Open Letter on GM to WA’s Local Government

28 April 2009

Re:  Local government power on genetically modified crops

Trials of genetically modified (GM) crops have significant local implications and are an important local government issue. This letter explains why it is important that you raise or continue to raise this issue with your Council urgently.
 
The Minister for Agriculture and Food is proceeding with GM-crop trials even though 40% of the trials are in three of the 17 shires that have asked for GM-free status so far (see Attachment 1).

This runs counter to his undertaking in March that he would honour any request from a local government to retain its GM-free status. He is now taking the issue from local government hands.

We have compelling information to show that this is absolutely a local government issue.

Contamination of shire managed land with roundup resistant canola is inevitable. A government-authorised quarantine inspector, who has been involved in previous GM-canola trials, says:

I don’t think that GM-trial areas covering an area of a thousand hectares can be effectively quarantined for GM-canola volunteer plants germinating from spilt seed over periods of several years after these trials have been harvested.
(See Attachment 2).

Local governments will be responsible for managing GM-canola volunteers from spilt seeds on road sides. In time, they may also have to deal with Roundup-resistant wild radish (see Attachment 2). This is on top of other significant issues with Monsanto’s GM-crops.

Local governments together have the political clout to change the stance of the State government on this issue and keep WA GM-free, but it is important to act now.

I urge you to debate this issue as soon as possible with your Shire Council and to support the mainstream opposition to GM-crops in Western Australia by declaring your Shire GM-free.

Yours sincerely
 
Paul Llewellyn MLC
MEMBER FOR SOUTH WEST REGION
 

Attachment 1.

see GM-canola-free shires page.

Attachment 2.

The following information was received from a Department of Agriculture and Food employee. Some details have been removed, but only to protect that person’s identity:

Subject: A possible issue facing WA shire councils from 2009: Spilt GM canola seed on the side of the road

I am employed by the Department of Agriculture and Food of Western Australia...

I’m...a government authorised quarantine inspector of areas of land used to trial GM canola and [have carried out inspections to] detect and control GM canola volunteer plants germinating from trial seed that had been spilt on the ground through shedding/harvest-loss/spillages, for the period of time necessary for the area to be declared GM-free.

I wish to notify you of my concerns regarding the following quote from a 27/2/09 Countryman article[2]: “The 15-odd farmers who grow genetically modified canola this year will only be able to deliver to one receival point which will be close to Perth.”

  • Seed spillage between the paddock and the bin occurs when grain is transported, and I’ve seen plenty of roadside volunteer canola plants over the years
  • …and this raises a concern about spillage of harvested GM seed over many kilometres of wheatbelt roads between the receival point and twenty commercial-sized GM trial locations throughout the wheatbelt.
  • It should be noted that a spillage doesn’t have to be large to be significant: a single canola seed only weighs around 3 to 4 mg; there are about 300,000 seeds in a kilogram of canola; and a single mature plant that has germinated from a single seed will typically produce thousands of new seeds.
  • Given the possibility of seed spillage during bulk transportation of GM canola seed from these trials along public roads, as well as road transport of imperfectly cleaned harvesting machinery, the following issues may be of relevance:
    • Are any of the various shires between the test sites and the receival point going to be using glyphosate to control roadside weeds after the 2009 harvest?
    • If these councils use glyphosate to control roadside weeds, then germinated roadside glyphosate-tolerant GM canola plants will be more likely to survive chemical control and multiply after 2009.

Regarding the following quote from a 3/4/09 Countryman article[3]: “The locations of the GM plantings, to cover up to 1000 hectares in total, have been decided” -

  • As far as quarantine inspecting goes, there’s a difference between a small (under ten hectares) pegged-off area of land, and an area totalling a thousand hectares.
  • In view of the problems I’ve experienced with seed dormancy in spilt GM seed, I don’t think that GM trial areas covering an area of a thousand hectares can be effectively quarantined for GM canola volunteer plants germinating from spilt seed over periods of several years after these trials have been harvested.
  • Given the practicalities over the scale of these trials, it seems to me that the introduced GM genetic material won’t be thoroughly removed from the environment after these trials have been run in 2009.

I believe it will further the public interest of Western Australians for you to share this message.

Footnotes:
2) The Countryman, 27/2/09, Trial GM canola growers shown their obligations, Lara Ladyman- http://www.countryman.com.au/article/2260.html
3) The Countryman, 27/2/09, GM sites ready to grow, Lara Ladyman- http://www.countryman.com.au/article/2393.html”

 

The quarantine officer later adds in response to our question about gene escape of genes from roadside canola to radish:

  • Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) is a major weed in paddocks and along fencelines and roads in WA.
  • Interspecies crossing between canola grade rapeseed (Brassica napus) and radish is known to occur in the field at a low level with canola as the seed parent in the first generation hybrid (see quote, below).
  • I’m not sure whether further research has been done since 2001 establishing that gene escape to radish doesn’t occur.
  • Roadside canola volunteers are likely to be exposed to extremely large amounts of radish pollen from abundant roadside radish plants. I think this might increase the likelihood of gene escape from herbicide tolerant roadside canola volunteers to radish.
  • Canola pollination was detected over distances up to 3km in a study conducted in Australia (Link- http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umcuthb3/39.768/P1/P1.html). I would expect radish cross-pollination to occur over a similar distance.
  • Radish is an obligate out-crosser, with more than 99% of radish seeds being pollinated by pollen from other radish plants.
  • Therefore, if interspecies gene escape of glyphosate tolerance from canola to radish occurs, then the use of glyphosate on radish within 5km of the original gene transfer could create selective pressure for tolerance genes to be quickly spread to radish populations over large areas in ensuing generations.

Attached article (see above):
M.A. Rieger • T.D. Potter • C. Preston • S.B. Powles (2001) “Hybridisation between Brassica napus L. and Raphanus raphanistrum L.
under agronomic field conditions”
Quote:
“Since hybridisation is more likely into B. napus, hybrid individuals are only expected to occur in the crop. Most of this seed will be harvested and therefore only a small proportion of the original seed will remain. Hybrid individuals are expected to occur intermingled with B. napus volunteers in the following year. A number of alternative herbicides are available to control both types of volunteers. Due to the high fertility of the hybrids produced, these plants may become a bridge for gene escape into R. raphanistrum or become weedy themselves. Limited genetic variation, and hence crossing-compatibility in weed populations, may mitigate these gene escapes. If farmers concentrate on limiting volunteers for several years after growing herbicide-resistant B. napus varieties this will reduce the likelihood of gene escape via hybridisation.”