The variability of data represents maize pollen deposition under common cultivation conditions in Central Europe.
To our knowledge, the results presented here represent the largest dataset on maize pollen deposition under complex common cultivation conditions published to date.
Under common cultivation conditions, isolation buffer distances in the kilometre range are recommended rather than the 20 30 m distance defined by the EFSA.
Instead, conclusions on risk assessment and risk management should be updated based on the model described here for the distance relationship of maize pollen deposition under common cultivation.
Despite a quite common cultivation technique and a stable prices regime for durum wheat, on closer analysis, even within more suitable regions for the cultivation of durum wheat, interesting differences in production, performance and profitability are noticed.
Therefore, it is difficult or not feasible to extrapolate from single field experiments to the complex situations that exist in common cultivation, that is, those situations relevant for the risk assessment and management of GMOs.
As demonstrated in this investigation, the use of parallel measurements with standardised methods to estimate leaf deposition and exposure can be extended beyond our specific case study to allow a more general assessment under common cultivation conditions.
The results show that under common cultivation, maize pollen is deposited in substantial quantities (thousands of grains per m2) over a range of up to several kilometers away from the next maize field.
These data represent the variability of deposition under common cultivation conditions including different field sizes and configurations, varieties, regions and environmental conditions and relative positions of the measurement site to the field with respect to wind direction.
Furthermore, data of Lang et al. [35] agree well with our assessment as these results depict mean leaf density measurements on single days at each site in one region without representing the variability of leaf density values over time and space under common cultivation.
