Letter: Verdict on GM trials

Sir: What is the point of farm trials of GM crops when the answers are already known? The plants are programmed to be undamaged by powerful broad-spectrum herbicides and/or to be toxic to insects. In either case wildlife will be harmed even more than it is already.

Widespread planting is bound to make organic farming impossible just when consumers are showing their preference for this system. We have to choose between GM and organic.

The trials are unnecessary to reach these conclusions and can only do harm by letting the genie out of the bottle.

FRANK PENFOLD

Burpham, West Sussex