Effect of MON 810 cultivation and prevention to adventitious presence in non-GM fields: A case study in Slovakia

Abstract

The efficiency of border rows to prevent the adventitious presence of GM maize in non-GM maize plots was evaluated as well as the effect of the MON 810 maize of the yield and self-protection against the European corn borer. The GM maize MON 810 event was drilled at 3 locations over the Slovakia and the grain samples were collected from the neighbouring conventional maize fields. The data obtained by Real-Time PCR indicate that coexistence between GM and conventional maize is feasible and the isolation distance of 200 m (respectively 100 border rows of conventional maize) separates GM maize from the conventional one more than sufficiently. The effective isolation distance is 3–4 times greater than the actually needed. The MON 810 revealed also the highest yield and the best self-protection against European corn borer in both growing seasons with different climatic conditions.