SIGMEA: Sustainable introduction of GM crops into European Agriculture

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 03.0040-2

Key words (English)

GM crops; maize; co-existence risk assessment; organic farming; landscape; spatial distribution

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: 501986

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 6. Frame Research Programme - 1.8.1 Policy-orientated research

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

Measuring out-crossing between maize crops at the landscape scale.
Because of the large size, maize pollen travels only short distances as compared to other anemophilous species. However. despite of the pollen size, the significance hybridization of 0.2 % was found up to 800 m from the pollen source. Studies including the effect on the topography, meteorological information such as wind direction, wind intensity, mean temperature and rainy information during the flowering time are of special importance in small field environments, which are typical for mountainous and hilly regions of Europe. The number of experiments that have delivered conclusive results on the pollen dispersal in maize is limited for these environments.
The CH study will be done in cooperation with the University of Berne. Pollen dispersal of maize will be analyzed on a landscape scale without GM maize, utilizing the hybridization between a white (recessive) grain maize variety and several yellow (dominant) grain maize varieties.
Methods: An experimental hybrid with white grains, DSP 17007, has been developed, which is close in maturity and yield potential to average commercial yellow grain hybrids. This allows cultivating the white grain hybrid in different parts of Switzerland on fields of different sizes with neighbouring yellow pollen sources of different sizes and distances. The out-crossing rate can be accurately calculated from the yellow grains on white ears, because the yellow colour is reliably expressed. This trait can be assessed for comparatively huge sample sizes, which allow the utilization of geographic information systems like kriging. By grid sampling data bases are going to be created, which will deliver information on the minimum distances between fields of different farming systems.
These data will be available for partner groups working on principal pollen dispersal models (SIGMEA WP 2).

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 03.0040-2