1 INTRODUCTION
This is the third Interim Report of the Farm Scale Evaluations of Genetically-Modified Herbicide Tolerant (GMHT) crops. The first two reports, in October 1999 and March 2000, covered the period in which the project was very much in its development phase, and data were being collected only to develop and refine the methodology.
The research objectives for the period of this report were as follows:
- select experimental sites for plantings of spring oil seed rape, winter oil seed rape, maize and sugar and fodder beet GMHT and non-GMHT crops
- to monitor the management of these crops and their biodiversity according to the protocols
- to collate and validate these data
- to monitor, evaluate and refine the project management and methodologies protocols as required
The spring 2000 witnessed the first plantings of crops that will contribute data to the final analysis, and we report on these crops of maize, sugar beet, fodder beet and oil seed rape. The second round of plantings, of winter oil seed rape, has also now taken place. These sites have been monitored, both for biodiversity and for crop management, and the process of data collation and validation is well under way. The project as a whole continues to develop scientifically. There have been some changes to field protocols, and we consider that there are grounds for using the resources for field data collection more efficiently. We are now developing our strategy for the analysis and interpretation of the data.
While we consider the project to working well, we recognise that there are important problems that remain to be solved. There are two major issues outstanding. The first is that the number of sites of spring-sown crops was less than was desired. Therefore we propose an increase in the number of spring-sown sites next year. The second issue concerns the efficient use of resources within the project. Our planned review of protocols is very important for us to ensure that we are collected field data in the most cost-efficient manner that does not compromise our ability to rigorously test the effects of GMHT crop management on biodiversity. This report is being written when the fieldwork for the spring-sown crops is almost complete, and most of the crops have been harvested. There is, as anticipated, a backlog of invertebrate samples for sorting before all the field data can be collated. The process of data entry and validation is under way. The final evaluation of the protocols can only take place once this point has been reached, as it is important to assess sample variability as part of the assessment of sampling intensity at a site. Automated analysis tools have been developed, but we are starting to consider in rather more depth how the data will be interpreted. In particular, we have contributed to a debate on the use of ecological modelling in the journal Science.
The evaluations continue to be highly controversial and objections to the programme were raised frequently. One of the major areas of public concern, namely the separation distances between GM crops and other crops, has been the subject of a current review by MAFF. An area of concern to us is that we still encounter doubt about the objectives, scope and methods of the project, and so we are publishing a summary of the overall methodology on the DETR project web site, and a fuller version will be submitted for publication in refereed journals shortly.
This present report is in five major sections. The first reviews the field work activity and includes progress on site selection. The second reviews progress in data analysis. The third deals with developments in protocols, project management and quality assurance. The fourth considers science outputs and public meetings, while the fifth section presents the next stage of the planned work programme.
Published 2 January 2001
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