By Ralph Sommer
Translated by Barbara Duebeldeiss, Checkbiotech

German molecular biologists develop recommendations for cultivation of genetically engineered maize.

It may be a dreadful prospect for opponents of green biotechnology - two fields of maize side by side: on one side, the untreated crop of an ecologically minded farmer and only a few paces away, genetically modified maize. How high is the risk of crossbreeding with the untreated corn by springtime-pollination?

"Quite small, provided you keep a set distance in between the crops," says Inge Broer, Professor of Molecular Biology at Rostock University. For two years Rostock and Halle scientists experimented with crops all over Germany, using different safety-distances and examining the resulting plants.

Their results: while plants grown with less than a 10 metre separation do in fact lead to undesired crossings, these events can be kept under the legally allowed quantitative threshold value by maintaining a distance of 20 metres or more.

These 2004 field studies were performed under the most diverse natural conditions, for example, exposed to all kinds of wind directions. Results show that the natural dispersion of pollen in practice hardly ever exceeds 20 metres. To make sure and document dispersion of pollen by wind across different cultures, this year experts grew barley, potatoes, peas and pasture between the two types of maize. The harvest will be brought in shortly and be subjected to genetic analysis by an independent laboratory. First results can be expected by the end of November.

"Should last year’s results be confirmed, this would mean a confirmation of an until now undefined security cushion for the production by both traditional farmers as well as for those using genetically engineered seeds," says Broer. "The open-air experiments - sponsored by several German states, the federal government and farmers - have proved that 'natural' and 'engineered' corn crops can coexist without interference."

This discovery could become vital to many farmers in view of the unstoppable progress of genetically modified maize. Even now farmers take refuge in increasing numbers of a type of corn modified to make it resistant against a pest progressing from southern Europe - the European Corn Borer. Caterpillars of this variety eat their way through the corn’s stems, thus allowing the infestation of fungi, which are resistant against conventional pesticides. In the past few years, maize crops in Oderbruch and Uckerland suffered heavily from this pest. Genetically modified corn however produces a protein poisonous to these worms.

Research scientists see the need for action regarding other plants, too. "Even though genetically modified rape is not yet cultivated, a study examining the dispersion of pollen is urgently needed," says Broer. "On the other hand, the spreading of potatoes, sugar beet and peas could be controlled quite simply. Modified types of grain are still in the experimental state, whereas cotton, soy-beans and rice are not relevant to German agriculture.2

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