Growing Genetically Engineered Crops May Lower Farm Land Values
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Below is a press quotation on the potentially damaging effects on
agricultural land values of growing GM crops from Peter Faulkner,
President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Rural Practice Division
(the RICS is one of the largest professional bodies in the world and its
members manage most of the land in the United Kingdom):
('The Scotsman' newspaper 11 March 1999)
"Banks and purchasers want to know where GM crops have been grown. In
the event there turns out to be a problem with GM crops, banks may come back
to our members and say the collateral has gone down and no mention was made
before the sale that these crops were there.
These are conditions which affect the market ... we do not get into the
whole GM crop debate, but our customers dictate the market and we must
work with it. Having said that, the issue of transgenic crops - those
engineered in a way which nature simply could not replicate - could
offer an even bigger challenge to the industry because nobody knows what the
effect will be. I think a lot of farmers will take a very conservative and
cautious view of these types of crops."
For more information on land management and valuation issues raised by
GMOs see article in official RICS journal at
http://www.rics.org.uk/csm/archives/nov98/531298.html.