LONDON - A fresh row over genetically modified (GMO) crops brewed in Britain on Monday after a major government and industry-backed study found no evidence they harmed the environment.
The project, which focused on how gene-spliced herbicide-tolerant varieties of sugar beet and rapeseed fared against non-GMO crops when grown in rotation, found that the technology could even help growers save money.
The four-year study, part-funded by the government but assisted by the biotech lobby, enraged green groups who immediately dismissed the results as one-sided.
The biotech industry provided researchers with GMO seeds and some of the sprays.
"Our research indicates that there was no long-term difference in weed populations in field areas using these GM and non-GM crops," Jeremy Sweet, who coordinated the study, said.
"In addition, growing GMO herbicide-tolerant crops could provide farmers with the flexibility to improve plant diversity," Sweet added.
However, the study found that in the case of rapeseed, high numbers of seeds remained in the field long after harvest, creating a problem for later-sown crops.
"Oilseed rape needs to be carefully managed," Sweet told reporters.
Opponents of GM crops have long argued that the technology could hit plant and insect numbers and lead to the creation of "super weeds" that are capable of resisting even the most powerful weed killers.
The four-year Botanical and Rotational Implications of GM Herbicide Tolerance (BRIGHT) project was carried out by independent scientists.
Proponents of GMO crops were delighted.
"We believe this report buries the myth that these two GM crops pose any new problems for farming or the environment," Tony Combes of the pro-GM Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC) said.
GREEN GROUPS ANGRY
Environmentalists dismissed the project's findings outright, not least because of the biotech industry's involvement.
"The results appear to confirm fears that, if released commercially, GM crops will be difficult to control and will cross-pollinate with non-GM crops -- this could pose a real threat of contamination for conventional varieties," Friends of the Earth campaigner Emily Diamand said in a statement.
But supporters of the technology said GM crops were a long way off in Britain because of EU delays in approving their growth.
"In effect, the EU moratorium on the growing of new varieties of GM crops still exists," Julian Little, spokesman for German biotech giant Bayer AG told Reuters.
Earlier this year, a team of UK government advisers charged with recommending whether Britain goes ahead with GM crops said field trials on GM maize did not demonstrate evidence of adverse environmental impact, while GM sugar and rapeseed testing indicated the environment could be at risk.
Story by David Cullen
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
