Study proves growing GM crops has negative impact on wildlife

A MAJOR study has confirmed growing genetically modified crops can harm wildlife.
Government-commissioned scientists compared GM winter-sown oilseed rape with a conventional version of the crop, and found that fewer broad leaved weeds and their seeds were present in fields where the GM herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape was grown. Flowers of such weeds are important as food for insects, while the seeds are a major source of sustenance for farmland birds.
The study, published yesterday, found fewer bees and butterflies in the GM crop compared with the conventional oilseed rape.
More grass weeds and some soil insects were discovered in the GM fields but could not make up for loss of the broad-leaved weeds.
The latest results come after the last of four major farm-scale trials into the potential impact of growing GM crops commercially in the UK. Results for the three other crops, spring-sown oilseed rape, beet and maize, were published in October, with the first two crops also shown to be harmful to wildlife.
The work was conducted by an independent consortium of research institutes and overseen by a scientific steering committee chaired by Professor Chris Pollock.