“Often lost in the debate about GMOs is the need for poor farmers to have choices in the face of hard conditions.”

With those words, the world’s greatest philanthropist and one of its richest men, Bill Gates, reminded his more than 10 million Twitter followers that using agricultural biotechnology is a choice that poor farmers around the world should be able to make. It’s a choice that some countries have chosen to deny to their farmers, unfortunately for political reasons rather than scientific ones.

Gates was calling attention to an article on the Gates Foundation blog by Sam Dryden, director of the foundation’s agricultural development team. A native of Kentucky, Dryden has worked all over the world and now oversees effort to help millions of the world’s poorest farming families raise their productivity and incomes.

“What is so often missed in the debate about GMOs is choice,” Dryden pointed out. “The choice for a poor farmer to consider planting a maize crop which could cope with droughts that are becoming ever more frequent; the choice to grow rice that provides the nutrition her child needs to prevent blindness; or put simply, a choice that we in the West take for granted.”

Giving farmers access to solutions that deliver more productive or more nutritious crops should be a “decision based on scientific debate and research” and subject to approval by national regulatory bodies, he wrote.

“Once proven (and so far, GMOs have been proven safe and effective), the use of these tools must be a choice for farmers to make,” he wrote. “And farmers are choosing GMOs in their millions: GMO crops are the fastest growing technology (in the U.S., in Brazil, in India, Argentina) - because when farmers have access to more productive, less resource-intensive crops, they seize the opportunity.”

Dryden also noted that 90% of the cotton crop in Indian is genetically modified. The 19 million acres of GM cotton in India were planted by six million farmers - meaning that the average GM cotton farm in India comprises only about three acres. These varieties require much less spraying of insecticide, he notes. It is “the farmers themselves who are seeing the benefits of all the tools in the box,” Dryden wrote. Read more.

Africa urgently needs to improve its agriculture and produce more food, but genetically modified crops are allowed to be grown in only a few countries. A prominent African scientist says that needs to change.

“This technology can help enhance food sufficiency and food security and also help improve farmers’ income,” said Prof. Mohammed Ishiyaku, a plant breeding expert at the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, in Nigeria.

Genetically modified plants are of immense benefit to humans as they will ensure greater yield, he said, according to news reports of a recent conference. Read more.

Dr. Nina Federoff, attorney William McConagha, and Dr. James Murray at RFF panel.

When it comes to agricultural biotechnology, “most of what people believe is the exact opposite of the truth,” according to Dr. Nina Federoff, board chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Thirty years of research and the planting of biotech crops around the world show that there is “no evidence that modifying plants by molecular technology has any dangerous effects associated with it.”

Dr. Federoff spoke Tuesday at a panel discussion at Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C. She decried the ongoing campaign against genetically modified crops by various activists and said the major traits, such as herbicide tolerance and insect resistance, are “pretty innocuous” and have no effect on humans.

Rather than harming the environment, biotech can be beneficial, she said, noting that no-till farming preserves soil quality and that the reduction in insecticide spraying means there are more insects and great biodiversity in the fields.

Dr. James Murray, professor of animal science at the University of California at Davis, said genetic modification in food animals has been “overregulated to death.”

“GE livestock, poultry and fish will be necessary to feed the world in the future,” he said. “The greatest risk is that they will not be used. What benefits will we forgo for the hypothetical risks?”

People stocking up for Valentine’s Day tomorrow can enjoy the treats they love while still feeling confident that the ingredients are safe to eat and beneficial to the environment.

“Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance and not a day for unwarranted food fears,” said Dr. Cathleen Enright, executive director at CBI. “The safety of foods made with ingredients from genetically engineered plants has been well-documented in hundreds of scientific studies and food safety reviews. There has never been a food safety concern associated with genetically engineered food. Never!”

“What can be attributed to GE food production is a reduced carbon footprint, reduced use of pesticides, and greater adoption of sustainable farming practices,” she said. “Consumers can actually feel great about genetically engineered foods because they can help save the planet we all love.”

• More than half (61%) of Greek farmers are in favor of planting GM maize, should the ban on GM maize cultivation be lifted in Greece, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Agribiotechnology Management and Economics. Read more.

• Reuters reported that cotton production in Burkina Faso jumped 57.5% this year due to an increase in GMO crops. The country is one of the first in Africa to approve genetically modified cotton. Read more.