Jonathon Harrington

Jonathon Harrington is a biologist who hit the headlines in January 2009 when a Guardian article reported that he had planted GM maize on his Welsh farm, against the declared GM-free policy of the Welsh Assembly government.

The article states:

An unrepentant Harrington said he had resorted to the secret planting after the Welsh assembly, which voted unanimously for GM-free status in 2000, refused to have any meaningful discussions over its policy.

Harrington is quoted as saying he wanted "to facilitate the introduction of a new and valuable technology [GM] into Welsh agriculture". He states of GM:

It can of course be used for a variety of purposes: to give plants immunity from pest attack or resistance to disease or more recently the ability to withstand drought. There are a number of potential benefits the technology could offer Welsh farmers if the assembly government showed a more positive attitude towards it.

But just how this GM maize is supposed to save Welsh agriculture given that even Harrington admitted it performed badly is unclear. He told The Guardian of his GM maize plants: "It was a poor summer, so they didn't do terribly well."

Harrington is described in The Guardian as an agronomist and farmer.

Harrington is a member of the biotech industry-funded lobby group CropGen.

Questions about Harrington

Questions arose among some of Harrington's neighbours in Wales as to whether he is a farmer at all, and if so, whether he actually planted the GM maize as he claimed. Western Mail journalist Steve Dube wrote in his blog:

it appears that Mr Harrington himself may not be all he claims to be. He lives so high up a mountain that even conventional fodder maize (let alone a Mediterranean GM hybrid) would not produce a decent crop. And as he is also sadly disabled, he cannot have planted or harvested the crop himself.

It makes you wonder whether the whole episode was a con by Harrington and CropGen, in order to embarrass the Welsh Government. Has Mr Harrington actually grown GM plants at all? His neighbours think not.

Criticism of Harrington

Dr Paul Benham, a pioneer of modern organic farming, the director of the Centre for Sustainable Food at the Primrose Earth Awareness Trust, and a farmer neighbour of Harrington, criticised Harrington's GM maize stunt in an article in the Western Mail. Benham wrote:

The integrity of our organic and sustainable system is now being jeopardised by the actions of Mr Jonathon Harrington, who is subversively growing GM crops within one mile of Primrose and says he plans to grow GM crops with 30 other farmers this year.

Our farm has held a Soil Association organic symbol for 23 years and the SA has made it absolutely clear that no GM contamination should occur. The Primrose Transition food production model is central to the education message of the adjacent Centre for Sustainable Food and thus its important education work is being threatened.

I therefore welcome the introduction of the Welsh Assembly’s recent legislation to hold GM farmers liable for transgenic contamination to neighbouring farms.

Former TV gardener and president of the Soil Association Monty Don told the Western Mail:

The real damage of a secret stunt like this is that if repeated it could damage trust in Welsh food and farming more generally.

Don points out that Harrington breached European law designed to safeguard conventional and organic crops from contamination.

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