Conference dispels GM fears
Conference dispels GM fears
GENETICALLY modified crops hold few fears for a leading Canadian scientist.
And the same is true for Morley Research Centre director, Jim Orson.
Mr Orson was a session chairman at the recent British Crop Protection Council conference on transgenic crops at which so-called gene flow was the key topic.
"It was a very comforting conference," says Mr Orson.
Despite rapid expansion of GM herbicide tolerant oilseed rape in Canada, Keith Downy of Saskatoon Research Centre had no concern over its impact on insects, human health or volunteer control.
Conventionally bred atrazine-resistant rape has been grown in Canada for about 17 years, notes conference organiser Peter Lutman of IACR Rothamsted.
Other researchers suggested gene flow in pollen was unlikely to lead to herbicide resistant weed problems except, perhaps, where wild turnip occurs, as in parts of Yorks. French experiments show hybrids with wild radish set few seeds and gradually lose their herbicide resistance over four generations, notes Mr Orson. Physical movement of small seeded crops, like oilseed rape, through trailer leakages was likely to be a more significant deterrent to farmers uptake of GM varieties, delegates agreed.
There were fears that widespread use of herbicide tolerant crops and controlling every last weed would deny birds a valuable food source.
But biodiversity could be ensured by leaving small untreated areas, which are "policeable" and could be a condition of approval for the new technology, says Mr Orson. *