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UK – GM BEET MANAGEMENT STUDY
Two unsprayed rows mitigate effect of sugar beet on bird populations
20 April 2007. Source: Farmers Garden CMP Information Ltd via AgNet
Leaving two rows of sugar beet in every 100 unsprayed would mitigate any adverse effects of genetically-modified herbicide-tolerant sugar beet on food for farmland birds, according to research conducted at Broom’s Barn.
The Government’s Farm Scale Evaluation (FSE) trials of GM herbicide tolerant sugar beet showed that the technology could potentially have an adverse impact on food for farmland birds if a ‘weed-free’ management approach was adopted.
However, new research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, demonstrates that leaving two crop rows in every 100 unsprayed presents a cheap and simple approach to avoiding any adverse impacts on bird populations.
According to research team leader Dr John Pidgeon the economic benefits for the farming sector are large.
“This demonstrates beyond reasonable douBt that GMHT beet can be economically and environmentally beneficial. It’s a win:win situation for sustainable agriculture,” he said.
Leaving two rows in every 100 unsprayed would result in the same number and spectrum of weeds – including valuable bird feed sources such as fat hen – as were found in the conventional FSE beet crop trials.
Yields from GMHT beet would still be higher than conventional beet even if two per cent of the crop were left unsprayed, added Dr Pidgeon.
“But the wider issue is that such simple ways forward were not found during the unhelpfully polarised GM debate” he added. “UK and European agriculture needs economically beneficial change to be introduced with due environmental precaution.
We now have the methodologies to achieve this, with transparent, rigorous scrutiny.
We need to move forward pragmatically, on the basis of evidence and not remain trapped in irrational thinking that prevents progress”.
The new study, based on data collected during the four-year FSE, follows on from work at Broom’s Barn research station (part of Rothamsted Research) in Suffolk that demonstrated that innovative crop management practices deploying GM herbicide tolerant beet had the potential to deliver food for farmland birds in spring or autumn.
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