- A UK Government-commissioned scientific
report on genetically-modified (GM) crops is thought to say that GM pollen
can spread over very long distances.
-
- The Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) confirms
that it requested the report, from the John Innes Centre in Norwich.
It says the report exists in draft form, but will not comment on it until
ministers have seen it. Officials from Maff and the Department of the Environment
(DETR) are to meet the Soil Association and other organic farming representatives
on 14 May. The meeting, which was arranged some time ago, will discuss
several items, including the report. It is believed to say that some
contamination of organic crops by GM plants is inevitable. It is understood
to accept the findings of a report two months ago from the National Pollen
Research Unit.
-
- That said that GM pollen could be carried
a long way by insects and on the wind. With maize pollen, "in normal
weather conditions, pollination could occur at sites remote from the source
(e.g. 180 kilometres)". Setting an acceptable level
-
- The rules governing official GM crop
trials insist on just a 200-metre barrier between trial and conventional
plants.
-
- The report from the John Innes Centre
is thought to say that 1% of organic plants in any field could become GM
hybrids through cross-pollination. It argues that "acceptable"
levels of contamination of organic crops must be agreed.
-
- The director of the Soil Association,
which sets standards for organic farmers, is Patrick Holden. He said:
"We are implacably opposed to any suggestion of a minimum level
of contamination. "When consumers say they want non-GM
food, they don't mean food contaminated up to a threshold of 1%,
2% or 5%. They mean GM-free."
-
- Some scientists, while they agree
that pollen can be carried far and wide, say that the possibility of
cross-pollination is very small with many crops. The pollen grains
lose their potency relatively quickly, and they have to compete with
locally-produced pollen when they land on plants.
-
- Surrounding GM crops with plants of
other species reduces the risk, because cross-pollination between species
is harder than within them. But the scientists agree that there is no
zero risk of GM pollen spreading, and no barrier zone capable of
preventing it.
|
