THE decision to extend the genetically-modified moratorium into 2025 will have a detrimental affect on farmers, according to National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson.
She said Greens MLC Mark Parnell’s bill passing the SA Parliament’s House of Assembly represented a monumentally bad day for SA grain growers.
“It has also been deliberately blinkered to the fact that GM and non-GM crops have been coexisting, successfully, for some time in Australia and overseas,” she said.
Ms Simson said while grain growers in other state’s would continue to benefit from the herbicide resistance, increased drought tolerance and enhanced yields delivered by GM technology, SA growers would continue to miss out.
“Up to 90 per cent of SA grain is exported,” she said.
“Without GM technology in the toolbox, the ability of the state's growers to compete on the global stage and to increase their role in feeding the world’s growing population will undoubtedly be curtailed.”
Ms Simson agreed with Grain Producers SA chairperson Wade Dabinett and agricultural opposition spokesperson David Ridgway, in sharing her disappointment in the lack of consultation with farmers about the bill.
“I ask, is the SA Premier and his Cabinet colleagues afraid to talk to farmers?,” she said.
“Really, we’re not that scary.”
