§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what funding his Department provides to scientists at(a) Rothamsted and (b) elsewhere investigating the nectar and pollen production of transgenic plants and the foraging behaviour of bees on transgenic plants. [87180]
§ Mr. RookerThe Ministry has placed a programme of research at the Institute of Arable Crops Research at Rothamsted, to investigate the interactions between insects and plants. Funding of £950,000 is planned for 1999–2000. This work underpins EU and DETR funded research which looks specifically at interactions between GM crops and beneficial insects. MAFF is also funding a project at the Scottish Crops Research Institute, costing £57,000 in 1999–2000, which includes studies of the role of bees in cross-pollination of genetically modified oilseed rape. Relevant research on the role of bees was reviewed in the recent MAFF report on organic farming and gene transfer from GM crops. This review cost £25,000.
The Ministry currently funds no work on nectar and pollen production in transgenic plants.