Organic centre concern at GM trial

23 April 2001



Organic centre concern at GM trial

By FWi staff

THE largest organic farming centre in Britain fears it could be wrecked by contamination from a genetically modified crop trial reports the Daily Mail.

The Henry Doubleday Research Association near Coventry claims its organic status could be jeopardised by GM maize two miles away.

Research projects funded by the Ministry of Agriculture will be invalidated by any contamination from the 25-acre field of cereal, reports The Mail.

The HDRA has an annual turnover of 4m a year and is the countrys leading authority on organic farming research, reports The Mail.

The Government has announced 81 trial sites for GM maize, beet and oilseed rape.

Environmental activists have called for trials to be halted as they claim at least 17 are in areas infected by foot-and-mouth.

The Ministry of Agriculture insists that strict procedures will prevent researchers working on the GM project from spreading the disease.

• GM trials are foot-and-mouth hazard, FWi, 4 April 2001
• Gene crop trial sites named, FWi, 28 February 2001
  
• The Daily Mail 23 April 2001 page 17