Increase in GM crops sparks safety debate.

(From Business Day (South Africa))

Byline: Neels Blom

Increase in GM crops sparks safety debate Lobbyists say SA has no effective way to separate modified foodstuffs from those grown naturally, but farmers reject charge Agriculture and Land Affairs Editor LOCAL farmers are producing genetically modified (GM) crops at a world-beating rate, with the area under cultivation up 180% last year to 1,4-million hectares from 500000ha in 2005, farmers' union Agri SA said yesterday. This ranks SA as the world's eighth-biggest producer of these crops.

SA's rate of increase is second only to India's, which has reported a 192% year-on-year rise. GM crops in SA remain …