GM crop trials produce more questions
Growing GM herbicide-tolerant beet and rapeseed has a worse effect on wildlife than conventional crops, according to a new report.
The results of the biggest GM crop trials in the world, ordered by the Government in 1999, found that herbicide-tolerant GM maize was better for many groups of wildlife than the ordinary crop.
The findings of the three-year Farm Scale Evaluations (FSE) were unveiled at the Science Centre in London on Thursday.
Researchers found more bees and butterflies in and around the conventional beet and spring rape crops that the GM variety. However, there were more weeds in and around the GM maize crops and more butterflies and bees and certain times of year.
The research showed that, although GM crop technology had an effect on the environment around crops, the differences found were not due to the genetic modification, but because the GM varieties provided farmers with new options for weed control.
GM herbicide-resistant crops can be sprayed with a particular weedkiller and still prosper while unwanted plants in the field are killed.
The head of the research team, Dr Les Firbank, said: “The results are clearly important to the debate about the possible commercialisation of GM crops.
“But, they also give us new insights that will help us conserve biodiversity within productive farming systems.”
The results of the study will now be passed to the Government’s statutory advisory body – the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) – who will assess the implications of GM crops and advise ministers on future policy regarding commercialisation of the crops in Britain.
“One of the key points to remember is that the results are only applicable to the three crops studied, and only under the regimes of herbicide usage which were employed,” Dr Firbank added.
The controversial trial has been heavily criticised by environmental groups, who want a ban on GM crops. Some people claimed there was a threat of cross-pollination with nearby organic crops and others expressed concern about the possibility of herbicide-resistant species of weeds developing.
Greenpeace executive director, Stephen Tindale, commented: “The real comparison should be between GM and organic agriculture. But organic is so obviously better for the environment that the GM, industry refused point blank to have this included in the trials.
“The trials are simply comparing one highly damaging form of agriculture with one that’s even worse.”
