With world food prices rising as a result of growing global demand, perhaps it is time to accept the potential of GM technologies

Who could have foreseen this time last year that one of the issues topping the G8 summit agenda would be food pricing? But such is the mounting concern over recent global events that this looks set to be a key talking point .

The IMF has identified three key causes of the price rises: increased demand from emerging economies, the adverse impact of extreme weather on harvests and competing uses such as biofuels .

While blame for rising prices is sometimes attached to increased demand for crops for industrial products, with some commentators questioning the ethics of corn-derived ethanol while hunger exists in the world, it must be remembered that demand for these products has been driven by concerns over fossil fuel use and sustainability. The intent is good.

And it is through the pursuit of scientific progress that we will find new, alternative crops or increase yields to meet future demand.

In the US recently, new higher-yielding GM corn varieties helped farmers and agri-processors meet the entire 15% extra requirement for ethanol. This is nothing new. Farming has always embraced new technology to overcome supply issues. From the plough, to the tractor, to fertilisers, to agrochemicals, science has always prevailed .

But what is new, and rightly so, is that we now have to convince our customers of the value of technology before we have the freedom to apply it. Lennart Bage, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, has stated that heavy investment in agronomics is needed to stimulate a "green revolution" that could alleviate crop shortages worldwide. Fundamental to this is the sensitive issue of GM technology.

As a nation, we have to confront the issue of genetic modification by having a fair and scientific debate on an issue typically clouded by suspicion and lack of trust. I recognise that this is not easy, and we do not start with a clean sheet of paper. But we need to work together through the supply chain - government, farmers, food processors and retailers - to overcome this challenge and most of all give consumers a reason to trust us and re-open the debate. The current economic climate, combined with rising food prices and concerns over long-term availability of commodities, may help create the conditions where such a debate can happen.

There are signs that the momentum is building behind a return of GM to the government's agenda. At the end of 2007 both the departing government chief scientist Professor Sir David King and his successor, John Beddington, called for ministers to re-open the case for GM crops and assess them on their merits, case by case. Similar arguments were made at this year's National Farmers' Union conference.

As the demand for food and pressure on land use increase and we are faced with the prospect of rapid food inflation, and in some countries civil unrest, perhaps it is time to move the debate from discussion of 'Frankenstein foods' to tackle the real issues, or in other words move from soundbites to science. The FDF will play its part in that debate, which must focus on the scientific evidence and provide an honest assessment of the potential benefits for business and individuals - whether in the developed or developing economies. n

Iain Ferguson, president of the FDF and chief executive of Tate & Lyle.