Effect of Biotech Soybean Planted Field on Succeeding Crops

Binbin Zhang of the Northeast Agricultural University in China investigated the effect of planting transgenic soybean on the yield and quality of the succeeding crops planted on the same field. The transgenic soybean used in the study contains transcriptional factor DREB3 from wheat which regulates the expression of downstream stress resistance genes, thus improving the saline-alkaline resistance of soybean plant. On the first year of the study, non-transgenic wheat, maize, and sugarbeet (C1) were planted on the research field followed by transgenic soybean plants (T), and lastly, another set of control plants (C2) in the third year. The yield, quality, and other agronomic characteristics of C1, T, and C2 plants were compared.

The researchers reported that there were no significant differences on the yield of C1 and C2 plants. The dry mass accumulation of wheat and maize in both controls were also found to be similar, as well as the height, spike length, and gluten content of wheat plants. The sugar content of sugarbeets was not affected by planting them on field were GM soybeans were previously planted.

Read the research paper published in Applied Mechanics and Materials journal: http://www.scientific.net/AMM.121-126.2597.