Chris Prestons detective work on drought

From AgBioView www.agbioworld.org : November 10, 2005

Australia: Network of Concerned Farmers Ask Why GM Crops Perform
Worse in Drought
- Christopher Preston ,
Senior Lecturer, Weed Management, University of Adelaide

In my recent search for material on yields of GM canola following the
comments of Julie Newman of the Network of Concerned Farmers that GM
canola yields were 20% less than those of conventional canola, I came
across a press release dating from 30th June 2005
(http://www.non-gm-farmers.com/news_details.asp?ID=2254). In this
press release, the Network of Concerned Farmers are asking why GM
crops perform worse in drought. This looks on the surface like a
reasonable question. The problem with the question, and perhaps the
intention, is that it makes the assumption that GM crops do perform
worse in drought. However, is there any evidence to support such an
assumption?

Julie Newman thinks so and claims in the press release: "Farmers
worldwide have complained that GM crops perform worse than non-GM
crops during drought including GM cotton in India and Indonesia, GM
soy in the United States and Brazil and GM canola in Canada ."
Supporting information is provided along with the press release
mostly pointing to other articles on the Network of Concerned Farmers
website.

...SNIP...

In conclusion, the examples given by the Network of Concerned Farmers
do not stack up. They can all be sourced to groups that are
implacably opposed to GM crops. Has Julie Newman and the Network of
Concerned Farmers ever wondered why only anti-GM groups are able to
find evidence for GM crops performing worse under drought? Of the
seven examples given, only two indicate the possibility that drought
might preferentially lower yields of GM crops. In both cases, it was
the growing of less well-adapted cultivars that was the root of the
problem. At this stage, there is simply no evidence to support a
conclusion that GM causes crops to perform worse in drought.

One of the other points of note from this survey was that on two
occasions anti-GM activists simply added material to the story to
make up for the lack of evidence and on a third occasion change the
wording significantly to make a quote look more damaging. This should
be adequate warning to Julie Newman, and others, that they should
look for the original sources of the stories instead of simply
believing and parroting what is written by these groups...Continues at Agbioview