Maine Board Approves Three New Types of GMO Potatoes
Maine Board of Pesticides Control has unanimously approved the registration of three new types of genetically engineered potatoes that have been developed by a major Idaho agribusiness company.
The move means that the J.R. Simplot Co.’s Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Atlantic potatoes could be planted in Maine fields at any time. These potatoes were created by adding genes from a wild potato plant and are designed to be resistant to late blight, the disease that caused the mid-19th century Irish Potato Famine and which remains a problem today.
Genetically modified crops have been controversial in the past. Critics of the process say that won’t be any different for the Simplot potatoes, the second generation to be sold under the brand name Innate, although company officials say otherwise.
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