Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Schulte for his presentation. The Chairman has outlined its importance. The target of 9 billion people by 2050, a 60% increase in food production in order to provide food security and a huge effort towards further intensification of production will create their own difficulties in respect of environmental quality. The problem is that in many parts of the world food will never be produced, unless some revolutionary way to irrigate desert and so forth is found. How does Teagasc hope to manage this? It is all a question of management. Professor Schulte mentioned incentives. The option is to use the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, etc. That shows the market side, on which the European Union and the CAP create incentives to manage and direct production.

I did not hear any mention of GM production, but I may have missed it. What are the delegates' views or opinions in that regard? Do they see it as part of food security in the future and what are its consequences?