Arguments for or against GM crops need to be based on firm scientific evidence – and that does not simply fall out of the sky

A major new European Union study is set to examine the effects of growing genetically modified, blight-resistant potato plants on biodiversity and the environment in agricultural ecosystems. It will also see the first GM crops being grown in Ireland since the late 1990s.

In a statement issued last month, Teagasc (the Irish agricultural development agency) announced it is seeking a licence to carry out field trials of GM potatoes as part of the AMIGA consortium – a group including representatives of research bodies from 15 EU countries.

Late blight, caused by the fungus-like organism Phytophthora infestans, decimated the Irish potato crop in the 1840s, leading to the Great Famine. Since then, the disease has remained a problem for Irish farmers, who have had to use chemical fungicides to maintain potato yields. Genetic modification has the potential to protect the potato plant from late blight attack without the need for large amounts of fungicide.

The potato variety Desiree has been transformed with the Rpi-vnt1.1 gene, which confers resistance to P. infestans. The gene was taken from the wild potato species Solanum venturii and inserted into the cultivated potato.

While there are indications that public concern over GM crops has declined in the UK, the news that field experiments will be carried out in Ireland for the first time since the late 1990s has drawn some criticism here. In a statement released last week, the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA) – which certifies organic produce in Ireland – claimed the experiments would be a waste of taxpayers money. "In light of the fact that Teagasc has lodged an application with the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] for a licence to grow GM potatoes at its headquarters in Oakpark, IOFGA are demanding that Teagasc be held accountable for their decision to waste taxpayers money on this project."

Grace Maher, IOFGA's development officer, said growing GM in Ireland would be "economic suicide" and that the move would put at risk an export market worth €9.1bn (£7.6bn): "Ireland has an excellent reputation internationally as a clean green island that is also a GM-free region, and we need to build on this reputation not destroy it."

The statement ends by accusing Teagasc of pedalling an "unwanted technology": "In this austere economic climate we need to end wasteful public spending immediately and enforce accountability on those who continue to do so."

Unfortunately the IOFGA seems to have jumped the gun. Funding for the research will come directly from the EU's FP7 research programme – a €50bn fund earmarked for research and technological development. There is no question of further money coming from Irish taxpayers.

No matter where the money comes from, however, there is a wider issue at stake here. Teagasc is Ireland's agriculture and food development agency. Its role is to carry out research leading to a better understanding of agriculture and new agronomic techniques. To accuse such a body of "wasting" money by doing the very thing it was set up to do is ridiculous.

Any arguments for or against GM crops need to be based on firm scientific evidence and that does not simply fall out of the sky.

The field tests that will be carried out at Oakpark will look at the impact of GM plants on the surrounding ecosystem. John Spink, head of crops research at Teagasc, was keen to point out that the research is "not about testing the commercial viability of GM potatoes".

"The GM study is about gauging the environmental impact of growing GM potatoes in Ireland and monitoring how the pathogen, which causes blight, and the ecosystem react to GM varieties in the field over several seasons."

Mindful of the controversy surrounding trials of GM sugarbeet carried out in Ireland in the late 1990s by Monsanto, these new experiments will use a potato developed at Wageningen University in the Netherlands so no biotech or GM company will be involved. The sugarbeet trials ended when a number of the sites were destroyed by a group styling itself the Gaelic Earth Liberation Front.

According to documents submitted to the EPA as part of the licence application, the field experiments are designed to measure the impact of GM potato cultivation on bacterial, fungal, nematode and earthworm diversity in the soil, compared with a conventional system; to identify positive or negative impacts of GM potato on integrated pest management systems; and to use the project as a tool for education in order to engage and discuss the issues surrounding GM with stakeholders and the public.

As Teagasc researcher Dr Ewen Mullins put it: "It is not enough to simply look at the benefits without also considering the potential costs. We need to investigate whether there are long-term impacts associated with this specific GM crop, and critically we need to gauge how the late blight disease itself responds. This is not just a question being asked in Ireland. The same issues are arising across Europe."

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Dr Mullins said: "People are asking about the merits of GM potatoes. At Teagasc, we have a remit to inform people. We haven't had GM field trials here since the late 1990s. The goal is to look at all of the environmental impacts, and to fill the vacuum that exists currently in terms of impartial knowledge."

Eoin Lettice is a lecturer in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork, Ireland. He blogs at Communicate Science