Answers: Biotechnology and Society

Q3. Why is it necessary to have a buffer zone between farms?
  • The GM crop can produce pollen that may contain the inserted genes. If there is not an adequate buffer zone, this pollen could blow across to non-genetically modified crops of the same species and pollinate them resulting in the spread of the genetically modified crop
  • If the spray of herbicide drifts to the farms where crops are still sensitive to it, it will destroy these crops