Netherlands, Ireland Begin Biotech Potato Field Trials

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Scott C. Lucas|22 June 2006

For the Netherlands, the trials are being sponsored by the Dutch government through Wageningen University, at a project project cost of Euro 9.9 million from the Economic Structural Fund (FES). The Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) advised the Dutch Government about the risks of field experiments with the biotech potato, but COGEM concluded that the risk of cross breeding with other potato breeds is limited, as potatoes are vegetatively propagated and potato tubers do not survive the Dutch winter. COGEM also concluded that the risks for humans and the environment are negligible.

Potato farming accounts for 80% of the fungicide use in The Netherlands, according to the Dutch government release. Production of the new potato breed may require only half the level of the fungicides used for conventional potatoes. If the GM potato is successfully grown on a wide scale, it would save the Dutch potato sector about Euro 150 million annually.

The Irish trials will take place on a one-hectare site in County Meath, adjacent to the capital city of Dublin. The trial will be for a five-year period from now to 2010 and there would be post-trial monitoring until 2014. Activists and protestors have raised voices against the trials, which have been deemed safe by the Irish government.