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Concern over long-term impact of GM crops - New UK study
28 September 2005
A follow-up study to the UK Government's GM crop trials has found that growing GM oil seed rape crops has negative impacts on farmland biodiversity in future years. The findings are yet another blow to the biotech industry.
The research [1] which has been published today in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, found that the immediate impacts on farmland wildlife found in the Farm Scale Evaluations persisted for at least two years. Growing GM oilseed rape led to significantly lower weed seedbanks two years later. Weed seeds are an important source of food for farmland birds and any reduction is likely to have a negative impact on their populations - especially affecting survival over the winter and during the breeding season.
The results also showed that growing GM beet led to a reduced seedbank in the following year. Although the results showed that growing GM maize lead to an increase in the weed seedbanks compared with growing conventional maize, they are of little value because the weedkiller used on the conventional maize in the FSE, Atrazine, has now been banned in Europe. GM maize has not been compared with new conventional maize growing methods.
Friends of the Earth's GM Campaigner Clare Oxborrow said:
"This study rings alarm bells about the long term impacts of growing GM crops on farmland wildlife. Even if GM oilseed rape is only grown for a short period of time, the negative impacts are likely to be felt for a number of years. This is yet more evidence that GM oilseed rape should not be approved for commercial growing.The effect of growing this GM crop on a commercial scale and over longer time periods could be devastating. The Government must heed this warning, refuse to approve GM oilseed rape, and instead focus on supporting farmers to sustainably produce the kinds of food that people really want to eat."
Note
1. www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
