While the UK Government today [Friday] announced the location of the latest round of GM maize sites in England, environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FOE) warned that the sites will pose a pollution threat to neighbouring conventional and organic crops.
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There are 35 sites in England, but none in Wales. The Scottish Executive will make an announcement on any Scottish trials later today.
The list of sites was expected to include over 20 sites in South West England, to meet the scientific requirement for the distribution of the sites to represent the areas in which fodder maize is grown. There are in fact only 11 sites in the South West, all but one of which are in Dorset. One village has four sites.
The FOE has flagged up a new report by the European Environment Agency on pollen transfer from GM crops [1] concludes that “evidence suggests that GM maize plants would cross-pollinate non-GM maize plants up to and beyond their recommended isolation distance of 200m”. It states that maize pollen has been shown to cross with other maize plants up to 800 m apart and “it is estimated that small quantities of pollen are likely to travel much further under suitable atmospheric conditions”. The current separation distances between GM and non-GM are 200m for sweet corn and organic maize but only 80m for conventional fodder maize.
Last month the Secretary of State for the Environment, Margaret Beckett, admitted that the current separation distances for GM trials may not be enough to adequately stop GM crops cross-pollinating other crops. She said: “The separation distances for the [farm scale trials] have been set to ensure that cross-pollination is a maximum of 1%. However, there is a case for separation distances to be greater so as to ensure a maximum of, for example, 0.1% cross-pollination.”
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By GlobalDataAdrian Bebb, FOE’s GM campaigner, said: “These new crop trials will be deeply unpopular. They threaten the livelihoods of neighbouring farmers who want to grow conventional and organic crops. The separation distances are clearly inadequate, but despite the scientific warnings the Government is pressing ahead in an irresponsible way. They have clearly failed to convince many new farmers to join in this great uncontrolled experiment. The Government should abandon these unwanted trials for once and for all.”
1. Genetically modified organisms: The significance of gene flow through pollen transfer. Katie Eastham and Jeremy Sweet. European Environment Agency 2002
