Reducing Safe Things

by Natasha Chart · 2009-05-24 12:35:00 UTC
Topics:

New soy bean crops; by SentrawoodsA North Dakota State Senator and farmer speaks of his love of biotech and pesticides:

... Chemical sprays are a necessary part of food production--and they’re safe--but we all strive to reduce their use. ...

I try to reduce the use of safe and necessary things, too. That just seems like good sense.

Seriously, though ... He's writing about an industry-applauded report indicating that says biotech crops decrease pesticide use. Well, last year, an NGO-sponsored study showed the exact opposite. Consider this, at minimum:

* U.S. government data reveal a huge 15-fold increase in the use of glyphosate on soybeans, corn and cotton in the U.S. from 1994 to 2005, driven by adoption of Roundup Ready versions of these crops.

* Rising glyphosate use has spawned a growing epidemic of weeds resistant to the chemical in the U.S., Argentina and Brazil. Weed scientists have reported glyphosate-resistant weeds infesting 2.4 million acres in the U.S. alone.

* Increasing weed resistance to glyphosate has led to rising use of other toxic chemicals. In the U.S., the amount of 2,4-D applied to soybeans more than doubled from 2002 to 2006. 2,4-D was a component of the Vietnam War defoliant, Agent Orange. In Argentina, it is projected that 25 million liters of herbicides other than glyphosate will be needed to tackle glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass. ...

This is what that data is saying: temporary drops in the total use of new pesticides will eventually get wiped out by the need to apply more, or different, pesticides when pest organisms develop resistance.

Also, pest organisms always eventually develop resistance. It's called evolution, look it up.

(Photo credit: Sentrawoods on Flickr.)

Natasha Chart
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