GM beet research answers very few questions

15 January 2003

New research on GM sugar beet, partly funded by Monsanto, will provide the Government with little new information on which to base crucial decisions on the commercialisation of GM crops.

The research, carried out in 1999 and 2000 at Brooms Barn Research Station in Hertfordshire, compared non-GM weed management with a new technique for GM sugar beet weed management which involved only spraying the rows of plants and leaving the gap between rows unsprayed. The weeds between the rows were sprayed later in the summer. The research team reported that GM sugar beet yield was potentially higher than under the conventional system and potentially produced more weeds, which they claim are beneficial to wildlife.

The research did not cover other key objections to GM sugar beet, including gene transfer or animal feed safety. Friends of the Earth has also identified a number of key weaknesses in the study:

• The GM sugar beet was harvested long before than conventional crops because of rules to prevent GM contamination laid down by British Sugar.

• The late-sprayed weeds were sprayed at a time when birds were likely to still be nesting in the fields.

• Sugar beet is an important source of weed seed for some birds in the autumn and winter months - but the research did not cover this period.

• The researchers failed to include any data on the impact on birds, or relating the research to their breeding behaviour.

• The study found no significant impacts on a the limited range of invertebrates studied (beetles and spiders)

• The study claims erroneously that conventional sugar beet is relatively weed-free when weedy fields are not uncommon and are important sources of winter food for birds.

• The research was limited to only one GM herbicide (Monsanto's glyphosate) resistant crop.

• The report fails to discuss how new GM management techniques will be used by farmers, especially those faced with more aggressive arable weeds such as couch, grass, black grass and cleevers.

• The methodology probably would not be relevant to a commercial environment.

Friends of the Earth Real Food and Farming Campaigner Pete Riley said: "This research tells us nothing about the impact of GM sugar beet on farmland birds, but shows that Monsanto is desperate to find a case for promoting GM seed. If it still has to sponsor research on how to manage their GM crops, it looks as though the public money spent on the farm scale trials has been wasted.

"Sugar beet farmers were sold the idea of GM crops in the mid 1990s on the basis that they were good for weed control and to produce clean ground. This research does not support that. And the techniques proposed are likely to be more costly and more trouble for farmers. Even if there was a market for GM sugar beet, it is hard to see what the appeal would be for the majority of farmers."

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