§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government have spent on GM trials in the past five years. [27741]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government are funding two research programmes which aim to provide information on the consequences, if any, for agriculture and the environment of growing certain genetically modified herbicide tolerant (GMHT) crops. The Farm Scale Evaluations (FSEs) programme is a three-year programme allowing independent researchers to study the effect that the management practices associated with GMHT crops might have on farmland wildlife, when compared with weed control used with non-GM crops. The Botanical and Rotational Implications of Genetically Modified Herbicide Tolerance (BRIGHT) project aims to determine the agricultural implications of GMHT crops and produce management information for their sustainable production.
The costs of the FSE programme and BRIGHT project met by Government are:
Project £ FSEs1 5,123,265 BRIGHT2 235,521 Total 5,358,786 1 To end March 2002 2 To end March 2002