From Rosemary Bentley, Egham, Surrey, UK
Mark Lynas says the genetically modified staple crops he is now advocating “have nothing to do with the corporate behemoths that are the usual targets of suspicion in the GM debate” (7 April, p 26). But is it possible for poor farmers to harvest seeds to be used the following year? If not, the farmers still have to buy new seed each year, leading them into debt – as is the case with seed from those corporations. The important question for me is not the unproven risk of GM crops to humans, but the economics and farmers' lack of autonomy.
It is also wise to keep a range of crop varieties. When a GM crop is attacked by something it isn't programmed to cope with, then a new GM variety needs to be created and this has to use a non-GM plant as a starting point.
