- Astoundingly, Monsanto continues to say that it's marketing
herbicide-resistant crops to help farmers and the environment. But reality,
including a Tennessee weed problem, puts the lie to that.
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- By way of review, Monsanto claims that its Roundup Ready
soybeans, corn, cotton and canola -- genetically engineered to resist the
Roundup weed killer -- are good because farmers can spray just Roundup
to kill weeds without hurting the crops. The end result is less herbicide
usage and a greener world.
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- If only it was true.
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- Consider:
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- Monsanto executives in July chalked up a portion of the
company's financial woes -- the stock had hit a 52-week low of about $13
a share, and still hasn't much recovered following its spin-off from parent
Pharmacia Corp. -- to lackluster Roundup sales in the spring.
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- Michael Doane, a Monsanto executive, said in a speech
last year that the company's cornerstone is not biotechnology. It's the
sale of Roundup. The idea is for farmers to use lots of glyphosate (active
ingredient in the herbicide) over lots of acreage. See CropChoice story
about this at http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=751.
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- Farmers are doing just that. But there are consequences.
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- University of Tennessee scientists have documented marestail
weed resistance to Roundup on hundreds of thousands of soybean and cotton
acres in the state. As farmers have planted more and more Roundup Ready
varieties since 1996, they've been spraying more of the weed killer, not
less. This has contributed to weeds developing resistance to Roundup.
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- Reports by the Canadian Wheat Board:
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=772
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- and Dr. Charles Benbrook: http://www.biotech-info.net/troubledtimes.html
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- both document this.
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- Even Syngenta admits to the problem as it hawks an herbicide
-- Gramoxone MAX -- that it says will complement Roundup. According to
its website
- LINK
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- "It's the Achilles heel of every herbicide. It's
weed resistance. If you use an herbicide on a continuous basis, a weed
population can build up resistance to that compound and no longer be the
effective tool it once was. Glyphosate herbicides are no exception to
this rule of nature. And the conditions for resistance are right, given
the compoundís fast-growing popularity as an over-the-top post-emergence
herbicide in Roundup Ready crop systems... Glyphosate herbicides are being
used frequently and on many acres... Weed resistance to glyphosate is more
than theory. It's a real on-farm problem... we demonstrate marestail resistance
to glyphosate herbicides and show how GramoxoneÆ MAX can not only
control this weed but also provide the foundation for an overall resistance
management strategy."
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- This is among the challenges that face Monsanto and the
entire biotechnology industry.
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- Can Monsanto handle life without Pharmacia? How will
it react to farmer and consumer rejection of the idea of Roundup Ready
wheat? How will it and others cope with the technology being locked out
of Europe and Brazil over the next few years?
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- With the realization that capturing the hearts and dollars
of farmers isn't enough, the industry is rushing to develop products that
it thinks will appeal to consumers. Those include plants with genes containing
vitamins and drugs.
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- Maybe Monsanto should shorten its independence and merge
with Syngenta. To persuade the farmers, they could engineer wheat, corn
and other crops with resistance to three, four or five herbicides -- a
new one for each year that weed resistance develops. For those consumers,
insert multi-vitamin genes, maybe some gingko for peace of mind, a contraceptive
and a painkiller
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- http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/cc230802.txt
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