§ Ms DrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effects of the introduction of herbicide-resistant crops on vulnerable species of birds. [80792]
§ Mr. MeacherI am aware that many species of farmland bird are in decline in Britain and so I take very seriously the potential effect that the introduction of herbicide-resistant crops might have on these vulnerable species.
141WThe Government have undertaken to fund a four year research programme into the effect of the management of genetically modified herbicide-resistant crops on farmland wildlife as announced in my answer on 15 April 1999, Official Report, columns 301–02. These farm-scale evaluations will begin in spring 1999 and will consider spring and winter-sown oil seed rape and maize. The research programme will concentrate on monitoring the diversity and abundance of plants and invertebrates in GM herbicide-resistant crops compared with conventionally managed non-GM equivalents. It is not planned that birds will be included in the monitoring programme. However, existing research has been able to demonstrate connections between some bird populations and, for example, weed and insect abundance in crops. In this way, the results of the plant and invertebrate monitoring will be used to predict whether an adverse affect on bird populations is likely to occur.