".
Only one GM product has been licensed since 1998 because of opposition to the technology across some European Union member states.
The Princess Royal said: "I have rare breed livestock so genetic modification would be a bonus if I could just find a way of making them a little more robust in terms of survivability. In a way that's long-term investment.
"Are there downsides? Yes, we've seen with some breeds of cattle sometimes there really are downsides.”
Referring to plants, she added: "I don't see the problem in saying, ‘well is there something we could do to improve their abilities to grow in this country slightly better than they were, with the things they suffer from’.
"But if you pick the plants that are more likely to grow here easily, you'll probably have to do less."
The full interview with the Princess Royal will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today on Thursday at 5.45am.
