QLK5-CT-2002-01666 ECOGEN - Soil ecological and economic evaluation of genetically modified crops

Contacts
Website: www.ecogen.dk




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Biotechnology : Plant Genetics : Quality of Life - 5.1.1 Sustainable Agriculture - Plant Systems

Type of Project	Cost-sharing contract
Contract No	QLK5-CT-2002-01666
Total Cost	3,108 KEuro
EC Contribution	2,114 KEuro
Start Date	1-5-2002
Duration	48 Months

Abstract

The possible use of GM plants in future agriculture needs in-depth investigations of ecological and economical consequences. Following state-of-the-art ecological risk assessment this project combines simple lab tests, multi-species model ecosystems and field studies to acquire mechanistic and realistic knowledge. Hitherto this has not been done for soil. The investigation will give an important input to the administrators of Directive 200l/18/EC Annex II, who needs specifications of how to do the GM risk assessment, and to farmers and the public who are on the alert to the possible ecological implications. Economic aspects need to be clarified to enable an assessment of trade-offs in relation to ecological effects. The accumulated experience in the ECOGEN project will then be taken one step beyond simple comparison of GM based farming systems and conventional systems, by combining soil ecological studies with an economic evaluation at the farm level in a rule based model as a decision support tool.

The project Carried out an ecological and economic comparison of integrated farming systems using genetically modified higher plants (GMHP) with a conventional farming system Provided an ecological risk assessment of a GM and a conventional cropping system for the soil ecosystem based on single-species tests, multispecies tests and long-term field investigations. Adapted existing ecotoxicity testing tools to GM plant material and validate their use in a tiered risk assessment system applicable to Directive 2001/18/EC, Annex II, environmental risk assessment Conducted an economic assessment of GMHP and conventional crops with respect to a quantification of the expected trade-offs between the two and the implications for EU Agriculture policy Incorporated ecological knowledge from single-species tests, multispecies tests, field investigations and economic information from farming practices into a rule-based model to be used for predictions of economic decision-making processes and ecosystem behaviour.

The sampling programme covering the major soil fauna groups has been completed according to the plans. An experimental field site with Bt corn started during the ECOGEN proposal phase was finalised after two years of investigating the microarthropod community. The hitherto largely ignored soil ecosystem in GM cropping systems was gradually subjected to thorough investigations. Moreover, the complete impact of GM crops -- not only focusing on the GM plant itself but the concomitant agricultural measures -- was considered in an ecological effects assessments.

The effects of Bt corn on soil fauna, which are not quite unambigious because the variety seems to be important for the population responses, have been seen.

Coordinator

National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), Soil Fauna and Ecotoxicology Research Unit, Silkeborg, Denmark

Partners

• Scottish Crop Research Institute, UK
• Department of Intelligent Systems, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
• Wageningen University, Department of Social Sciences, Netherlands
• University of Franche-Comté, France
• Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Denmark
• Centre Technique Interprofessionel des Oleagineuxmetropolitains, France
• Umweltbundesamt GMBH (Federal Environment Agency Austria), Austria
• Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops, United Kingdom
• Aventis Cropscience Nordic A/S, Denmark
• National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark

Contacts

Contact

• Paul Henning KROGH / National Environmental Research Institute (NERI) DENMARK