Trials 'underestimate GM crop risk'

Field trials could be underestimating the potential for cross-pollination between GM and conventional crops, according to academics.

Research by a University of Exeter research team in Devon has recommended a new method for predicting the potential for cross-pollination, taking account of wind speed and direction.

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and is published in the journal Ecological Applications.

The team used records of wind speed and direction from weather stations across Europe to predict the movement of pollen in the air.

The findings showed huge variation in the amount of cross-pollination between GM and non-GM crops of maize, oilseed rape, rice and sugar beet.

Levels varied according to whether the GM field was upwind or downwind of the non-GM field, given the direction of the prevailing wind over the flowering period of the crop.

Field trials are regularly carried out to measure the potential for cross-pollination between GM and conventional crops.

Current guidelines for minimum field-to-field distances are based on the results from these trials.

However, if the GM field in a trial is downwind of the non-GM field, the trial will underestimate the potential for cross-pollination.

The research resulted in the development of a theoretical computer model to analyse the effects of wind on pollen travel.

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