Soya study casts doubt on GM decision making process
Gene insertion reduces yields
Agronomy Journal 93:408-412 (2001)
(the address of this page is www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/elmoresoyastudy.htm )
May 2001
One of the most remarkable things about the large area of genetically modified crops now being grown (chiefly in North and South America) is the relative paucity of studies on their agronomic performance which have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The limited availability of such research brings into question the scientific basis of the decision making process which has so far determined the encouragement of the technology at both political and farm levels. This is particularly so when such limited basic research on agronomic performance may also only achieve peer-review publication years after, instead of before, the commercial introduction of the technology.
In this respect, therefore, it is especially significant that a rare peer-reviewed paper on the agronomic performance of genetically engineered Roundup Ready soya beans was published in Agronomy Journal, March-April 2001. The study's findings are illuminating as they specifically identify the novel gene, or the process of genetic engineering itself, as causing a reduction in crop yields when compared with non-genetically engineered sister lines.
The achievement of peer-review publication of this study does not appear to have been widely reported in the general or farming press, despite the following important conclusions in relation to GE glyphosate resistant (GR) soya bean varieties:
"Yields were suppressed with GR soybean cultivars............The work reported here demonstrates that a 5% yield suppression was related to the gene or its insertion process and another 5% suppression was due to cultivar genetic differential. Producers should consider the potential for 5-10% yield differentials between GR and non-GR cultivars as they evaluate the overall profitability of producing soybean. .........Based on our results from this study and those of Elmore et al., 2001, the yield suppression appears associated with the GR gene or its insertion process rather than glyphosate itself."
Elmore et al,
Glyphosate-Resistant Soybean Cultivar Yields Compared with Sister
Lines
Agron J 2001 93: 408-412
The full paper can be read at: http://screc.unl.edu/Research/Glyphosate/glyphosateyield.html
More information on the performance of Roundup Ready soya beans is available at: http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/Benbrooksoyreport.htm
NATURAL
LAW PARTY WESSEX
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex
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