THE West Australian Labor Party will ban genetically modified crops if elected at the next state election in two years.

An Upper House Labor member and farmer Darren West said on Monday the party wanted to “transition away” from growing GM crops.

“About 1000 farmers have taken up the option of growing GM, I’m told,” Mr West said.

“The take-up hasn’t been that great — there are 4700 grain growers in WA of which the vast majority have not chosen to take up GM crops.”

GM crops are technically banned in WA under the GM Crops Free Areas Act 2003. However the Minister for Agriculture granted an exemption for biotech canola and cotton to be grown in 2010.

Since then WA has had the most rapid uptake of Roundup Ready canola of the three mainland states where GM canola is grown. WA’s Roundup Ready canola plantings made up 74 per cent of the total 348,200ha GM canola crop planted in Australia last year, according to biotech company Monsanto’s seed sales.

And WA is set to almost double its plantings this year to approximately 387,600ha, while it is forecast Victorian farmers will plant 56,100ha.

Crop Life chief executive Matthew Cossey said the Labor Party’s stance was “crass politics” and the adoption of GM crops made farming more sustainable.

“Any politician or political party that is proposing to ban access to GM crops or any innovation in agriculture that’s proved safe is obviously opting for shallow intellectual politics over good longer-term agricultural policy,” he said.

“From an economic or agronomic or environmental perspective GM crops are a crucial innovation and are core on how we make agriculture more sustainable.”

Both the WA Agriculture Minister Ken Baston and the WA opposition spokesman for agriculture Ken Travers were contacted for comment, but have not yet responded.