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Genetic modification allows plants to be produced with specific qualities more accurately and efficiently than through traditional methods such as cross-breeding to produce hybrid plants1. Through cross-breeding, large amounts of genetic material are passed between plant varieties. This makes it more difficult to develop specific characteristics without incorporating other unwanted ones, such as susceptibility to disease2. GM technology is being developed to create crops with characteristics such as added nutritional value, herbicide tolerance, and pest …

…control the world's commercial seed supply, with the use of terminator seeds. A farmer from Canterbury and former president of Federated Farmers, Sir Peter Elworthy says10, "The developing world tells us that so far the entry of the big biotech companies into undeveloped countries - in Africa particularly - has not helped the shortage of food. They say that it's a food distribution issue, but the promises the technology makes have not been delivered on." 11