LONDON: GM crops being grown in Britain are likely to have cross-pollinated with ordinary crops and weeds, government research has shown.

Genetically modified oilseed rape so readily cross-pollinates that it is unlikely GM crops could be grown in Britain without contaminating all oilseed varieties, according to the research.

The National Institute for Agricultural Botany at Cambridge says current safety margins of 50 metres (165ft) between GM crops and normal crops are not acceptable. Any normal crops being grown for seed or to be labelled organic would be rendered unfit for the market because of contamination, and the research evidence shows that cross-pollination over large distances is possible.

Up to 48 per cent of the weed wild turnip growing in the GM crops had swapped genes with its cultivated relative, making it resistant to weedkiller, the researchers found. Because seed is spilt at harvest new GM plants grow in the next crops, leading to further dangers of cross-contamination.

The British government has not yet published the results of the research in full, but put a summary on its website on Christmas Eve where it was spotted by Friends of the Earth.

Pete Riley, from FoE, said: “This raises serious doubts about whether we can grow GM crops in this country and still give farmers the option of growing non-GM crops and organic produce.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.