"Let them eat organic shortbread"

Yesterday, I posted an item taking the Prince of Wales to task for his ignorant attack on biotech crops in the Daily Telegraph. The above headline is taken from a superb op/ed in the Financial Times on the subject: 

Now [the Prince] has launched a passionate attack on modern farming. He sees no need for greater world agricultural production, thinks big companies have caused serious damage to farming and genetic modification has been a disaster. The prince is mistaken on all counts. …

GM crops already allow greater yields with less water, less energy and with fewer chemicals. They will not, on their own, solve the world food shortage but they are already raising productivity growth. New strains of salt-resistant, drought-proof crops will allow us to farm poorer-quality land effectively.

In addition, an article in the Financial Times reports that Phil Willis, the chairman of the House of Commons' science committee…

said the use of science in farming had helped feed billions of people. "His lack of scientific understanding and his willingness to condemn millions of people to starvation in areas like sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely bewildering." 

Bewildering indeed.

The whole FT op/ed is worth reading here.