GM crop trials

What are GM crop trials?

Genetically modified crops are plants whose genes are altered in the laboratory to make them perform in a very specific way, such as not being harmed by certain herbicides.

In October 1998, the government and representatives of the agricultural biotechnology industry agreed to conduct a series of closely-monitored Farm Scale Evaluations of the impact on biodiversity of herbicide-resistant genetically modified crops.

Although the existing EU regulatory regime had largely satisfied UK scientific authorities about the safety of the crops themselves, there remained extensive concerns about the impact of crop management practices on a large scale. In 1998, three types of GM crop were on the brink of receiving EU approval, and, along with lingering scientific concerns, public opinion remained hostile to GM crop cultivation.

EU law forbade a compulsory moratorium on GM crop planting, so the government negotiated an agreement with the industry umbrella group SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops) to hold back from commercial cultivation until the Field Scale Evaluations were complete. The majority of the Field Scale Evaluations were completed by the end of 2003.

In May 2008 consent was given to the University of Leeds to carry out trials over a three year period on potato crops genetically modified for resistance to potato cyst nematodes and in March 2010 this consent was extended for a further three years.

Approval was also given by the new coalition government in May 2010 for the Sainsbury Laboratory to conduct a smaller trial over a three year period on potatoes genetically modified to resist late potato blight.

Background

Before the introduction of the Field Scale Evaluation programme, there were four tests that any plant needed to pass before it could be cultivated.

1. The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) must be satisfied by the plant's impact on human health, animal health and the environment.
2. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) and the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF) must assess the plant for human and animal feedstuff safety.
3. Herbicide-resistant plants require the companion herbicide to be approved by the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD).
4. GM plants are subject to the same seeds regulations as conventional plants, and require approval for the distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) of each new variety, as well as value for cultivation and use (VCU).

These tests remain in place today. In 1998, when the Field Scale Evaluation programme was introduced, maize, oilseed rape (winter and spring varieties) and beet (fodder and sugar varieties), were close to meeting all of these tests.

In the first year, 1999, a small number of fields of each crop were sown to test the evaluation protocols. The main project started in spring 2000 and was due to end in autumn 2002 for the spring crops and summer 2003 for the autumn sown rape.

The GM crops evaluated in the Field Scale Evaluations were modified to be resistant to broad-spectrum herbicides such as glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium. These chemicals normally kill crops as well as weed, so resistant crops would permit farmers to ignore weeds growing among their crops early in the season, as they can use an effective herbicide later in the year.

Around 60 fields were sown with each type of crop over the four year Field Scale Evaluation programme.

The results of all the Field Scale Evaluations, except for those involving winter oilseed rape, were published in October 2003. On publication, the results were passed to ACRE for consideration.

In March 2004, environment secretary Margaret Beckett announced that the government would permit the commercial cultivation of the GM maize tested in the FSE trials, on certain conditions relating to further testing after 2006. However, Bayer CropScience subsequently announced that they would not market this particular variety of GM maize.

The government also stated that it would oppose commercial approval for the GM beet and oilseed rape tested in the trials because scientific evidence suggested that the herbicide use associated with these crops - although not the GM plants themselves - could have an adverse effect on the environment.

Consent for the current GM trials being undertaken by Leeds University and the Sainsbury Laboratory was granted in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990 following evaluation by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE).

All the trials are subject to certain restrictions, including the number of genetically modified organisms to be planted in any one year and specific release periods for the GMOs.

Controversies

The Field Scale Evaluations of GM crops was one of the most controversial ecological research programmes ever undertaken, principally because the Government had indicated that their outcomes would have a major influence on whether GM crops were cultivated in the UK.

The public are seen as broadly opposed to the cultivation of GM crops, as more than half of Britons who took part in a nationwide debate said they should never be introduced under any circumstances. The Field Scale Evaluations were perceived by some, not as a scientific means of determining finally whether GM crops are safe, but as a way of the government delaying a decision.

The first wave of Field Scale Evaluations saw farms attacked by anti-GM protestors - most notably in July 1999, when 30 Greenpeace activists, led by Lord Peter Melchett, destroyed crops at a farm in Lyng, Norfolk. This led to higher levels of security around the evaluation sites. And the current GM crop trials continue to attract similar protests and criticisms.

Notwithstanding public concern about GM crops, heightened by media warnings about 'Frankenstein foods', opponents of GM crops say there remain numerous questions about the environmental impact of the crops not explicitly addressed by the Field Scale Evaluations, particularly cross-pollination and separation distances between GM and conventional stands and the longer term effects of GM releases.

Environmental groups such as the Soil Association claim that GM technologies have consistently underperformed and insist that agro-ecological farming, not GM, is the key to feeding future generations sustainably.

Statistics

Consents for the release of genetically modified organisms granted by the secretary of state:

9th May 2008
University of Leeds.
Release conducted at Headley Hall Farm, near Tadcaster.
Dates of the release period: between 1 May and 30 November in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In each year of the release, the trial site shall not exceed 1000m2 (0.1 hectare).
In each year, the total number of GMOs planted at the trial site shall not exceed 4,000.
No more than 12,000 GMOs shall be planted at the trial site during the release period specified.

27th March 2010
University of Leeds
Release conducted at Headley Hall Farm, near Tadcaster.
Dates of the release period: between 1 May and 30 November in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In each year of the release, the trial site must not exceed 0.1 hectare.
In each year, the total number of GMOs planted at the trial site must not exceed 4,000.
No more than 12,000 GMOs must be planted at the trial site during the release period specified.

18th May 2010
Sainsbury Laboratory
Release conducted at the John Innes Centre, near Norwich.
Dates of the release period: between 1 May and 30 November in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In each year of the release, the trial site shall not exceed 300 square metres.
In each year, the total number of GMOs planted at the trial site shall not exceed 400.
No more than 1,200 GMOs shall be planted at the trial site during the release period specified.

Source: Defra

Quotes

"The Government is wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers' money by forging ahead with unnecessary and unpopular GM crop trials, which threaten local farmers with contamination....
"We can feed a growing global population without trashing the planet or resorting to factory farms and GM crops - the Government must help farmers shift to planet-friendly farming."
Friends of the Earth's Food Campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaran - June 2010

"GM technology in agriculture is not going away. It is an extension of modern plant breeding, which is essential for agriculture to make progress against the challenge of pests, diseases, extreme weather events and climatic change, and to produce the quality and quantity of crops demanded....
"It is unacceptable for politics to override science, and for 21st century British agriculture to be denied the choice of all available technology in their efforts to produce more and impact less."
Dr Helen Ferrier, NFU Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Adviser - June 2010