(FT) - Science has made a considerable contribution to the 2 per cent annual increase in global crop yields achieved in recent decades. Conventional plant breeding has long been the traditional way of boosting plant performance but it has been joined in recent years by the technique of genetic modification (GM). GM – also known as biotechnology or transgenics – remains controversial and has provoked consumer resistance in many European countries. Its use is subject to strict controls in the European Union but its widespread acceptance in Asia and the Americas is beginning to pose serious problems for European growers and food processors.