The industry has moved to allay fears “whipped up” by the national press over the alleged secret re-establishment of genetically modified (GM) crops in the UK.
Trials into cultivation of a field of potatoes designed to be resistant to nematodes in Yorkshire have restarted - a year after environmental protesters ripped up the crop and caused the project to be abandoned.
Environmental groups claimed that local farms and residents could be at risk from the University of Leeds research, which they claim the public was not warned about.
But the original permission granted for three years of trials by DEFRA remains valid, according to the government department, and crops can be replanted without giving further notice.
Fencing, CCTV cameras and guards will now be used to protect the 400 plants, near Tadcaster in north Yorkshire.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has responded to the attack, which has seen protestors claim the crops could create serious health issues and that DEFRA had tried to “slip it under the radar”.
Philip Hudson, chief horticulture adviser at the NFU, told FPJ: “It is clear that consent for these trials has been given and opposition is being whipped up. [The researchers] are seeking to carry out research into GM crops to see how viable they are and it is clear any research should be based on sound science.
“There could be as much as a £65 million reduction in costs to growers and also a reduction in pesticides and chemicals, which seems to be what people want, so it is important that this research goes ahead - obviously in accordance with the DEFRA caveats that the crops are destroyed at the end of the process and the potatoes aren’t used for animal feed.
“We need to take a holistic approach to reducing chemicals in crop protection solutions and pesticides and diseases aren’t going to go away, so we need to research every option we have.”
A total of 54 GM trials have been initiated since 2000, but almost all have come under fire and been destroyed by protestors who are concerned about pollen being blown into adjacent fields.
A spokesman for DEFRA told The Telegraph: “The Leeds University application was considered by the independent Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, which confirmed the trial would not compromise human health or the environment. The GM potatoes won’t be used for food or animal feed, and the statutory consent specifies precautionary conditions to ensure that GM material does not persist at the trial site after the trial.”
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