Volunteer plants from MON810 biotech maize were found not to significantly affect adventitious presence of GMO in the yield of otherwise conventional maize. The presence of biotech maize volunteers in a field is not enough to reach the 0.9 adventitious GM threshold established in the EU, said researchers from the Institut de Recerca y Tecnologica Agroalimentaries (IRTA) and Girona University, Spain.

The conclusion was from a study performed in the Foixa region, Girona, Spain. Transgenic insect resistant (Bt) and conventional maize were commercially grown for three years, from 2004-2006. During this period, about 30-35% of the commercially grown maize in the region is biotech.

The researchers reported that volunteers were less vigorous than plants sown in the present season, mostly failing to produce a cob. Although cross fertilization occurred even though the volunteers have poorly developed tassels, the level of it was low ranging from 3.05 down to <0.10%, with an overall mean of 0.37 ± 0.11.

For more information, the full paper published in Transgenic Research can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11248-009-9250-7..